Stress distributions of welding joints in titanium–steel composite pressure vessel under working conditions

Titanium–steel composite plate finds its application to constructing large pressure vessels normally used for storage and processing petrochemicals. The present study aims to calculate the stress–strain distributions in different types of welding joints possibly used in a pressure vessel which is built with a TA2/16MnR composite plate. A finite element numerical investigation has been preformed. In this work, influences on stress–strain distributions caused by various factors such as work temperatures, working loads and joint structures, were studied, taking into consideration the welding residual stress caused by the welding process. It is found that working temperatures are the main factors that would cause a great effect on the final stress distribution. As to the different types of welding joints, the stress peaks and distributions present various patterns due to the different structures of the joints. Based on the simulation result, suitable welded joint types under different working conditions are proposed.