Influences of Latent Heat on Temperature Field, Weld Bead Dimensions and Melting Efficiency During Welding Simulation

The present study aims to evaluate the influence of latent heat effect during phase change in a three-dimensional finite element numerical simulation of arc welding. A mathematical model is developed to incorporate the effect of latent heat of phase transformation using enthalpy formulation. The accuracy of the developed model was initially validated using available results in the literature and found consistent prediction. The validated numerical model is used to predict the temperature distribution, weld width, depth of penetration, melting efficiency with and without incorporating the effect of latent heat of fusion, solidification vaporization. The results obtained from a developed model incorporating the latent heat effect are in good agreement with the experimentally measured values, whereas a considerable deviation is observed between the predicted values and experimental values without considering the effect of latent heat. It is found that without considering the latent heat effect in the model, the mean error is 14%, 24.6%, 22% and 29.6% for peak temperatures, weld width, depth of penetration and melting efficiency respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that the effect of latent heat of fusion, solidification, and vaporization is significant for analysis involving phase change and must be accounted for during numerical simulations.