Coupled heat transfer and viscous flow, and magnetic effects in weld pool analysis

Abstract

AbstractA finite element formulation and analysis is developed to study coupled heat transfer and viscous flow in a weld pool. The thermal effects generate not only buoyancy forces but also a variation in the surface tension which acts to drive the viscous flow in the molten weld pool. A moving phase boundary separates molten and solid material. Numerical experiments reveal the nature of the highly convective flow in the weld pool and the associated thermal profiles. The relative importance of buoyancy, surface tension, phase change, convection, etc. are examined. We also consider the sensitivity of the solution to the finite element mesh and related non‐linear numerical instabilities. Of particular interest is the coupling of the thermal and viscous flow fields for the case when radial flow is inward or outward.