Amirhossein Eslampanah - Structural Design Engineer, Oil & Gas Equipment Engineering Department, Machine Sazi Arak Co, Arak, Iran.
Sajjad Abbasi - M.Sc. student, Mechanical Engineering Department, Arak University of Technologyv.

FE welding simulation is a useful method in which temperature distribution, distortion and residual stresses can be predicted. 3 dimensional model with moving heat source has repre-sented the most accurate results while because of huge number of equations for four varia-bles, 3 dimensions plus time, it is a very time consuming analysis. Although some simplified models could reduce the time by eliminating one dimension, those are not able to cover simu-lation in presence of 3D mechanical boundary conditions. A heat source model by affecting parameter of time considerably reduces analysis time. In this paper a heat source model is developed that affects parameter of time. This approach not only reduces time but also pro-vide capability of simulating constraints. Here authenticity of this model is evaluated when the joint is fixed by comparing with that of with moving heat source. Interesting results showed that computational time was reduced and effect of constraint was well predicted.

FEA; welding; heat source model; constraint