Characterization of residual stresses in Eurofer welded specimens: Measurements by neutron diffraction and comparison with weld modeling

The stress field of a dual-beam laser weld on a Eurofer-97 model plate has been experimentally determined by neutron diffraction measurements. The measurements were carried out at the ILL-Grenoble, in the three principal directions, at different distances from the weld and inside the weld itself. In the longitudinal direction, the most relevant for technical applications, there is good agreement between these experimental results and results obtained by finite element numerical methods: tensile stresses as high as 750 MPa are found inside the weld, rapidly decreasing with increasing distance from the weld centre. In the two other directions the agreement between experimentally determined and calculated stresses is still good far from the weld; inside the weld the experimental data are affected by the strong texture detected by X-ray diffraction, possibly produced by the heating and subsequent cooling of the structure.