Abstract: The reduction of residual stress and distortion of thin aluminum alloy plate by rolling after welding is studied by using 3D elastic-plastic FEM. Two different numerical models, one of which has the initial welding stress and the other has none, are carried out to calculate the residual stress after rolling. The investigation results indicate that in order to achieve the accurate residual stress, the welding stress must be considered during the stress simulation. The residual stress and distortion of numerical simulation match experimental measurement very well.

Key words: Residual stress, Distortion, Numerical simulation, Rolling