| Material properties of steel change with welding. Welding reduces the ductility and alters the strength of the material around the weld. An experimental and numerical study to characterize the variation of the material properties across the regions from the heat-affected zone to the weld metal of ASTM A572 grade 50 steel plates was carried out. Three plate thicknesses of 15.9 mm, 19.1 mm and 25.4 mm were investigated in this study. Plates of equal thickness were butt welded together. Tension coupons from regions around the butt weld from the base metal to the weld metal were machined and tested.; There is an increase in the ultimate strength and a reduction in the ductility close to and at the weld. The true stress versus true plastic strain relationship of the material can be reasonably approximated by the proposed function that uses only the measured tension test data directly up until 90% peak load. |
