In many cases, creep tests of cross-weld specimens, taken from the seam weld, are used to predict the behaviour of the seam weld, assuming that the creep behaviour of specimen and weldment is equivalent. Experiences of this procedure indicate that further knowledge is required before translation between specimen and component can be made.
In the present paper, both full scale seam welded pipes and cross-weld specimens are studied with the damage mechanics concept using finite element, FE, technique. The same mechanical model of multiple material zones is used for the two components. Both the influence of differences in creep properties between the weldment constituents and the size effect of the cross-weld specimen, are studied.
It is found that the cross-weld test results can not directly be translated to the full scale component. Factors such as the creep properties and the relative geometry of the weldment constituents and the size of the cross-weld specimen have to be considered when performing creep life assessment. 相似文献