Thermo-Mechanical Modelling of Laser Welding Process on Aluminium Alloy EN AW 6082-T6

Elfi Rahayu Imam Fauzi; Zahurin Samad; Norzalilah Mohamad Nor; Mohd Sabri Che Jamil; Mohd Najib Ali Mokhtar

Authors

Elfi Rahayu Imam Fauzi School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), 14300 Nibong Tebal, P.Pinang, Malaysia
Zahurin Samad School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), 14300 Nibong Tebal, P.Pinang, Malaysia
Norzalilah Mohamad Nor School of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), 14300 Nibong Tebal, P.Pinang, Malaysia
Mohd Sabri Che Jamil DXS Engineering Sdn Bhd, No 67, 1st Floor, Jalan Icon City, Icon City, 14000 Bkt Mertajam, P. Pinang, Malaysia
Mohd Najib Ali Mokhtar Fakulti Kejuruteraan Pembuatan, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Hang Tuah Jaya 76100 Durian Tunggal, Melaka, Malaysia

Keywords:

Laser welding, modelling, finite element, aluminium alloy

Abstract

In present work, finite element method (FEM) is implemented to investigate the temperature distribution in laser welding of 5mm thick aluminium alloy EN AW 6082-T6. The Gaussian heat source model was used to analyse the influence of peak temperature to the radial distance from the center of the heat source and the thickness of the plate. Temperature-dependent thermal properties of aluminium alloy and the convective-radiative boundary conditions were included in the model. The finite element code, ANSYS along with APDL command subroutines was employed to obtain the numerical results. The effect of heat input and welding speed on the weld pool shape and temperature distribution were investigated. Finally, the predicted temperature distribution and the size of heat-affected zone were compared with the experimental results. The comparison shows that they are in good agreement.