The flat steel box girder is commonly used for long-span cable-stayed bridges. the structural complexity, construction details and manufactures cause damage to the bridge and the damages seriously grow overtime. The main reason for these damages is that welding technology of flat steel box girder with thin plates and rib elements produces residual stress and strain fields during the welding process, and further more welding cracks commonly appear. In this study, thermal-structural couple methods was adopted to numerically simulate the welding high temperature fields and the stress fields at the joint of U rid and decks of a flat steel box. The welding residual stress distribution was studied as well for further analyzing on the structural damage and strengthening design strategies.