Prediction of Welding Deformation Using the Thermal Elastic-Plastic Finite Element Method by Considering Welding...

Area of Science:

• Engineering
• Materials Science
• Computational Mechanics

Background:

• Predicting welding deformation is critical for structural integrity.
• Existing thermal elastic-plastic finite element methods (TEP-FEM) often neglect interpass temperature effects.
• Multi-pass welding introduces complex thermal cycles influencing residual stresses and deformation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a TEP-FEM approach incorporating interpass temperature for accurate welding deformation prediction.
• To quantify the impact of interpass temperature on angular distortion and overall deformation error.
• To establish guidelines for selecting optimal interpass temperatures in welding simulations.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a TEP-FEM by integrating interpass temperature considerations (200°C to 1000°C).
• Performed simultaneous thermal and mechanical analyses to capture transient effects.
• Evaluated temperature history and welding time alongside deformation predictions.

Main Results:

• Angular distortion prediction accuracy improved, reducing the error from 16.75 mm to 10.9 mm compared to room temperature cooling.
• Deformation prediction error decreased significantly from 6.14% to 2.92% relative to the strain-based boundary method.
• Identified that interpass temperatures exceeding 800°C can lead to increased deformation errors.

Conclusions:

• Incorporating interpass temperature into TEP-FEM is essential for accurate welding deformation prediction.
• Optimal interpass temperature selection is critical for minimizing prediction errors in multi-pass welding.
• The proposed method offers a more precise tool for analyzing and controlling welding-induced distortion.