SIMULATION OF HYBRID LASER-TIG WELDING PROCESS USING FEA

Hybrid welding technology has wide advantages in welding to improve speed, weldability of special materials, increasing depth of weld. Less defects of the weld, less bead widths, less temperature, less distortion and less residual stresses are seen. In this study, a three-dimensional Finite Element Model is developed for butt joints for SS316L. The heat flux models of double ellipsoidal surface heat flux of TIG process and lateral heat to the thickness face of laser process are used to model combined TIG and Laser welding processes for simulating. Total heat is distributed as surface heat flux and lateral heat flux, which can be incorporated in modelling with the proportion for Hybrid laser-TIG welding process. The transient thermal analysis, with thermally dependent properties, is performed to achieve the temperature distribution during the process; later, it is used to apply for the mechanical analysis of distortion and stresses. Uniform distortion along the weld with edge deformations is found. Residual stresses will maintain structural integrity with minimum 1.3 factor of safety. In this study, to save computing time, symmetric conditions were used for analyzing only half the product