Numerical simulation to study the effect of tack welds and root gap

on welding deformations and residual stresses of a pipe-ange joint

M. Abid
a,
*
, M. Siddique
b
a
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi, NWFP, Pakistan
b
Graduate Student, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, GIK Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, Topi, NWFP, Pakistan
Received 23 February 2005; revised 23 June 2005; accepted 23 June 2005
Abstract
This paper presents a three dimensional sequentially coupled non-linear transient thermo-mechanical analysis to investigate the effect of
tack weld positions and root gap on welding distortions and residual stresses in a pipe-ange joint. Single-pass MIG welding for a single V
butt-weld joint geometry of a 100 mm diameter pipe with compatible weld-neck ANSI ange class # 300 of low carbon steel is simulated.
Two tack welds at circumferentially opposite locations, with the crucial effect of the tack welds orientation from the weld start position is the
focus in this study. Four different angular positions of tack welds (0 and 1808, 45 and 2258, 90 and 2708, 135 and 3158) are analyzed. In
addition, four cases for root gaps (0.8, 1.2, 1.6, 2.0 mm) are considered and computational results are compared. A basic FE model is also
validated with experimental data for temperature distribution and deformations. From the results, the axial displacement and tilt of the ange
face are found to be strongly dependent on the tack weld orientation and weakly dependent on the root gap.
q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: FEA Simulation; Tack welds; Root gap; Welding deformation; Pipe-ange joint; Residual stresses
1. Introduction
Welded pipe-ange joints are widely used in a variety
of engineering applications such as oil and gas pipelines,
nuclear and thermal power plants and chemical plants.
A non-uniform temperature eld, applied during welding,
produces deformation and residual stresses in welded
structures. For ange joints, any tilt or out-of-plane
deformation in the ange face results in gasket damage
[1,2]. In addition, uneven bolt-up loads consequently
produce adverse effects on the service life of the joint.
Residual stresses in a piping system may have a larger
contribution to the total stress eld compared to the
applied loadings while assessing the risks for defect
growth and static fracture in piping systems with brittle
fracture behaviour [3]. Therefore, realistic prediction of
contributing factors is of vital importance. The extent of
deformations and residual stresses in welded components
depends on several factors such as geometrical size,
welding parameters, weld pass sequence and applied
structural boundary conditions.
Finite Element (FE) simulation has become a popular
tool for the prediction of welding distortions and residual
stresses. A substantial amount of simulation and experi-
mental work focusing on circumferential welding
with emphasis on pipe welding is available in the
literature [312]. To reduce computational power require-
ments, assumptions such as rotational symmetry and
lateral symmetry have been employed in numerical
simulations [46]. These assumptions reduce the compu-
tational demand but make the problem over simplied by
limiting the analysis to one section of the complete
geometry and eliminate modeling of root gap and tack
welds. Therefore, these models are not capable of
predicting the effects of weld start/stop location, root
gap and tack welds. Brickstad and Josefson [3] presented
a parametric study of multi-pass butt welded pipes in
which both sides of the weldment are modeled but due to
the assumption of rotational symmetry the tack welds are
ignored. In the available 3D FE studies of pipe welding,
International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871
www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpvp
0308-0161/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijpvp.2005.06.008
* Corresponding author. Tel.: C92 938 71858x2293; fax: C92 938
71889.
E-mail addresses: abid@giki.edu.pk (M. Abid), mabid00@hotmail.
com (M. Abid), gme0102@giki.edu.pk (M. Siddique).
only half models (with assumption of lateral symmetry)
without tack welds are analyzed. Fricke et al. [10]
investigated multi-pass welding on a complete 3D model
for pipe weld but nothing is mentioned about tack welds.
Siddique et al. [11] used a 3D model for welding of
pipe-ange joints with initial tacks but no further detail
about modeling of tacks is provided.
The issue of tack welds is addressed in FE simulations
of butt welded plates. Jonsson et al. [12,13], using a
plane stress simplication, described the inuence of tack
welding sequence and subsequently compared plate
motion and thermal stresses of root-bead and single-
pass butt-welding of tacked plates. Shibahara et al. [14]
examined the effect of tack welds and root gap in a butt-
welded plate by using temperature dependent interface
elements. In these studies [1214] it is concluded that
tack welding sequence, their interspacing and subsequent
butt-welding have a signicant effect on root opening
and transverse shrinkage. Jang et al. [15], by using a
plane strain assumption, concluded that root gap has
some effect on symmetrically distributed residual stresses
across the weld.
2. Present study
The effect of tack orientation in girth welding of pipe
ange joints, especially for small diameter joints such as
100 mm nominal diameter pipe, is believed to be
signicant because there are only two tacks and the
time interval between reheating/remelting of successive
tacks is very small. This paper presents a parametric
study to determine the effect of tack weld locations with
respect to weld start position and the effect of root
opening on welding deformations and residual stresses.
3D FE simulation of a single pass butt weld joint
geometry is performed using ANSYS [16]. A low carbon
steel pipe of 115 mm outer diameter, 6 mm wall
thickness (R
i
/tZ8.583) and 200 mm length is welded
with a 100 mm nominal diameter weld-neck type ANSI
class # 300 ange. The joint conguration is shown
schematically in Fig. 1. A total of seven cases has been
formulated and analyzed, see Table 1. The basic FE
model, with 1.2 mm root gap and two tack welds at 90
8
and 270
8
from the weld start position, for the single-pass
single-V butt-weld joint geometry is validated exper-
imentally. The manufacturing stress of components and
the initial effect of tack welds on distortion and residual
stresses are neglected.
3. Experimental setup
For automatic circumferential welding of a pipe ange
joint, a DC powered conventional lathe with open loop
continuous speed controller is synchronized with a welding
power source. Synchronization is achieved through an
Fig. 1. Pipe-ange joint conguration.
Table 1
Details of FE studies performed
Sr. No Identication Tack weld
Location (8)
Root Gap (mm)
1 Tack 0-180 0, 180 1.2
2 Tack 45-225 45, 225 1.2
3 Tack 90-270
(or) Root 1.2
90, 270 1.2
4 Tack 135-315 135, 315 1.2
5 Root 0.8 90, 270 0.8
6 Root 1.6 90, 270 1.6
7 Root 2.0 90, 270 2.0
M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 861
interface controller operated by limit switches, mounted on
the lathe chuck, indicating weld start and end positions. The
tacked sample of the pipe-ange joint is rotated in the chuck
of the lathe, while the welding torch is held stationary by
mounting it in a special xture. This torch mounting xture,
in combination with machine carriage, provides 4-axis
(3 translational and one rotational) adjustments to the torch.
The automatic circumferential welding facility, used in the
present study, is shown in Fig. 2.
A metal inert gas (MIG) welding process with gross heat
input of 792 KJ/m is used. In the absence of a weaving
facility, a forehand welding technique (having torch angle
17.5
8
with the normal) is used to control penetration and
avoid blow off. Dimensions of the physical specimen are in
accordance with the size and geometry described in Section
2. The material for pipe and ange is carbon-manganese
steel with chemical composition 0.18w0.22% C,
0.6w1.05% Mn, 0.2w0.26% Si, 0.1w0.2% Cr,! 0.05%
S and !0.05% P. Filler metal is ER70S-6 Carbon Steel wire
of diameter 1.14 mm (0.045). A single pass butt-weld joint
geometry with a 6 mm deep single V-groove (60
8
included
angle) and a 1.2 mm root gap is used. The weld joint
contains two initial tack-welds at angular positions of 90
8
and 270
8
from the weld start position. Each tack weld is
machined to a length of 10 mm and thickness of 3.0 mm.
Subsequently, the sample is stress relieved to remove
manufacturing and tack-welding stresses from the pipe and
ange, as existing residual stresses affects thermal expan-
sion behaviour [17]. A mechanical dial indicator of 1 mm
resolution and 2 mm accuracy is used for in-situ measure-
ment of axial displacement on the ange face, introduced
during welding.
4. Material model
Material modelling has always been a critical issue in the
simulation of welding because of the scarcity of material
data at elevated temperatures. Some simplications and
approximations are usually introduced to cope with this
problem. These simplications are necessary due to both
lack of data and numerical problems when trying to model
the actual high-temperature behaviour of the material [18].
The detailed material model for the material described
above is not available in the literature; therefore material
data available for a similar composition, i.e. 0.18% C, 1.3%
Mn, 0.3% Si, 0.3% Cr, 0.4% Cu (Swedish standard steel SIS
2172), is used from Karlsson and Josefson [9]. Though there
is a minor difference in the chemical composition of the two
materials, however, such a difference may not have
signicant effect on the thermal and mechanical material
properties. This approximation seems justied for para-
metric comparative studies because material behaviour
contributes equally in the results of all cases and differences
in structural response can be attributed to changes in the
parameters.
The pipe, ange and ller metal are supposed to be of the
same chemical composition. Karlsson and Josefson
collected temperature dependent material properties from
previously published literature. They used specic heat
formulation and accounted for latent heat for solid-state and
solid-liquid phase transformations. In the mechanical
material properties, microstructural evolution is accounted
for by dening different thermal dilatations and yield
strengths for different zones in the domain depending on the
peak temperatures reached in a particular point during
Fig. 2. Experimental setup.
M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 862
the thermal cycle. Most of the plastic strains are formed at
high temperature and the low alloy steel shows nearly
ideally plastic behaviour at temperatures above 1073 K.
Furthermore, it is argued that plastic strains accumulated
before the nal solid state phase transformation to a large
extent are relieved during the transformation. For these
reasons, the material in the model was assumed to be elastic-
ideally plastic (without hardening).
In the present work, an enthalpy formulation is used
instead of specic heat and latent heats are evenly
distributed over the respective temperature ranges. Further-
more, the thermal conductivity is given an articial increase
to 230 W/mK above the melting temperature to incorporate
stirring effects in the weld pool. As suggested in [7],
volumetric changes associated with solid sate phase
transformation are ignored in the absence of transformation
induced plasticity effects because they produce compressive
hoop stresses near the weld centreline which is contrary to
the experimental measurements given in [19]. The
suggested changes in the material model are discussed in
more detail in [20].
5. Analysis procedure
Taking advantage of the weak structure to thermal eld
couplings, the problem is formulated as a sequentially
coupled thermal stress analysis. Firstly a non-linear
transient thermal analysis is performed to predict the
temperature history of the whole domain. Subsequently
the results of the thermal analysis are applied as a thermal
body load in a non-linear transient structural analysis to
calculate deformation and stresses. The nite element
model for both thermal and structural analysis is the same
except for element type. During the analysis a full Newton-
Raphson (NR) iterative solution technique with direct
sparse matrix solver is employed for obtaining a solution.
During the thermal cycle, temperature and consequently
temperature dependent material properties change very
rapidly. Thus, full NR, which uses a modied material
properties table and reformulates the stiffness matrix at
every iteration is believed to give more accurate results. The
line search option of the FE code ANSYS [16] is set to ON
to improve convergence. A single point reduced integration
scheme with hour glass control is implemented to facilitate
convergence, and to avoid excessive locking during
structural analysis.
A conventional quiet element technique named element
birth and death [21], is used for modeling of the ller
material. A complete FE model is generated in the start;
however, all elements representing ller metal except
elements for the tack welds are deactivated by assigning
them very low stiffness. During the thermal analysis, all the
nodes of deactivated elements (excluding those shared with
the base metal) are also xed at room temperature till the
birth of the respective element. Deactivated elements are re-
activated sequentially when they come under the inuence
of the welding torch. For the subsequent structural analysis,
birth of an element takes place at the solidication
temperature. Melting and ambient temperatures are set as
reference temperatures (temperature at which thermal strain
is zero) for thermal expansion coefcients of ller and base
metals, respectively. To avoid excessive distortion, initial
strain in the elements is set to zero at the time of element
reactivation.
For thermal analysis, the total welding time of the
complete circumferential weld, i.e. 58 s, is divided into 144
equally spaced solution steps. Each step is further divided
into two sub-steps, which effectively reduces the load
application time to 0.201 s. A stepped load option is used for
realistic application of the thermal load. After extinguishing
the arc, another 56 load steps of different time duration are
used for cooling of the weldment. It took about 52 min. to
return to the ambient temperature of 27 8C. Load step time
in the structural analysis is kept equal to the thermal
analysis. However, each load step is solved in a single sub-
step except for cases of numerical non-convergence. The
restart option of the software with corrected sub-step setting
is effectively used to handle non-convergences. Total CPU
time remained approximately 5 hrs and 100 hrs for the
thermal and structural analysis respectively on an IBM
compatible P-IV 2 GHz PC with 1 GB RAM.
6. FE model
Four nite element models, with minor changes for
different studies, representing the same physical geometry
are developed in ANSYS. Being away from the zone of
interest, bolt holes are not included in the models and it is
assumed that this geometrical simplication will have no
signicant effect on distortions and residual stresses. Eight-
node brick elements with linear shape functions are mostly
used in the model. Linear elements are preferred because, in
general, favours more lower-order elements than fewer
higher-order elements in non-linear problems [22]. The
basic FE model, used for all the cases of tack weld positions,
is shown in Fig. 3(a). This model consists of 25488 nodes
and associated 21456 linear elements, out of which 12960
elements are used for the ange and the other 8496 elements
represent the pipe. The other three models, used for root gap
studies, are similar to the above described model except for
the element sizes at the root gap position.
In order to facilitate data mapping between thermal and
structural analysis, the same FE model is used with
respective element types. For the thermal analysis the
element type is SOLID70 which has single degree of
freedom, temperature, on its each node. For structural
analysis the element type is SOLID45 with three transla-
tional degrees of freedom at each node. Due to anticipated
high temperature and stress gradients near the weld, a
relatively ne mesh is used in a distance of 10 mm on both
M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 863
sides of the weld centreline. Element size increases
progressively with distance from the weld centreline. The
mesh renement scheme with approximate V-groove
formation and tack weld is shown in Fig. 3(b).
7. Boundary conditions
In the thermal analysis, both radiation and surface
convection are considered for realistic modeling of heat
loss from the surface. During the thermal cycle, radiation
dominates over surface convection in areas adjacent to the
weld pool; whereas, away from the weld pool convection is
the primary mechanism of heat loss from the body. Instead
of modeling convection and radiation separately, a
combined heat transfer coefcient, as used in [23], is
calculated by using.
~
h Z
3
em
s
bol
T C273
4
KT
amb
C273
4

TKT
amb

Ch
con
(1)
where
~
h, 3
em
, h
con
, s
bol
, T and T
amb
represent combined heat
transfer coefcient, emissivity, convective heat transfer
coefcient, Stefan-Boltzmann constant, instantaneous body
temperature and ambient temperature, respectively. The
calculated combined heat transfer coefcient was applied on
all areas exposed to the ambient air, as shown in a sectioned
view in Fig. 4. The ambient temperature (27 8C) is taken as
the initial condition for the entire mass involved. During
structural analysis, the only constraint applied is represen-
tation of clamping in the machine chuck, as shown in Fig. 2.
For this purpose, all the nodes of the far end of the pipe, in
Cartesian coordinate axes, are constrained in the axial and
radial directions.
8. Heat source modeling
Proper modeling of heat ow from the welding torch to
the weldment is quite crucial as it controls the application of
thermal load which consequently produces distortion and
residual stresses in the weldment. For the determination of
the weld pool size and shape, a section of the weld is cut,
polished, chemically etched and scanned. This cross-
sectional metallographic data revealed the so called hot
top nail head conguration of the weld pool. This
conguration is difcult to achieve by using a conventional
double ellipsoidal heat source model by Goldak et al. [24].
However, for such cases Goldak et al. [25] suggest the use of
superimposed four ellipsoid quadrants (compound double
ellipsoid model) for better results. In the present study, the
authors used a modied double ellipsoidal scheme.
The governing equations for power density distribution in
the front and rear ellipsoids of a 3D model are as follows:
q
f
Z
6

3
p
M
y;z
Qf
f
p

p
p
a
f
bc
e
K3
rq
2
a
2
f
C
z
2
b
2
C
RoKr
2
c
2
_ _ _ _
(2)
q
r
Z
6

3
p
M
y;z
Qf
r
p

p
p
a
r
bc
e
K3
rq
2
a
2
r
C
z
2
b
2
C
RoKr
2
c
2
_ _ _ _
(3)
where,
Q ZVI; f
f
Cf
r
Z2; h Z

n
iZ1
q
i
V
i
Q
The description and numerical values for different
variables in the power density distribution equations are
Fig. 3. (a). 3D FE model (b). Mesh renement, V-groove, tack weld and root gap.
Flange Pipe Weld Bead
Fig. 4. A sectioned view of pipe ange joint with combined convection and
radiation (indicated with arrows) from the surfaces exposed to air.
M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 864
given in Table 2. M
(y,z)
in the above equations is a scalar
multiplier which is used to modify the shape of the weld
pool and is a function of spatial location in the axial and
radial directions. Its initial values are selected arbitrarily and
readjusted iteratively to match the weld pool shape. Final
values of M
(y,z)
are shown in Fig. 5. Numerical values used
for other variables in the power density distribution
equations are given above.
For calculation of spatial heat distribution using
equations (2) and (3), the origin of the coordinate system
is located at the centre of the moving arc and movement of
the heat source is achieved through a user sub-routine.
Another subroutine is used to calculate instantaneous
centroidal distances of elements from the moving arc
centre. To describe the heat source size, ve elements in the
front and four elements in the rear of the heat source are
taken in the direction of weld torch motion. Across the weld
line, heat is given to ve elements on each side. The heat
input from the moving arc to the elements is modeled as
volumetric heat generation, as this has an additional
advantage that surface convection can be applied to the
same elements without dening 2D-elements, required
otherwise. It is also assumed that the intensity of the heat
source is independent of time. In order to validate the
thermal model, the etched sample is used to reveal liquidus
isotherms at 17888K, representing the fusion zone (FZ), and
outer HAZ isotherms at 10838K. Comparison of measured
and simulation isotherms, at a section 1808 from the weld
start position, shows good agreement, Fig. 6.
9. Results and discussion
9.1. Effect of tack position
9.1.1. Effect on welding distortions
Tack welds are used to restrain excessive transverse
shrinkage and to maintain the root gap. The size and
location of tacks with respect to the weld start point can alter
the resistance offered by the tacks. This can have a dominant
effect on transverse shrinkage and resultant ange face
displacement. In the present work, only the effect of tack
location is analyzed by keeping the tack size unchanged.
Immediately after the initiation of the arc, thermal
expansion of metal beneath the moving arc is the source of
structural distortions. As the arc proceeds, contraction of the
solidifying weld bead behind the arc becomes another
Axial Distance from Weld Centerline (mm)
R
a
d
i
a
l

D
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

f
r
o
m

O
u
t
e
r

S
u
r
f
a
c
e

(
m
m
)
Fig. 5. Values of scalar multiplier M(y,z) as functions of spatial location in axial and radial directions.
Table 2
Description and numerical values for different variables used in power
density distribution equations for heat source modeling
Symbol Description Value
a
f
Front Ellipsoidal semi-axes length (mm) 12.9
a
r
Rare Ellipsoidal semi-axes length (mm) 10.3
b Half width of arc (mm) 5.0
C Depth of arc (mm) 6.0
f
f
Fraction of heat deposited in front 1.55
f
r
Fraction of heat deposited in rare 0.45
I Welding current (Amp) 225
M
(y,z)
Scalar Multiplier
N Total number of element under torch
inuence

q
i
Power density for i
th
element (W/mm
3
)
q
f
Power density in front ellipsoid (W/mm
3
)
q
r
Power density in rear ellipsoid (W/mm
3
)
Q Total Arc heat (W) 4950
R Radius of pipe (mm)
Ro Pipe outer radius (mm) 57.5
v Welding speed (mm/s) 6.25
V Voltage (Volt) 22
V
i
Volume of i
th
element (mm
3
)
Z Distances from the torch centre in axial
direction (mm)

q Angle from instantaneous arc position

(Radian)

h Arc efciency 85%

M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 865
dominant source of distortions. Until the welding torch
reaches the rst tack, both the tacks collectively restrain
ange motion thus minimizing change in root gap. When the
rst tack is heated by the arc, its resistance against the
transient forces gradually vanishes with increase in
temperature. Thereafter the second tack and solidied
weld metal behind the welding torch, if it has cooled to a
substantially low temperature, resist the transient forces.
The time of rst tack reheating after arc initiation is critical
since if it is too short, weld metal behind the moving arc will
not contribute signicantly and thus the second tack alone
may not effectively resist these forces. Consequently there
will be higher axial displacement on the ange face. Results
of axial displacement (AD) on the ange face at a radius of
117.3 mm and resulting face tilt, calculated by using
equation (4), are shown in Fig. 7a, 7b respectively.
Tilt Ztan
K1
Max:ADKMin:AD
2!117:3
_ _
(4)
A maximum axial displacement of 1.156 mm with a face
tilt of 0.398 (with the initial plane) is observed for Tack
0-180. Being the rst tack at zero degree, it is directly
exposed to the welding torch on arc initiation (no weld seam
exists behind the arc yet) and hence results in large axial
displacement. The next highest axial displacement of
0.78 mm with a face tilt of 0.1678 is found in the case of
Tack 45-225, whereas, in the other two cases i.e. Tack 90-
270 and Tack 135-315 axial displacements are 0.66 and
0.64 mm respectively with corresponding face tilts of 0.085
and 0.0998. Minimum face tilt is found for Tack 90270
which indicates that the time taken by the arc to travel
through 908 (from weld start position), i.e. 14 s, is sufcient
for solidication of the preceding weld bead and the
solidied weld bead is stiff enough to attenuate the effect of
reheating/re-melting of the tack. Changing tack weld
position from 908 to 1358 has not contributed signicantly
in the axial displacement or tilt. However, an inverted
displacement pattern is produced. Therefore, the most
appropriate location of the rst tack, for the joint size
under discussion, is concluded between 908 and 1358.
Comparison of transient axial displacement of two nodes
on the ange face at a radius of 117.3 mm and angular
positions of 90 and 2708 respectively for Tack 0180 and
Tack 135315, (Fig. 8a) shows that transient displacements
(a) (b)
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
0 60 120 180 240 300 360
Hoop Coordinate (Deg)
A
x
i
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
Tack 0-180
Tack 45-225
Tack 90-270
Tack 135-315
Exp
0.00
0.10
0.20
0.30
0.40
0.50
Tack
0-180
Tack
45-225
Tack
90-270
Tack
135-315
F
l
a
n
g
e

F
a
c
e

T
i
l
t

(
D
e
g
)
Fig. 7. (a) Comparison of ange face axial displacement, representing lateral shrinkage (b). Resulting ange face tilt.
0
1.5
3
4.5
6
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Distance from Weld CL (mm)
P
i
p
e

T
h
i
c
k
n
e
s
s


(
m
m
)
Measured FZ Measured HAZ FEFZ FEHAZ
Fig. 6. Comparison of measured and simulation isotherms.
M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 866
for Tack 0180 are much larger than Tack 135315 and are
concluded to be due to immediate reheating of the rst tack
in the former case. In addition, almost reective nodal
motion (in opposite directions) in both cases has been
observed which indicates ange face tilt. The largest
contribution to the ange face tilt is found between 020
sec after the arc initiation (about 1208 of the arc travel), after
which the increase in tilt is slow (Fig. 8b).
9.1.2. Effect on residual stresses
Variation of axial residual stresses in the hoop direction
at the weld centreline on both inner and outer surfaces is
shown in Fig. 9. In general, axial residual stresses are tensile
on the inner surface and compressive on the outer surface
with very strong inuence of weld start/stop positions.
Away from the weld start/stop position, a slight decreasing
trend in tensile stress on the inner surface and a slight
increasing trend in compressive stresses on the outer
surface, in the welding direction, are observed. The stress
prole is almost identical in all the four cases except at the
positions of tacks. In every case, signicant localized stress
reduction on the inner surface is found at corresponding tack
positions, whilst localized stress increase in compressive
residual stresses on the outer surface is observed.
In order to investigate the mechanism for stress
variations at tacked locations, transient stress variation at
two points; at angular positions of 1358 (point on weld bead-
Node 8198) and 1808 (on tack-Node 8171) at the inner
surface for Tack 0180 is presented in Fig. 10a. Being on the
weld bead, node 8198 remains deactivated and stress free in
structural analysis during heating and subsequent cooling to
the solidus temperature, 1738 K (Fig. 10b). Stress
accumulation is not signicant at elevated temperature
above 1052 K due to the very low yield strength. A tensile
transient axial stress of 100 MPa is observed at
a temperature of 663 K, below which stress increases
300
200
100
0
100
200
300
400
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
Hoop Coordinates (Deg)
A
x
i
a
l

S
t
r
e
s
s
e
s

(
M
P
a
)
Tack 0-180 Tack 45-225
Tack 90-270 Tack 135-315
Inner Surface
Outer Surface
Fig. 9. Axial residual stress variation in hoop direction at weld centreline on outer and inner surfaces.
(a)
(b)
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
0 15 30 45 60
Time(sec)
A
x
i
a
l

D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
Tack 0-180 (90)
Tack 0-180 (270)
Tack 135-315 (90)
Tack 135-315 (270)
135
180
315
90
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0 15 30 45 60
Time (sec)
F
l
a
n
g
e

F
a
c
e

T
i
l
t

(
D
e
g
)
Tack 0-180
Tack 135-315
Fig. 8. (a) Comparison of transient axial displacement of nodes on ange face at 90 and 2708 from weld start position. (b) Transient ange face tilt.
M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 867
rapidly due to the rapid increase of yield strength.
Accumulation of tensile residual stresses on cooling is
analogous to the modied Wells model for thermal/stress
cycle, described in Lin and Chou [26]. Though this model is
primarily for an element of material near the fusion zone, it
is found to be suitable to describe structural response of the
cooling weld bead.
On the other hand, node 8171 belongs to the tack and by
virtue of the peak temperature in thermal cycle it belongs to
the heat affected zone. As the torch proceeds after initiation
of the arc, cooling weldbead behind the torch causes stress
accumulation on the tack. Axial stress is initially tensile
which turns to compressive as the torch approaches the tack
and a stress of K66 MPa is found just prior to heating. On
heating, the stress increases to K166 MPa at 700 K, beyond
which it starts decreasing and becomes zero at about 1050 K
due to decrease in yield strength. In the beginning of the
subsequent cooling the structural response is quite different
from the prediction using the modied Wells model.
Cooling below 1027 K causes generation of compressive
stresses instead of tensile and is concluded to be a major
cause of stress reduction at the tack location. The unusual
differential temperature distribution on the tack produces
positive thermal strain which when restrained by surround-
ing material causes negative elastic strain and then a
dominant negative plastic strain, as shown in Fig. 11a,
Fig. 11b. By comparing Fig. 10a and Fig. 11b, negative
elastic axial strain is found as the basic reason for these
compressive stresses. With further decrease in temperature,
the response is once again in an opposite direction
0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Time (sec)
S
t
r
a
i
n
Plastic 135
Thermal 135
Plastic 180
Thermal 180
1
0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
0 25 50 75 100 125 150
Time (sec)
S
t
r
a
i
n

(

x

1
0

3
)
Elastic 135
Elastic 180
Fig. 11. Transient strain on the inner surface at angular positions of 135 and 1808 from the weld start position for Tack 0-180 (a) Thermal and plastic strain (b)
Elastic strain.
200
150
100
50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0 25 50 75 100 125 150
Time(sec)
A
x
i
a
l

S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
135 Deg (8198)
180 Deg (8171)
200
150
100
50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
300 700 1100 1500 1900
Temperature (Deg K)
A
x
i
a
l

S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
135 Deg (8198)
180 Deg (8171)
Fig. 10. Axial stress variation on the inner surface at angular positions of 135 and 1808 from weld start position for Tack 0-180 (a) Transient response (b) As a
function of temperature.
M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 868
producing tensile stress and follows the material character-
istic tensile yield strength curve after the elastic limit.
Axial stress variation in the axial direction on the inner
surface at an angle of 908 from the weld start position is
found identical in all cases except for case Tack 90-270
(Fig. 12). As the stresses are relatively lower for the case in
which the tack exists at 908 (on the section under
observation) therefore, it is concluded that the tack serves
as a stress reducer in its close proximity. Variation of hoop
residual stresses in the hoop direction at the weld centreline
on both inner and outer surfaces is shown in Fig. 13. A weld
start/end effect is pronounced in hoop residual stresses and
is dominant in the start side as compared to the end.
Similarly the tacks serve as stress raisers though the effect is
not as signicant. Hoop stresses are tensile on both inner
and outer surfaces and can fairly well be approximated as
axisymmetric, if the weld start effect and the effect of tack
welds are ignored.
9.2. Effect of root gap
Four cases for different root gaps are analyzed to study
the effect of root gap on welding distortions and residual
stress distributions. All the other parameters including tack
weld positions, heat inputs, thermal and structural boundary
conditions etc. are kept the same in all the four cases. Axial
displacements on the ange face at a radius of 117.3 mm for
all the cases are compared in Fig. 14. It is concluded that
root gap less than 1.2 mm does not have any signicant
effect on axial deformation and ange face tilt. On the other
hand, axial deformation and ange face tilt increase
signicantly with increase in root gap from 1.2 mm to
2.0 mm. The stiffness of a column can be described with
the relation:
K Z
AE
L
(5)
300
200
100
0
100
200
300
400
50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50
Distance from Weld Centerline (mm)
A
x
i
a
l

S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
Tack 0-180
Tack 45-225
Tack 90-270
Tack 135-315
Fig. 12. Axial residual stress variation in axial direction at a section 908 from weld start position.
50
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0 45 90 135 180 225 270 315 360
Hoop Coordinates (Deg)
H
o
o
p

S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
Tack 0-180 Tack 45-225
Tack 90-270 Tack 135-315
For Inner Surface
For Outer Surface
Fig. 13. Hoop residual stress variation in hoop direction at weld centerline on inner and outer surfaces.
M. Abid, M. Siddique / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 82 (2005) 860871 869
where, K is the stiffness, E is Youngs modulus and A and L
are the cross sectional area and length of the column
respectively. Treating the tack as a column, the stiffness of
the tack weld is found to be inversely proportional to the
axial length of the tack. Axial length of the tack increases
with root gap and thus tack stiffness decreases. A tack with
lower stiffness gives higher deformations under the same set
of transient forces. On the other hand change in root gap
does not have any impact on the residual stress distribution,
provided the other parameters such as heat input etc. are
kept unchanged.
10. Conclusion
From the results it is concluded that a change in tack weld
location alters the axial displacement and tilt of the ange
face. Furthermore it is concluded that the rst tack weld
should at least be at some distance from the weld start point
and for 100 mm nominal diameter pipe most appropriate
positions for tack welds are 90 and 2708 from the weld start
point. Tack weld location has no signicant effect on overall
residual stress distribution, but a localized effect is
experienced in terms of a stress raiser for axial and hoop
stresses on both inner and outer surfaces except axial residual
stresses on the inner surface, where it serves as a stress
reducer. Regarding root gap opening it is concluded that root
gap should be a minimum, just to meet the need of weld
penetration. A large root gap increases the lateral shrinkage
and results in large axial displacement and ange face tilt.
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0.0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
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Hoop Coordinate (Deg)
A
x
i
a
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D
i
s
p
l
a
c
e
m
e
n
t

(
m
m
)
Root 0.8 Root 1.2
Root 1.6 Root 2.0
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