Analysis and Experiment on the Welding Temperature Field of Multi-Layer and Multi-Pass for RHS-RHS Y-Connections

The temperature measuring instrument was utilized to monitor the welding temperature field at designated points along steel rectangular hollow sections (RHSs) during welding. A total of 32 temperature monitoring points were established on the four surfaces of the RHS branch. Additionally, the welding process was simulated using finite element software to calculate the temperature distribution. The calculated temperature results were then compared with the experimental results obtained from the temperature measuring instrument. The relative errors between the numerical simulation and the experimental temperature results remained within 10%, indicating a reasonable agreement between the two. Once the temperature field was determined, it was used as an input load to calculate the welding residual stress. The longitudinal and transverse residual stresses were analyzed for two paths on the four surfaces of the RHS-to-RHS Y-shaped connection branch. By analyzing the residual stresses, it is possible to evaluate the structural integrity and performance of the welded RHS connection. The analysis process in this paper is crucial for ensuring the safety and reliability of tubular steel structure projects.