TRANSIENT FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION AND MICROSTRUCTURE EVOLUTION OF AA2219 WELD JOINT USING GAS TUNGSTEN ARC WELDING PROCESS

Abstract

In this study we focus on finite element simulation of gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) of AA2219 aluminum alloy and the behavioral of the microstructure before and af- ter weld. The simulations were performed using commercial COMSOL Multiphysics software. The thermal history of the weld region was studied by initially developed mathematical model. A sweep type meshing was used and transient analysis was per- formed for one welding cycle. The highest temperature noted was 3568 °C during welding. The welding operation was performed on 200×100×25 mm plates. Through metallurgical characterization, it was observed that a fair copper rich cellular (CRC) network existed in the weld region. A small amount of intermetallic compounds like Al2 Cu is observed through the XRD pattern.