Study on the three-dimensional analysis of heat and fluid flow in gas metal arc welding using boundary-fitted coordinates

Computer simulation of three-dimensional heat transfer and fluid flow in gas metal arc (GMA) welding has been studied by considering the three driving forces for weld pool convection, that is the electromagnetic force, the buoyancy force, and the surface tension force at the weld pool surface. Molten surface deformation, particularly in the case of GMA welding, plays a significant part in the actual weld size and should be considered in order to accurately evaluate the weld pool convection. The size and profile of the weld pool is strongly influenced by the volume of molten electrode wire, impinging force of the arc plasma, and surface tension of molten metal. In the numerical situation, difficulties associated with the irregular shape of the weld bead have been successfully overcome by adopting a boundary fitted coordinated system that climinates the analytical complexity at the weld pool and bead surface boundary. The method used in this paper has the capacity to determine the weld bead and penetration profile by solving the surface equation and convection equations simultaneously.