Asymptotic Thermal and Residual Stress Distributions due to Transient thermal Loads.

The paper deals with the development of thermal and residual stress distributions arising from the solidification of a fusion zone near a V-notch tip. A set of numerical solutions of the problem was carried out under the hypothesis of generalized plane strain conditions by means of SYSWELD code. The intensity of the thermal and residual asymptotic stress fields at the sharp V-notch tip was studied for a given V-notch specimen geometry and a predefined fusion zone dimension after simulations on materials with different thermal, mechanical and phase transformation properties and after changing the clamping conditions at the specimen???s boundary. The results were compared in terms of the elastic or elastic-plastic notch stress intensity factors giving a contribution to the interpretation of the experimental behaviour of welded joint.