Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Effect of material properties and mechanical tensioning load on

residual stress formation in GTA 304-A36 dissimilar weld
H. Eisazadeh a , A. Achuthan a , J.A. Goldak b , D.K. Aidun a,∗
a
Department of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering, Clarkson University, 8 Clarkson Avenue, Potsdam, NY 13699, United States
b
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Using a finite element analysis (FEA) model, the residual stress (RS) formation in an autogenous GTA
Received 29 September 2014 dissimilar weld between austenitic stainless steel (304) and low carbon steel (A36) are analyzed. The
Received in revised form 13 March 2015 effect of material properties on RS formation was determined by first considering a similar weld of 304
Accepted 14 March 2015
plates, and then changing only a selected mechanical property of the 304 plate on one side of weld to that
Available online 24 March 2015
corresponding to an A36 plate. Enforcing one set of mechanical property to be different at a time helped
to isolate the role of these individual properties on the RS formation in the dissimilar weld. The effect of
Keywords:
mechanical tensioning on dissimilar welds is then investigated. Results show that the longitudinal RS in
Residual stress
Similar weld
both the similar and dissimilar welds can be reduced in the weld zone (WZ) by an amount equal to the
Dissimilar weld stress corresponding to the applied mechanical tensioning load, as the tensioning load is removed after
Mechanical tensioning cooling. The mechanism of RS formation in dissimilar weld, and its mitigation by mechanical tensioning
Residual stress reduction are determined by comparing the longitudinal stress evolution on a cross-section of the dissimilar weld
plates under the mechanically tensioned and free conditions.
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction RS in the dissimilar welds between ferritic steels and austenitic

Welding is a reliable and efficient metal joining process widely
used in the infrastructure and heavy equipment industry, such as
in the construction of steel bridges, shipbuilding, and installation
of large pipelines. High joint efficiency, simple setup, and low fab-
rication costs are the advantages of this joining process. However,
due to the localized heating, and subsequent cooling during weld-
ing, highly non-uniform temperature distribution occurs across the
weld and the base metal (BM), resulting in the formation of sig-
nificant residual stress (RS) in the weldment. The RS formation in
welds, being a thermo-mechanical phenomenon that depends on
many factors, makes its quantitative prediction quite challenging.
The principal factors that determine the RS formation in a welded
structure weldment are shown in a Fishbone diagram in Fig. 1.
Understanding the distribution of RS induced by welding is crit-
ical in many industrial applications to determine the crack growth
behavior and predict failure.
Several studies on the effect of RS on the failure of dissimilar
weld joint have been reported. For instance, Suzuki et al. (2012)
reported significant stress corrosion cracking (SCC) as a result of
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 315 268 6518.
E-mail addresses: eisazah@clarkson.edu, heisazadeh@gmail.com (H. Eisazadeh),
daidun@clarkson.edu (D.K. Aidun).
stainless steels, which is widely used in the oil and gas industry. In
general, the experimental determination of RS in dissimilar welds
is quite challenging when compared to the similar weld, due to
the differences in the BM properties, especially thermal expansion
coefficient and yield strength, producing a relatively complex dis-
tribution of RS. Lately, a number of studies have used numerical
models based on finite element analysis (FEA) to predict RS in dis-
similar welds. For example, Ranjbarnodeh et al. (2011) determined
longitudinal RS in butt joints of dissimilar steels and compared
them with the stresses in similar steel joints. Similarly, Katsareas
and Youtsos (2005) developed a 2-D FEA model relying on a simple
implementation of the material property mismatch for RS predic-
tion in dissimilar metal pipe welds. Lee and Chang (2007) studied
the effect of yield and tensile strengths on RS by employing dif-
ferent carbon steels under both similar and dissimilar butt weld
conditions. Anawa and Olabi (2008) used FEA to determine the
optimized process parameters and develop statistical models for
the welding of stainless steel and low carbon steel using a CO2
continuous-wave laser. Deng et al. (2009) determined the RS in
a dissimilar metal pipe joint considering cladding, buttering, and
post-weld heat treatment (PWHT). Similarly, Lee and Chang (2011)
predicted the axial and hoop RS produced in high strength carbon
steel pipe weld using a FEA model by employing a sequentially
coupled 3-D thermal and solid-state phase transformation during
welding.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2015.03.021
0924-0136/© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355
Fig. 1. Fishbone diagram illustrates the effect of various parameters on RS formation.
RS mitigation techniques have received increased attention over
the past two decades. Most of these techniques, however, are appli-
cable to similar weld. Zhang et al. (2005) have discussed the adapta-
tion and optimization of some of these techniques, such as anneal-
ing and peening processes, for its use on similar welded joints.
There also exist specific welding methods such as in-process cool-
ing and global mechanical tensioning (GMT), which are designed
to work by influencing the thermal strain mechanism that drives
RS formation in the weld. Altenkirch et al. (2008) experimentally
investigated the relationship between the final RS stress, distortion,
and the level of GMT applied in situ during welding. The mechan-
ical tensioning technique, where a tensile stress is introduced
before welding and maintained throughout the welding and cool-
ing phases, was also found to be very effective by Richards et al.
(2008) in relieving the large longitudinal RS in similar welds. Wen
et al. (2010) demonstrated that rolling the weld as an effective way
to improve the mechanical properties, and minimize distortion.
Studies with regard to mitigating RS in dissimilar welds are
limited. Sedek et al. (2003) demonstrated that the thermal stress
relieving techniques, such as the furnace annealing of welded
joints, were not only ineffective for mitigating RS in dissimilar
steel welds, but actually increased RS as well. This is due to the
considerable difference in the thermal expansion coefficient of
the joined steels, producing large misfit stresses. Hurrell et al.
(2006) discussed a number of mechanical mitigation techniques in
a review article. Broadly, they classified the mechanical mitigation
techniques under three main categories: (a) surface mechanical
treatment to induce compressive skin stress, (b) mechanical stress
relief through thickness, and (c) weld design optimization to pro-
duce low/favorable RS levels and minimize distortion. Among all
the techniques in these three categories, Song et al. (2010) identi-
fied weld overlay technique as the most effective for protecting a
structural dissimilar metal weld. Kim et al. (2009) found that both
the longitudinal and the transverse stress components decreased
as the number of layers increased. The effectiveness of mechani-
cal tensioning technique has not been studied on a dissimilar weld
where the RS is not the same on the two base plates.
In summary, it can be stated that RS in dissimilar weld is
asymmetric and its highest magnitude occurs in the plate which
345
possesses greater yield strength and thermal expansion. In case of
ferritic steel and austenitic steel dissimilar weld, the latter under-
goes higher RS. The belief behind this is that materials cannot hold
RS beyond their yield point. Once stress magnitude at any location
of weld plate reaches to its corresponding yield point, that par-
ticular location starts deforming plastically. Since austenitic steel
has greater yield point, the magnitude of RS in this metal will be
larger. Thermal expansion of austenitic steel has a big role to play
in this development, as well. Since this property is again greater in
austenitic stainless steel, area undergoing tensile RS will be larger.
Overall, even though in the past decades, significant amount of
progress on RS modeling was made, the mechanism of various mit-
igation techniques, mechanical tensioning in particular, in terms of
its dependence on material properties of the two plates, is not well
understood. In the present study, we first used a FEA model to track
the evolution of stress field at various locations during the weld-
ing and cooling periods, providing a better understanding of the
mechanism of RS formation in dissimilar welds, particularly the
influence of the difference in various material properties. Then the
mechanism of the influence of tensioning load on RS reduction in
similar and dissimilar welds was determined.
2. Methodology
In the experiment, the GTAW process without filler metal was
considered for three butt-welded joints of type 304 stainless steel
and A36 low carbon steel. The welding parameters used for the sim-
ulations conducted in this work are shown in Table 1. The chemical
compositions of 304 and A36 plates are provided in Table 2.
The temperature fields and the evolution of the RS were inves-
tigated by means of a sequentially coupled thermo-mechanical
formulation available in the ABAQUS commercial package. The
details of the model are shown in Fig. 2. A weld plate of dimen-
sions 72 mm × 50 mm × 5 mm was considered. Linear 8-node brick
elements, with relatively finer elements in the 5 mm region on both
sides of the weld path, were used for the model. Simulation of weld-
ing was realized by introducing a moving volumetric heat source
region into the plate at the desired speed in the desired direction.
346 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355

Table 1
Welding parameters used in this study.

Welding voltage (V) Welding current (A) Welding speed (mm/s) Arc efficiency Shielding gas, CFM (cubic feet per min)

11.5 100 2.4 70% Argon, 29

Table 2
Chemical compositions (wt%) of A36 and 304 steels.

Grade Carbon Manganese Silicon Phosphorus Sulfur Chromium Nickel Balance

A36 0.08–0.29 0.40–1.20 0.15–0.40 0.04 Max. 0.05 Max. None None Fe
304 Max 0.08 Max 2 Max 1 Max 0.045 Max 0.03 18–20 8–10 Fe

Table 3
Temperature dependent convection coefficients for the steel (Attarha and Sattari-
Far, 2011).

h [W/m2 K] T − To [K]

1.85 56
9.079 278
18.5 556
52.6 2778

temperature-dependent Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. The

Fig. 2. Details of the plate geometry, mesh, and the thermal and mechanical bound-
ary conditions. T1, T2 and T3 represent the location of the thermocouples. The
location P and cross-section A–A were used to study the temperature and stress
evolution.
2.1. Transient thermal analysis
The heat from the moving welding arc is applied as a volumetric
heat source with a double ellipsoidal distribution and is expressed
by the following equations (Goldak et al., 1984).
The ellipsoidal heat source distribution ahead and behind of the
welding torch (arc) is given, respectively, as:
√ and bottom surfaces of the plate as a function of the metal surface
6 3ff QW −3x2 /a2 −3y2 /b2 −3z2 /c2
Q (x , y , z  , t) = √ e 1e e (1)
a1 bc 
√ losses due to radiation, while losses due to convection dominate in
6 3fr QW −3x2 /a2 −3y2 /b2 −3z2 /c2
Q (x , y , z  , t) = √ e 2e e (2)
a2 bc 
where x , y and z are the local coordinates of the double ellipsoid
model, relative to the torch location and aligned with the welded
plates. The ff and fr are the fraction of heat deposited in the front
and the rear parts, respectively. Note that ff + fr = 2.0. In this study,
ff is assumed to be 1.4 and fr to be 0.6, in order to introduce the
expected steeper temperature gradient in the ellipsoid, ahead of
the torch. Qw is the power of the welding heat source, which can be
determined from the welding current, the arc voltage and the arc
efficiency. The arc efficiency  is taken as 70% for the GTA welding
process (Deng and Murakawa, 2006). The parameters a1 , a2 , b and
c, define the characteristics of the welding heat source, and can be
adjusted to create a desired melted zone according to the weld-
ing conditions. The moving heat source is implemented using the
DFLUX user subroutine tool in ABAQUS.
2.2. Mechanical analysis
The strain induced by welding process can be divided into elas-
tic, plastic, thermal and transformation strain. The elastic stress
and strain was modeled using the isotropic Hooke’s law with
thermal strain was computed using the temperature-dependent
coefficient of thermal expansion. For the plastic strain, a rate-
independent plastic constitutive equation is considered with the
von Mises yield criterion, temperature-dependent mechanical
properties and linear isotropic hardening rule. Since, the effect of
phase transformation for low carbon steel on welding deformation
is insignificant and the phase transformation does not occur in the
austenitic stainless steel, it was ignored in the computational model
(Deng et al., 2003).
2.3. Boundary conditions
The initial temperature of the material prior to welding was set
to 298 ◦ K. Thermal boundary conditions consist of the application of
convective and radiative heat transfer to all surfaces of the model.
Convective heat transfer coefficients are applied to the sides, top,
temperature (Table 3). The metal surface in the WZ and the sur-
rounding region, being at high temperature, is dominated by heat
the relatively lower temperature surfaces, away from the weld zone
(Deng and Murakawa, 2006). Table 3 presents the temperature-
dependent convection coefficients used in our study. A value of
800 W/m2 K [4–5] was considered for surfaces which are in contact
with the welding table.
Displacements are restricted on selected nodes (shown as 1,
2 and 3 in Fig. 2) in order to prevent rigid body motion without
constraining the deformation of the weldment, as shown in Fig. 2
(Biswas et al., 2011).
2.4. Material properties
The distribution of the heat in the metal depends on the mate-
rial properties: thermal conductivity (k), specific heat capacity (C),
mass density (), latent heat of melting and latent heat of solid-
ification. The temperature dependencies of these properties for
both 304 and A36 are shown in Fig. 3a. The latent heat of melting
and solidification is assumed to vary linearly between the solidus
and the liquidus temperatures. For 304, the latent heat, the solidus
temperature and the liquidus temperature are 261 kJ, 1673 ◦ K and
1727 ◦ K, respectively. Likewise, for A36, it is 247 kJ, 1738 ◦ K and
1817 ◦ K, respectively.
 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355 347

Fig. 4. Comparison between the measured and simulated temperatures for the sim-
ilar welding of 304.

Fig. 5. Temperature distribution at the instance when the welding torch reaches the
middle of the weld path in 304 similar weld. (For interpretation of the references to
color in the text, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

Fig. 3. Properties of A36 and 304: (a) thermal properties, and (b) mechanical prop-
erties.

Mechanical properties of 304 and A36, which are temperature

dependent, are shown in Fig. 3b. The elastic–plastic material consti-
tutive model is implemented in the form of temperature dependent
stress–strain curves.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Experimental validation of the model

The FEA model was validated by comparing the predicted tem-
perature with experimental data obtained for the similar weld with
304 steel. The temperature histories at three different locations
were measured using K-type thermocouples spot welded to the
upper and lower surfaces of the weld plate (Fig. 2). The thermo-
couples T1, T2, and T3 were placed at 3, 5 and 8 mm away from
the weld line (boundary), respectively. The temperature data was
acquired at a rate of 10 readings per second.
For the computational model validation, the temperature histo-
ries predicted by the computational model throughout the heating
and cooling stages were compared to the experimentally mea-
sured values (Fig. 4). Overall, the model predictions agree well
with the measurements. Near the peak, agreement was relatively
stronger for locations T2 and T3, when compared to location T1.
Fig. 6. Longitudinal stress at the instance when the welding torch reaches the mid-
dle of the weld path in 304 similar weld.
This could be attributed to the difference in the proximity of these
locations to the fusion boundary (FB). Being the nearest to the FB,
T1 experiences the largest temperature change and the associated
property changes, thereby being the most sensitive to the underly-
ing assumptions and input properties.
3.2. RS formation
Figs. 5 and 6 present the typical temperature and longitudinal
stress distribution, respectively, on the surface of the plate during
welding at the instance when the welding torch (arc) reaches the
348 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355

Fig. 7. Longitudinal stress in 304 similar weld after cooling (longitudinal RS).
Fig. 9. Temperature distribution at the instance when the welding torch reaches
the middle of the weld path in A36-304 dissimilar weld.

Fig. 10. Longitudinal stress at the instance when the welding torch reaches the
middle of the weld path in dissimilar weld of A36 and 304.

Fig. 8. Temperature and longitudinal stress evolution at location P (Fig. 2) in the

center of weld plate in 304 similar weld.

middle of the whole weld path. The temperature and longitudinal

stress distribution are symmetric with respect to the weld path, as
expected. The temperature in the vicinity of the torch is very high
and, therefore, the material volume in this region is in a state of
low yield strength and, endures low stress. A large amount of com-
pressive stress is generated just ahead of the torch because of the
severe temperature gradient in this region, which is in the heat-
ing phase. Severe temperature gradient also means the strength of
the material increased quickly to room temperature value within a
short distance away from the weld zone (WZ). In the region behind
the weld torch (green region in Fig. 5), which is in the cooling
phase, the temperature gradient gradually decreases as the tem- Fig. 11. Longitudinal RS in dissimilar weld of A36 and 304 after cooling.

perature around the WZ continues to decrease, and it approached

relatively more uniform temperature distribution. As the cooling
progresses, the fusion zone material behind the torch contracts,
initiating formation of a tensile RS. As the cooling completes, the
tensile longitudinal RS grows to a larger region throughout the WZ,
as shown in Fig. 7.
The temperature and the stress history at an arbitrarily chosen
location in the WZ and in the middle of the weld path (location P
shown in Fig. 2) are plotted in Fig. 8. During the initial heat up prior
to the instance at which the center of the welding torch passes P
(0–10 s period), the severe localized temperature gradients in the
vicinity of the weld line created compressive stress in this region.
As the welding torch passed P, and the material around P started
to cool down, the large compressive stress transformed into a large
tensile RS, consistent with the stress distribution discussed above.
Fig. 9 displays the temperature distribution in a dissimilar weld
when the torch reached the center of the weld path. As expected,
the temperature distribution was asymmetric due to the difference
in thermo-mechanical properties of the two plates. Heat diffusion
during the heating and cooling phases was relatively larger in A36
due to its higher thermal diffusivity when compared to the 304.
A36, with higher thermal conductivity than 304, also experienced
a relatively faster temperature rise than 304. The longitudinal stress
distributions at this instance and after complete cooling are shown
in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively. The stresses are higher in the 304
plate due to the relatively larger yield strength and thermal expan-
sion coefficient of 304 when compared to A36 (Fig. 11).
The distribution of the longitudinal RS along the line A–A
(shown in Fig. 2) after cooling is shown in Fig. 12 for a 304 (similar
 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355
Fig. 12. Longitudinal RS after cooling in similar A36, similar 304, and their combi-
nation for dissimilar weld, which is shown by blue color, (left half is A36 and right
half is 304).
Fig. 13. Normalized Longitudinal RS (RS/YS) in dissimilar A36-304 weld (left-A36
and right- 304).
weld), A36 (similar weld) and their combination (dissimilar weld).
As discussed above, for the same heat input and BM dimensions, the
magnitude of RS in the dissimilar weld around the WZ (±7 mm) is
relatively higher in 304 than that in A36 due to the fairly larger
yield strength and thermal expansion of 304 when compared to
A36. The RS profiles of A36 and 304 similar welds, when compared
to that of their dissimilar weld (A36-304 weld), show a significant
difference in the longitudinal RS magnitude, as shown in Fig. 12.
The maximum value the longitudinal RS in 304 of the dissimilar
weld is 50 MPa more than that of the 304 similar weld, while the
maximum longitudinal RS in the A36 is significantly lower than
the A36 similar weld. The longitudinal RS normalized with its yield
strength (YS) is presented in Fig. 13 for the dissimilar weld, which
shows that the RS in 304 reached its yield strength in the WZ.
The formation of longitudinal RS in similar welds of 304, A36,
and the dissimilar welds of 304-A36 plates, is studied by capturing
the evolution of longitudinal stress distribution along line A–A , for a
few selected times (Fig. 14). After 3 s from the start (location shown
as 3 s in Fig. 14b), the longitudinal stress is very low due to the
low temperature gradient since the welding torch (arc) is relatively
349
far from line A–A (Fig. 14). As the welding torch reaches the loca-
tion corresponding to the 8 s instance from the start, compressive
longitudinal stress began to evolve, but mostly in the region close
to WZ. As the welding torch traveled forward and reached A–A ,
and the temperature increased, a W shaped stress profile with a
relatively low tensile stress in the WZ, large compressive stress
next to the WZ, and large tensile stress away from the WZ, devel-
oped for both the similar and dissimilar welds. Subsequently, as
the welding torch crossed the section A–A and continued to travel
forward, the tensile stress in the WZ increased in magnitude. The
compressive stress magnitude remained the same, but spread into
the outer tensile region. The evolution of stress during the cool-
ing stage, where thermal mismatch and the associated stresses
gradually changed the non-uniform plastic deformation, eventu-
ally resulted in a drastically different stress profile(@2500 s). The
outer region (±20 mm) with substantial tensile stress completely
changed to large compressive stress while the tensile stress in the
WZ increased significantly, reaching the yield strength in 304.
3.3. Sensitivity of RS to various material properties
A sensitivity study was performed to identify the impact of the
dissimilarity in various material properties of 304 and A36, namely
thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, yield strength, and
coefficient of thermal expansion, on the formation of RS. This was
achieved by characterizing the RS formation in the WZ of a 304
plate, with the particular property under consideration changed to
the corresponding A36 property, but only for material on one side
of the weld (referred to as A36 plate in this section, as shown in
Fig. 15). This approach, where only a single material property was
dissimilar across the weld at a time, permitted to study the impact
of individual material properties qualitatively (not quantitative
because of elasto-plastic constitutive model which is nonlinear and
hence history dependent) without being influenced by the dissim-
ilarity of other material properties. The results are summarized in
Fig. 16. In case 1, since material properties are exactly the same on
both sides of the weld, longitudinal RS is symmetric with respect
to the weld path, as discussed earlier. In case 2, bell shaped RS
distribution shifted slightly toward the right due to the difference
in thermal conductivity between the plates. A36 has a much higher
thermal conductivity coefficient than that of 304 in the tempera-
ture range below 1000 K (Fig. 3). Since higher thermal conductivity
leads to higher thermal diffusivity for a given mass density and
specific heat capacity (˛ = k/Cp ), heat diffusion is faster in the A36.
Therefore, the temperature distribution is relatively more uniform
in this region when compared to the locations away from the weld
path where temperature gradient is relatively large. In effect, the
temperature across the plate becomes uniform more quickly in
A36. Therefore, the lower temperature gradient in the A36 plate
induced less tensile RS which was limited to a smaller region near
the weld path. Since the specific heat capacity was similar for the
A36 and 304 in the temperature range below 1000 K, the obtained
stress field for case 3 was very similar to case 1. The yield strength
was varied in case 4, resulting in the lowering of RS in A36, which
has the lower yield strength. This can be attributed to the depen-
dence of the RS on the plastic strains in the WZ, which essentially
limits the maximum stress to the yield strength of the weld mate-
rial. Compared to thermal conductivity, specific heat, and yield
strength, the effect of thermal expansion coefficient showed the
largest sensitivity to the RS in the WZ (case 5). Since the thermal
expansion coefficient of A36 was small compared to the 304, the RS
dropped to a remarkably low value in A36, and increased to a larger
value in 304 reaching its yield strength. The results corresponding
to the original dissimilar weld between A36 and 304, were also
provided as case 6 in Fig. 16 for comparison purposes. Interest-
ingly, cases 5 and 6 produced very similar longitudinal RS states,
350 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355

Fig. 14. (a) Predicted longitudinal RS profiles across the mid-plane of the weld at different times (red square for similar weld, blue circle for dissimilar weld with left half
A36 and right half 304), (b) locations of welding heat source at different time. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the
web version of this article.)

807 K, the average difference of thermal expansion coefficient A36

and 304 is almost 11 × 10−6 . With this given difference, it can be
concluded a larger thermal strain will be generated in the 304 side
when the weld cools from 807 K to room temperature. Sedek et al.
(2003) also stated the variation in the thermal expansion coefficient
between ferritic–pearlitic and austenitic stainless steels in dissim-
ilar weld caused RS differences in these two weld plates. Highest
RS occurred in the latter because of its greater thermal expansion
coefficient. They suggested these high stresses could be reduced
considerably by using a transition material having a coefficient of
thermal expansion between those of the two base metals.
Fig. 15 illustrates that during weld thermal cycle, the 304 plate
with large thermal expansion coefficient can produce tensioning
load on A36 plate, while enduring compression load by itself.

Fig. 15. Schematic illustrating how the variation in thermal expansion coefficient
in a dissimilar weld can introduce mutual tension/compression loading conditions
that influence the RS formation.
indicating that the coefficient of thermal expansion plays the most
dominant role in the evolution of RS in the dissimilar welds of A36
and 304. Following the calculation shown by Deng et al. (2009),
within the temperature range from room temperature (298 K) to
3.4. Effect of tensioning load on RS
Price et al. (2007) and Richards et al. (2008) have shown that the
application of global, or far field, mechanical tensioning externally
during similar welding process can greatly reduce the longitudi-
nal tensile RS in FSW joints. In our case, the effectiveness of their
method was investigated for RS mitigation in similar weld and
 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355 351

Fig. 16. Effect of thermal properties on formation of RS by making only one set of property dissimilar at a time. Case 1: similar weld; Case 2: thermal conductivity; Case 3:
specific heat; Case 4: yield strength; Case5: thermal expansion; Case 6: fully dissimilar weld.

Fig. 18. Longitudinal RS distribution after similar welding of 304 with a 100 MPa
tensioning load.
Fig. 17. Longitudinal stress distribution during similar welding of 304 with a
100 MPa tensioning load.

was eventually removed once the sample was completely cooled

304-A36 dissimilar weld, respectively. At first, a similar weld of down to the room temperature. The distribution of the longitudi-
a 304 plate was considered. A constant tensioning load in terms nal stress at an instant during welding and the longitudinal RS after
of a uniform longitudinal tensile stress of 100 MPa was applied cooling are as shown in Figs. 17 and 18, respectively. When com-
throughout the welding thermal cycle in both weld plates. The load pared to the results obtained for the case without tensioning load

Fig. 19. Development of longitudinal RS during welding and cooling at a location in the WZ subjected to a 100 MPa tensioning load at an arbitrary location in the weld path
(point P shown in Fig. 2).
352 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355

Fig. 20. Longitudinal RS after cooling for un-tensioned and tensioned case, similar 304 weld.

(Fig. 7), a significant reduction of about 100 MPa in the tensile RS
stress in the WZ region, at the expense of some increase in tensile
stress away from the WZ, is obtained.
In Fig. 19, the evolution of longitudinal stress at a given node
(location P in Fig. 2), is displayed. Before the welding begins, longi-
tudinal stress at this location is the applied tensile stress, which is
100 MPa in this case. However, as time progressed, and the heat
source approached to the location P, tensile stress continued to
decrease, eventually reaching a compressive stress of −200 MPa.
Interestingly, this maximum compressive stress was the same for
the case of un-tensioned sample (Fig. 8). As time progressed fur-
ther, the evolution of the longitudinal stress followed almost the
same path, until the tensioning load is released at the end of the
cooling cycle, i.e. after 2500 s. Upon releasing the tensioning load,
the stress stored in the weld plate was reduced by an amount of the
stress corresponding to the applied tensioning load. The reduction
in the tensile stress in the WZ is further illustrated by compar-
ing its distribution on the A–A cross-section in Fig. 20. Overall, the
obtained results are consistent with those reported in the literature
for similar welds (Chakravarti et al., 1990).
The mechanism of stress reduction through mechanical ten-
sioning can be explained as follows: as the arc moves along the
weld path, material behind the torch expands, and develops
compressive stress, due to the constraining of its free thermal
expansion by the surrounding material (Fig. 21a). As the material
reaches its yield strength, which is very low at high temperature,

Fig. 21. Schematic illustrating the mechanism of RS mitigation using mechanical tensioning in similar weld: (a) longitudinal thermal stresses during welding, (b) longitudinal
thermal stresses after cooling, (c) longitudinal thermal stresses during welding in the presence of tensioning load, (d) longitudinal thermal stresses after welding and prior
to the releasing of the tensioning load, and (e) longitudinal thermal stresses after releasing the tensioning load.
 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355 353

Fig. 22. Predicted longitudinal stress during welding and cooling phases at different times in the dissimilar weld of A36 and 304. Red square: un-tensioned sample, blue
circle: tensioned sample. Left half is A36 and right half is 304. (For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of
this article.)

it yields plastically producing a large plastic strain. As the material
cools down to the room temperature and the yield strength of the
material increases, a significant amount of elastic (misfit) strain
evolves due to this nonhomogeneous plastic strain in the material
even when all the thermal strains are relieved. This explains
the large tensile RS distribution in the WZ with the maximum
in the welding direction, balanced by the far field compressive
stress (Fig. 21b). When the tensioning load is applied to the weld
samples, as shown in Fig. 21c, the surrounding materials are being
stretched elastically. The behavior of material behind the torch is
similar to the un-tensioned sample, with the tensile stress limited
by the yield strength. As a result, the resulting ellipsoidal stress
distribution that is present after cooling to the room temperature,
but before the removal of the tensioning load, is slightly larger
than that of the un-tensioned sample (Fig. 21d). Unloading the
superimposed tensioning load on the weld RS profile, therefore,
reduces the stress field uniformly by an amount equal to the tensile
stress corresponding to the tensioning load (Fig. 21e).
For RS reduction in dissimilar weld, only tensioning load was
applied to the plate which experiences highest RS, (304 steel for this
study). The reason is that the tensioning stress caused by tensioning
load will combine with the RS that is developing in the weld as it
cools. Thus this will increase the tensile RS by 100 MPa (amount of
stress caused by tensioning load). This will mean that, there will
be a much greater overlap between RS and their corresponding
yield stress limit (Price et al., 2007). Therefore, if the developing RS
profile was not of a sufficient magnitude to cause plastic yielding
in un-tensioned weld plate, but it will in tensioned weld plate. In
dissimilar weld, the highest RS happens in 304 steel while RS in A36
is no longer near yield limit. If a uniform tensioning load is applied

Fig. 23. Longitudinal RS after cooling for un-tensioned and tensioned cases in dissimilar A36-304 welds.
354 H. Eisazadeh et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 222 (2015) 344–355
Fig. 24. Longitudinal stress distribution in dissimilar weld during welding with
100 MPa tensioning load.
Fig. 25. Longitudinal RS distribution in dissimilar weld after cooling and the removal
of 100 MPa tensioning load.
to both A36 and 304 weld plates, there might be a reduction in
tensile RS stress in the WZ region of A36, however it causes some
increase in tensile stress magnitude away from the WZ in A36. To
sum up, since the RS field in dissimilar weld is asymmetric (Fig. 12),
the introduced external tensioning load need not necessarily be
uniform or symmetric. However, it should be determined based on
the particular design requirements.
Noting that the maximum tensile RS in the 304 reached its yield
strength, while the A36 remained significantly below the yield
strength, a uniform tensile stress of 100 MPa applied only on the
304 plate was considered as tensioning load in this study. The
formation of longitudinal RS in A36-304 dissimilar tensioned and
un-tensioned welds are studied by capturing the evolution of longi-
tudinal stress distribution along line A–A (Fig. 14), for a few selected
times (Fig. 22). The resulting RS, shown in Fig. 23, indicates a large
tensile stress reduction in 304 side. A tensile RS reduction of about
10% was also obtained in the A36 plate, which was not subjected
to the applied mechanical tensioning load.
The distribution of the longitudinal stress during welding (at
the instance when the welding torch reaches the middle of the
whole weld path) and after cooling is shown in Figs. 24 and 25,
respectively. When comparing these stress distributions to those
corresponding to the un-tensioned case (Figs. 10 and 11, respec-
tively), it can be concluded that the tensile RS in the WZ of a
dissimilar weld can be controlled as needed by choosing an appro-
priate tensioning load.
4. Conclusions
RS formation and the effect of the variation of an individual set
of material properties on RS formation in a dissimilar weld were
investigated using an FEA model. The effectiveness of mechanical
tensioning technique, particularly in the context of dissimilar weld,
was also studied. The major findings of the study are summarized
below:
• Difference in the thermal expansion coefficient plays the primary
role on RS formation in dissimilar welds of different ferrous alloys.
• Throughout the welding and cooling phases, 304 with rela-
tively larger thermal expansion coefficient induced a tensile
load on A36, while A36 induced a compressive load. Thus,
due to yield, a larger longitudinal RS was formed in 304
plate of the dissimilar weld when compared to the similar
304 weld.
• Mechanical tensioning can be very effective in mitigating the RS
in the WZ for both the similar and dissimilar GTA welds.
• The mechanism of RS reduction due to tensioning can be
explained based on the fact that the stress produced by the com-
bined effect of both the plastic and elastic deformation cannot
exceed the yield strength, which eventually allows for an elastic
recovery of the local stress upon its removal.
• Since the RS formation is asymmetric in a dissimilar weld, the
mechanical tensioning load to mitigate RS need not be symmetric
or uniform, but should be introduced based on the specific design
requirements.
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