Finite Element analysis of heat distribution in laser beam welding of AISI 304 Stainless Steel sheet

Abstract

Laser beam welding of AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel is performed by varying beam power, welding speed, beam angle and gas flow rate to identify the influencing process parameters on weld bead geometry. Finite Element (FE) simulations are carried out using FE software SYSWELD considering the thermo-physical properties of the base material. A three-dimensional conical Gaussian heat source is employed for performing non-linear thermal analysis. The transient temperature profile and weld bead dimensions; depth of penetration and bead width are calculated by FE simulation. The simulated bead profile is compared with the experimentally measured profile and found to be very well correlated.