Simulation Study on Multipassed Welding Distortion of Combined Joint Types using Thermo-Elastic-Plastic FEM

Abstract

This paper investigates the angular distortion induced by the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process on the combined butt and T-joint with a thickness of 9 mm. The material used in this study was low manganese carbon steel S355J2G3. A 2-D and 3-D thermo-elastic-plastic finite element (FE) analysis has been developed to simulate the induced distortion of multipassed welding. In this research, SYSWELD 2010 with its computation management tool, known as multipassed welding advisor (MPA), was applied to analyze the distortion behavior of combined joint types. To model the heat source of GMAW, Goldak's double ellipsoid representation, which is available within this finite element analysis (FEA) code was selected. Prior to the results discussion, this paper also shows the step-bystep procedures to simulate combined jointing which begins with metallurgical and customized heat source modeling, and is followed by creating geometrical mesh using Visual-Mesh 6.5 for analyzing and processing the results. Apart from 2-D and 3-D comparison analysis, the final objective of this research is also aimed to be a baseline study to provide preliminary information in preparing the tools and equipment for experimental investigation.

Keywords

• angular distortion, fem, low alloy carbon steel, multipassed welding, thermo-elastic-plastic fem