Abstract
Welding-induced distortion is a major concern for the industrial joining practice. The welding-induced distortion at the weldment between the coupled torsion beam axle (CTBA) of the automotive rear chassis parts and trailing arm connected to the wheel hub axle module seriously affects the tow angle, camber angle, and caster of the wheel axle. In this paper, the welding process between CTBA and trailing arm was numerically analyzed via SYSWELD (i.e., a finite element analysis code), using the material properties predicted via J-MatPro SW, material properties software, considering the thermo-mechanical-metallurgical properties of materials. From the numerical study for the weldment of CTBA and trailing arm, we predicted the welding and thermal distortions, temperature variation, microstructure, and residual stress at the concerned area. As a result, the temperature of the welded area was predicted between 102 °C and 840 °C at the end of weldment and converged to room temperature after 1000 s. The maximum portion of the martensite structure at the welded area was expected to be 55%. The expected distortions of the trailing arm after the weldment were 0.52 mm, −1.47 mm, and 0.44 mm in the x, y, and z-directions, respectively. Finally, the limitations of this research and recommendations are presented.
Highlights
Among the several methods employed in the automobile manufacturing process wherein tens of thousands of parts are assembled, welding is an immensely efficient methods for joining parts
As an alternative to overcome these difficulties, many computational simulation and analysis techniques including thermal elastic-plastic finite element method have been developed to predict the thermal deformation and residual stress occurring during the welding process after the work of Ueda [13]
The following conclusions were drawn by analyzing the welding deformation behavior during the welding process between the vehicle rear wheel chassis component coupled torsion beam axle (CTBA) and the trailing arm using SYSWELD, a finite element analysis program that considers the physical properties of the thermo-mechanical-metallurgical properties
Summary
Among the several methods employed in the automobile manufacturing process wherein tens of thousands of parts are assembled, welding is an immensely efficient methods for joining parts. As an alternative to overcome these difficulties, many computational simulation and analysis techniques including thermal elastic-plastic finite element method have been developed to predict the thermal deformation and residual stress occurring during the welding process after the work of Ueda [13]. SYSWELD [27], a welding software developed by ESI, introduced Gaussian-type heat source distribution and coupled thermal-mechanical-metallic (phase transformation) characteristics This program has been widely used to control the welding deformation of structures, evaluate the effects of phase transformation on residual stress [16,17], and analyze the thermal-mechanical-metallurgical phenomena of the heat-affected zone (HAZ), etc. Lee et al [32] predicted the welding-induced deformation and residual stress in the MIG welding of an automotive muffler by using the SYSWELD software They showed that the simulation results were similar to the experimental results, and optimization of the welding procedure by SYSWELD improved the muffler productivity.
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