Nondestructive Measurement of Welding Residual Stresses by Acousto-Elastic Technique and Prediction of Fatigue Crack Growth

Nondestructive measurements of residual stresses were successfully attempted by the acoustoelastic technique on butt-welded joints of a carbon steel for nuclear piping. Usefulness of the technique considering the effect of the material anisotropy is emphasized. Based on the measured residual stresses, predictions of the fatigue crack growth were done using the superposition technique. It is shown that predictions agree well with experiments. The effect of the accuracy in residual stress measurements on the predictions is also included.