Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906

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Nuclear Engineering and Design

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nucengdes

Combination of simulation and experiment in designing repair

weld strategies: A feasibility study
L.K. Keppas a , R.C. Wimpory b , D.E. Katsareas a, , C. Ohms c
a
Machine Design Laboratory, Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics Department, University of Patras, GR-26500 Rion, Greece
b
Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin fur Materialien und Energie GmbH, Abt. FI-1 (IAM), Hahn Meitner Platz 1, D-14109 Berlin, Germany
c
High Flux Reactor Unit, Institute for Energy, EC-JRC, PO2, 1755 ZG Petten, The Netherlands

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Numerical simulations, based on an off-the-self commercial nite element (FE) code and experimental
Received 10 April 2009 tests using the neutron diffraction (ND) technique, are combined in an attempt to evaluate post-weld
Received in revised form 26 April 2010 heat treatment (PWHT) of a letterbox-type repair weld, in respect of its effect on the residual stress eld.
Accepted 6 May 2010
21/4CrMo steel plates with an 18-pass repair weld were heat treated at various temperature levels and
for different durations. Due to the prohibitive cost of a complete residual stress mapping, ND tests were
performed only at selected specimen locations. In this sense, FE simulation acts as a supplement to ND,
since it predicts the complete residual stress eld. Uncoupled quasi-static thermoelasticity in conjunc-
tion with an element activation/deactivation technique, simulating deposition of new weld material, are
combined in a 3D FE analysis. Grouping of the 18 weld beads in lumps, following a sensitivity analysis,
reduces computational costs to feasible levels, whereas a creep strain hardening law is used to simulate
stress relaxation during PWHT. Computed residual stresses are compared to ND measurements for ver-
ication purposes. Comparison of heat treated specimen measurements to heat treated and untreated
specimen predictions illustrates that PWHT has a strong effect on the residual stress eld, achieving
signicant stress relaxation.
2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction ing standard multi-pass welding procedures. If the circumstances

Repair welding is a remedial action taken after quality inspec-
tion, during the manufacturing stage, or after maintenance routine
inspection, during the in-service life of components of high tem-
perature, pressure retaining systems in power plants. In common
practice, the defect, which might be a crack, void, lack of fusion in
a weld joint or even degraded material, is, as a minimum require-
ment, completely removed by excavation. In the case where there
is lack of sidewall fusion or a heat affected zone (HAZ) crack run-
ning across the wall thickness in a weld, full or partial repairs are
performed. The main difference between these two repair designs
is that, in the former the whole of the original weld and surrounding
parent material is removed, whereas during a partial repair, only a
part of the original weld is removed. Further categorization of repair
welds leads to centered repairs, during which material beyond the
fusion boundary of the original weld is removed and repairs dur-
ing which the excavation is offset from the original weld centerline.
The excavation, usually having a letterbox shape, is lled with weld
ller material compatible to the components base material, follow-
Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 2610969418; fax: +30 997207.
E-mail address: katsareas@hotmail.com (D.E. Katsareas).
allow it, repair welding takes place in the workshop, according to
original manufacturing standards (Aloraier et al., 2004), after shut-
ting down equipment or isolating from the production process the
part of the plant that contains the faulty component, e.g. piping,
steam chests, headers, steam turbine blades, etc. (Bhaduri et al.,
2001). In cases where an in situ repair is necessary, as is the case of
nuclear power plant piping components or even a pressure vessel
wall, access to which is both limited and dangerous, special welding
procedures, tailored to the specic situation, are developed. When
carried out with minimum disruption of operations, repair weld-
ing is economically more attractive than conventional solutions,
which in the manufacturing stage translate into discarding the
faulty component, whereas during maintenance, require replace-
ment of the component. Repair welding is becoming increasingly
prevalent in the equally sensitive case of aircraft gas turbines, as a
way of reducing the costs associated with blade and other compo-
nent replacements (Qian and Lippold, 2003).
Evaluation of common practice repair welding in the nuclear
industry, conducted by researchers of the Electric Power Research
Institute (EPRI), revealed that almost half of all weld repairs to
steam pipes, chests and headers have failed during operation, in
one way or the other, as in the case of a steam leak at a pipe
repair weld. A common type of failure in repair welds, according

0029-5493/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2010.05.034
2898 L.K. Keppas et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906

ence of residual stresses has been well documented, was a steam

Nomenclature leak at a non-stress relieved pipe-work repair weld (Bouchard et
al., 2005). As in the case of repair welding, PWHT which is a very
d lattice spacing time consuming process, takes place in the workshop, according
 wavelength to original manufacturing standards. A problem with PWHT arises
 angle of diffraction in cases of steam or gas turbine components (e.g. blades), where
0 unstressed material angle of diffraction precipitation-hardened superalloys are used (Qian and Lippold,
d0 unstressed material lattice spacing 2003). Multiple repairs over their lifetimes also require multiple
 thermal conductivity cycles of PWHT, which results in weldability degradation making
 density further repair difcult. Taking all the above into consideration, the
C specic heat need arises for design and development of an elaborate repair strat-
T temperature egy, tailored to each specic case of repair welding. This is vividly
Q internal heat source illustrated by the fact that, The European Union1 co-funded and is
T ambient temperature still actively sponsoring research projects like ELIXIR (focused on
qc heat loss due to convection the delivery of advanced fabrication and repair welding procedures
qr heat loss due to radiation (Brown et al., 2006; Memhard et al., 2005)), ENPOWER (aiming at
qi heat input rate for unit surface area the development of advanced techniques and procedures, for repair
q heat loss due to convection and radiation and replacement welds of components, in ageing nuclear plants
V volume (Boucher et al., 2005) and last but not least NET (of which Task 2
Si surface over which heat input takes place is aiming at the evaluation of PWHT strategies in multi-pass repair
S surface over which heat loss takes place welds (Youtsos and Ohms, 2002))).
{Q} incremental heat ow vector Reliable structural integrity assessments require a good descrip-
T temperature increment between two time instants tion of the through-wall residual stress eld in the component.
t, t + t Accurate residual stress characterization is particularly difcult in
t time step the case of repair welds. This is attributed to strong material prop-
tT temperature at time instant t
t+t T
erty variations across the weld-parent boundary, but also the weld
temperature at time instant t + t repair boundary. Other factors that also contribute to the complex-
 stress ity of the problem are, the intricate excavation geometry, controlled
total strain by the extent of damage and the effect that system loads have on
e elastic strain failure behavior. A common practice in the industry is to use empir-
p plastic strain ical defect assessment procedures, like R6 or alternative structural
th thermal strain integrity codes like API 579, which recommend bounding resid-
cr creep strain ual stress proles for welds. In order to secure a high safety factor
a coefcient of thermal expansion during the assessment, empirical structural integrity assessment
[D] effective stiffness matrix codes tend to overestimate residual stress levels in welds, a practice
Y yield stress which in some cases leads to overconservative conclusions (Elcoate
{n} unit vector in the direction of plastic strain et al., 2005). It has also been observed that for some classes of welds,
M plastic modulus different empirical codes propose signicantly different residual
E Young modulus stress upper bounds. Complete mapping of the post-weld resid-
ET elastoplastic tangent modulus (slope of the ual stresses can be obtained using destructive or non-destructive
stressstrain curve in the plastic region) experimental techniques, which in general are primarily expensive
  11 ,   22 ,   33 deviatoric stress components but also time consuming. Such measurements are used, in con-
,
,

12 shear stress components on the yield surface
23 31
Dp elastoplastic stiffness matrix
{dU} vector of virtual displacements at nodes
{db} incremental distributed loads per unit volume
{ds} incremental surface loads per unit area
{dP} incremental concentrated loads
{dfp } vector of nodal loads due to thermal gradients and
variation of thermal properties with temperature
i current iteration
to industrial experience, is cracking, occurring with time in the
vicinity of the HAZ (Hyde et al., 2004). This is because high resid-
ual stresses of multi-axial nature, that tend to accumulate in the
HAZ, undergo creep relaxation and the materials creep ductility is
exhausted (creep damage), thus leading to reheat cracking (Soanes
et al., 2005). The most common precaution for this is to complete
the welding procedure by post-weld heat treatment (PWHT), in an
attempt to relieve a good portion, if not all, of residual stresses. It
was also shown by EPRI researchers that, more than two thirds of all
repair welds in the electric power industry were performed without
PWHT, thus making it safe to assume that residual stresses pro-
duced during welding, had a fundamental impact in the majority of
subsequent repair weld failures. One of the cases, where the inu-
junction with empirical codes, for structural integrity assessment
of components and structures (Dong et al., 2005). In recent years
there has been a growing trend to use computational methods, such
as the nite element method, for predicting residual stresses in
welded components (Lindgren, 2001). Such simulations are gener-
ally coupled with a limited not for any other reason than cost
experimental investigation, which serves as basis for verication
and validation of the computational model.
In an attempt to propose a design tool for repair strategies,
the present work focuses on repair weld PWHT evaluation by
implementation of a simplied nite element methodology in con-
junction to limited neutron diffraction measurements. 18-pass
letterbox-type repair welds on 21/4CrMo plate specimens were
subjected to different post-weld heat treatment proles. Com-
plete mapping of the residual stress eld is performed using a
3D nite element model, which incorporates creep, for modeling
stress relaxation during PWHT. Weld bead deposition is simulated
using an element activationdeactivation technique. Computa-
1
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ndDOCeq836ndTBLeqEN PROJ.htm;http://cordis.europa.eu/data/PROJ FP5/ACTION
eqDndSESSIONeq112182005919ndDOCeq608ndTBLeqEN PROJ.htm;and
http://ie.jrc.ec.europa.eu/publications/info sheets docs/ Info%20Sheet%20NET.pdf.
 L.K. Keppas et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906 2899

Table 1
Welding parameters and material information.

Welding method Submerged arc welding (SAW)

Travel speed (mm/s) 8.67
Electrode type ETC AL CROMO S225 + ETCF537
2.25CrMo
Electrode diameter (mm) 4
Pre-heat temperature ( C) 200
Interpass temperature ( C) 250

Welding current (A) Pass 13, 470

Pass 418, 570

Arc voltage (V) 30

Base material grade
Filler material grade
Base material chemical
composition
Filler material composition
10CrMo9-10, low alloy steel
(DIN17175)
10CrMo9-10, wire
0.135% C, 0.517% Mn, 2.412% Cr, 1.009%
Mo, 0.08% Si, 0.071% Cu, 0.035% Al,
0.008% P, 0.0004% S
0.12% C, 0.83% Mn, 2.31% Cr, 1.07% Mo,
0.12% Si, 0.05% Cu, 0.005% P, 0.003% S,
0.14% Ni, 0.005% Nb, 0.014% V, 0.001%
Sb, 0.003% Sn, 0.005% As

Fig. 1. Parent plate geometry, restraining and repair weld pass sequence.

tional results are validated by comparison to a limited set of neutron

diffraction measurements, obtained at selective paths on each spec-
imen. Simulation and experiments demonstrated that specimens
which underwent PWHT, exhibit signicant stress relaxation when
compared to untreated ones.

2. Repair welds under different post-weld heat treatment

proles

Fig. 1 depicts the geometry of a machined 21/4CrMo plates

that contains a central excavation. These plates are the basis for
the manufacturing of the repair weld. An 18-bead submerged arc
weld was deposited along the excavation with the pass sequence
shown in the same gure. The repair was conducted supporting the
plates by tack welding (Fig. 1). The plates were not heat treated to
Fig. 2. True stress vs. true strain for the parent material.
remove fabrication residual stresses prior to welding. Steel grades
and chemical compositions for the base and ller materials, as
well as the welding parameters used, are listed in Table 1. Fig. 2
presents true stresstrue strain curves, at different temperatures,
for the base material. Fig. 3 shows the same for the ller material.
Table 2 lists thermal, mechanical and physical properties for both
base and ller materials (Steiner, 1990). After the completion of
weld material deposition and cooling down to room temperature,
the plates were removed from the welding bench and subjected
to different PWHT temperature proles. Attempting to cover the
widest possible range of workable stress relief treatments, spec-
imens were subjected to three different heat treatment proles
with holding temperatures at 620, 690 and 750 C (above 750 C
alpha-gamma transition takes place). Neutron diffraction measure-
ments of residual stresses were performed only on the rst and last
PWHT proles, which are described in detail in Table 3. The present
study examines these two PWHT proles for the evaluation of the
proposed methodology on designing repair weld strategies.

3. Residual stress measurements using the neutron

diffraction method

The diffraction method for residual stress analysis is based on Fig. 3. True stress vs. true strain for the weld material.
the Bragg principle. This principle relates the lattice spacing of a
2900 L.K. Keppas et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906

Table 2
Thermo-mechanical and physical properties of parent and weld materials.

Temperature ( C) Specic heat (kJ/kg/ C) Density (kg/m3 ) Conductivity (W/m/ C) Thermal exp. (106 ) ( C1 ) Youngs modulus (GPa) Poissons ratio

20 0.473 36 11.5 210 0.288

100 0.492 36.5 12.6 206 0.29
200 0.520 37 13.7 198 0.292
300 0.552 36.5 14.45 188 0.295
400 0.536 35 15 130 0.297
500 0.642 33 15.4 171 0.301
600 0.723 30 15.65 163 0.309
650 0.730 7800 29 15.7 154 0.314
700 0.830 28 15.7 150 0.32
750 1.450 27.5 15.7 137 0.33
800 0.935 27 15.7 125 0.355
900 0.620 27 15.7 116 0.36
1000 0.530 27 15.7 100 0.39
1200 0.660 27 15.7 40 0.42
1500 0.700 27 15.7 2 0.45

crystalline material to the positions of the diffraction peaks in the

scattering pattern that this material generates from the incident
radiation. For a given wavelength of the incident radiation and a
given lattice spacing, the Bragg equation is:
n = 2 d sin  (1)
with n being an integer representing the order of the reection
observed. As the presence of residual stresses changes the lattice
spacing of the material from its unstressed value, the measure-
ment of this variation was used for the experimental determination
of such residual stresses. The relative deformation under stress is
dened as:
d d0
= (2)
d0
Combination of Eqs. (1) and (2) results in:
sin 0
= 1 (3)
sin 
By measuring the scattering angle in a material element under
stress and the scattering angle in an identical material without
stress, the strain can be determined in accordance with Eq. (3).
Residual stress and strain are magnitudes of tensor dimension
and they vary with location and direction. By changing the ori-
entation of the specimen under investigation with respect to the
neutron beam one can measure strains within the specimen in
different directions. By changing the position of the specimen in
the neutron beam, measurements can be obtained from different
locations inside a specimen (see Fig. 4).
When strains have been measured in three mutually orthogonal
directions, at a given location within the specimen, stresses in these
directions can be determined via the generalized Hookes law:
E E
j = + (x + y + z ) (4)
1 +  j (1 + )(1 2)
with the index j representing the measurement direction. In the
case that x, y and z coincide with the principal stress directions at
the test location, the stress tensor is fully determined by measuring
x , y and z . Eq. (4) is also applicable in the case x, y and z are not the
principal stress directions, but in this case the off diagonal compo-
nents of the stress tensor would not be 0. In most practical cases it is

Table 3
PWHT proles.

PWHT specications Heating rate Holding period Cooling rate up

above 300 C at elevated to 300 C
temperature

Temp. prole 1 50 C/h 8 h at 750 C 70 C/h

Fig. 4. ND stress measurement: (a) measurement of average lattice spacing, (b)
Temp. prole 2 50 C/h 4 h at 620 C 70 C/h
specimen translation and (c) specimen rotation.
 L.K. Keppas et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906 2901

assumed that the specimen geometry and the nature of the produc- The incremental matricial form of the stressstrain relationship
tion process indicate, what the principal stress directions are, and for thermo-elasto-plastic analysis, considering the Von Mises yield
residual stress measurements are performed in accordance with Eq. criterion, is:
(4) only. In order to experimentally determine a full stress tensor,  
p [D]{n}T [dD]
e.g. in cases where the principal stress directions are not known, {d} = D ({d} {a}dT (T Ta ){da}) + dD e
S
strain measurements in at least six independent directions would
be necessary.
[D]{n}2/3Yfm1 (Y/T )dT
+ (11)
S
4. Repair weld simulation using the nite element method
where,

A major assumption of the proposed welding simulation 2 2Y 1 2

methodology is that, thermal dissipation due to internal friction
T
S = {n} [D]{n} + {n}T M{n}(1 ) + f M (12)
3 3 m 3
is insignicant, therefore there is no dependence of the tempera-
ture eld on the stress eld. Thus rst the transient heat transfer The plastic modulus is M = EET /(EET ),  is a factor that indi-
problem is solved and the resulting temporal temperature eld is cates the extent of isotropic hardening taking the values,  = 1 for
used as loading in the constitutive equations for static stress analy- isotropic hardening and  = 0 for kinematic hardening:
sis. The elements, representing the currently deposited increment
T 1/2
of a weld pass, are activated and a thermal load, in the form of pre- fm = [{  11   22   33 2
12

2
23
2
31 }{  11   22   33 2
12

2
23
2
31 } ]
scribed temperature equal to the material melting point, is applied
(13)
on them for a specic time period. The heating period is controlled
by the torch traveling speed and the length of the weld pass incre- and the elastoplastic stiffness matrix is:
ment currently deposited. Deactivation of elements is achieved by
[D]{n}{n}T [D]
nulling their contribution to the global stiffness or conductivity Dp = [D] (14)
S
matrix, by articially zeroing their stiffness or by making innite
their conductivity, respectively. Activation is the opposite proce- The nite element equations for displacement formulation of the
dure. The prescribed temperature load is moved gradually from the incremental theory are derived based on the principle of virtual
rst to the second weld pass increment, when the elements of the work. The virtual work equation is written as:
later are activated (meanwhile previous increments are allowed to
  
T T T
cool convectively), until the whole length of the weld pass has been {dU} BT {d}dV = {dU} H T {ds}dA + {dU} H T {ds}dA
V A A
deposited. A series of linked static structural analyses is following,
each referring to a single point in time of the thermal analysis and T
+ {dU} {dP} (15)
using as load the corresponding predicted temperature distribu-
tion. The nal static analysis produces the residual stress eld.
In what follows the governing equations describing uncoupled In the absence of any distributed, surface and concentrated
quasi-static thermo-elasto-plasticity, are presented in detail. loads, substituting Eq. (11) into Eq. (15) the virtual work equation
The variational formulation of thermal equilibrium equation is: becomes:

  
T  T T [BT ][D]p [B]{dU}dV
T T dV = T (Q C T )dV + T qi dSi
V
V V Si    
 T p [D]{n}T [dD]
= [B ] [D] [{a}dT +(T Ta ){da}] [dD] {e }
+ T T q dS (5) V
S
S 
[D]{n}2/3Yfm1 (Y/T )dT
Discretization of Eq. (5) in the space-time domain leads to: + dV (16)
S
  
t [C] t+t [C](i1)
t
[] + {T }
(i)
= t+t {Q }(i1) (6) which can be expressed in matrix form:
t t{t+t T (i1) tT}
[K]p {dU} = {dfp } (17)
where the effective conductivity matrix is:
  with [K]p being:
T T

[] = B BdV + (1 + 2 )H HdS (7)
[K]p = BT Dp BdV (18)
V S
V
the specic heat matrix is:
 representing the elements stiffness matrix. The convergence crite-
T
rion is:
[C] = H H(C)dV (8) 
V N (i) 2 N (i1) 2
1/2

k=1
{Uk } k=1
{Uk }
and the incremental heat ow vector is:  1/2 100 tolerance (19)
   N (i) 2
{Uk }
{Q } = H T qdSi H T H(1 + 2 ){T T }dS BT BTdV (9) k=1
Si S V
Eqs. (6) and (17) are solved numerically, using the
The convergence criterion is: NewtonRaphson iterative method and the convergence criteria
 N
1/2 (10) and (19), respectively.
N (i) 2 (i1) 2
{T }
k=1 k
k=1
{Tk } Post-weld heat treatment is simulated as time dependent tem-
 1/2 100 tolerance (10) perature load, applied after the specimen has cooled down to room
N (i) 2 temperature. This thermal load varies according to the PWHT pro-
{T }
k=1 k
le under consideration. A creep material model is employed to
2902 L.K. Keppas et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906

take into account stress relaxation during PWHT. Secondary creep

is assumed here, in which creep strain rate is only temperature
dependent. The creep strain rate is computed using Nortons strain
hardening law:
1/R 1(1/R)
cr = R(G F ) AeB/T (20)

The total strain, incorporating creep, is:

= e + p + th + cr (21)

Low alloy steels exhibit metallurgical phase transformations

(alpha-gamma-alpha) during welding, due to the temperatures
involved. Furthermore, there are probably martensitic and bainitic
phases present, in and around the heat affected zone after welding.
The proposed nite element methodology does not take such phase
transformations into consideration. The impact of this simplica-
tion on predicted residual stresses can only be evident when there
is comparison to measurements. A more complete evaluation of
this simplication would be to compare present results to predicted
residual stresses, obtained using a FE model that incorporates phase
transformation simulation.

5. Results and discussion

The repair under investigation is representative of real life cases,

usually met in industrial applications and as such has not been
optimized for parametric computational or laboratory analysis.
Simulation of the deposition of 18 individual weld passes, in three
dimensions, is extremely cumbersome and impractically time con-
suming and computer-space demanding. It is worth mentioning
that the 3D analysis was executed in approximately 51 h, on an Intel
Core 2 6400 C2DC Conroe computer, running at 2.13 GHz (13,655
MFLOPS) and this was only for the simplied, lump-by-lump anal-
ysis, described in detail later in this section. A full 3D pass-by-pass
simulation would have required a prohibitive computational cost.
In order to reduce the volume of computations performed during
simulation of the weld pass deposition, the whole process is carried
out in two parts.
In the rst part, the short length of the repair weld (along z)
is neglected, a plain strain state is assumed and edge effects are
considered unimportant. Although these assumptions are invalid
in this particular case, they allow for the use of a 2D nite element
idealization (1239 nodes) of a transverse cross-section (along path
A) of the repair (see Fig. 5a). Free convection, with a lm coef-
cient equal to 15 W/m2 K, is assigned over all free surfaces. In order
to take into account the restraining applied by tack welding, it is
Fig. 5. (a) 2D FE model of a cross-section, (b) lump-by-lump scheme and (c) pass-
by-pass scheme.
assumed that nodes, corresponding to a line 5 mm long on each
side of the plate, are constraint in directions x and y (see Fig. 1).
This 2D simulation is performed only for the sake of evaluating and
selecting an appropriate weld pass grouping (also known as lump-
ing) scheme (see Fig. 5b). This will ultimately lead to signicantly
reduced analysis time, but at the same time produce results compa-
rable to those obtained following the full pass-by-pass analysis (see
Fig. 5c). A series of 2D analyses using various grouping strategies
has led to the lump-by-lump scheme depicted in Fig. 5b. Compar-
ison of predicted residual stresses in x (transverse to welding) and
z (longitudinal to welding) directions, obtained using full pass-by-
pass and the optimized lump-by-lump schemes, are presented in
Fig. 6 a and b, respectively.

Fig. 6. Weld pass grouping optimizationresidual stress comparison: (a) transverse and (b) longitudinal.
 L.K. Keppas et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906
Fig. 7. 3D FE model of a letterbox-type repair weld.
In the second part of the proposed methodology, a full 3D simu-
lation of the repair is performed, using the FE model shown in Fig. 7.
The model mesh is comprised of 11,578 brick 20-node thermal ele-
ments and 51,472 nodes. The 3D mesh was generated in such a way
so that its cross-section along path A is identical to the 2D mesh. All
analyses in three dimensions utilize the optimum lump-by-lump
scheme (see Fig. 5b). As it was mentioned earlier regarding 3D anal-
ysis, the deposition of each weld lump is modeled in an incremental
way. Each lump is descretized in 10 increments. In the proposed
welding simulation methodology, heat input is directly dependant
on the electrode travel speed and the cross-section of the molten
Fig. 8. FE model validationresidual stress comparison along path A: (a) transverse and (b) longitudinal.
Fig. 9. FE model validationresidual stress comparison along path B: (a) transverse and (b) longitudinal.
2903
pool. By assuming that the deposited weld bead is divided into a
discrete number of lumps (the larger the number, the better the
approximation), the electrode travel speed and the cross-section of
the molten pool dene a volume of ller metal that, in the model,
is taken to be at the solidication temperature (here 1450 C) for
the specied (lump length divided by travel speed) period of time.
In this way heat is conducted from the rst hot weld lump to the
base material and then from the second and so forth, until the weld
bead is fully deposited. The drawback of the proposed approach is
the assumption of the shape and size of the weld pool cross-section,
but it is compensated by the signicant advantage that it is appli-
cable to any joining technique that involves deposition of molten
material. The methodology has not yet been tested on autogenous
welding (no ller material involved). Tack welding is modeled by
applying translational constraints in x, y, z directions, on nodes cor-
responding to an area of 50 mm 5 mm, on each of the four corners
of the plate (see Fig. 1).
Simulation of the PWHT phase incorporates Nortons law (Eq.
(20)), using the following constants (Steiner, 1990):
G = 9.16 1021 , F = 7.7, R = 0.77, A = 7.016 1031 ,
B = 59616
(units are MPa, h and K). The chemical compositions of base and
ller materials are indirectly taken into consideration in the pro-
posed welding simulation methodology, through the thermal and
2904 L.K. Keppas et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906

Fig. 10. PWHT evaluationresidual stress comparison along path A for PWHT prole 2: (a) transverse and (b) longitudinal.

Fig. 11. PWHT evaluationresidual stress comparison along path A for PWHT prole 1: (a) transverse and (b) longitudinal.

mechanical properties of the involved materials. Materials with
properties that vary with temperature nonlinearly, are directly
taken into consideration in the nite element simulation, using
multilinear kinematic or isotropic approximations of their behav-
ior with rising temperature. In the present case, only stressstrain
curves (and off course yield strength) are assumed different
between the base and ller materials, with the ller almost twice
more strong than the base metal. After the cooling stage of each
weld pass, when residual stresses built up, one would expect higher
stresses in the ller and lower in the base material, since the for-
mer cools down from a much higher temperature (solidication
temperature) than the later.

Fig. 12. PWHT evaluationresidual stress comparison along path B for PWHT prole 1: (a) transverse and (b) longitudinal.
 L.K. Keppas et al. / Nuclear Engineering and Design 240 (2010) 28972906
5.1. FE model validation
Predicted residual stresses in the x direction (RSx) and in z
direction (RSz) using the 3D nite element model of Fig. 7, are
compared to corresponding neutron diffraction measurements (see
Figs. 8 and 9). Measurements have been carried out along two
paths: (a) path A (y = 17 mm, z = 0 mm) and (b) path B (x = 0 mm,
y = 17 mm). For the investigations presented here the instrument
used was The Large Component Neutron Diffraction Facility
(LCNDF) which is installed at beam tube no. 4 at the High ux
reactor (HFR) situated at the Joint Research Centre, Institute for
Energy, Petten, The Netherlands. The neutron detector is a 32-wire
multi-detector with a distance of 2 mm between adjacent wires.
The total sensitive area is 63 mm wide and 127 mm high. At a
distance of 1.11 m from the measurement location the detector
resolution is 0.1 per wire. The monochromator for this facil-
ity is a pyrolytic graphite double monochromator. Using two
monochromator crystals opposite to one another this monochro-
mator facilitates selection of the neutron wavelength from a
very wide range. At the LCNDF the wavelength range accessi-
ble is 0.180.6 nm making this instrument very versatile. The
gauge volume used for measurements was 3 mm 3 mm 8 mm,
2 0 = 78.137 , the crystallographic plane used was 110, Young mod-
ulus equal to 220 GPa and Poissons ratio equal to 0.28 (Eigenmann
and Macherauch, 1996). Computed stresses in the parent material
compare satisfactorily to experimental data in all the examined
directions and paths. In the HAZ, where steep stress gradients occur,
in two out of three comparisons there is good correlation with
neutron data (see Figs. 8b and 9a) but this is not the case for longi-
tudinal stress along path B (Fig. 9b). It is observed that the statistical
error of neutron diffraction data is higher in the weld material
as compared to the parent material. This observation stands for
both paths and stress components. It is believed that this is due to
the fact that the material in the weld has gone through multiple
phase transformations and when solidied is comprised of various
metallurgical phases of steel. It is also observed that the average
magnitude of recorded stresses within the weld material is sig-
nicantly low, as compared to stresses on either side of the HAZ.
Specically, the magnitude of stresses in the weld is comparable
to statistical error. Based on the above, predicted residual stresses
are validated at locations outside the weld material whereas com-
parisons to neutron diffraction measurements within the weld are
inconclusive.
5.2. PWHT evaluation
Figs. 1012 present comparisons of both components of resid-
ual stresses in post-weld heat treated to as-welded repairs, along
paths A and B. Computational results are supplemented by mea-
surements in an attempt to evaluate different PWHT proles. Two
PWHT proles are evaluated. The rst PWHT prole, which is short
holding at an elevated temperature of 620 C, succeeds in signif-
icantly reducing the range of longitudinal residual stresses along
path A from 750 MPa, in the as-welded repair to 250 MPa in the
PWHT repair (see Fig. 10b). Application of the second PWHT pro-
le, which constitutes a long holding at the higher temperature
of 750 C, succeeds in reducing the range of longitudinal stress
even lower to 170 MPa along path A (Fig. 11b). Evaluation of both
PWHT proles cannot be based on transverse stress relaxation
(Figs. 10a and 11a), since the range of stresses in the as-welded
repair is low to begin with. Stress relaxation along path B (Fig. 12a
and b), when the later of the PWHTs is applied, is high (280 MPa)
for transverse, but not as signicant as for longitudinal stresses
(100 MPa). Comparison of Figs. 10 and 11, shows that nite ele-
ment simulation predicts small differences in stress relaxation,
2905
after different PWHT proles (620 and 750 C), as compared to cor-
responding ND measurements. One explanation for this might be
the fact that, due to lack of creep experimental data for the mate-
rials at hand, the same Nortons law creep constants are used for
both PWHT proles, whereas it is known that these constants are
temperature dependent. It cannot be claried, at this point, what
is the role of the modeling simplication regarding metallurgi-
cal phase transformations, in the above observations. Following
up the above discussion regarding the statistical error of neu-
tron diffraction measurements within the weld region, it is noted
that it is reduced after PWHT. Normally, the statistical error (or
in other words the peak width), in neutron diffraction measure-
ments, is associated to defect/dislocation densities or eventually
to intergranular strain variation. A lower statistical error (better
peak width) could be explained by a reduced dislocation density
after PWHT or with a reduction of intergranular strains, the former
being the most probable explanation.
6. Conclusions
Residual stresses in post-weld heat treated and untreated multi-
pass repair welds, predicted using weld bead grouping in a 3D
nite element analysis, are validated by comparison to selective
neutron diffraction data. Agreement between predictions and mea-
surements, that post-weld heat treatment signicantly relaxes
residual stresses in a repair weld, indicates that the proposed
methodology makes a good candidate for a repair strategies design
tool.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the steering committee of the
NETEuropean Network on Neutron Techniques Standardization
for Structural Integrity for making available data from and in par-
ticular, Dr. Daniele Pettene of Belleli Energy (IT) for manufacturing
the weld specimens and for providing the necessary stressstrain
data. The research presented in this paper was conducted under
the nancial support of the Institute for Energy, JRC-IE, Petten, NL,
through Study Contract SC320226.
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