Plane Stress Fields Induced by Moving Heat Sources in Butt-Welding

Abstract

Mathematical models of the cooling of large butt-welded plates are investigated. One thermoelastic infinite plate and one thermoelastic semi-infinite plate are considered. On the infinite plate two concentrated heat sources of constant power move with constant velocity along a straight line toward each other. They meet and are then immediately removed from the plate. On the semi-infinite plate one concentrated heat source of constant power moves with constant velocity along a straight line perpendicularly toward the edge and is removed as it reaches the plate edge. The straight plate boundary is thermally adiabatic and mechanically free. A previous investigation showed that transverse tensile stresses arise behind the two heat sources on the infinite plate when they approach each other and behind the single heat source on the semi-infinite plate when it approaches the plate boundry. Here it is shown that after removal of the heat source(s) such tensile stresses remain much longer in the semi-infinite plate than in the infinite plate. The transverse tensile stresses may explain the tendency of hot cracking in the end portion of a butt-weld.