Numerical and Experimental Investigation of Layer Number Effect on Residual Stresses Cladding Process

Weld residual stress is one of the most sensitive issues in the safety and reliability of structures such as nuclear reactor components. In order to prevent the corrosion caused by corrosive environments, the inner surface of containers made of carbon steel, is cladded in a layer of austenitic stainless steel. In this study, a steel plate of carbon steel A516-G70, will be cladded by the shielded metal arc welding method. In order to validate the results, hole drilling method is used to determine residual stresses. Finally, the residual stresses in samples with two and three layer cladding are examined. By giving the sources of error in testing, the results have a relatively good compliance. The results indicate that, the maximum amount of residual stresses in the clad layer, are tensile and in the stress limit, it is in submission of base metal and cladding layer. Also, by increasing the number of layers in the cladding layer thickness and steel plate, residual stresses are reduced. However, at the surface of the cladding layer stresses have inconsiderable changes. And on the border between the cladding layer and the plate, residual stress increases by increasing the number of layers.