The research investigates the topological optimisation of the metal brackets that connect curtain wall panelling to the floor slabs of a building. As is typically the case with standard building components, the brackets are overdesigned with higher load margins than real applied loads. Optimising them results in reduced mass and a more evenly spread stress distribution. Correspondingly, the question that the project asks is whether the optimised designs have a comparable structural performance to the standard bracketry used in construction, and a lower embodied carbon. To answer this, several optimisations of a standard facade bracket are performed, resulting in a total of six converged design options, with three of them progressed for fabrication. The manufactured designs are then horizontal and vertical load and residual stress tested to assess their performance, and an embodied carbon analysis is performed to calculate the corresponding emissions for raw material extraction, processing, and component fabrication. The results indicate the presence of compressive yield magnitude residual stresses, and that structural performance is comparable to a standard bracket, but embodied carbon is in most cases higher. The paper concludes with a discussion of the findings, and possible next steps in the optimisation, structural testing, and embodied carbon analysis workflow.

Determining residual stresses in thin-walled pipes is challenging. They are potentially difficult targets for simulation, because they may not behave as simple axisymmetric structures during welding. Thin-walled pipes are more sensitive to changes in the welding heat input than thick-walled pipes. They are also under-represented in the existing population of residual stress measurements used to generate upper bound residual stress profiles for structural integrity assessments. In this paper, residual stress characterisation of two thin-walled austenitic girth welded pipes is presented. The overall geometries of the two mock-up designs were the same; they differed in the linear heat input per pass and the total number of weld passes. The residual stress characterisation was carried out using two independent measurement techniques; the contour method and neutron diffraction. The multiple-cut contour strategy was implemented to measure the cross-sectional maps of hoop and axial stresses on axial-radial and hoop-radial planes respectively. The contour method results are compared with stresses measured using neutron diffraction and specific residual stress distribution signatures observed are discussed.

The manufacturing route for polymer composites inevitably introduces residual stress. This internal stress generated during the curing regime results in distortion and problems of “fit-up” post-manufacture. Consequently, the composite structures might need to be pre-loaded to get the desired assembly tolerances, creating additional internal stresses and reducing the overall performance of the product. Residual stresses in polymer composites also promote fatigue and other degradation mechanisms which can compromise the life and structural integrity of components in service. In order to optimise the design and structural integrity of polymer composites, knowledge of bulk residual stresses is required. Analytical and numerical methods have been developed to predict residual stresses in polymer composites but these procedures are computationally expensive and require cure and temperature dependent physio-chemo-rheological properties when the entire curing cycle is modelled [1]. Experimental measurements offer an alternative solution for developing a quantitative understanding of the sign, magnitude and distribution of residual stresses. In addition, experimental characterisation is essential for validation of predictive methods. But there is no consensus regarding what experimental method to use for measuring bulk (through-thickness) residual stress in polymer composites. The Contour Method is a well-established technique for measuring bulk residual stresses in metallic components [2]. It involves sectioning the component into two halves across the plane of interest, measuring the out of plane deformation of the created cut surfaces and applying the measured deformation map to a finite element model of the cut component to back calculate the original residual stresses at the cut section. The first research challenge in applying the Contour Method to non-metallic materials, such as Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) composites, is developing a suitable method for cutting the material. Here we present results of cutting trials on a

The stress dependence of creep deformation and cavitation damage in pure copper at 250 degrees C under uniaxial loading is studied using a flat hourglass test specimen under uniaxial tensile load. In-situ digital image correlation (DIC) is used to monitor time dependent surface creep deformation, ex-situ small angle neutron scattering (SANS) applied to measure volumetric cavitation damage, and scanning electron microscopy used for surface characterisation. A self-consistent discolation model is successfully applied to explain the full field multi-stress creep deformation behaviour measured by DIC. Through approximating a range of shaped cavities with a model distribution of spherical voids, a minimum stable cavity nucleation diameter range of 600 to 1200 angstrom, depending on the applied stress level, is clearly observed in the SANS results. This finding supports the validity of the classical surface energy/work balance expression defining the minimum stable cavity size. All cavities observed in interrupted life samples were facetted in nature. The SANS data imply continuous cavity nucleation and growth throughout creep life, with a nucleation rate at stresses less than 100 MPa linearly related to the creep rate. This is in accordance with the double ledge grain boundary sliding nucleation model of Sandstrom and Wu [1].

Background The split sleeve cold expansion process is widely used to improve the fatigue life of fastener holes in the civil and military aircraft industry. The process introduces beneficial compressive residual stresses around the processed hole, but uncertainties remain about the character of the stress field immediately adjacent to the bore of the hole. Objective The primary objective of this study was to implement the contour method with minimising error associated with cutting-induced plasticity to provide detailed and reliable characterisation of the residual stress introduced by the split sleeve cold expansion process. Methods A systematic FE study of plasticity effects by simulating different contour cutting strategies (a single cut, two sequential cuts and a 6-cut sequence) for a cold expanded hole in an aluminium alloy coupon was conducted. The identified ‘optimum’ cutting strategy was then applied experimentally on coupons containing a hole that had been processed to 3.16% applied expansion. Results The FE study of different cutting simulations show that the locations of the stress error is consistent with the location where cutting-induced plasticity accumulated and that the magnitude and locations of stress re-distribution plasticity can be controlled by an optimised cutting strategy. In order to validate this hypothesis a high quality contour measurement was performed, showing that accurate near bore stress results can be achieved by the proposed 6-cut approach that controls cutting induced plasticity. Conclusions The present work has demonstrated that detailed FE simulation analysis can be a very effective tool in supporting the development of an optimum cutting sequence and in making correct choices of boundary conditions. Through optimizing these key aspects of the cutting sequence one is much more likely to have a successful, low error contour residual stress result.

An incremental Contour Method (iCM) of residual stress measurement is proposed where residual stresses in the body of interest are sequentially reduced by successive contour cuts and the risk of stress re-distribution plasticity is mitigated or eliminated. The cutting-induced plasticity is known to cause significant inaccuracies when trying to measure the near-yield residual stresses using a conventional single cut contour method. The iCM procedure implements a new displacement data processing approach for the general case of sectioning at an arbitrary plane where the cut parts do not possess mirror-symmetric elastic stiffness. The basis for the new asymmetric stiffness data analysis approach is presented and the accuracy of the new method demonstrated using both numerical and experimental case studies.

This paper describes in detail two neutron diffraction residual stress measurements, performed on the ENGIN-X neutron scattering instrument at the ISIS facility in the UK and on the SALSA instrument at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France. The measurements were conducted as part of the NeT Task Group 6 (TG6) international measurement round robin on an Alloy 600/82 multi-pass weldment - a slot in an Alloy 600 plate filled with three Alloy 82 weld beads, simulating a repair weld. This alloy/weld combination is considered challenging to measure, due to the large grain size and texture in the weld, and large gradients in the stress-free lattice parameter between the parent and weld metal. The basic principles of the neutron diffraction technique are introduced and issues affecting the reliability of residual stress characterization are highlighted. Two different analysis strategies are used for estimation of residual stresses from the raw data. Chemical composition studies are used to measure the mixing of parent and weld metal and highlight the steep lattice parameter gradients that arise as a consequence. The inferred residual stresses are then compared with three sets of measurements performed on the same plate by other NeT partners on E3 at the HZB in Berlin, STRESS-SPEC at the FRM II in Munich and KOWARI in Sydney. A robust Bayesian estimation average is calculated from the combined five-instrument data set, allowing reliable best estimates of the residual stress distribution in the vicinity of the weldment. The systematic uncertainties associated with the residual stress measurements are determined separately in the weld and parent materials, and compared with those in the NeT TG4 benchmark. This is a three-pass slot-welded plate fabricated from American Iron and Steel Institute AISI 316L(N) austenitic stainless steel, and is normally considered less challenging to measure using diffraction techniques than all nickel welds. The uncertainties in the stress measurements by neutron diffraction for these two weldments seem to be comparable.

The analysis of the spectrum features of thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) using the desorption-rate profile against temperature is widely applied to investigate the hydrogen kinetics including diffusion and trapping in metallic materials, which is related to hydrogen embrittlement. Recently the TDS spectrum features such as the peak magnitude and the peak area have been used for qualitative assessment of creep damage, although there is still a lack of theoretical understanding on the correlation between TDS spectrum features and creep damage. In this paper, creep voids inducing creep damage are considered as the only kind of hydrogen traps in steels. The relationships between the TDS spectrum features and creep damage of ferritic steels are investigated through parameter analysis of the modified McNabb-Foster model together with the Oriani assumption, which can describe hydrogen evolution during thermal desorption. It is found that the peak area of TDS spectrum is independent of the trap binding energy, and it is proportional to the trap density, demonstrating that it could be a good indicator for creep damage. The creep damage can be characterized as a power-law function of the peak area of TDS spectrum, indicating TDS as a promising semi-destructive characterization method for creep damage of metallic steels.

Creep-induced cavitation is an important failure mechanism in steel components operating at high temperature. Robust techniques are required to observe and quantify creep cavitation. In this paper, the use of two complementary analysis techniques: small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and quantitative metallography, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), is reported. The development of creep cavities that is accumulated under uniaxial load has been studied as a function of creep strain and life fraction, by carrying out interrupted tests on two sets of creep test specimens that are prepared from a Type-316H austenitic stainless steel reactor component. In order to examine the effects of pre-strain on creep damage formation, one set of specimens was subjected to a plastic pre-strain of 8%, and the other set had no pre-strain. Each set of specimens was subjected to different loading and temperature conditions, representative of those of current and future power plant operation. Cavities of up to 300 nm in size are quantified by using SANS, and their size distribution, as a function of determined creep strain. Cavitation increases significantly as creep strain increases throughout creep life. These results are confirmed by quantitative metallography analysis.

Creep-induced cavitation is an important failure mechanism in steel components operating at high temperature. Robust techniques are required to observe and quantify creep cavitation. In this paper, the use of two complementary analysis techniques: small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), and quantitative metallography, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), is reported. The development of creep cavities that is accumulated under uniaxial load has been studied as a function of creep strain and life fraction, by carrying out interrupted tests on two sets of creep test specimens that are prepared from a Type-316H austenitic stainless steel reactor component. In order to examine the effects of pre-strain on creep damage formation, one set of specimens was subjected to a plastic pre-strain of 8%, and the other set had no pre-strain. Each set of specimens was subjected to different loading and temperature conditions, representative of those of current and future power plant operation. Cavities of up to 300 nm in size are quantified by using SANS, and their size distribution, as a function of determined creep strain. Cavitation increases significantly as creep strain increases throughout creep life. These results are confirmed by quantitative metallography analysis.

This paper highlights many unanswered questions relating to the characterisation of residual stresses in weldments and their treatment in engineering critical assessment and fitness for service assessment codes and standards. The need for an overarching standardisation framework is identified which goes beyond developing good practice guidelines for numerical prediction or measurement using a specific technique. The framework should cover all uncertainties and possible errors in measuring, simulating and interpreting residual stress in the context of structural integrity assessment.

Intergranular strains are generated due to the incompatible deformations at grain length-scales during elastic and inelastic loading in a polycrystalline material. Estimating the effects of intergranular strains on the creep life of the material is of interest for accurate life prediction of high-temperature structural systems. In this study, the effect of the cyclic loading generated intergranular strains on the creep deformation behaviour of Type 316H austenitic stainless steel was studied using in-situ neutron diffraction. The load-controlled creep dwells introduced at various positions during tension-compression cyclic loading with different intergranular strain state but under the same applied stress showed markedly different behaviours. It is inferred that the intergranular strains are a significant contributor to the observed differences in creep deformation behaviour. Comparing the evolution of intergranular strains in various grain families during plastic and creep deformation, it was found that the grain families which deformed relatively more or less during plastic deformation behaved similarly during creep deformation. The present work shows that intergranular strains, which contribute to accelerating/decelerating creep deformation rates, need to be accounted for in current creep life assessment procedures, to obtain a more realistic creep deformation prediction under cyclic loading conditions.

Cladding stainless steel layer on the inner surface of ferrite pressure vessel is a common method to improve the corrosion resistance and save the economic cost. However, the movement of heat source and temperature gradient in the process of cladded welding will lead to the anisotropy of cladded layer material. When measuring the residual stress of pressure vessel steel plate with stainless steel cladded layers by contour method, it is necessary to know the elastic mechanical properties of stainless steel cladded layers accurately. The assumption of transversely isotropy was employed, and the relationship between the material compliance matrix and the elastic modulus of transversely isotropic material was utilized. Based on the elastic modulus of each cladded layer and the whole steel plate from the longitudinal direction (0°) until the transverse direction (90°) measured by the experiment, the independent constants S11, S13, S33 and S44 in the compliance matrix of each cladded layer and the whole steel plate were obtained by regression analysis method. Furthermore, by using the relationship between the independent constants of the stiffness matrix of the transversely isotropic material and the single crystal material, the independent constants S12 in the compliance matrix of each stainless steel cladded layer and the whole steel plate were obtained. And then the independent constants of the stiffness matrix of each cladded layer and the whole steel plate were acquired. Hence, a method for calculating the anisotropic elastic constants of the stainless steel cladded layer and the whole steel plate was proposed. The results will provide material data support for measuring residual stress of pressure vessel steel plate with stainless steel cladded layers by contour method.

A series of engineering-scale multi-pass pipe girth weld mock-ups were manufactured using conventional manual metal arc techniques from Esshete 1250 austenitic steel. They were characterised in detail, in order to provide validation benchmarks for finite element prediction of weld residual stresses The fabrication sequence comprised initial solution heat treatment and quenching, manufacture of five closely spaced girth welds in a single assembly, and then separation into five individual weldments. Detailed welding records were kept, to allow subsequent calibration of weld heat source models. Residual stresses were measured using diverse methods (incremental deep hole drilling and the contour method), in both the as-welded condition and after thermal ageing at 650 degrees C. The measurements showed good agreement, providing reliable validation targets for predicted residual stresses in both states. Detailed mechanical property characterisation was performed on both parent material and weld metal, comprising monotonic and isothermal cyclic testing over a range of temperatures from ambient up to 1000 degrees C. The test data were used to derive a range of Lemaitre-Chaboche mixed isotropic-kinematic model parameter sets for use in finite element simulation. These welds and their supporting characterisation comprise a reliable benchmark for weld residual stress simulation in an engineering-scale weldment.

Dissimilar metal welds are often required in nuclear power plants to join components made from austenitic steels to those from ferritic steels, particularly in fast breeder reactor plants, in order to join the intermediate heat exchanger to the steam generator. The process of welding alters the microstructure of the base materials and causes residual stresses to form, both because of the change in the microstructure and the differing thermal histories in various regions. Postweld heat treatment (PWHT) is required to relieve the residual stresses and achieve preferable microstructural gradients across the weld joint. Therefore, in order to arrive at the optimal PWHT process, it is necessary to investigate the effects of heat treatment on the joint integrity, microstructure, and residual stress relaxation in the welds. To investigate the effect of PWHT on the residual stress relaxation and corresponding alteration of microstructure across a welded joint, a dissimilar weld between modified 9Cr-1Mo steel and austenitic stainless steel AISI 316LN was made using autogenous electron beam welding. To achieve this, the welding process was first modeled numerically using finite element analysis, and the residual stress predictions were validated by experimental investigation using neutron diffraction. The validated model was then used to study the residual stress relaxation through the simulation of PWHT. The predicted stress relaxation was compared with contour method measurement of residual stresses in the actual welded plate subjected to PWHT. The results indicate that, although some relaxation of residual stresses occurred during PWHT, there is still a significant portion of highly localized residual stresses left in the specimen.

Dissimilar metal welds are often required in nuclear power plants to join components made from austenitic steels to those from ferritic steels, particularly in fast breeder reactor plants, in order to join the intermediate heat exchanger to the steam generator. The process of welding alters the microstructure of the base materials and causes residual stresses to form, both because of the change in the microstructure and the differing thermal histories in various regions. Postweld heat treatment (PWHT) is required to relieve the residual stresses and achieve preferable microstructural gradients across the weld joint. Therefore, in order to arrive at the optimal PWHT process, it is necessary to investigate the effects of heat treatment on the joint integrity, microstructure, and residual stress relaxation in the welds. To investigate the effect of PWHT on the residual stress relaxation and corresponding alteration of microstructure across a welded joint, a dissimilar weld between modified 9Cr-1Mo steel and austenitic stainless steel AISI 316LN was made using autogenous electron beam welding. To achieve this, the welding process was first modeled numerically using finite element analysis, and the residual stress predictions were validated by experimental investigation using neutron diffraction. The validated model was then used to study the residual stress relaxation through the simulation of PWHT. The predicted stress relaxation was compared with contour method measurement of residual stresses in the actual welded plate subjected to PWHT. The results indicate that, although some Manuscript received July 31, 2017; accepted for publication May 9, 2018; published online July 30, 2018. 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TR, United Kingdom, (Corresponding author), e-mail: k.abburivenkata@ bristol.ac.uk, https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-5165-7585 2 Advanced Forming Research Centre, University of Strathclyde, 16 Richmond Street, Glasgow G1 1XQ, United Kingdom 3 School of Engineering & Innovation, Kent Hill, The Open University, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom 4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol, University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TR, United Kingdom Materials Performance and Characterization Copyright © 2018 by ASTM International, 100 Barr Harbor Drive, PO Box C700, West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2959 doi:10.1520/MPC20180018 available online at www.astm.org Copyright by ASTM Int'l (all rights reserved); Fri Oct 26 09:17:37 EDT 2018 Downloaded/printed by Bristol University (Bristol University) pursuant to License Agreement. No further reproductions authorized. relaxation of residual stresses occurred during PWHT, there is still a significant portion of highly localized residual stresses left in the specimen.

The contour method is becoming an increasingly popular measurement technique for mapping residual stress in engineering components. The accuracy of the technique is critically dependent on the quality of the cut performed. This paper presents results from blind cutting trials on austenitic stainless steel using electro-discharge machines made by three manufacturers. The suitability of the machines is assessed based on the surface finish achieved, risk of wire breakages and the nature of cutting artefacts introduced.

Economic and safe management of nuclear plant components relies on accurate prediction of welding-induced residual stresses. In this study, the distribution of residual stress through the thickness of austenitic stainless steel welds has been measured using neutron diffraction and the contour method. The measured data are used to validate residual stress profiles predicted by an artificial neural network approach (ANN) as a function of welding heat input and geometry. Maximum tensile stresses with magnitude close to the yield strength of the material were observed near the weld cap in both axial and hoop direction of the welds. Significant scatter of more than 200 MPa was found within the residual stress measurements at the weld center line and are associated with the geometry and welding conditions of individual weld passes. The ANN prediction is developed in an attempt to effectively quantify this phenomenon of ‘innate scatter’ and to learn the non-linear patterns in the weld residual stress profiles. Furthermore, the efficacy of the ANN method for defining through-thickness residual stress profiles in welds for application in structural integrity assessments is evaluated.

Spatially resolved measurement of creep deformation across weldments at high temperature cannot be achieved using standard extensometry approaches. In this investigation, a Digital Image Correlation (DIC) based system has been developed for long-term high-temperature creep strain measurement in order to characterise the material deformation behaviour of separate regions of a multi-pass weld. The optical system was sufficiently stable to allow a sequence of photographs to be taken suitable for DIC analysis of creep specimens tested at a temperature of 545 °C for over 2000 h. The images were analysed to produce local creep deformation curves from two cross-weld samples cut from contrasting regions of a multi-pass V-groove weld joining thick-section AISI Type 316H austenitic stainless steel. It is shown that for this weld, the root pass is the weakest region of the structure in creep, most likely due to the large number of thermal cycles it has experienced during the fabrication process. The DIC based measurement method offers improved spatial resolution over conventional methods and greatly reduces the amount of material required for creep characterisation of weldments.