Two-dimensional heat transfer study on the keyhole plasma arc welding process (Q1119133)

This paper presents a two-dimensional, quasi-stationary finite element numerical model to study the fluid flow and the heat transfer phenomena which occur during constant travel speed, keyhole plasma arc welding of metal plates. A Newton-Raphson iteration procedure was developed in this model to accurately identify the solid-liquid location during welding. The finite element method was applied to the study of a typical keyhole welding process of an AISI 304 stainless steel plate. The results show that the method can be used to predict the shape of the welding pool as a function of welding parameters and that the widths of both the fusion zone and the heat effected zone decrease as the welding speed increases while the power required for welding increases with an increase in welding speed.