A new welding modeling approach in simulation driven design

This thesis is a part of a larger project involving the Faste Laboratory at Luleå University of Technology and the Wingquist Laboratory at Chalmers University of Technology. The interaction between simulation driven design and variation simulations is the main focus of this project. Computational welding mechanics has been developed during the last 30 years and can today be used to predict the outcome of real welding processes e.g. deformations and residual stresses. Hence, these types of simulations are starting to be used as a part of the product development process. The aim is to show that it is possible to perform simulation driven design on welded products in such a way that traditional physical testing can be reduced or even excluded. This thesis was divided into two parts. The aim of the first part was to show that VrWeld, a welding simulation software developed by Goldak Technologies, can perform accurate welding simulations and provide reliable results. This is done by running NeT’s Round Robin Benchmark which consists of a single weld bead on a stainless steel plate. The results from VrWeld were compared to simulation results and residual stress measurements from other Round Robin participants. The second part of the thesis is a case study of a rear axle bridge from a Volvo wheel loader. The deformations caused by welding during manufacturing were measured and compared with simulation results. An alternative welding sequence was simulated to show the possibilities of including these simulations in a simulation driven design process. The results show that it is possible to perform welding simulations in VrWeld for both residual stress analyses and deformation analyses, with the same or better accuracy as other simulation softwares. The results also indicate good opportunities to implement such simulation tools in a simulation driven design process.Validerat; 20101217 (root