The influence of joining technique on the deformation of laser welded T-joints

T-joints are often used in large-scale welded constructions. The use of a laser beam for welding allows to create joints using various techniques. Used welding method affects the shape and size of heat affected zone, deformation of welded elements and consequently the quality of the joint. This work concerns the numerical modeling of the size of heat affected zone and welding deformations in T-joint obtained with two different welding techniques: single-side fillet T-joint and butt welded T-joint, called I-core welded joint. Numerical simulations are carried out in the commercial Abaqus FEA software, supplemented by an additional numerical subroutines which enabled the analysis of thermomechanical phenomena occurring in welding process. Mathematical model of a moveable welding source and the description of heat source positioning relative to the edges of the connected elements are described in numerical subroutines. The material parameters of austenitic steel are taken into account. The size of deformations of welded joints are determined as well as the influence of two different joininig techniques of T-joint on the amount of generated welding deformations are analyzed and compared.