Development of laser welding simulation code with advanced numerical models

Abstract

Toward a standardization of laser welding repair processes and controlling a residual stress which is induced by laser welding, we constructed the fully parallelized laser welding simulation model using one-fluid model (in the simulation, solid, liquid and gas phase are simultaneously calculated by one set of governing equations) and some advanced numerical models. In the simulation, the base material is a pure aluminum which was included to the code as a physical parameter and we considered the surface tension force and its effect of a temperature gradient named Marangoni stress. As a result, reasonable results were obtained that is welding bead which is one of the representative behavior of a low power density laser welding and the appropriate shape of inside the molten pool. Therefore, the model can be applied to be practical laser welding problems.