International Journal of Structural Integrity

Residual stresses in steel members: a review of available analytical expressions

Miguel Abambres Wai-Meng Quach

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IJSI
7,1

Residual stresses in steel

members: a review of available
analytical expressions

70
Received 15 December 2014
Revised 15 December 2014
Accepted 29 December 2014

Miguel Abambres
Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources,
Instituto Superior Tcnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal, and

Wai-Meng Quach

Downloaded by Doctor Miguel Abambres At 16:50 01 February 2016 (PT)

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering,

The University of Macau, Macau, China
Abstract
Purpose Although the actual residual stress distribution in any structural steel member can be only
obtained by experimental measurements, it is known to be a difficult, tedious and inefficient piece of
work with limited accuracy. Thus, besides aiming at clarifying structural designers and researchers
about the possible ways of modelling residual stresses when performing finite element analysis (FEA),
the purpose of this paper is to provide an effective literature review of the longitudinal membrane
residual stress analytical expressions for carbon steel non-heavy sections, covering a vast range of
structural shapes (plates, I, H, L, T, cruciform, SHS, RHS and LSB) and fabrication processes
(hot-rolling, welding and cold-forming).
Design/methodology/approach This is a literature review.
Findings Those residual stresses are those often required as input of numerical analyses, since the
other types are approximately accounted for through the s-e curves of coupons cut from member walls.
Practical implications One of the most challenging aspects in FEA aimed to simulate the real
behaviour of steel members, is the modelling of residual stresses.
Originality/value Besides aiming at clarifying structural designers and researchers about the
possible ways of modelling residual stresses when performing FEA, this paper also provides an
effective literature review of the longitudinal membrane residual stress analytical expressions for
carbon steel non-heavy sections, covering a vast range of structural shapes (plates, I, H, L, T, cruciform,
SHS, RHS and LSB) and fabrication processes (hot-rolling, welding and cold-forming).
Keywords Finite element analysis, Analytical distributions, Carbon steel,
Longitudinal membrane residual stresses, Structural members
Paper type Literature review

International Journal of Structural

Integrity
Vol. 7 No. 1, 2016
pp. 70-94
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1757-9864
DOI 10.1108/IJSI-12-2014-0070

1. Introduction
The considerable stiffness, strength and ductility of metals, as well as the recent
advances in manufacturing technology, have led to the construction of highly efficient
structural steel systems (large strength-to-weight ratios). In particular, thin-walled steel
structures have shown to be a quite economic solution (e.g. reduced transportation and
building times) in several areas ofaeronautic, civil, mechanical, chemical and offshore
engineering (Loughlan, 2004). Thin-walled members: are characterized by having
slender walls (b/t ratio normally assumed 10) connected through their longitudinal
edges; and can be fabricated through different processes in Civil Engineering, the
most common ones are welding, hot-rolling and cold-forming.
The slenderness values of steel members may lead to a structural behaviour governed
by a strong interaction between plasticity and instability effects, thus rendering their
accurate assessment a very complex task, which stimulates the development of improved

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methods of analysis and more efficient design rules. Since experimental investigations
are invariably limited, due to their very high cost and time consumption (including the
careful preparation of the test set-up and specimens), alternative complementary
approaches must be sought. The most powerful and universally employed one,
prescribed as a valid design option for steel structures (e.g. Comit Europen de
Normalisation (CEN), 2006; American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), 2010;
Buildings Department (BD The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region), 2011), is the use of sophisticated shell finite element analyses (SFEA), accounting
for initial geometrical and physical (e.g. residual stresses) imperfections and employing
non-linear constitutive laws.
One of the most challenging aspects in the performance of accurate SFEA to
simulate the real behaviour of steel members is the modelling of residual stresses (they
are implicitly considered in design rules). Residual stresses are self-equilibrating
stresses left in a member after it has been fabricated into a finished product and before
the action of any loading, often having a significant effect on the brittle fracture,
fatigue, stress corrosion, buckling and post-buckling strength (mostly due to premature
yielding and loss of stiffness) of steel members (European Convention for Constructional
Steelwork (ECCS), 1976). The existence of those stresses is due to: uneven cooling of
shapes after hot-rolling, welding or cutting operations (e.g. punching, shearing, flamecutting); or plastic deformation caused by cold-forming, cold-straightening or cambering
(Huber and Beedle, 1954). The residual stresses in a small to medium size steel profile can
be decomposed into the longitudinal(xx) and transverse (ss) components, where x and s
are the axial and sectional mid-line directions, respectively. Generally speaking, any of
these stress types vary along the section wall thickness, and so they are usually divided
B
M
into membrane (M
ij ) and bending (ij ) components, i.e., exhibiting non-null (t ij dt0)
B
and null (t ij dt 0) normal resultant, respectively.
Although the actual residual stress distribution in any member can only be obtained
by experimental measurements, it is known to be a difficult, tedious and inefficient
piece of work with limited accuracy (Clarin, 2004; Quach, 2005), and it is virtually
impossible to carry it out on more than a few specimens out of all existing types of
shapes. Since stress distributions may vary from member to member, several readings
have to be made on each shape to obtain statistically relevant results (Alpsten, 1968).
Residual stresses in structural sections can be determined by both non-destructive (e.g.
X-ray diffraction, ultrasonic and magnetic methods) and destructive methods, although
the former are often not practical (Yuan et al., 2014). On the other hand, the (destructive)
sectioning method has been widely used to evaluate bending and membrane residual
stresses (res) in structural steel profiles. This technique is based upon the measurement
of residual strains that are released when cutting test sections into small strips
(Tebedge et al., 1973). Changes in longitudinal strains in each coupon surface are
multiplied by the Young modulus in order to obtain the corresponding stress variation
( res). Then, a membrane and bending decomposition of those longitudinal
stresses[1] can be calculated assuming a linear through-thickness variation.
Extensive research into the influence and distribution of residual stresses on carbon
steel members has been done, including fabricated (welded) (e.g. Clarin, 2004;
Fukumoto and Itoh, 1981; Chernenko and Kennedy, 1988); hot-rolled (e.g. Young, 1975;
Madugula et al., 1997; Hadjioannou et al., 2013); and cold-formed (e.g. Weng and Pekoz,
1990; Schafer and Pekoz, 1998; Quach et al., 2006) sections. In hot-rolled or welded steel
sections, its been observed that only longitudinal membrane residual stresses exhibit
relevant values. On the other hand, cold-formed steel open sections have low membrane

Residual
stresses in
steel members
71

IJSI
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72

residual stresses when compared with the bending counterpart (Moen et al., 2008;
Gardner and Cruise, 2009)[2]. Besides, a non-linear residual stress variation along the
wall thickness of cold-formed shapes have been revealed by numerical analyses (Moen
et al., 2008; Rondal, 1987; Quach et al., 2004, 2006, 2009a, b) and measurements (Key and
Hancock, 1993) latter authors concluded for tubular sections (without heat treatment)
that transverse bending stresses result from the sum of a linear diagram (bending-type)
with a non-linear one (layering-type), respectively, associated with non-null and null
residual moments. Concerning the longitudinal variation of residual stresses (along the
member length), stress distribution changes in a narrow region close to the member
edges which are free of stresses (Quach et al., 2010). Although this variation is normally
neglected in the literature without compromising the good correlation between
experimental and numerical results, its correct modelling may be relevant if those areas
undergo significant deformation up to collapse.
The most rigorous and efficient way to simulate the influence of residual stresses
and work-hardening variation along the cross-section consists of introducing in the FE
model the constitutive - law of the virgin material (before any manufacturing process
that may induce residual stresses/work-hardening) and then considering in each
integration point of the member, the initial stresses and hardening parameters obtained
(e.g. measured) after fabrication. Such rigorous approach has been proposed in few
existing studies (Quach et al., 2010; Pastor et al., 2013). Although the use of numerical
methods to simulate the fabrication process and thoroughly determine the residual stress
distribution is nowadays possible (e.g. Clarin, 2004; Quach et al., 2004, 2006; Moen et al.,
2008; Pastor et al., 2013), this option is still quite complicated and/or inefficient[3] for the
performance of finite element analysis (FEA) for structural design purposes. Instead, the
strategy usually adopted in the literature (e.g. Sully and Hancock, 1996; Young and
Ellobody, 2005; Ellobody and Young, 2005; Ashraf et al., 2006; Theofanous and Gardner,
2009) and proposed herein adopts a material behaviour (-) per each strain-hardening
zone, given by the results of uniaxial tests of coupons cut from the fabricated member[4],
and explicitly models a longitudinal membrane residual stress distribution found in
measurements or proposed in the literature (regarding the smaller contribution from
transverse membrane locked-in stresses, recall footnote 2) bending and layering
residual stress influence is implicitly (and approximately) taken into account through the
aforementioned - curves (e.g. Ashraf et al., 2006; Cruise and Gardner, 2008a).
In this context, this work aims at providing an effective state of the art of longitudinal
membrane residual stress analytical distributions for carbon steel sections, covering a
vast range of structural shapes (plates, I, H, L, T, cruciform, SHS, RHS and LSB) and
fabrication processes (hot-rolling, welding and cold-forming) in a single source it is
certainly of great utility for researchers and structural designers. Finally, it should be
mentioned that the stress distributions presented herein are only valid for non-heavy
sections (i.e. those exhibiting a maximum wall thickness of 25 mm Alpsten and Tall,
1970)[5] unless otherwise specified. One should bear in mind that section geometry
determines the cooling rate during production; and for some reason the Eurocode (Comit
Europen de Normalisation (CEN), 2005) buckling curves for I-sections depend on section
geometry parameters like wall slenderness (b/t) and thickness (Spoorenberg et al., 2013).
2. Longitudinal membrane residual stress distributions
In this section, an effective state of the art of longitudinal membrane residual stress
analytical distributions is provided for carbon steel sections, covering a vast range of
structural shapes and fabrication processes. It should be mentioned that all stress

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distributions are only valid for non-heavy sections (i.e. those exhibiting a maximum
wall thickness of 25 mm Alpsten and Tall, 1970) unless otherwise specified; and are
assumed uniform across the section wall thickness. The state of the art is organized
according to the type of fabrication (hot-rolled, welded and cold-formed sections), and
within each of these sections an initial brief explanation on how the residual stresses
are introduced is presented, and then distributions are shown per cross-section
geometry.
2.1 Hot-rolled sections
The magnitude and distribution of residual stresses in hot-rolled shapes (only
membrane-type have been observed to be of significant magnitude (Gardner and
Cruise, 2009) depend on the type of cross-section, rolling temperature, cooling
conditions, straightening procedures and the material properties of the steel (Beedle
and Tall, 1960) however, the effect of the steel strength is not as great as the effect of
geometry (Tall, 1964). Hot-rolling is generally performed above the steel
recrystallization temperature, structural shapes are produced by cooling of the
material in its final shape, and residual stresses are primarily induced through
uneven cooling. In the case of an I-section flange, for instance, its tip regions cool at a
faster rate which makes tensile stresses to arise there and compression ones in the
middle region, early associated with plastic deformations since the yield stress is very
low due to the high temperature (Szalai and Papp, 2005). Following this, the
shrinkage of the hotter part (web-flange junction) will be restrained by the adjacent
material that had already gained some strength, resulting in residual compression at
the edge and tension at the middle regions (Reis and Camotim, 2012). In hot-rolled
profiles: the degree of symmetry of the distribution is the same as for the section
shape (Szalai and Papp, 2005) and the influence of residual stresses on the behaviour
of straight members is, in general, not negligible (Hadjioannou et al., 2013; Seif and
Schafer, 2009). Lastly, a final word should be said regarding cold straightening of hotrolled profiles to meet tolerances for camber and sweep. This operation induces a
reduction of the residual stresses caused by earlier rolling and cooling, although there
is no assurance that a member is straightened at all. Practical measurements have
indicated that residual stresses in delivered plates and shapes often show the basic
pattern to be expected from the cooling process (Alpsten, 1968).
2.1.1 As-rolled plates. ECCS (1976). The longitudinal membrane residual stress
distribution across as-rolled plates tends to be parabolic with compression at the edges
and tension in the centre. Two parameters that affect magnitude of residual stresses in
plates are the width over thickness (b/t) and the perimeter over cross-sectional area (
see Equation (1)) ratios. Based on experimental and theoretical studies, Alpsten (1972)
suggested the following relation to compute the maximum compressive stress (b and t
are in mm see Figure 1(a)):



0:18 b
b t
y
(1)
sc min 3=2 M Pa; s0 ; a 2
bt
a t
which is generally conservative, except for plates with W 0.3 mm1. Since
longitudinal equilibrium of forces must be preserved, the parabolic assumption
requires that |c| 2|t| (see Figure 1(a)).
2.1.2 Flame-cut plates. ECCS (1976). The flame (or oxygen) cutting introduces
intense heat in a narrow region close to the flame-cut edge, which makes the material in

Residual
stresses in
steel members
73

IJSI
7,1

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74

that region acquire properties significantly different from those of the base metal, and
the developed residual stresses are generally much higher than the parent metal yield
stress (Ziemian, 2010) Figure 1(b) depicts a typical distribution in an as-received
flame-cut plate. However, as a simplification, ECCS (1976) suggests that an equivalent
tensile stress block equals the yield stress of the base metal in a narrow strip of plate
next to the cut. The longitudinal stresses arising in the rest of the plate must guarantee
equilibrium in the direction of the cut. Figure 1(c) and (d) show the
 stressdistributions
in plates flame-cut at one edge and simultaneously at both edges sr  f y . If the width
of the tension block (c) is known (e.g. experimentally or from the literature), a simple
application of statics enables the yet unknown residual stresses to be calculated by
Equations (2) and (3), concerning plates with one or two flame-cut edges, respectively:
st sr

c2b c
bc

sc sr

sc s r

c4bc
bc2

for plates flame  cut at only one edge

(2)

2c
for plates flame  cut at both edges simultaneously:
b2c

(3)

2.1.3 Bi-symmetric I and H-sections. A study by Ros (1930) appears to be the first
published work dealing specifically with the residual stress distribution in a hotrolled shape (Alpsten, 1968). Ros assumed that the temperature distribution in an
H-shape during cooling after rolling could be considered uniform through the entire
flanges and also through the web, although the thinner web cools down faster to
ambient temperature, originating uniform tensile and compressive residual stress
distributions in the flanges and web, respectively. However, a considerable number of
measurements of residual stresses in hot-rolled shapes reported up to 1968
(e.g. Huber, 1956; Beedle and Tall, 1960) have shown that residual stresses in the web
can be compressive as well as tensile, and the distribution in each flange has normally
compressive values at the flange tips and tensile ones at the flange-web junction
(Alpsten, 1968).
Galambos and Ketter (1959). Galambos and Ketter (1959) propose bi-linear residual
stress distributions in flanges but an uniform diagram along the web for non-heavy
hot-rolled I and H-sections, as seen in Figure 2(a), where: fy is the material yield stress,
and the tensile value at the web (t) is calculated as a fraction of the flange tip
compression (c), being that fraction given by the ratio of each flange area over cross(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

bt
T
c

Figure 1.
Longitudinal
residual stresses

r

r

t

t
C

c

c
c

Notes: (a) As-rolled plates: parabolic distribution (ECCS, 1976); (b) as-received flame-cut
plates (Ziemian, 2010); (c) one edge or (d) two edge (simultaneously) flame-cut plates
(ECCS, 1976)

(a)
+

c = 0.3fy

(b)
fy

(c)

fy
+

Residual
stresses in
steel members

+
+ t

75

h /b1.2 => = 0.5

h /b1.2 =>  = 120 MPa

h /b > 1.2 => = 0.3

h /b > 1.2 =>  = 70 MPa

Figure 2.
Longitudinal residual
stress models in nonheavy hot-rolled H
and I-sections

fy

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t = c (bf tf )/(bf tf + tw (d 2tf ))

Notes: (a) Galambos and Ketter (1959)s for small to medium size sections (Seif and
Schafer, 2009); (b) ECCSs (1984); (c) swedish codes (BSK 99, 2003) (wall
thickness40 mm)

section counterpart (d is the section depth, tw the web thickness, and bf and tf are the
flange width and thickness, respectively).
European Convention for Constructional Steelwork (ECCS) (1984). Subsequent to
Galambos and Ketter (1959), ECCS (1984) also proposed bi-linear residual stress
distributions in flanges and webs of hot-rolled small to medium size I and H-sections, as
shown in Figure 2(b) ( fy is the material yield stress).
Swedish design code BSK 99 (2003). Another bi-linear residual stress model is
given in the Swedish design code BSK 99 and depicted in Figure 2(c)[6]. This model is
valid for sections with a maximum wall thickness of 40 mm, and residual stress
magnitudes (in N/mm2) specified in this model are assumed to be independent of steel
properties.
Young (1972). Until the 1980s of last century, a large number of residual stress
measurements in rolled sections have been carried out (e.g. Tebedge and Tall, 1973),
and theoretical studies have been made (e.g. Alpsten, 1972). These investigations
showed that rolling residual stresses vary considerably with section shape and
size (the heavier the section, the larger the stress magnitude). From a review of
previously published measurements, Young (1972) has found the average
distribution of residual stresses in hot-rolled medium-size sections to be parabolic
and of the general form shown in Figure 3(a). The peak stress absolute values: were
found to be functions of section geometry only (material-independent) and satisfy
axial equilibrium, provided that the material yield stress is not exceeded, reading
(in N/mm2):


ht w
sc1 165 1
;
2:4Bt



ht w
sc2 100 1:5
;
2:4Bt



ht w
st 100 0:7
2Bt

(4)

Trahair (1993). Trahair (1993) also suggested that the residual stress distributions
across section walls should be parabolic at the flanges and quartic at the web

IJSI
7,1

(a)

(b)

t

f(y)

tf

c1
z
w(z)

76

tw

h0

h
tw

c2

f(y)

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Figure 3.
Non-heavy hot-rolled
I and H-section axial
residual stresses

t
b

Notes: (a) Parabolic distribution in small to medium-size sections

(Young, 1972); (b) local coordinates /variables for f ( y) and w (z)
functions (Equation (8)) in Szalai and Papp (2005)

(see Figure 3(a)), as defined by the following equations ( fy yield stress):

"
sres;f x f y

2 #
2x
a1 a2
;
B

"
sres;w y f y

2

4 #
2y
2y
a3 a4
a5
h
h

(5)

where constants ai are such that the axial force resultant is zero, the axial torque effect
when the member is twisted is null (see Trahair (1993) for details), and:
sc1 0:35f y

st 0:5f y

(6)

(recall Figure 3(a)), reading:

a1 0:5;

AF 2Bt;

13:6
;
a2 
16
AW ht w ;

!
3 45 13 AF 105 AF B2 65h t 2
a3 

;
16 16 60 AW 16 AW
300h2
!
30 150 13 AF 630 AF B2 65h t 2
a4 

;
16 16 60 AW 16 AW
300h2

35 105 13 AF 525 AF B2 65h t 2


a5  
16 16 60 AW 16 AW
300h2

!
(7)

Szalai and Papp (2005). The analytical stress distributions developed so far for sections
exhibiting relatively thin-walls (small to medium size sections) can lead to malfunction
when the member is subjected to twisting e.g., lateral torsional buckling. In order to
overcome that issue, a new residual stress distribution is proposed by Szalai and Papp
(2005) as Equation (8) (see Figure 3(b)), where should be defined a priori f (b/2)
fy 0.35fy had been proposed by Trahair (1993), whose proposal of residual

Residual
stresses in
steel members

stress pattern also intended to make torsional effects null:

f y c f af y 2 ;
bt 3b2 4h2
cf af y 2b3 t f 8bh2 t 0 h3 t ;
f

0 f

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0 w

20b3 t f 48bh20 t f 4h30 t w

2b3 tf 8bh20 tf h30 tw

af af y b2

0 w

bt f 8b3 t f 3b2 h0 t w 2h30 t w

cw af y 2h t

wz cw aw z2

2b3 tf 8bh20 tf h30 tw

aw af y

(8)

2bt f 8b3 t f 9b2 h0 t w 10h30 t w

h30 t w 2b3 t f 8bh20 t f h30 t w

77

2.1.4 Singly symmetric I and H-sections. Trahair (2011a). Design methods for steel
monosymmetric I-beams against lateral buckling are not well supported by research.
In Trahair (2011a), the inelastic buckling of medium-sized monosymmetric steel Ibeams under moment gradient was studied and compared with design
recommendations. The larger flange residual stress distributions used in Trahairs
study (2011a) (see Figure 4, where the positive sign corresponds to tension and the
negative sign to compression) are simplified versions of those used in other inelastic
buckling studies (Trahair, 1983, 1993). Reduced residual stresses are assumed for the
smaller flange and no initial stresses are assumed for the web, since web yielding has
comparatively little effect on lateral buckling.
2.1.5 Equal-leg angle sections. ECCS (1985). ECCS (1985) proposed a residual stress
model for hot-rolled equal-leg angle sections, as shown in Figure 5. In Figure 5, fy is the
yield strength and the values of 1, 2 and 3 used in ECCSs model (1985) are equal to
0.25, 0.24 and 0.22, respectively. This model was adopted by Sakla (1997) to simulate
the structural behaviour of small-sized equal-leg compressed angles welded by one leg
to gusset plates.
Shi et al. (2011). As a recent approach, Shi et al. (2011) measured residual stresses in
high-strength steel ( fy 420 MPa) medium-sized equal-leg angle columns. It was
observed that the magnitudes of the measured residual stresses (see Figure 5) are
smaller than those prescribed in ChineseSteel Codes, and decrease with the increase of
the width-to-thickness ratios, which is in accordance with other test results (Rasmussen
and Hancock, 1995). The magnitudes 1, 2 and 3 (Chinese code maximum value for
0.3 fy
+

bl tl

0.3 fy

bw tw

bs t s

Source: Trahair (2011a)

0.3 fy bs /bl
+

0.3 fy bs /bl

Figure 4.
Longitudinal residual
stresses in nonheavy hot-rolled
monosymmetric I
beams for lateral
buckling analyses

IJSI
7,1

78

the studied sections) were considered to be the same and equal to 0.3 in a parametric
analysis to compare FEA and design strengths.
2.1.6 Square/rectangular hollow sections (SHS/RHS). Sherman (1971). A numerical
study was performed by Sherman (1971) in order to assess the influence of section
dimensions; residual stress distributions; and load eccentricity in the strength of hot-rolled
RHS members. The bi-linear residual stress pattern depicted in Figure 6 was considered in
the analyses (where 1 R 1 in Figure 6) and it was observed that compressive residual
stresses in the corners (1 R 0) always result in a higher strength reduction than
2 fy

1 fy

3 f y

1 fy

Figure 5.
Longitudinal residual
stress models for
hot-rolled equal-leg
angle sections

2 fy

3 fy

Sources: ECCS (1985); Shi et al. (2011)

Rfy

Rfy
+

Rfy

Rfy

H
Rfy

K 2H

K 1H
+

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Figure 6.
Hot-rolled non-heavy
RHS longitudinal
residual stress
pattern assessed by
Sherman (1971)

Rfy

Typical section: K1 = 0.1; K 2 = 0.6

Downloaded by Doctor Miguel Abambres At 16:50 01 February 2016 (PT)

tensile stresses, for either concentrically loaded columns or beam-columns eccentrically

(e 0.25 H in Figure 6) loaded and braced against lateral buckling. A large strength
reduction up to 40 per cent can be caused by the presence of residual stresses in coldformed or welded RHS members (Sherman, 1971). Locked-in stresses in hot-rolled sections
have been found to be quite low (Dwyer and Galambos, 1965; Estuar and Tall, 1965), and
thus lead to a much smaller erosion of the column strength[7].
Chiew and Zhao (2012). Hot-finished hollow sections consist of two types, hot-rolled or
cold-formed with subsequent heat treatment (annealing) the latter are called onwards in
this reference as hot-finished. Cold-formed, hot-rolled and hot-finished steel SHS of grade
S355 J2H and dimensions 200 200 12.5 mm (cold-formed) and 180 180 12.5 mm
(others), were investigated and their properties compared. Longitudinal residual stresses
in each section were measured by the sectioning and hole-drilling strain gauge methods.
After stress relieving by sectioning, the width of the cold-formed SHS was increased by
5 per cent; hot-rolled SHS was remained unchanged; and hot-finished SHS was increased
by 3.3 per cent. From this contrast, it could be concluded that cold-formed SHS contained
the largest amount of longitudinal membrane residual stresses, while hot-rolled contained
the least. Moreover, after assessing measurement results provided by the hole-drilling
method, it was concluded that hot-rolled SHS exhibited much smaller locked-in stresses
than cold-formed SHS the average values (in per cent of the nominal yield stress fy)
at each face of the hot-rolled cross-section read 8 per cent, 30 per cent, 35 per cent and
2 per cent. Lastly, it should be pointed out that residual stress patterns and other
mechanical properties of hot-rolled and hot-finished SHS are different enough to
recommend not to treat the latter as hot-rolled in design codes.
2.2 Welded sections
The development of residual stresses resulting from welding was established as early
as 1936 (Chernenko and Kennedy, 1988). The unrestrained thermal expansion of steel
per 100C is about equal to the strain of mild steel at yield (0.001). Since temperatures
reached in welding are over 1,200C, it is not surprising that plastic deformations and
residual stresses result from any welding operation. The welded (or fabricated)
structural shapes dealt with in this work are composed by several plates welded
together along their longitudinal edges. In these sections, membrane residual stresses
are primarily induced through uneven cooling, and are only significant in the
longitudinal (welding) direction the manner in which the plate material is cut (flame,
laser or saw cutting), the heat input, sequence of welding and the number of welding
passes are the factors that influence the most the residual stress distribution (Gardner
and Cruise, 2009; Ziemian, 2010; Johansson et al., 2007). The welding process itself
causes temperature gradients around the heat affected zone (HAZ) with hotter material
at the weld being left in residual tension (reaching yield limit), whereas the surrounding
faster cooling material is left in residual compression (Gardner and Cruise, 2009) the
locked-in tension typically extends two to four thicknesses out from the weld on each
side (Dwight and Mozham, 1969).
Stress-relief annealing of the component plates prior to welding raises member
strength very significantly by reducing the magnitude of residual stresses (even
though it lowers the yield stress of the steel). Moreover, the resistance of columns made
of higher strength steel seem to be less affected by locked-in stresses (Ziemian, 2010).
Welded section residual stresses are sometimes taken into account by fictitious
additional initial deformations as those suggested in table C.2 of EN 1993-1-5

Residual
stresses in
steel members
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80

(CEN, 2006). However, this only works reasonably well for column flexural buckling
for plate buckling may lead to over-conservative results ( Johansson et al., 2007).
2.2.1 Plates. During welding, a tension block is produced in exactly the same way as
with flame-cutting the stress distributions and magnitudes that arise in a plate
welded along one or both edges (simultaneously) are shown in Figure 1(c)-(d) and
Equations (2)-(3) (ECCS, 1976).
Masubuchi and Martin (1961, 1965). According to these authors, the distribution of
longitudinal residual stresses in a centrally butt-welded non-flame cut plate can be
approximated, as function of the distance y from the weld, by[8]:

 
y 2 0:5y2
c
sx y smax 1
(9)
e
c
where max is the maximum tensile stress measured at the weld usually as high as the
yield stress of the weld metal in low-carbon steel weldments, but normally taken as fy
as justified before, and c is the width of the tension zone for each side of the weld in
the absence of this value, a width of 1/10 of the plate width was proposed by
Masubuchi (1980).
ECCS (1976). Actually it was found that the through-thickness variation in plates
thicker than about 25 mm was considerable, which means that the recommendations
presented next should not be used for plate components with thickness t W 25 mm[9].
The discussion below has been based on work done on relatively thin plates in which
the residual stresses were assumed not to vary through the thickness.
Concerning the value of the tension block width at the weld and HAZ of any plate[10]
(non-flame cut unless otherwise stated) meeting at a weld, one has (see Figure 7):
(1) For a continuous single pass weld[11] (Young, 1974):
c i

12;000pAw
P ;
f y ti

(10)

where p is the process efficiency factor and depends on the welding process
adopted (submerged arc 0.90, spray MIG 0.62, dip MIG 0.42, Manual 0.80,
Fusearc 0.75, Cored wire CO2 0.85); Aw is the cross-sectional area of added
weld metal (mm2) (note: when two webs of equal thickness are joined by a fillet
weld of leg L, A 0.6L2 to allow for a little convexity (see Figure 8(a)). For butt
welds, it can be estimated from Aw (in mm2) 16 103 VI/v, where V is the
arc voltage in volts, I the arc current in amps, and v the rate of travel in mm/s
r

+ +
c
c

Figure 7.
Longitudinal residual
stress distribution
across a centrewelded plate

weld

b/2

t
b

Source: ECCS (1976)

(a)

Residual
stresses in
steel members

af 1

(b)
fyk

cf

af 2
tf

bw

tw

81

aw 1

cw

T = S cos 45
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aw 2

fyk

bf

(c)

1

2
+

0.05D

1
+

0.12h

2 = 0.08; 0.24; 0.49

2

1 = 1.04; 0.90; 0.73

1 = 0.41; 0.27; 0.20

+

1

2 = 0.15; 0.24; 0.13

Figure 8.
Welded I/H-section
longitudinal residual
stresses

Notes: (a) Fillet weld leg (S ) and throat (T ) definitions; (b) ECCS (1984)s
model and Swedish code (BSK 99, 2003)s model for non-heavy non-flame
cut walls; (c) the model for medium-sized flame-cut sections proposed by
Wang et al. (2012b)

(Dwight and Mozham, 1969); ti is the thickness of each plate meeting at the weld
(mm); and fy is the yield stress (N/mm2) of the parent metal[12] (r fy in
Figure 1(c) and (d)).
It could be concluded that residual stresses due to intermittent or multi-pass
welds were less severe.
(2) For intermittent welding (Kamtakar, 1974):
cii ci

w
;
wm

(11)

IJSI
7,1

where c(i) is defined in (10), w is the weld length and m is the miss length, all
expressed in mm.
(3) For a previously flame-cut edge that is going to be welded, the final tension
block width was empirically formulated by Young and Dwight (1971) as:
c4iii c4f c4w

82

(12)

where cf is the tension block width due to flame-cutting alone, and cw is the
welding counterpart.

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(4) For the case of n equal-sized and superpositioned welds, if each of them gives
rise to a tension block width c, the final tension block width can be calculated by
(recall Equation (12)):
civ cUn1=4

(13)

(5) For spaced longitudinal welds (e.g. joining a web to a flange), the distance apart
of the fillets is then equal to the web thickness, and there are two different
scenarios:

If the two fillets are made simultaneously, the equivalent tension block
width is determined from Equation (10) by taking Aw as the sum of the two
fillet areas.

If the two fillets are made consecutively and laid a distance greater than 2c
apart (c is the block width for each side of a single weld made alone), there is
no interaction and the welds may be treated separately. Otherwise, if the two
fillets distance (d) is less or equal to 2c, the tension block total width for each
weld is given by c+0.5d.

2.2.2 Symmetric welded I and H-sections. The major difference between longitudinal
residual stress distributions in structural steel H-shaped members composed by millcut and flame-cut plates occurs at the flange tips, where in the case of flame-cut plates
the stresses change from compression to tension, which was discovered by several
authors to improve the strength of welded columns significantly (Chernenko and
Kennedy, 1988).
ECCS (1984). ECCS (1984) proposed a trapezoidal-like distribution for the residual
stress pattern of welded bi-symmetric I and H sections for both flanges and web as
shown in Figure 8(b), with the highest magnitude considered to be the steel yield
strength ( fyk) and located at the weld region. In ECCS (1984)s model (see Figure 8(b)),
af1 0.075bf , af2 0.125bf , aw1 0.075bw and aw2 0.125bw. The maximum
compressive stresses are located at the flange tips and web central zone (see
Figure 8(b)) and are equal to one quarter of the yield stress. That is: cw cf 0.25 fyk.
The proposed distribution is also dependent on the flange width and web height.
Swedish design code BSK 99 (2003). In the Swedish design code BSK 99 (2003), a
similar residual stress distribution was also proposed for non-flame cut bi-symmetric
I-sections with maximum wall thickness of 40 mm, flange width bf 3tf and web width
bw 6tw. The Swedish code (BSK 99, 2003)s model can also be represented by Figure 8(b),
but different values of those key parameters (e.g. af1, af2, aw1, aw2, etc.) are used.
In this model (see Figure 8(b)), af1 0.75tf , af2 1.5tf , aw1 1.5tw and aw2 3tw.
The compressive stresses at those walls (cw in the web and cf in the flange) should be

determined such that equilibrium with the tensile stresses is achieved for each part of
the cross-section, thus reading:
p
B B2 4AC
scw
; A 2bw 9t w ; B 2bw 18t w f yk ; C 9t w f 2yk (14)
2A

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scf

B

p
B2 4AC
;
2A

Residual
stresses in
steel members
83



B 4bf 18t f f yk ; C 9t f f 2yk (15)

A 4bf 9t f ;

Some recent studies have shown that the assumption that tensile stress is equal to the
yield strength ( fyk) tends to overestimate the residual stresses (Clarin, 2004) although
no firm conclusion has been drawn, its suggested ( Johansson et al., 2007) as temporary
recommendation to use 500 MPa as an upper limit of the tensile stress (even if the yield
strength is higher).
Wang et al. (2012b). Wang et al. (2012b) carried out residual stress measurements in
medium-sized flame-cut H-section members made of 460 MPa high-strength steel.
Based on these measurement results, a simplified residual stress distribution with the
rectangular shape of stress blocks was proposed by them (Wang et al., 2012b) as shown
in Figure 8(c)[13], which was based on the assumption of residual stresses being
uniformly distributed through the thickness. Indeed, the variation of residual stresses
across thickness is usually recognized as negligible for the thickness t 25 mm
(Alpsten and Tall, 1970). It should be noted that the rectangular shape of residual stress
blocks would result in more conservative column strengths than the triangular/
trapezoidal shapes, according to Young and Robinson (1975).
2.2.3 Singly symmetric welded I and H-sections. Trahair (2011a). Methods of
designing steel monosymmetric I-beams against lateral buckling are not well supported
by research. In Trahair (2011a), the inelastic buckling of monosymmetric non-heavy
non-flame cut welded steel I-beams was studied and compared with design
recommendations. The residual stress distributions used in the study (see Figure 9)
are, in the larger flange, simplified versions of those used in other inelastic buckling
fy

bl tl

0.3 fy
wwl = 0.3 bl /1.3

bw tw
wws = bs (0.3bs /bl ) / (1+0.3bs /bl )
+ fy
b s ts

Source: Trahair (2011a)

0.3 fy bs /bl

Figure 9.
Longitudinal residual
stresses in nonheavy non-flame cut
monosymmetric
welded beams under
lateral buckling

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84

studies (Trahair, 1983, 1993). Reduced residual stresses are assumed for the smaller
flange and no residual stresses are assumed for the web, since web yielding has
comparatively little effect on lateral buckling.
2.2.4 Welded box-sections. Dwight and Moxham (1969). These authors obtained
experimentally through the sectioning method residual stress distributions for nonheavy non-flame cut welded box-sections (SHS), and obtained similar stress patterns
than those reported from Lehigh University (Nishino et al., 1967). However, for the
purpose of analysis, the idealized residual stress pattern shown in Figure 1(d) was
taken, which follows the recommendations specified under ECCS (1976) (i) in
Section 2.2.1 of the present work.
ECCS (1976). Figure 10(a) depicts the residual over yield stress ratio patterns (note
that positive values represent compressive stresses) proposed by ECCS (1976) for nonheavy non-flame cut[14] welded SHS made of mild steel. Different patterns are
proposed depending on the box section slenderness h/t and welding level, namely,
1 t

(a)

fyk

 fyk

2 t

I: h /t = 20
II: h /t = 20
III: h /t = 40
IV: h /t = 40

1

2

3.0
1.5
3.0
1.5

6.0
3.0
6.0
3.0


0.82
0.29
0.29
0.13

(b)

(c)
1.5t


+

c

3t

w0.35t
D

fyk


t

w0.35t

 = 0.56; 0.68; 0.79

 = 0.26; 0.20; 0.14

Figure 10.
Welded non-heavy
SHS longitudinal
residual stresses

Notes: (a) Residual over yield stress ratios in each non-flame cut wall,
proposed by ECCS (1976); (b) residual stresses in each non-flame cut
wall (t40 mm), proposed by the Swedish design code BSK 99 (2003);
(c) residual stresses in each high-strength steel flame-cut wall proposed
by Wang et al. (2012a)

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identified by I h/t 20 and heavily welded, II h/t 20 and lightly welded,

III h/t 40 and heavily welded and IV h/t 40 and lightly welded.
Swedish Design Code BSK 99 (2003). The distribution of Figure 10(b) is valid for
every (non-flame cut[15]) wall, providing its thickness (t) does not exceed 40 mm and its
width b 6t, and the compressive stress (c) is given by Equation (14). Some recent
studies have shown that the assumption that tensile stress is equal to the yield strength
( fyk) tends to overestimate the residual stresses (Clarin, 2004) although no firm
conclusion has been drawn, it was suggested ( Johansson et al., 2007) as temporary
recommendation to use 500 MPa as an upper limit of the tensile stress (even if the yield
strength is higher).
Wang et al. (2012a). The initial stress model developed and shown in Figure 10(c)
was based on test specimens fabricated from 11 mm thick high-strength steel plates
(nominal yield strength 460 MPa), which were flame-cut into small component plates
and then welded together (gas metal arc welding) to form a box section note that
dimension w in Figure 10(c) is obtained by applying the equilibrium condition of null
axial force in the whole section, reading:
w

1:4t bd D

:
8
4ab

Residual
stresses in
steel members
85

(16)

It was observed that the three box sections (with plate slenderness ratios ranging from
7.7 till 17.3) almost have the same width for tensile residual stress blocks (w), which is
about 18 mm.
2.2.5 Cruciform cross-sections. Trahair (2011b). Figure 11 presents the longitudinal
residual stress distribution in each non-flame cut wall of a small to medium size welded
cruciform section, considered by Trahair (2011b) in a numerical investigation
concerning local and torsional inelastic behaviours.
0.3 fy
+

0.3 fy

Source: Trahair (2011b)

Figure 11.
Longitudinal residual
stresses in each wall
of a non-heavy nonflame cut cruciform
section

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86

2.3 Cold-formed sections

There are two types of cold-forming, the cold rolling (or roll forming) and the pressbraking, being the former the most used/efficient in large scale production. In this
process, steel profiles are fabricated at room temperature by forcing a thin (mostly 0.356.4 mm thick) steel sheet to bend transverse and gradually along its longitudinal axis
through compression rollers, and until the desired cross-section is obtained[16]. At the
end of the production line, a transversal cut is performed in order to obtain the desired
length of the member. Before the production starts, the metal sheet is coiled and stored,
which may originate plastic deformations across the thickness, depending on the
curvature (in the coil) of the sheet metal portion to be used in fabrication. In press
braking, the metallic sheet is folded through longitudinal knife forces applied at the
section corner positions, until the final shape is obtained. Both manufacturing
processes described above induce high plastic strains at the section corners. Work
hardening (highest at the corner regions) and elastic unloading occurring during coldforming lead to a distribution of residual stresses and strains along the cross-section.
General methods for predicting residual stresses and plastic strains in cold-formed
(non-welded) steel members (Moen et al., 2008; Moen and Schafer, 2009; Quach et al.,
2004, 2006, 2009a, b) take membrane residual stresses as null. They have been
measured by several researchers (Weng and Pekoz, 1990; Key and Hancock, 1993; Dat,
1980; Ingvarsson, 1975; Batista et al., 1992; Kwon, 1992; Bernard, 1993), although the
magnitudes are small when compared to the bending counterpart. Average values from
experimental work until 1998 (Schafer and Pekoz, 1998) indicate that membrane
residual stresses are more prevalent in roll-formed than press-braked sections, and are
higher in section corners. Based on a number of experimental studies, Schafer and
Pekoz (1998) found membrane residual stresses to be of low magnitude generally less
than 0.06fy and 0.08fy for press-braked and cold-rolled carbon steel sections,
respectively. Most numerical works involving cold-formed non-welded sections do not
take into account the influence of membrane residual stresses in the FEA (e.g. Young
and Yan, 2002a, b; Narayanan and Mahendran, 2003; Young and Ellobody, 2007; Wang
and Zhang, 2010).
2.3.1 SHS and RHS. Cold-formed hollow sections are fabricated from one of two
possible ways, either cold-forming the strip to the final desired shape and then weld it
longitudinally in a continuous process in order to close the cross-section, or roll-forming
the strip into a CHS (circular hollow section), and then roll-forming it into the desired
final shape (e.g. SHS, RHS).
Sherman (1971). Two cold-formed small-sized RHS columns with significant residual
stresses were tested. Test results are compared with analytical predictions based upon
the residual stress pattern shown in Figure 6, where R 0.4, which is a fair
approximation of the measured initial stress distributions.
Key and Hancock (1993). The cold-formed SHS tested have slenderness ratios (b/t) in
the range 29-38 and are produced from semi-killed steel strip with nominal yield stress of
250 MPa (first formed into a CHS and then rolled into the final shape). No post-forming
stress-relief treatment was employed, thus leading to high through-thickness residual
stress gradients. Based on measurements and results from other researchers and in order
to perform elastic-plastic finite strip analysis, an analytical model have been developed
for the distribution of longitudinal membrane initial stresses, as depicted in Figure 12
(null stresses at corners and values in MPa) null transverse membrane residual stresses
were proposed. Although the magnitude of the residual stresses may have varied

Residual
stresses in
steel members

30 MPa
+

30 MPa

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weld

Source: Key and Hancock (1993)

between the four sections tested, it was concluded that the analytical model should be
based on the measurements taken on the 152 152 4.9 mm SHS, for which a mean
value could be calculated and the measured variability assessed.
Blum (2013). In order to model longitudinal membrane residual stresses in FE
models, the bi-linear distribution proposed by Davison and Birkemoe (1982) was chosen
for its simplicity stresses vary linearly from maximum tensile at the flat centreline to
maximum compressive at the corner. Although Davison and Birkemoe (1982) have
used in their model a magnitude of 0.17fy ( fy is the steel yield stress), Blums statistical
assessment (also based on other experimental results) resulted in a mean value of 0.1fy,
which was effectively adopted in the FEA.
2.3.2 Plain/lipped channels and angles. According to Young and Rasmussen (1998)
and Young and Yan (2002a, b) concerning plain channel sections, and Young (2004)
regarding lipped channel shapes; membrane residual stresses were found insignificant
(res o 0.030.2, being 0.2 the 0.2 per cent proof stress) and were not considered in FEA.
Concerning press braked channel sections, Weng and Pekoz (1990) observed combined
bending and membrane stresses in the range of 0.25-0.70 fy, of which the bending part
represented a considerable portion. Relatively uniform combined residual stresses were
reported along the section faces, with increased values in the corner regions, where
membrane residual stresses were reported to be low.
Previous studies on cold-formed plain and lipped angle sections (Young and
Ellobody, 2005, 2007; Ellobody and Young, 2005) have shown that the effect of residual
stresses on the column behaviour of angle sections is minute.
2.3.3 Litesteel beam (LSB) sections. Anapayan et al. (2011). In LSBs, longitudinal
residual stresses are dominant. There are considerably large membrane stresses in the
web because of section welding, although flanges are governed by flexural residual
stresses (Keerthan and Mahendran, 2011). Figure 13 depicts the longitudinal membrane
residual stress model used by Seo et al. (2008) and Anapayan et al. (2011) in numerical
analyses of LSBs, where the left flange value 0.2567fy ( fy is the yield stress of the base
metal before cold-forming) is the only one dependent of section dimensions, in order to
guarantee a null residual axial force those values can be consulted in Anapayan et al.
(2011) for all the available LSB sections at the time.

87

Figure 12.
Cold-formed SHS
longitudinal residual
stress model in each
face (null at corners)

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0.2567 fy
0.03 fy
0.50 fy

88

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0.11 fy

Figure 13.
Cold-formed LSBs:
longitudinal residual
stress distribution

0.03 fy

0.50 fy

0.11 fy

0.03 fy

0.50 fy
0.03 fy
0.2567 fy

Source: Anapayan et al. (2011)

3. Concluding remarks
One of the most challenging aspects in the performance of accurate SFEA to simulate
the real behaviour of steel members, is the residual stress modelling. Longitudinal
membrane residual stresses are often the only ones explicitly modelled in FEA of steel
members, since non-membrane locked-in stress effects are approximately taken into
account through the stress-strain curves obtained from coupons cut from the structural
member. In this context, this paper presented an effective state of the art of longitudinal
membrane residual stress analytical distributions for small to medium size carbon steel
sections, covering a vast range of structural shapes (plates, I, H, L, T, cruciform, SHS,
RHS and LSB) and fabrication processes (hot-rolling, welding and cold-forming). It is
certainly of great utility for researchers and structural designers.

Notes
1. For a general three dimensional residual stress state, the longitudinal stresses computed as
one-dimensional include the influence of transverse residual stresses that may also exist.
Indeed, the effect of the transverse stresses on the measured released strains in a sectioning
procedure is somewhat similar to that on the yielding behaviour of a loaded member
(Alpsten and Tall, 1970).
2. In cold-formed tubular sections, such as the LiteSteel Beam (LSB) Section, experimental
results also show the relevant presence of membrane residual stresses due to welding
cooling effects (Anapayan and Mahendran, 2012).
3. The fully numerical methods are more versatile than the analytical ones but require
previous knowledge about the FE simulation of the fabrication process; and strongly
decrease computational efficiency.
4. This coupons bend longitudinal and transversely if the corresponding residual moments are
non-null before cutting. Although the longitudinal bending residual stresses released are
always reintroduced because the coupon is axially straightened during testing (Ashraf et al.,
2006; Cruise and Gardner, 2008a), the same may not happen transversely.

5. The through thickness residual stress variation in plates thicker than about 25 mm is
considerable (ECCS, 1976).
6. Note that the flange stress distributions are only represented in the top flange, although
they are the same in both flanges.
7. Note that in Eurocode 3, part 1-1 (CEN, 2005), the buckling curves prescribed for hot
finished tubular sections are the less detrimental regarding the strength reductions
involved.

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8. No reference is made to the size of the plate, so one should assume it is valid for any
slenderness and thickness values, although not forgetting that the component must be a
plate.
9. An arbitrary welded shape can then be considered as an assemblage of welded plates, in
order to determine an approximate residual stress distribution (ECCS, 1976).
10. Where a weld occurs somewhere in the middle of a plate, the two portions on either side are
regarded as separate plates each with their own tension zone of equal width.
11. According to Dwight and Mozham (1969), the expression (10) is only independent of b (plate
width) if b/t W25.
12. The higher yield value of the actual weld metal is ignored, since it applies only to a small
part of the tension zone.
13. i and i are the ratios for each studied section (columns) of tensile and compressive residual
stresses over the yield strength of the base metal 1 were obtained by equilibrium since
those measurements were not available.
14. Since no reference is made regarding the way plates were cut, this distributions are herein
assumed valid for non-flame cut (as-rolled) plate components only recall Figure 1(b).
15. Since no reference is made regarding the way plates were cut, this distribution is herein
assumed valid for non-flame cut (as-rolled) plate components only recall Figure 1(b).
16. In partially/totally closed sections, welding is also performed.

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stresses in
steel members
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Corresponding author
Dr Miguel Abambres can be contacted at: miguel.abambres@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

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