Numerical Simulation of Pulsed Nd-YAG Laser butt welding of AISI 304L Stainless Steel Sheet and Experimental Validation

摘要

The objective of this work is to carry out thermo-elasto-plastic analysis of pulsed Nd- YAG laser-beam butt welding of 304L Stainless Steel sheets using Finite Element Modelling. Thermo-mechanical analysis was done by using commercial Finite Element software SYSWELD. Thermal analysis provided thermal cycles and weld bead geometry. Then using thermo-mechanical analysis, residual stresses and distortions values were estimated. In order to validate the model predictions, a single pass autogenous welding with pulsed laser beam was performed on 304L stainless steel sheets. Thermocouples were used to record temperatures at different places close to the fusion line. Vertical displacements after welding were measured using Vertical height gauge equipment. The longitudinal residual stress after welding was measured using ultrasonic technique. Metallography was employed to view the cross sections of the weld bead. The Finite Element Analysis results were then compared with experimental results. Thermal cycles, distortion and residual stresses obtained in FEA and experiments were found to be in good agreement.