Residual stresses in welded components are discussed and a brief review of weld simulation is presented. The general methodology of the FE analysis methods used for welded sections of steel pipes is explained. FE analyses are performed for two axisymmetric butt welds in stainless steel pipes having a 4-pass or a 36-pass weld in a pipe with a wall thickness of 7.1 or 40.0 mm, respectively. In addition, more FE models with inside radius to wall thickness ratio ranging from 1 to 100 have been analysed to investigate the effect of pipe diameter on residual stresses. Residual axial and hoop stresses are plotted for the considered range of pipe diameters for the two simulated pipe wall thicknesses and the differences are discussed.