Numerical analysis of electron beam welding of different grade titanium sheets

For the purpose of the simulation finite element method was used. A thermo-elastic-plastic material model was assumed. The main difficulty in simulating the process of thin sheet welding is sheets' tendency to significant deformation as a result of thermal expansion. In the paper different factors contributing to transverse and longitudinal bending were analyzed. It was shown that introduction of a welding gap into the model facilitates capturing transverse bending deformation. The impact of transverse bending on longitudinal bending was analyzed. The effect of mesh density and element type on transverse bending was analyzed. The calculated deformations were compared against the experimental results. The calculated temperature and stress fields were also presented.