Finite element analysis of welding residual stress of the ultra-thick 13MnNiMoR steel cylinder of a large EO reactor made in China

The finite element (FE) analysis was applied to investigate welding residual stresses generated in the weld region of the ultra-thick 13MnNiMoR steel cylinder of a large Ethylene Oxide (EO) reactor made in China, with an outer diameter of 6760mm and wall thickness of 110mm. The FE Analysis consists of the nonlinear thermal and thermo-mechanical axisymmetric numerical simulations. In the FE analysis, an alternating welding model was created for the double U-type groove welding. The residual stress distributions on the inside surface and the outside surface were obtained. The analyzed results show that the axial and hoop welding residual stresses on the inside surface and the outside surface are tensile in the weld zone and its vicinity. The residual stress distributions on the inside surface and the outside surface are very sensitive to the distance from the weld centerline. The effects of the temperature of PWHT on the welding residual stress were analyzed by taking into account PWHT at 600°C, 620°C and 640°C. The simulated results show the residual stresses decrease with the increase in the temperature of PWHT, and an appropriate temperature of PWHT is 620°C for the ultra-thick cylinder of the domestic EO reactor.