Evaluating stress intensity factors due to weld residual stresses by the weight function and finite element methods

This paper presents a study on the application of the weight function and finite element methods to evaluate residual stress intensity factors in welded test samples. Three specimen geometries and various residual stress profiles were studied. Comparisons of the two different methods were made in terms of the accuracy, easiness to use, conditions and limitations. Calculated residual stress intensity factors by the two different methods are in general in good agreement for all the configurations studied. Computational issues involved in executing these methods are discussed. Some practical issues are also addressed, e.g. treatment of incomplete or limited residual stress measurements, influence of transverse residual stresses, and modelling residual stress in short-length specimens. The finite element method is validated by well-established weight functions and thus can be applied to complex geometries following the procedures recommended in this paper.