NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF RESIDUAL STRESSES IN TITANIUM ALLOY DURING ELECTRON BEAM LOCAL POST-WELD HEAT

The distributions of temperature and residual stresses in thin plates of BT20 titanium alloy are numerically analyzed by three-dimensional finite element software during electron beam welding and electron beam local post-weld heat treatment (EBLPWHT). Combined with numerical calculating results, the effects of different EBLPWHT mode and parameters, including heat treating position,heating width and heating time, on the distribution of welding residual stresses are analyzed. The results show that, the residual tensile stresses in weld center can be largely decreased when the weld is heat treated at back preface of the plate. The numerical results also indicated that the magnitude of the residual longitudinal stresses of the weld and the zone vicinity of the weld is decreased, and the range of the residual longitudinal stresses is increased along with the increase of heating width and heating time.