Heavy plate welding has been widely used in the construction of large projects and structures, in which the residual stress and deformation caused by the welding process are the key problems to address to reduce the stability and safety of the whole structure. Strengthening before welding is an important method to reduce the temperature gradient, control the residual stress and reduce the deformation of welds. Based on the ABAQUS software, the thermal elastoplastic finite element method (FEM) was used to simulate the welding thermal cycle, residual stress and deformation of low-alloy, high-strength steel joints. Based on the finite element simulation, the influences of flame heating and ceramic heating on the temperature field, residual stress distribution and deformation of a Q345C steel butt-welded joint were studied. The results showed that the thermal cycle of the ceramic sheet before welding had little influence on the whole weldment, but had great influence on the residual stress of the weldment. The results show that the maximum temperature and residual stress of the welded parts are obviously weakened under the heating of ceramic pieces, and the residual stress of the selected feature points is reduced by 5.88%, and the maximum temperature of the thermal cycle curve is reduced by 22.67%. At the same time, it was concluded that the weld shapes of the two were basically the same, but the weld seams heated by ceramic pieces had a better weld quality and microstructures through comparing the macro- and micro-structures between the welded parts heated by ceramic pieces and the simulated weld. Heating before welding, therefore, is an effective method to obtain a high weld quality with less residual stress and deformation.
Keywords: butt welding; ceramic heating; finite element simulation; flame heating; residual stress.