Influence analysis of plate thickness on welding residual stress of steel deck deck-rib

In order to study the influence rule of the plate thickness variation on the welding residual stress of the deck-rib of the orthotropic steel bridge, the element birth and death technology in the finite element software ANSYS and the thermal-structure coupling analysis method are used to simulate the welding details of the deck-rib, and the distribution of the welding residual stress is obtained. The influence rule of the plate thickness variation on the residual stress is mainly analyzed. The results show that the transverse residual stress reaches the maximum near the weld toe and the weld roof, and the corresponding value is about two-thirds of the material yield strength. The longitudinal residual stress reaches the maximum in the weld center, and the corresponding value is larger than the material yield strength. The plate thickness variation has little effect on the longitudinal residual stress, but large effect on the transverse residual stress. The maximum transverse residual stress increases by 45% when the thickness of the top plate increases from 12 to 20 mm. According to these results, the unified distribution model for the welding residual stress with different plate thicknesses is established, providing a reference for research and design of the welding residual stress. © 2016, Editorial Department of Journal of Southeast University. All right reserved.