The 1st Student Conference Content and English Language Integrated Learning

CLIL 2016 Zenica, B&H, Juni 2016

Heat transfer by conduction in welding processes

Armel Musi
Mainski fakultet
Fakultetska 1,72 000 Zenica
Zenica, Bosna i Hercegovina
SUMMARY
In this paper,the heat transfer in welding process, which is one of the main factors in welding process
today, is shown. This factor is one of the main factors in welding process because of the efficency of
the process and because of the quality of the final products. Today, two-dimensional and numerical
model of unsteady heat transfer in welding, are developed. The model allows the calculation of the
dimensions of the joint, as well as time parameters, like time of cooling in critical interval from 800 to
500 degrees. The heat transfer by conduction, its term and purpose, as well as temperature gradients
and temperature fields, are described too. The basic laws of conduction, its basic equations, and usage
are described in this paper.
SAETAK

U radu je prikazan je prenos toplote pri procesu zavarivanja koji je danas jedan od glavnih
faktora pri procesu zavarivanja zbog same efikasnosti procesa,kao i kvaliteta njenih
proizvoda. Danas su razvijeni dvodimenzionalni i numeriki model nestacionarnog prenosa
toplote pri zavarivanju. Model omoguava proraun dimenzija spoja, kao i vremenskih
parametara, kao to je vreme hlaenja u kritinom intervalu od 800 do 500 C. Takodjer je
opisan prenos toplote kondukcijom,njen pojam i namjenu kao i temperaturni gradijenti i
temperaturna polja. Opisani su i osnovni pojmovi o zakonu kondukcije,osnovne njegove
jednacine kao i za sta se koristi.
Kljune rijei:zavarivanje,kondukcija, dvodimenzionalni model, numeriki model, temperaturni
gradijent, temperaturno polje, zakon kondukcije.

The 1st Student Conference Content and English Language Integrated Learning
CLIL 2016 Zenica, B&H, Juni 2016

1. INTRODUCTION
All welding processes are conducuted in conditions of very high temperature changes in a wide span.
The temperature of the basic material in welding can reach from -30 (welding in winter conditions) up
to 3000 oC (metal evaporation). The following processes occur in these temperature intervals:

heating of the basic and the added metal,

melting of the basic and the added metal,
metallurgical reactions in the weld pool,
structural changes in the basic and the added metal.

To correctly control these processes it is required to know the influence of all these welding
parameters and the influence of the heat sources.

Figure 1. The diversity of welding processes showing underwater

The heat basics of welding are a scientific discipline which studies heat sources, heating and cooling
of the source metal.
The theory of heat transfer in welding is used as a tool for researching and managing the welding
process.
The heat sources that apply have a high heat concentration which is needed for joining the metal.
Process of metal heating depends on:

the amount of heat generated by the source,

the way the heat spreads in the weld pool (due to convection),
the way the heat spreads in the areas of solid metal (due to conduction),
the heat loss across the surface of the metal (due to radiation).

There are various approaches to determining the distribution of thermal fields in fusion welding.
They may be divided into experimental, numerical and analytical methods.
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The 1st Student Conference Content and English Language Integrated Learning
CLIL 2016 Zenica, B&H, Juni 2016

Analytical models obtained on the basis of the Fouriers heat conduction differential equation, applied
in common solid models and heat source models in arc fusion welding, in addition to quantitative data
on the thermal field distribution in welding, provide the possibility of a clear qualitative insight into
mutual influence of individual essential variables that affect the thermal field distribution in welding.

Figure 2. Graphical illustration of the three heat transfer

2. CONDUCTION
The heat distribution in welding as well as in other types of heating is characterized by a non-uniform
and non-stationary temperature distribution.
That kind of a distribution is unstable and in a certain time interval the warmer sections pass heat on to
the colder sections according to the first law of thermodynamics.
Conduction can he easily monitored in solid bodies, and in further considerations we will be based on
conduction in solid, unmolten, metal parts.
All theory is based on the Fourier's heat conduction law:

dQ (

t
) dFd
n

To completely understand the importance of conduction in metals it is necessary to investigate some

elements from heat transfer.

Temperature field
A field is a physical quantity that has a value for each point in space and time.For example, in a
weather forecast, the wind velocity is described by assigning a vector to each point in space.
Each vector represents the speed and direction of the movement of air at that point (Figure 1).
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The 1st Student Conference Content and English Language Integrated Learning
CLIL 2016 Zenica, B&H, Juni 2016

A field can be classified as a scalar field, a vector field, a spinor field or a tensor field according to
whether the value of the field at each point is a scalar, a vector, a spinor or a tensor, respectively.
A temperature field is a collection of all temperatures in a given moment in all points of space, and it
can be described by coordinates (cartesian, cylindrical and spherical).

t t( x, y,z)t t(r, ,z)t t(r, , ) .

A temperature field is very practical to lay out as isothermal surfaces. An isothermal surface is a
surface characterized at a given moment by an identical temperature in all its points.

Figure 4. A three dimensional vector field.

Figure 3. A two dimensional vector field

Temperature gradient
Temperature is constantly changing along a n-n line in a temperature field. It is shown on. The average
temperature difference between two isothermal lines is:

The 1st Student Conference Content and English Language Integrated Learning
CLIL 2016 Zenica, B&H, Juni 2016

t1 t2
,
n

Figure 5.Temperature gradient

where t1-t2 is the temperature difference between two isotherms, and
along the line n-n.(Figure 5)

n is the distance between them

t t
t
t
lim 1 2
gradt
n0
n
n
n0
A temperature gradient is a physical quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the
temperature changes the most rapidly around a particular location.

3. HEAT CONDUCTION LAW

In a unevenly heated body the temperature equalises during time and heat transfer between layers with
different temperature occur.
The amount of heat dQ which transfers through an elementary surface dF in the time period d is
equal according to furier's law:

dQ (

t
) dFd
n

The temperature drop in the given direction is taken as negative because the temperature is decreasing.
In the equation above individual elements are:

dQ - elementary heat,
t
n - temperature gradient,

dF - elementary surface,
d - time and
- thermal conductivity (often denoted k, , or ) is the property of a material to conduct
heat.
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The 1st Student Conference Content and English Language Integrated Learning
CLIL 2016 Zenica, B&H, Juni 2016

It can also be defined as the amount of heat which can pass through a given surface in one second
of time where the temperature drop is 1 oC.
This coefficient is a physical unit and is dependent of the material type and its ability to conduct
heat.
The previous equation integrated by time and surface area ultimately gives us the equation for the
heat flux or thermal flux which is the rate of heat energy transfer through a given surface.(Figure
6)

Figure 6.Conduction Heat Transfer

Analytical solutions of the Fouriers heat conduction differential equation, as applied to common
solid models and heat source models in arc fusion welding processes, result in practical solutions
that provide the possibility of a qualitative insight into mutual influences between individual
variables and individual influence of each variable on the thermal field distribution in welding.
The accuracy of analytical models presented in this paper is reduced as one approaches the middle
of the welded joint, i.e. the origin of the coordinate system.
However, simplified formulae for calculating thermal input and cooling time from 800 to 500 C
are very practical, so they are relatively frequently used in specialist literature.
Such models are suitable for combining with numerical methods that, in addition to appropriate
boundary conditions, may result in more precise calculations of thermal field distribution in
welding.

4. CONCLUSION
Analytical solutions of the Fouriers heat conduction differential equation, as applied to common solid
models and heat source models in arc fusion welding processes, result in practical solutions that
provide the possibility of a qualitative insight into mutual influences between individual variables and
individual influence of each variable on the thermal field distribution in welding.
The accuracy of analytical models presented in this paper is reduced as one approaches the middle of
the welded joint, i.e. the origin of the coordinate system. However, simplified formulae for calculating

The 1st Student Conference Content and English Language Integrated Learning
CLIL 2016 Zenica, B&H, Juni 2016

thermal input and cooling time from 800 to 500 C are very practical, so they are relatively frequently
used in specialist literature.
Such models are suitable for combining with numerical methods that, in addition to appropriate
boundary conditions, may result in more precise calculations of thermal field distribution in welding.
5. LITERATURE
[1] Heat flow in weldingT. DebRoy, Chair The Pennsylvania State University
[2]Lukaevi, Z. Zavarivanje. Strojarski fakultet u Slavonskom Brodu, Sveuilite u Osijeku, 1996
[3] http://webserver.dmt.upm.es/~isidoro/bk3/c11/Heat%20conduction.pdf(accessed 23.04.2016)
[4] https://people.rit.edu/pnveme/MECE409/fielddesp/HeatTransfer_1.html (accessed 23.04.2016)