Browsing by Author "Simons, P"

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    Effect of ultrasonic peening on residual stresses at a T-butt weld toe
    (Materials Research Forum LLC, 2016-07-03) Hellier, AK; Prusty, BG; Pearce, GM; Reid, M; Paradowska, AM; Simons, P
    The current paper presents the results of neutron diffraction measurements of the throughthickness residual stress field at the toe of a T-butt weld, made from 10mm thick A350 grade black mild steel plates, after successful ultrasonic peening. A single ultrasonic peening treatment was carried out at the weld toe. Residual stresses were measured using the KOWARI instrument at ANSTO. The neutron diffraction technique was chosen for this study because of its ability to measure three-dimensional residual stress deep within the component at high resolutions. Although the nominal yield stress of the A350 grade plate is 350 MPa the actual yield stress is generally higher, in this case averaging out to about 400 MPa. Ultrasonic peening was highly effective, leading to a residual stress redistribution with a maximum compressive stress of about 250 MPa at the weld toe surface and a maximum tensile stress of 220 MPa, at a depth of almost 3mm into the base plate. The resulting compressive residual stresses at the weld toe surface will almost certainly increase substantially both the fatigue initiation and propagation lives, or may prevent fatigue completely. Since A350 steel is widely used in buildings, bridges and offshore structures, ultrasonic peening shows great promise as an in-situ peening method in order to improve weld fatigue performance. © The Authors