Study of Heat Source Calibration and Modelling for Laser Welding Process

Heat source model is an important part when carrying out simulations of welding processes. The calibration process involves a great amount of numerical simulations or theoretical deductions with many simplifications. In this paper, an interaction finite element and optimization algorithm package is programmed to automatically calibrate heat source models. The results are then used to establish mathematical relationships between parameters of heat source and welding process variables. The models show that the absorption efficiency and depth of heat source are exponential functions of depth of focus and laser power, respectively while radius of heat source is determined by depth of focus quadratically.