Comparisons between different models for thermal simulation of GTAW process

Two mathematical models are built to study the effects of the fluid flow on thermal distributions of the gas tungsten arc welding(GTAW) process. One model is based on the heat conductivity equation, which doesn' t take the effects of the fluid flow into account, and the other couples the laminar heat transfer and fluid flow in the weld pool, which is called laminar fluid flow model in short. The simulated results of the two models show that the pattern and velocity of the fluid flow play a critical role in determining the thermal distribution and the weld pool shape. For the laminar fluid flow model, its highest temperature is 400 K lower than that calculated with the other model and the depth of its weld pool is shallower too, which is mainly caused by the main vortex of the flow in the weld pool.