Self-consistent modelling of arc, material transfer and seam structure in gas metal arc welding

• Applicant: Professor Dr.-Ing. Uwe Füssel
• Subject Area: Production Automation and Assembly Technology
• Term: from 2020 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 430188740

The aim of the project is to develop, validate and apply a process model for the numerical description of the resulting joining zone of gas metal arc welding including all relevant physical processes in the arc as well as the melts at the wire electrode and parent material. The calculation should be physically self-consistent and dependant on the process parameters. It should enable well-founded statements regarding the resulting penetration profile, seam structure and heat input into the parent material. The developed process model meets the requirements of the industry for complete modelability of all joining processes as part of industry 4.0. In order to guarantee a high informative value of the process model while simultaneously taking into account the different time scales of the relevant sub-processes, a model of droplet detachment is sequentially coupled with a weld pool model. The combination of the sub models is achieved by implementing the characteristics of the arc and the material transfer in the weld pool model by source terms, which are calculated using the droplet detachment model. In the first part of the project, existing models of droplet detachment and weld pool will be enlarged to enable physically self-consistent and time-efficient modelling of gas metal arc welding. In the course of the subsequent model application, it will be determined whether the developed modelling approach can be transferred to other welding tasks and materials of practical relevance. The developed process model enables a detailed analysis of the cause and effect chain in gas metal arc welding as well as the numerical predictability of the resulting weld in a wide range of parameters, thus enabling a physically determined development of the gas metal arc welding process itself as well as the equipment used.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Dr.-Ing. Martin Hertel