Abstract: For the computing time and accuracy in the numerical simulation on welding residual stresses and distortion of large structure, an effective finite element method with substructure and submodelling was developed in this paper. The theory models of substructure and submodelling were represented, both applied condition and range were analyzed to illustrate the residual stresses distribution according to an example of 5A06 aluminum alloy cylinder. It is concluded that the finite element method with substructure and submodelling can save a lot of computing time in the simulation of welding residual stresses, and the accuracy can be guaranteed with an appropriate submodelling region.