A combined enthalpy/front tracking method for modelling melting and solidification in laser welding

The authors present an integrated meso-scale 2D numerical model for the simulation of laser spot welding of a Fe-Cr-Ni steel. The melting of the parent materials due to the applied heating power is an important phenomenon, leading to the formation of the weld pool and the subsequent conditions from which solidification proceeds. This model deals with the dynamic formation of the weld pool whereby melting may be occurring at a given location while solidification has already commenced elsewhere throughout the weld pool. Considering both melting and possible simultaneous solidification in this manner ensures a more accurate simulation of temperature distribution. A source based enthalpy method is employed throughout the calculation domain in order to integrate the melting model with the UCD front tracking model for alloy solidification. Melting is tracked via interpolation of the liquidus isotherm, while solidification is treated via both the tracking of the advancing columnar dendritic front, and the nucleation and growth of equiaxed dendrites using a volume-averaging formulation. Heterogeneous nucleation is assumed to take place on TiN grain refiner particles at a grain refiner density of 1000 particles per mm(2). A mechanical blocking criterion is used to define dendrite coherency, and the columnar-to-equiaxed transition within the weld pool is predicted.