Simulation of Welding Residual Stresses in Large Structures – First Results of Thermal Analyses

Simulation of welding residual stresses and distortions has been applied mostly for small‐scale components, smaller than those applied in civil engineering structures, due to the high requirements in computational capacities. In the present study, work hypotheses, which can reduce the computational load of welding simulations for an accepted sacrifice in accuracy, are discussed. A series of thermal analyses is carried out, in order to check the validity of the proposed modelling approaches, which refer to the application of simple weld heat source models and hybrid shell‐solid element models. Application of local‐global models is also discussed. The present study aims to work as a first step towards the establishment of an engineering approach for the simulation of welds in civil engineering structures with sufficient accuracy and reduced requirements for computational capacity.