The effect of spring restraint on weld distortion in t-joint fillet welds

T-joint fillet welds are a very common occurrence found in industry today. Localized heating and cooling from the welding process lead to the rise of distortion and residual stresses. Weld fixturing is a common practice in industry used to address the problems associated with welding, however fixturing also creates problems of residual stresses being locked into the weldment. This research involves placing linear compression springs along the top of a t-joint fillet weld in an effort to gain an understanding of the contraction of the weld metal. The effect of different levels of restraint is also investigated. Variable restraint is a concept that could be used to reduce distortion while keeping residual stress at a minimal level. The idea behind this is that unnecessary force applied to a part could leave stress in that part; variable restraint would use force where it is needed. Residual stresses were obtained for the weldments by the x-ray diffraction process. The distortion and stress trends are presented and discussed in this work.