Thermally-activated hardening recovery of thermo-elasto-plastic metals during annealing: constitutive modeling for the simulation of welding process

Abstract

In this paper, a new thermodynamically-consistent modeling approach, dedicated to welding applications, is presented to describe the phenomenon of hardening recovery in metals during annealing. The constitutive equations are based on a classical thermo-elasto-plastic formulation, which is enhanced by a new recovery variable counterbalancing the effect of the hardening through a temperature-dependent evolution law. The identification of the model parameters is achieved through experimental compressive tests and heat treatments on 316L austenitic stainless steel. Finally, numerical simulations considering various thermomechanical loading configurations are carried out to evaluate the capabilities and limits of the model, which are furthermore illustrated in the context of welding applications through a FE example.