Development of a Welding Shrinkage Estimation Method for High Accuracy Production in Marine Stainless Steel Exhausts

Material shrinkage is inherent to the process of welding of structures and components. At W.R. Davis Engineering, we have established an accurate method for estimating weld shrinkage in advance so that it may be planned for in the design phase. This enables us to control the accuracy of our welding production system.

This paper describes some industrially-applicable methods of weld shrinkage estimation using Finite Element Method (FEM) and introduces a reference guide for marine engineers in the development of Weld Shrinkage Factors (WSF). Based on the experimental results, the Inverse Analysis Method (IAM) is proposed in order to estimate the inherent weld shrinkages. The application of these methods on complex Marine engine or generator Exhausts is followed by a comparison of computed weld shrinkage with measured data. Finally, a Shrinkage Data Collection (SDC) methodology and statistical analysis is provided. The shrinkage factors are derived for an austenitic Stainless Steel (S.S) ranging in thickness from 1.98 to 6.35 millimetres and welded with Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) and Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) process.