The effect of thermal properties and weld efficiency on transient temperatures during welding

The transient temperatures that develop during the welding of a steel plate are analysed using a recently developed finite element computer program. The program [Kamtekar AG. et al. An efficient finite element model for calculating transient temperatures during welding: I. Procedure Computer Modeling and Simulation in Engineering, 1998; Little GH. et al. An efficient finite element model for calculating transient temperatures during welding: II. Applications Computer Modeling and Simulation in Engineering, 1998; Ji T. et al. On allowing for temperature variation throughout the thickness of a welded plate Computer Modeling and Simulation in Engineering, 1998] is able to perform this non-linear analysis efficiently and accurately. The effects studied are those of variations in thermal conductivity and weld efficiency on the computed temperature distributions. Different ways of modelling the heat exchange between the plate and its surroundings are also examined. The main conclusion is the significant effect of varying the value of the conductivity over the range typical of steel. Finally, a set of parameters that could be used to present the results in non-dimensional form is presented. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd and Civil-Comp Ltd. All rights reserved.