Numerical definition of an equivalent GTAW heat source

The aim of this paper is to present a new numerical heat source for gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) simulation. This source is described as a homogeneous thermal flux which is defined by a power P distributed in a disk the radius of which is R: it enables the main dimensions of the weld bead and the evolution in temperature in the solid part to be predicted. The two parameters P and R relate to the process parameters, the arc length h and the current intensity I. Experimental tests were performed in order to study the weld bead dimensions in incomplete penetration and full penetration welds. For each test, the heat source parameters (P,R) which enable the experimental weld bead dimensions to be obtained were identified: a link between the heat source parameters (P,R) and the welding parameters (I,h) was established and thus a predictive heat source was produced.