Numerical and experimental investigation on temperature distribution of the discontinuous welding

The main objective of this study is to generate new understanding and improve computer methods for calculating the thermal cycles and temperature distribution of 5A06 aluminum alloy structure during discontinuous welding. Predicting the thermal cycle also provides an estimate of the weld penetration and weld width. The submodeling technique was used to save computing time and improve calculation accuracy. The arc heat input was applied in the weld zone using different forms of surface, volumetric and combined heat flux distribution functions. In order to validate the thermal simulation model, temperature distribution at the weld backside was precisely measured by infrared thermography during the welding process. The simulation results showed that the model is quite sensitive to the energy distribution during the welding process, the effects of the pre-heating and re-heating are significant. The present simulation model can be used as a proper tool to investigate the effect of different metal inertia gas (MIG) process parameters. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.