Review on finite element analysis of welding deformation and residual stress

Welding deformation and residual stress have negative influence on assembly accuracy and service performance. Thermal elastic plastic (TEP) and inherent strain finite element analysis (FEA) methods were used to study this challenge. Basic principle of these two methods was first introduced. The influence of welding process, constraints, solid phase transformation and multi-pass welding on deformation and residual stress was discussed, and computation accuracy and efficiency were summarised. Loading method of inherent strain in inherent strain FEA was analysed, interface element was introduced to simulate effects of the gap on deformation in assembly welding especially for large structures. The future work, including accurately multiscale TEP model, efficiently transient prediction method of large structures, and flexible evaluation software, was planned.