Effects of welding conditions on strain behavior during the Trans-Varestraint test

Abstract

Ttrans-Varestraint test is often used to evaluate the susceptibility to solidification cracking. Recently, however, it has become clear that the amount of strain at the rear edge of the molten pool produced in the Trans-Varestraint test is much larger than the theoretical solution obtained using the radius of curvature of the bending block and the thickness of the specimen based on material mechanics. In this study, the effects of external loading and heat input conditions on the strain behavior during the weld solidification process were quantitatively evaluated by simulating this test using finite element analysis. The results showed that the amount of strain at the rear edge of the molten pool depends on the welding heat input conditions, and that the strain increase behavior at the rear edge of the molten pool can be systematically evaluated by welding parameters concerning the welding heat input conditions.