NUMERICAL MODELING OF TEMPERATURE DISTRIBUTION IN LASER BEAM WELDING OF 304 STAINLESS STEEL

A numerical method for solving the laser welding problem of heating and melting is developed in the present investigation. Laser welding is a fast, unbalanced and complex process which requires a non-uniform heat transfer analysis. A three-dimensional Gaussian heat distribution equation for moving heat source with conical shape has been incorporated in this present model. A finite element code using software ANSYS has been developed which takes into account the thermal and mechanical aspect of the material. Properties of the material AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel are taken as temperature dependent in this simulation, which has great influence on the temperature profile. The effect of laser beam power, welding speed, spot radius and mesh density on temperature profile, bead geometry, and shape of the molten pool has been studied. The geometry created for this model is similar to the butt-joint of 2.5mm thick material and cooling effect caused by the free convection and radiation in ambient air is taken into account. The shape of the molten pool obtained from the numerical simulation was in good agreement with the published result