Simulating the residual deformation of thin-plate butt weldments without wire filling by contact mode

The residual deformation in thin-plate butt weldments without wire filling was investigated by simulative and experimental methods. The good consistency on the residual deformation between the simulation result and test measurement data indicates that the contact mode can be used to simulate the butt welding process of thin plates without wire filling. The longitudinal residual tensile stress in the weld zone lead to the buckling deformation of thin-plate weldments, and the appearance of buckling deformation would in turn reduce the peak value of longitudinal residual tensile stress. As for the thin-plate butt weldments, the tensile stresses in the weld and its neighboring zone are produced in the post-weld cooling process and have not peak until the temperature of the welds dropped to near room temperature.