Investigation on Weld Induced Distortion of Butt and T-Joints Using Thermo-Elastic-FEM and Experimental Study

In this paper, the capability of linear thermo-elastic numerical analysis method to estimate the welding deformations was investigated. The weld induced deformation is considered as the major stumbling block that can affect the dimensional accuracy. Based on this fact, welding distortion is necessarily to be predicted, if experimental investigation becomes expensive, to minimize the negative effects, improve the quality of welded parts and finally to reduce production cost. In this study, the welding distortions on butt and T-joints with thicknesses of 4 mm and 6 mm were simulated using relatively new FEM software WELD PLANNER developed by ESI Group. The material used for the simulation was low Carbon steel. By comparing the results between simulation and experiment, it was found out that this software provided immediate solution for computational analysis time and was capable to predict the distortion within acceptable accuracy.