Methodologies and experimental validations of welding process numerical simulation

The development of numerical codes for the simulation of metallurgical processes, such as welding, assumes a great importance in the industrial and research field. The prediction of residual stresses, deformations, phases proportion and temperature can be a fundamental step for a good planning of a welding operation. Due to the complexity of the problem, such numerical simulations require specialised tools and qualifications. The aim of this work is to summarise the methodologies currently used in the numerical simulation of welding process, with a particular attention paid to the strategies used to reduce the computational time. Some examples, mainly concerning high power source welding process will be described; numerical simulations, performed with the code SYSWELD and experimental results will be compared and discussed.