Residual stress distribution model of high strength steel welded channel section

Residual stresses obviously affecting the buckling performance and the stability of high strength steel (HSS) welded channel sections are observed by experimental and numerical methods. The residual stress distribution is investigated based on four welded channel sections with various plate slenderness. The compressive residual stresses, ranged from 0.10 ƒ_y to 0.19 ƒ_y on the center of web and 0.29 ƒ_y to 0.40 ƒ_y on the flange, decline with the rise of the plate slenderness. The impact of the plate slenderness on the tensile residual stresses is not obvious. For investigating the impact of the plate slenderness, the thickness of steel plates, and steel grades on the residual stress distribution, a finite element (FE) model for estimating the residual stresses of HSS welded channel sections is proposed. It is found that the thickness of steel plates also obviously affects the compressive residual stresses but has no impact on the tensile residual stresses. No correlation between the residual stresses on the flange or the web and the plate slenderness on the adjacent plate is observed. A residual stress distribution model for HSS welded channel sections is provided, and achieves a good accuracy for predicting the distribution and magnitude of residual stresses from the experimental and numerical analysis.