Computational Modelling of Welding and Heat Treatment Process of Steel with Application of Elastic-Viscoplastic Material Model

This dissertation thesis deals with the improvement of computational approaches for prediction of residual stresses in welded joints of welded structures in order to ensure greater compliance of the calculated results with the real conditions of welding and heat treatment. The improvement of computational approaches is based on application of elastic-viscoplastic material models which are able (compared with elastic-plastic material models) to take into account the viscoplastic processes ongoing during welding and heat treatment. This leads to more accurate calculated results which enter into further assessment of limit states and directly decide on the safety and lifetime of welded structures. Performed computational and experimental works, confronted with results published in the world, confirm the influence and benefit of application of elastic-viscoplastic material models in the frame of welding and heat treatment numerical analyses. Therefore elastic-viscoplastic material model is further applied in solution of practical project solved by IAM Brno. Solution of this project, whose aim is the development of repair of dissimilar metal welds (without post-weld heat treatment) in Dukovany and Temelin nuclear power plants using "Weld overlay method", has confirmed that application of elastic-viscoplastic material model leads to more accurate calculated results. For this reason the elastic-viscoplastic computational approach will be included into all future tasks of IAM Brno