Residual stress analysis of structural stainless steel sections

Abstract

The magnitude and distribution of residual stresses in structural carbon steel sections have been thoroughly investigated. However, few residual stress measurements have been made on structural stainless steel sections. Stainless steel has differing material stress-strain characteristics and thermal properties to carbon steel, both of which influence the formation of residual stresses. This suggests that established carbon steel residual stress models may not be appropriate for stainless steel. With increased use of stainless steel in load bearing applications, it is important to establish the residual stresses that exist within structural members. An experimental program to quantify the residual stresses in stainless steel sections from three different production routes has therefore been carried out. Comprehensive residual stress distributions have been obtained for three hot rolled angles, eight press braked angles and seven cold rolled box sections, with a total of over 800 readings taken. This paper presents the experimental techniques implemented and the residual stress distributions obtained as well as discussing the assumptions commonly made regarding through thickness residual stress variations. In the hot rolled and press braked sections, residual stresses were typically found to be below 20% of the material 0.2% proof stress, though for the cold rolled box sections, whilst membrane residual stresses were relatively low, bending residual stresses were found to be between 40% and 70% of the material 0.2% proof stress.

Comparative experimental study of hot-rolled and cold-formed rectangular hollow sections

“…Similar patterns were observed for cold-rolled steel channel sections [8] and cold-formed stainless steel box sections [18]. The bending residual stresses magnitudes for both the flat faces and corner regions of the tested box sections are generally greater than those observed in steel channel sections [8], but this would be anticipated since springback (and the resulting release of residual stresses) is effectively restricted in the production of tubes.…”

“…The influence of different production routes on the behaviour of structural carbon steel [16] and structural stainless steel [17][18][19] members, which tend to display a more pronounced response to cold-work, has also been investigated. In this paper, a series of investigations are described to highlight the distinctions between hot-rolled and cold-formed steel box sections.…”

Laser-welded stainless steel I-sections: Residual stress measurements and column buckling tests

“…While the patterns and magnitudes of residual stresses in structural carbon steel cross-sections have been studied extensively [12,13], those in stainless steel sections [5,14,15], particularly welded sections [16][17][18][19] have received less attention.…”

“…Experimental studies on laser-welded carbon steel cold-formed beams have been conducted [3], but no experimental data on the load-bearing performance of laser-welded stainless steel members have been reported to date. Given the importance of the fabrication process, and in particular the influence of residual stresses [5] on the structural response of members susceptible to buckling, there is a clear need for research into the behaviour and design of laser-welded members. To address the lack of relevant test data, a research project on laser-welded stainless steel sections comprising hot-rolled plated elements is underway at Imperial College London.…”

Flexural behaviour of stainless steel oval hollow sections

“…However, the presence of residual stresses is implicitly reflected in the material properties obtained from both tensile coupon and stub column tests. For tensile coupons, provided they are not straightened by plastic deformation prior to testing, the measured stress-strain response will inherently include the effect of bending residual stresses, since these are approximately reintroduced during gripping and upon the application of light loads [40,41]. The material properties obtained from stub columns include the presence of both membrane and bending residual stresses, though their influence will vary under different loading conditions.…”