PSI - Issue 79

A. Bacco et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 79 (2026) 335–341

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Fig. 2. Residual stress in a transversal path: (a) transversal residual stress; (b) longitudinal residual stress

Concerning the analysis along the longitudinal path, which follows the trajectory of the welding torch, it was possible to examine the trend of residual stresses along the welding direction. This approach allowed a more accurate evaluation of the influence of the sequence of welding passes on the stresses distributions. For both analysed paths, it was observed that the residual longitudinal stresses are significantly higher than the transverse ones, occasionally exceeding the yield strength of the materials, thus confirming the strong thermal-induced stress gradients generated by the process. Along the transverse path, in the graph at the transition between the steel plate and the fused area a discontinuity is also observed. It is attributable to the modelling assumption that the filler material has the same properties as cast iron, generating a significant contrast in mechanical behaviour between the two regions. All residual stresses are mainly tensile, except for the transverse stresses measured at the ends of the weld in the longitudinal path, which are compressive. This localized behaviour suggests the presence of constraint or mechanical relaxation effects in the end areas of the joint, which surely need to be further investigated in the near future.

a