Abstract: It is widely known that welding processes induce the generation of
residual stresses, which, through the so-named stress stiffening effect, can
influence the static and dynamic behavior of the welded components. Thus,
accounting for this influence becomes important for the understanding of
experimental observations and accurate modeling of the dynamic behavior. In
this study, the numerical and experimental characterization of the influence of
welding residual stresses on the flexural dynamic characteristics of
rectangular plates is addressed. It is suggested a general modeling methodology
based on finite elements comprising three subsequent analyses, namely: a
thermal analysis to compute the transient temperature history due to welding
thermal loading; a structural analysis accounting for plastic strains to obtain
the welding residual stress fields and geometric distortions, and a dynamic
analysis to compute the dynamic characteristics taking into account the
stress-stiffening effect and geometric distortions. The results demonstrate the
importance of considering the influence of welding residual stresses in the
prediction of the flexural dynamic behavior of plates and the feasibility and
efficiency of the simplified modeling approach, which can readily be extended
to more complex situations, for characterizing this influence.
