Influence of Welding Sequence on Residual Stress Evolution in SUS304/Q235 Bimetallic Clad Plate Butt-Welded Joints

Residual stress prediction and controlling is important for structural integrity assessment of weldments. In current work, finite element and experimental methods were integrated to study the influence of welding sequence on the SUS304/Q235 bimetallic clad plate joints during multi-layer and multi-pass welding. The results show that the peak residual stress values on flyer plate surface are weakly affected by welding sequences but the width of high surficial longitudinal stress area of joint with base layer welded first is bigger. Meanwhile, welding sequence has a great influence on the longitudinal residual stress evolution law inside joints. When base seam layer is welded first, the highest stress concentration appears in the transition layer. However, it would be transferred into the first base seam layer due to martensite phase transformation when flyer seam layer is welded first. Residual stress controlling in the bimetallic clad plate joint should attract more attention from researchers.