PARAMETRIC STUDY FOR RESIDUAL STRESSES AND DEFORMATIONS IN WELDED PIPE-FLANGE JOINTS

Welding produces residual stresses and distortion, having detrimental effect on structure integrity and service performance of the welded pipe joints. This paper investigates residual stresses and distortion during Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) of pipes of schedule 40 and 60, nominal diameter 100mm and 200mm and thickness 8mm and 10mm with ANSI flanges of class 300#. Welding parameters including voltage, current and heat input are varied to find the optimized set to control stresses and deformations. Stress variation on the flange side is observed prominent compared to the pipe side due to its dimensional variation. Axial flange displacement along 360 degrees is also concluded obvious, hence effecting sealing performance of the gasketed flanged pipe joints.