Heat transfer and fluid flow during electron beam welding of 21Cr–6Ni–9Mn steel and Ti–6Al–4V alloy

Abstract

Electron beam welding (EBW) of two important engineering alloys, Ti–6Al–4V and 21Cr–6Ni–9Mn, was studied experimentally and theoretically. The temperatures at several monitoring locations in the specimens were measured as a function of time during welding and the cross-sections of the welds were examined by optical microscopy. The theoretical research involved numerical simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow during EBW. The model output included temperature and velocity fields, fusion zone geometry and temperature versus time results. The numerically computed fusion zone geometry and the temperature versus time plots were compared with the corresponding experimentally determined values for each weld. Both the experimental and the modelling results were compared with the corresponding results for the keyhole mode laser beam welding (LBW).