Finite element analysis of temperature distribution during arc welding using adaptive grid technique

Analysis of temperature and the cooling rates during the welding process is essential to determine the deformation and residual stresses, and hence, the load-carrying capacity of the weldments. Numerical methods with nonlinear temperature-dependent mechanical properties with latent heat effects have been developed in recent years. The accuracy and computational efficiency of these methods depend on the input mesh used in the analysis. In this paper, a transient adaptive mesh, which gives a fine mesh around the are source where temperature gradients are too high and a coarse mesh in other places, is developed. The computed values of temperature for a sample problem are compared with the experimental results available in the literature. The mesh and temperature plots at different times are presented.