Visual-WELD v6.

Tutorial 05:
Laser Welding of a Butt Joint

This working document and related know-how herein provided by ESI Group subject to contractual conditions are to remain confidential. The client shall not disclose the documentation and/or related know-how in whole or in part to any third party without the prior written permission of ESI Group. Copyright ESI Group, 2010. All rights reserved.

Description: This tutorial will describe how to setup a model for welding simulation. This
example is of the laser welding of a butt joint with 16MnCr5 carbon steel. It will illustrate how to define the weld problem and submit the job for results analysis.

Table of Contents
Starting the Welding Project ............................................................................. 3 Welding Advisor ................................................................................................. 3
Project Definition .......................................................................................................................... 3 Setting the Global Parameter ...................................................................................................... 4 Component Properties ................................................................................................................. 5 Welding Process .......................................................................................................................... 6 Cooling Condition ........................................................................................................................ 8 Clamping Conditions .................................................................................................................... 9 Loads and Deformations ............................................................................................................ 11 Solution Parameters .................................................................................................................. 11

Job Submission................................................................................................ 12

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Starting the Welding Project

Open Visual-WELD 6.5. In the main menu, select File > Open. Select LASER_16MNCR5_DATA30.ASC and press Open.

Welding Advisor
In the main menu, select Welding > Welding Advisor. As a result the Welding Advisor is activated with Step 1 as Project Description

Project Definition
In the main menu, select Welding > Welding Advisor. As a result the Welding Advisor is activated with Step 1 as Project Description Input the project details as following: o *Name: LASER_16MNCR5 o Title: Laser Welding of a Power Train Specimen o *Working directory: Browse and select (Create a new folder if necessary) o General description: Example on laser welding of a butt joint specimen (symmetry condition applied) o Material description: 16MnCr5 carbon steel

Once the mandatory * fields are filled, the next available step(s), in orange, are enabled to move further. Active steps are shown in blue and completed steps are shown in green.

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Click on the Step 2 button

or use the Next Arrow

to proceed to next step.

Setting the Global Parameter

By default, Welding Advisor automatically identifies the Computation Option needed based on the Mesh model and sets it. However the user can change and set the required option accordingly. The Computation Option used here will be Solid.

Proceed to Step

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Component Properties
Click on the list part of the Highlight COMPONENT_01 and press OK. For the Material, choose 16MnCr5 from the pull down menu and click Add to assign. Now choose Joints with Filler radio to assign materials to filler materials. Click on the list part of the J01_WIRE and press OK. button to post a list of joints. Select button to post a list of components.

For the Material, choose 16MnCr5 from the pull down menu. Click on Add to complete the material assignment for the Joints.

Proceed to Step

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Welding Process
Choose *Process type as Laser. Set the Energy / unit Length of Weld: units as J/mm and Velocity: units as mm/sec. Click on to post a list of collectors. Select J01_PATH and press OK.

As a result all the corresponding entities such as Filler Material, Welding Group, etc. related to this weld line are automatically filled based on their naming convention

Press Next >> or select the Weld Pool tab. Select Beam from drop down menu as Heat Source: Input following values for: o *Velocity: 25.000 o *Start Time: 0.000 o End Time: 2.000 (automatically calculated based on Weld line length)

Input *Estimated values for: o Length: 2.000 ( mm units ) o Width: 1.800 ( mm units ) o Penetration: 6.000 ( mm units )

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Press Next >> or select the Energy Tab. Input following values for: o *Energy/Unit length: 100.000 o *Efficiency: 1.000

Toggle on Start/End Energy Ramp and change the Length of Ramp: to 8.000.

Click on the Add button to update the Weld Line.

Proceed to Step

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Cooling Condition
Click on the list part of the button, choose SOLID_AIR_HEAT_EXCHANGE and press OK. Choose the *Medium as Free Air Cooling and input 20 as the Ambient Temp. Click on the Add button to update the heat exchange condition.

Proceed to Step

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Clamping Conditions
Click on the list part of the button, choose CLAMP_01 and press OK. Choose the Rigid radio option as the clamp type. Toggle on Z under Rigid in Direction: and click on the Add button.

Click on the list part of the

button again and select CLAMP_02.

Choose the Rigid radio option as the clamp type. Toggle on Y and Z under Rigid in Direction: and click on the Add button. Repeat these steps for: o CLAMP_03: toggle on Symmetry and Add. o CLAMP_04: toggle on Rigid and, under Rigid in Direction, toggle on Z.

Once all the clamps are defined, click on the list part of the highlight all four clamps on the list and press OK. Keep the default Name: as it is Input *Start time: as 0.0 Input *End time: as 600.0 Click on the Add button to update the Clamping Conditions.

button,

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Click on the and CLAMP_03. Keep the default Name: as it is Input *Start time: as 600.0 Input *End time: as 601.0 Click on the CLAMP_03 again. Keep the default Name: as it is Input *Start time: as 601.0 Input *End time: as 3600.0

button again and select CLAMP_01, CLAMP_02

button and select CLAMP_01, CLAMP_02 and

Click on the Add button to update the Clamping Conditions.

Proceed to Step

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Loads and Deformations

The present problem doesnt involve any loading conditions. Proceed to Step .

Solution Parameters
By default both of the Analysis types are toggled on, but the Mechanical analysis can be toggled off if it is not needed. In this example, both Thermo-Metallurgical and Mechanical analyses will be done. Input *Initial Temperature: as 20. Click on Advanced arrows settings for this example. to view more options. These will be left at their default

Click on Generate Input Data to export all the project files in the project directory. This might take a few moments, so check for messages in the console.

Once Generate Input Data is clicked, a *.vdb file is generated. This file contains all the information related to project and should be used for any modification related to project. It is also used as a source file for Solver Manager to solve the project.

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Job Submission
Go to the main menu and select Welding > Solution Manager. Select a project file. This should be LASER_16MNCR5.vdb (the name used in Step 1). Check all boxes under Heat Transfer and Mechanical and press Compute. Note: Depending on the system capabilities the solution may take some time to get all the results. Cells will turn Green when all the results for that process are computed. Blue indicates a running job. Any errors are shown in Orange. Use the button to view the log files. Press Kill Process to end the processing of results at any time.

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