A simplified engineering method for a T-joint welding simulation

In the framework of this study, a hybrid sequential thermo-mechanical finite element analysis of T-joint fillet welding is performed. In the thermal analysis, the element birth and death technique is applied to simulate a weld filler deposition, while a mechanical analysis is performed simultaneously to avoid possible problems due to large displacements induced by large strains. The calculated plate deflections are compared with the experimental measurements while the obtained residual stresses are compared with the analytical solution from the literature. The simulated results demonstrate that the proposed method can be effectively used to predict the residual stresses and distortions induced by the T-joint welding of two plates.