Development of FEM Thermal Simulation Technique for Laser Keyhole Welding
1
Technical and Management Engineering, SANJO CITY UNIVERSITY, Japan
Submission date: 2025-09-11
Final revision date: 2026-01-08
Acceptance date: 2026-01-08
Online publication date: 2026-02-25
Corresponding author
Ikuo TANABE
Technical and Management Engineering, SANJO CITY UNIVERSITY, 5002-5, Kamisugoro, Sanjo, Niigata, 955-0091, Japan
Technical and Management Engineering, SANJO CITY UNIVERSITY, 5002-5, Kamisugoro, Sanjo, Niigata, 955-0091, Japan
KEYWORDS
FEM thermal simulationlaser keyhole weldingoverlap welding of thin platesoptimum processing conditions
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
In laser keyhole welding, large energy is irradiated over a small area, making it extremely difficult to find the optimum processing conditions to achieve the desired welding specifications. In particular, the search for optimum processing conditions is difficult in the overlap welding of thin plates, and a great deal of time and effort is required to find the best conditions. Therefore, in this research, a new FEM (Finite Element Method) thermal simulation technique for laser keyhole welding was developed and evaluated. The FEM thermal simulation utilized SolidWorks software with implicit solution. The FEM simulation defines the simulated thermal conductivities with temperature- dependent for the molten (fluid) and evaporated (gas) portions, respectively, allowing solid elements to simulate workpiece melting and evaporation. The travelling irradiation of the laser beam was simulated by the time dependence of the heat source. The proposed technique was evaluated in some experiments with several conditions. As a result, it had been concluded that the proposed technique could calculate with high accuracy for the desired welding specifications, and the proposed technique was very effective for the search of the optimum processing conditions.
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| eISSN: | 2391-8071 |
| ISSN: | 1895-7595 |
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