Residual stresses in a shape welded steel tube by neutron diffraction

Measurements of the triaxial residual strains in a composite tube from an austenitic stainless steel as a parent material and a shape welded ferritic steel were carried out by the time-of-flight neutron diffraction method on the POLDI instrument at the PSI SINQ neutron pulsed facility. The shape weld is used to build compressive stresses and, as a result, to suppress stress corrosion. Investigations of the residual stresses in such composite tubes are important for developing optimal welding techniques. Calculation of the residual stresses was performed using measurement results with a comb-sample, machined from the tube by the electro-discharge method, as the stress free reference sample. The results of the POLDI measurements of the stress state in the composite tube are presented and compared to the results of the destructive turning out method and theoretical predictions of calculations by the finite element method. Semiquantitative agreement between all the used methods was only observed for the tangential component of the stress tensor. In this case, the ferrite cladding produced a tangential compressive stress of about 800 MPa on the austenitic tube.