Welding Simulation in Mecway

Lavektama

Good day everyone,

new Mecway user here and i've been working on some example model as a form of my excercise on using this software.

My long-term goal on using Mecway is to develop a FEA Welding process. The question is, is it possible to develop the welding process simulation in Mecway? like having an option to create weld path, weld filler as well as the thermal parameters.

Thank you very much

mmartin

Good morning LAVEKTAMA:

FYI: I've done professional mechanical welding simulations with MC+CCX to join steel profiles to plates.
But in my case just to check out if the material overcome the failure stress.
All my 3d drawing were modeled using FREECAD o AUTOCAD.

MANUEL

Lavektama

Good Morning, mmartin

Yes i would love to know how to enable welding module in Mecway, or did you used customized user subroutine to do so? i already have 3D model drawn in FREECAD as well.

mmartin

Good morning LAVEKTAMA:

In my case, I modeled the 3d geometry of the welding and assigned mechanical properties (to the welding solid).
Then I joined the different faces using BOUNDED-CONTACT(TIE-CCX). I enclose you a MC model of a simple welding.

mmartin

mmartin

Here you have an example explains what is going on while you make the weldings.
https://github.com/mkraska/CalculiX-Examples/tree/master/Thermal/Thermal distortion

Lavektama

Thanks alot MMARTIN, the example really help.

i also have seen the Kraska files that you sent to me using CCX and CGX.

I would like to ask a question, how did you define the weld trajectory and insert the heat boundary conditions such as voltage, current and weld travel speed?

Thanks alot,

mkraska

Welding simulation is a very wide field of application. The question is what you want to simulate.
If your goal is welding distortion due to thermal shrinkage, then this can be done using simple mechanical models with temperature loads.
See for example https://repository.tudelft.nl/islandora/object/uuid:fb5baa8a-615f-4dee-ba87-aab0c8482d29

Models involving moving heat sources (like Goldak) need to be implemented as subroutines for heat sources. On input level you can control them using ordered node sets, with nodal distance indicating weld speed or line energy or similar control variables. I don't know if these sets are visible in ccx subroutines. In Abaqus this approach worked.

The other extreme is to simulate the arc physics and liquid transfer with some cfd code.
In between are codes like sysweld by esi, which take into account solidification and solid state phase transformations during cooling.

mkraska

In the shrinkage method, the cross section of shrinking material is the nominal weld section and the applied amount of volumetric strain is calibrated to tests.