New thermal model for welding process with multimode power distribution

There are not yet matured and able theoritcal solutions to completely predict the real bead shape in the deep penetration welding. Moreover, the complex physical and numerical models developed are generally very time consuming in term of computational time. In this paper, we used semi-empirical thermal model for simulation of the heat transfer and temperature history in welding process with multimode power distribution. The thermal model is based on the well known moving heat source theory. However, the model does not consider the variation of the thermal properties with temperature and the phase changes. In order to test the model adequacy; a laser welding of edges obtained by plasma arc cutting has been selected. In this experimental test the parameters were selected based on the bead shape forecasted by the semi-empirical model. This comparison shows very good agreement.

Keywords:

Thermal model , welding process , Analytical solution.