Heat and Fluid Flow in Welds

Abstract

The current state and future directions of numerical modeling of heat and fluid flow in welds are presented. Weld pool models have evolved rapidly in the past decade and full 3D analyses are now possible for short welds. In two dimensions, modeling the formation of defects has begun. Outside of the weld pool, computational heat flow analyses are now able to analyze welds of medium length with useful resolution and accuracy. Prescribed flux and power density functions or prescribed temperature functions are used to model the heating effect of the arc. Kinematic models have evolved from 2D cross-sectional to 2D in-plane to full 3D and shell-3D composite models. The coupling of heat flow models to the evolution of microstructure and thermal stress analysis has resolved the effect of transformations on the residual stress in high strength steels. The paper closes with a discussion of future opportunities and challenges.