Modeling and simulation of a heat source in electric arc welding

This study focused on the modeling and simulation of a plasma heat source applied toelectric arc welding. The heat source was modeled in three space dimensions couplingthermal fluid mechanics with electromagnetism. Two approaches were considered forcalculating the magnetic field: i) three-dimensional, and ii) axi-symmetric. The anodeand cathode were treated as boundary conditions. The model was implemented in theopen source CFD software OpenFOAM-1.6.x. The electromagnetic part of the solverwas tested against analytic solution for an infinite electric rod. Perfect agreement wasobtained. The complete solver was tested against experimental measurements for GasTungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) with an axi-symmetric configuration. The shielding gaswas argon with thermodynamic and transport properties covering a temperature rangefrom 200 to 30 000 K. The numerical solutions then depend greatly on the approachused for calculating the magnetic field. The axi-symmetric approach indeed neglectsthe radial current density component, mainly resulting in a poor estimation of the arcvelocity. Various boundary conditions were set on the anode and cathode. Theseconditions, difficult to measure and to estimate a priori, significantly affect the plasmaheat source simulation results. Solution of the temperature and electromagnetic fieldsin the electrodes will thus be included in the forthcoming developments