Welding is used extensively in aerospace, automotive, chemical, manufacturing, electronic and power-generation industries. Thermally-induced residual stresses due to welding can significantly impair the performance and reliability of welded structures. Numerical simulation of weld pool dynamics is important as experimental measurements of velocities and temperature profiles are difficult due to the small size of the weld pool and the presence of the arc. From a structural integrity perspective of welded structures, it is necessary to have an accurate spatial and temporal thermal distribution in the welded structure before stress analysis is performed. Existing research on weld pool dynamics simulation has ignored the effect of fluid flow in the weld pool on the temperature field of the welded joint. Previous research has established that the weld pool depth/width (D/W) ratio and Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) are significantly altered by the weld pool dynamics. Hence, for a more accurate estimation of the thermally-induced stresses it is desired to incorporate the weld pool dynamics into the analysis. Moreover, the effects of microstructure evolution in the HAZ on the mechanical behavior of the structure need to be included in the analysis for better mechanical response prediction. In this study, a three-dimensional model for the thermo-mechanical analysis of Gas Tungsten Arc (GTA) welding of thin stainless steel butt-joint plates has been developed. The model incorporates the effects of thermal energy redistribution through weld pool dynamics into the structural behavior calculations. Through material modeling the effects of microstructure change/phase transformation are indirectly included in the model. The developed weld pool dynamics model includes the effects of current, arc length, and electrode angle on the heat flux and current density distributions. All the major weld pool driving forces are included, namely surface tension gradient, plasma drag force, electromagnetic force, and buoyancy. The weld D/W predictions are validated with experimental results. They agree well. The effects of welding parameters (like welding speed, current, arc length, etc.) on the weld D/W ratio are documented. The workpiece deformation and stress distributions are also highlighted. The transverse and longitudinal residual stress distribution plots across the weld bead and their variations with welding speed and current are also provided. The mathematical framework developed here serves as a robust tool for better prediction of weld D/W ratio and thermally-induced stress evolution and distribution in a welded structure by coupling the different fields in a welding process. / Ph. D.

Welding of duplex stainless steel pipeline material for the oil and gas industry is now common practice. To date, research has been conducted primarily on the parent material and heat affected zones in terms of its susceptibility to various forms of corrosion. However, there has been little research conducted on the degree of sensitisation of the various successive weld layers, namely the root, fill and cap layers. The focus of this research study was to: (i) provide an in-depth microstructural analysis of the various weld passes, (ii) study the mechanical properties of the weld regions; (iii) determine degree of sensitisation of the various weld passes; and (iv) investigate the residual stress levels within the various regions/ phases of the welds. Four test conditions were prepared using manual Gas Tungsten Arc Welding with 'V' and 'U' bevel configuration. Structural analysis consisted of (i) optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and magnetic force microscopy; (ii) ferrite determination using Magna-Gauge, Fischer Ferrite-scope and Point Count method. Mechanical testing consisted of Vickers hardness measurements, Charpy impact studies and transverse tensile testing. The degree of sensitisation was determined by three test methods: a modified ASTM A262, ASTM A923 and a modified Double Loop Electrochemical Potentiodynamic Reactivation (DL-EPR) test. Residual stress levels were determined using two neutron diffraction techniques: a reactor source and a time of flight spallation source. Microstructure observed by optical microscopy and magnetic force microscopy shows the formation of both fine and coarse structures within the weld metal. There was no evidence of secondary austenite, being present in any of the weld metal conditions examined. In addition, no detrimental intermetallic phases or carbides were present. The DL-EPR test results revealed that the fill layer regions for all four conditions and the base material showed the highest values for Ir/Ia and Qr/Qa. All four test conditions passed the ASTM A262 and A923 qualitative type tests, even under restricted and modified conditions. Residual stress measurements by neutron diffraction conducted at Lucas Heights Hi-Flux Reactor revealed that the ferrite phase stress was tensile in the heat affected zones and weld, and appeared to be balanced by a local compressive austenite phase stresses in the normal and transverse directions. Residual stress measurements by neutron diffraction conducted at Los Alamos Nuclear Science Centre revealed that in the hoop direction, ferrite (211) and austenite (311) exhibit tensile strains in the weld. In the axial and radial direction, the strains for both phases were more compressive. Correlations between the degree of sensitization and microstructural changes / ferrite content were observed. Higher degrees of sensitization (Ir/Ia and Qr/Qa) were associated with reduced ferrite (increased austenite) content. Correlations between the stresses generated, the evolved microstructures and degree of sensitization were evident. Stresses within the cap region were generally shown to be of a tensile nature in the transverse and longitudinal direction. In summary, the study has shown that correlations exist between the weld microstructure, susceptibility to sensitisation and levels / distribution of internal stresses within the weld regions.

The objective of this research is to develop a method to evaluate important weld dimensions in thin plates by using laser generated ultrasounds and EMAT receiver. The superimposed laser sources (SLS) technique is developed to generate narrowband Lamb waves with fixed wavelengths in thin plates. The method permits the flexibility of selecting desired wavelength. The signal processing procedure that combines wavenumber-frequency (k-w) domain filtering and synthetic phase tuning (SPT) is used to further reduce the complexity of Lamb waves. The k-w domain filtering technique helps to filter out the unwanted wave components traveling at the direction that is not of interest to us and the SPT technique is applied to amplify and isolate a particular Lamb wave mode. The signal processing procedure facilitates the calculation of reflection coefficients of Lamb waves that result from the presence of weld joints. The SLS and signal processing procedure are then applied to measure reflection coefficients in butt welds and lap welds. Two methods, the direct method and indirect method, are used to develop models that use reflection coefficients as predictors to predict these weld dimensions. The models developed in this research are shown to accurately predict weld dimensions in thin plates.

This thesis describes advancements in the modelling, optimisation, process control and mechanical performance of novel high deposition rate gas metal arc welding processes for large scale additive manufacturing applications. One of the main objectives of this study was to develop fundamental understanding of the mechanisms involved during processing with particular focus on single layer welds made of carbon steel using both pulsed-current gas metal arc welding and cold metal transfer processes. The effects of interactions between critical welding process variables and weld bead and plate fusion characteristics are studied for single and multi-layers. It was shown that several bead and plate fusion characteristics are strongly affected by the contact tip to work distance, TRIM, wire feed speed, wire feed speed to travel speed ratio, and wire diameter in pulsed-current gas metal arc welding. The arc-length control, dynamic correction and the contact tip to work distance are shown to strongly influence the weld bead geometry in the cold metal transfer process. This fundamental knowledge was essential to ensure the successful development of predictive interaction models capable of determining the weld bead geometry from the welding process parameters. The models were developed using the least-squares analysis and multiple linear regression method. The gas tungsten constricted arc welding process was utilised for the first time for out-of-chamber fabrication of a large scale and high-quality Ti-6Al-4V component. The main focus was, however, in the use of the cold metal transfer process for improving out-of-chamber deposition of Ti-6Al-4V at much higher deposition rates. The effect of the cold metal transfer process on the grain refinement features in the fusion zone of single layer welds under different torch gas shielding conditions was investigated. It was shown that significant grain refinement occurs with increasing helium content. The morphological features and static mechanical performance of the resulting multi-layered Ti-6Al-4V walls were also examined and compared with those in gas tungsten constricted arc welding. The results show that a considerable improvement in static tensile properties is obtained in both testing directions with cold metal transfer over gas tungsten constricted arc welding. It was suggested that this improvement in the mechanical behaviour could be due to the formation of more fine-grained structures,which are therefore more isotropic. The average ultimate tensile strength and yield strength of the as-deposited Ti-6Al-4V material processed via cold metal transfer meet the minima specification values recommended for most Ti-6Al-4V products. Neutron diffraction technique was used to establish the effect of repeated thermo-mechanical cycling on the generation, evolution and distribution of residual stresses during wire and arc additive manufacturing. The results show a significant redistribution of longitudinal residual stresses along both the substrate and multi-bead with repeated deposition. However, a nearly complete relaxation occurs along the built, once the base plate constraint is removed.

An experimental program was developed to test various unreinforced RHS-to-RHS 90° T-connections subject to branch in-plane bending moment with the objective of determining the effectiveness of the welded joint. Twelve unique test specimens were designed to be weld-critical and the results from the full-scale tests revealed that the current equation for the effective elastic section modulus for in-plane bending, S_ip, given in Table K4.1 of ANSI/AISC 360 (2010) is conservative. A modification to the current requirements that limit the effective width of the transverse weld elements is proposed, resulting in a safe and more economical weld design method for RHS-to-RHS T-, Y- and X- connections subject to branch axial load or bending moment. It is also concluded that the fillet weld directional strength enhancement factor, (1.00 + 0.50sin1.5Ө), should not be used for strength calculations of welded joints to square and rectangular hollow structural sections.

An experimental program was developed to test various unreinforced RHS-to-RHS 90° T-connections subject to branch in-plane bending moment with the objective of determining the effectiveness of the welded joint. Twelve unique test specimens were designed to be weld-critical and the results from the full-scale tests revealed that the current equation for the effective elastic section modulus for in-plane bending, S_ip, given in Table K4.1 of ANSI/AISC 360 (2010) is conservative. A modification to the current requirements that limit the effective width of the transverse weld elements is proposed, resulting in a safe and more economical weld design method for RHS-to-RHS T-, Y- and X- connections subject to branch axial load or bending moment. It is also concluded that the fillet weld directional strength enhancement factor, (1.00 + 0.50sin1.5Ө), should not be used for strength calculations of welded joints to square and rectangular hollow structural sections.

Gas metal arc is a high-efficiency and widely used heat source for metal processing applied predominantly in welding and additive manufacturing. In this study, it was applied to welding. It offers high productivity, low production and investment cost, as well as suffers from some drawbacks such as humping or undercut when welding large parts that are curved and impose changing the orientation of the welding torch along the joint path. Deeper process understanding was therefore sought to mitigate these drawbacks. The difficulty is then the non-lineardependence of the process to the welding parameters and material properties. Besides, visual observation of this process is also difficult. For instance, the elevated temperature and the intense radiative emission from the electric arc, smoke, spatter, as well as the non-transparency of the processed alloy can hinder in-process observation or limit it. Process simulation provides a complementary means to reach process knowledge. It was thus the approach used in this study. For this, a thermo-fluid melt pool model that can predict melting and solidification, track free surface deformation, metal transfer, and coalescence with the melt pool was developed. Two main research questions were identified and addressed.The first one led to studying the effect of the substrate orientation during multilayer welding of a V-groove joint with INVAR and gas metal arc. It was foundthat the force balance in the melt pool changes significantly when the workpieceorientation is changed, resulting in distinct melt flow patterns, melt pool and bead geometries, and in some conditions defect initiation such as humping, undercut, and lack of fusion. As a result, multi-layer welding with flat substrate and downhill welding of a 20◦ inclined substrate are recommended with these process conditions. On the contrary, welding of a side inclined substrate and uphill welding of a 20◦ inclined substrate are not recommended. The second question gave rise to the comparative investigation of the three electromagnetic force models commonly used when modelling a melt pool produced by an electric arc. The underlying modelling assumptions were retrieved and investigated. It was found that each of these three models predicts a different melt flow pattern, different heat convection, melt pool shape, free surface oscillation, and interaction with the transferred metal drops, and thus result in different bead geometry. All these models can be adjusted to predict the penetration depth, however, only the most complete of them is recommended for developing a predictive melt pool model. For this, it is proposed as a future work to improve this model through predicting an electromagnetic force that takes also into account the local deformation of the free surface. / Gasmetallbåge är en effektiv och allmänt använd värmekälla vid svetsning och additiv tillverkning. I denna studie tillämpas den på svetsning. Den erbjuder hög produktivitet, låg kostnad vid inköp och användning, såväl som vissa nackdelarsom ojämn "bucklig" svetssträng och smältdiken vid svetsning av stora komponenter som är krökta och medför att svetsbrännarens orientering ändras utmed fogen. Bättre processförståelse eftersträvas därför för att mildra dessa nackdelar. En utmaning är processens icke-linjära beroende av svetsparametrarna och materialegenskaperna. Dessutom är experimentell optisk övervakning svår. Till exempel kan den höga temperaturen och den intensiva elektromagnetiska strålningen från ljusbågen, rök, sprut, såväl som legeringens ogenomskinlighet, förhindra observation under processen eller begränsa den. Processimulering erbjuder en komplementär metod för att nå processkunskap. Det är alltså detta tillvägagångssätt som används i denna studie. För detta har en modell av värme och materialflödena i smältan utvecklats som kan prediktera smältning och stelning, spåra smältytans deformation, metallflöde och koalescens med smältan.Två huvudsakliga forskningsfrågor har identifierats och adresserats. Den första studerade gravitationens påverkan vid flersträngs-, gasmetallbågsvetsning av V-fogar i INVAR. Olika svetslägen har visat sig ha en betydande påverkan på kraftbalanserna i svetssmältan vilket resulterar i distinkta smältflöden, smält- och svetsförbandgeometrier, och under vissa förhållanden svetsdefekter såsom ojämn "bucklig" svetssträng, smältdiken och bindfel. Som ett resultat rekommenderas horisontellt och 20◦ fallande läge vid flersträngssvetsning, medan 20◦ stigande och sidolutande inte rekommenderas. Den andra frågan undersökte inverkan av de tre huvudsakliga modellerna för den elektromagnetiska kraften som idag används vid svetssimuleringar. För modelleringen har antaganden lagts fram och undersökts. Det visade sig att de tre modellerna predikterar olika flödesmönster i smältan, olika värmekonvektion, smältgeometri, ytvågor och interaktion med de överförda metalldropparna, och därmed också predikterar olika svetsstränggeometrier. Alla tre modeller kan justeras för att prediktera svetspenetrationen, men endast den mest kompletta av dessa rekommenderas för sant prediktiv modellering. Det föreslås också att ytterligare förbättra den mest kompletta modellen så att det elektromagnetiska kraftfältet följer deformationen av den fria smältytan. / <p>Submitted papers or manuscripts have been excluded from the fulltext file. </p>

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