THERMAL AND MECHANICAL ANALYSIS IN JOINT WELDING OF THICK STEEL ALLOY PLATES WITH AND WITHOUT BACKING PLATE

Despite its significance, welding remains one of the most common modes of joining pieces in mechanical structures. Such weld-induced defects include distortion in the welded structure, thermal stresses, and heat input to this area. The objective of this study is to analyse the thermal and mechanical stresses in the welding of steel alloys. V-joint welding of two thick steel alloy plates, with and without backing, is modelled by SOLIDWORKS software and imported for simulation in a Linked thermal and stress analysis in ANSYS workbench mechanical. The computational procedure results have been validated by comparison with experimental welding results. Uniform heating throughout the surrounding environment is what a simulated heat source entails. An additional heat distribution, deformation, and stress assessment is performed. The model conducts a thermal model analysing temperature distribution across the structure and stress analysis, which uses the temperature-dependent properties of the alloy steel used for modelling. The investigated sequences on the V-joint welding useability and fitting with the required design criteria may serve as the foundation for determining different pre-weld optimization parameters, some of which seek to reduce the distortion and residual stresses developed within and around the weldment. The results show that the V-joint with an open root gap and backing plate had relatively 14% lower deformation than the joint without backing plate. Also, the joint design illustrated a wider heat-affected zone, and fusion zone in the weldment. The other part of this study is ascertaining the relative strengths or thermal stresses of different depositions in the mentioned joint.