Finite Element Analysis of Pulsed

Laser Spot Welding

Rohit Rai
Rituraj Nandan
Chandan Kumar
Introduction: Laser spot welding

z Highlights
– Highly localized heating
– High temperatures
– High precision and control
z Applications
– Electronic packaging in various industries, viz.
automobile, medical equipments, semiconductors.
Problem Description

Boundary Conditions z

• Uniform input energy flux of 75 x 106 W/m2 Laser

spot
l
• Convective loss at surfaces, h=15 W/m 2 y r

h x
• Clamping on ends z
b

Initial Condition
• Temperature = 298 K

Æ
•Temperature distribution, and
•Stress field
 Assumptions

1. Uniform laser beam energy distribution over

circular spot.
2. Constant absorptivity.
3. Negligible heat loss by radiation.
4. z-direction d.o.f is zero for the clamped faces.
5. Free surface deformation due to melting, the
accompanying expansion, and vaporization is
neglected.
Solution Procedure

z Transient thermal analysis:

– 0.1 s of heating
– 0.05 s of cooling
z Temperatures are written in a file.
z Structural Analysis
– Static analysis done for the particular time step.
– Elements above melting point are ‘killed’.
– Temperatures assigned to ‘live’ nodes.
– Constraints applied.
– Structural calculations for live elements.
Finite Element Issues

z Element Type
– Solid 90 for thermal analysis
z Shape/Characteristic: Brick, 20 nodes
z d.o.f.: Temperature at each node

– Solid 95 for structural analysis

z Allows element ‘death’ and ‘birth’
z d.o.f.: Diplacement at each node
Material Properties

Elastic Modulus in Pascal

Material Properties Contd. …

Specific Heat in J/kg-K

Material Properties Contd. …

Thermal conductivity in W/m-K

Results and Discussion

1. Temperature
R n D contd. …

z Thermal Strain

t=0.075 s
Simplified Analytical Solution

1200

1000
Temperature, K

Approximate analytical
800 solution

600
FEM

400

0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008

Depth, m
R n D contd. …

z Deformation
R n D contd. …

z von Mises stress

0.025 s 0.05 s
R n D contd. …

z von Mises stress

0.075 s 0.1 s
R n D contd. …

z Plastic strain

t=0.075 s
Non FE verification of stress

z Calculated from
⎡1 t / 2 12
t/2
⎤
σ = E ⎢ ∫ αT ( z )dz + 3 ∫ αT ( z ) zdz − αT ( z ) ⎥ Cheng et al.
⎣ t −t / 2 t −t / 2 ⎦

-6.07e8 Pa: near the surface of the workpiece

Calculated by FE model:~1.51e8 Pa
Summary and Conclusions

z Thermal modeling of heating and cooling

z Structural modeling of heating phase
z No stress calculation in liquid metal pool
z Maximum stresses in HAZ
– More prone to cracking
z Model can be used to find ‘safe’ welding
parameters
Future work

z Stress analysis for cooling part

z Consider phase transformation
– Affects stresses and mechanical properties
z If one has time, and resources
– Use of a finer mesh, esp. for stress analysis
– Consider radiation loss
– CFD analysis for the molten metal pool
References
1. Li Yajiang, Wang Juan, Chen Maoai and Shen Xiaoqin, “Finite element
analysis of residual stress in the welded zone of a high strength steel”, Bull.
Mater. Sci., Vol. 27, No. 2, April 2004, pp. 127–132.

2. Justin D. Francis, Welding Simulations of Aluminum Alloy Joints by Finite

Element Analysis, MS Thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State
University, Blacksburg, Virginia, April 2002.

3. Product Manual, ANSYS, v.10.

4. http://www.mece.ualberta.ca/tutorials/ansys/

5. P. J. Cheng and S. C. Lin, “An analytical model to estimate angle formed by

laser”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology, Volume 108, Issue 3, 17
January 2001, pp. 314-319.