Tools for Simulation Based Fixture Design to Reduce Deformation in Advanced Fusion Welding

Abstract

The traditional fusion welding and fixture simulations are performed using advanced finite element simulation tools, commonly used are e.g. MSC.Marc, ANSYS, ABACUS and COMSOL Multiphysics. These simulations are made one at a time and separately due to heavy calculation load for each case. Such an approach does not give a full description of the integrated work piece and fixture behaviour. We propose a strategy to decrease the computational time and solve the problem accurately enough for industrial needs. Focus of the simulation result is on residual deformation. The work piece is a simplified component composed by metal sheets, and rigid and loose clamping was investigated. Simulation results give the size of forces and deformations in the clamped edge. Deformation measurements are performed using 3D-scanning of the work piece after cooling and released from fixture, same situation as in the FE-simulations. The proposed strategy has shown to be useful and is industrially competitive due to reduced engineering manpower, computation time, and need for practical experiments. The strategy is to use full off-line programming where computer aided robotics for weld sequencies is integrated with finite element modelling in order to obtain weld parameters and fixture design.KeywordsWeld PoolWelding SpeedLaser WeldingWork PieceWeld ParameterThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.