Of Gh4169 Inertia Friction Welding Process Using Finite Element Thermal Coupling Analysis

Friction welding is a reliable and automated welding process and widely used in industry. As an important member of friction welding family, inertia friction welding is a complicated process in which the heat for welding is produced by direct conversion of mechanical energy stored in a rotational flywheel to thermal energy at the welding interface of the workpieces. It does not need apply electrical energy or heat from other sources to the workpiece.The temperature field and stress-strain fields during welding process are important factors that significantly affect on the mechanical properties and microstructure in welded joint. The inertia friction welding process is a non-linear process because of the interaction between temperature field and material properties as well as friction force and thrust force. A thermo-mechanical coupled finite element model was established to simulate the temperature field and stress-strain fields of this process. By using FEM analysis software Msc.Marc, the transient temperature field and stress-strain fields during the inertia friction welding process of two similar workpieces of GH4169 alloy was calculated. The factors that affect on the result of simulation are also discussed.In order to validate the numerical simulation, a temperature data acquisition system based on Windows was developed according to the characteristic of temperature variation during inertia friction welding process. The software integrating data collection and data processing was designed. The temperature at some positions near the welding interface was measured by this data acquisition system. The calculated temperature agrees well with the experimental temperature.