Numerical simulation and control of welding distortion for double floor structure of high speed train

The welding heat source models and the plastic tension zone sizes of a typical weld joint involved in the double floor structure of high speed train under different welding parameters were calculated by a thermal-elastic-plastic FEM analysis based on SYSWELD code.Then,the welding distortion of floor structure was predicted using a linear elastic FEM and shrinkage method based on Weld Planner software.The effects of welding sequence,clamping configuration and reverse deformation on welding distortion of floor structure were examined numerically.The results indicate that the established elastic FEM model for floor structure is reliable for predicting the distribution of welding distortion in view of the good agreement between the calculated results and the measured distortion for real double floor structure.Compared with the welding sequence,the clamping configuration and the reverse deformation have a significant influence on the welding distortion of floor structure.In the case of30 mm reverse deformation,the maximum deformation can be reduced about 70%in comparison to an actual welding process.

Application and development of friction stir welding technology in high speed EMU manufacturing

The application status of friction stir welding technology is introduced,and the application research of advanced FSW technology in the manufacture of high-speed electric multiple unit aluminum alloy body is analyzed,including the application of traditional friction stir welding technology to a combination of a lap joint and butt joint,and butt joint of large thick plate by both sides process,also introduces bobbin-tool friction stir welding to a butt joint and three-dimensional space curved friction stir welding to T-joint. At the same time the future development trend of new FSW technology derived from traditional FSW technology in rail vehicle manufacturing industry is put forward. As the fast developing of critical technology used on railway vehicles,quick applying advanced welding technology will affect products quality,manufacturing cost and production cycle time directly,and it certainly will be one of the approaches to develop markets by all the railway vehicles manufacturing enterprises.

Experimental determination of the critical welding speed in high speed MAG welding

In high speed MAG welding process, some weld formation defects may be encountered. To get good weld quality, the critical welding speed beyond which humping or undercutting weld bead can occur must be known for different conditions. In this research, high speed MAG welding tests were carried out to check out the effects of different factors on the critical welding speed. Through observing the weld bead profiles and the macrographs of the transverse sections of MAG welds, the occurrence tendency of humping weld was analyzed, and the values of critical welding speed were determined under different levels of welding current or voltage, and the effect of shielding gas compositions on the critical welding speed was also investigated.

Implementation of high speed arc welding with DE-GMAW

Modern manufacturing industry demands low cost and high efficient welding processes to remain competitiveness in the time of globalization. In this study, conventional gas metal arc welding （GMAW） was modified, a double-electrode GMAW （DE-GMAW） system is developed and DE-GMAW process is implemented through optimization of the design and process parameters and suitable selection of igniting sequence of double arcs. High speed welding tests were carried out to examine the effects of different factors on occurrence of weld formation defects. Through observing the weld bead appearance in DE-GMA W, the values of critical welding speed were determined under different levels of welding current and welding speed.

High-speed butt welding of magnesium alloy using pulsed laser-arc hybrid heat source

Laser-arc hybrid welding at a speed of 6 000 mm/min is carried out on 2 mm thick magnesium alloy AZ61 plateand completely-penetrated butt joints are obtained, lnvestigations of the influence of parameters on weld formation show that Ihe addition of pulsed laser can effctively enhance tlle heat penetrability attd directivity nf the hybrid heat source. Measurements on microstructures and mechanical properties the joint indicate that grain in the.fhsion zone is refined and the grain size is sensitive to the arc current ; the fitsioa zone exhibits the highest hardaess; the tensile strength of the joint reaches 93% of base metal; there is the brittle fracture along the grain bozmdaries in the fusion zone. High-speed camera images exhibit that although the two adjacent laser pulses can not overlap, the recorery relaxation of the concentrated electric arc after laser intlse action can still maintain the continuous welding process.

Characteristics of the electrode melting phenomena in narrow gap MAG high-rotating-speed arc welding

The influence of rotating speed on metal transfer and the wire metal speed was studied in the high rotating speed arc narrow gap welding.The results indicate that the high rotating speed arc has benefit on the metal transfer,and that with the rotating speed increasing,the droplet volume decreases.It is shown that the rotating speed has little influence on the wire metal speed with DC electrode positive polarity(DCEP),but the melting speed decreases with increasing of rotating speed in DC electrode negative polarity(DCEN).

Effect of welding current and speed on occurrence of humping bead in high-speed GMAW

The developed mathematical model of humping formation mechanism in high-speed gas metal arc welding （GMAW） is used to analyze the effects of welding current and welding speed on the occurrence of humping bead. It considers both the momentum and heat content of backward flowing molten jet inside weld pool. Three-dimensional geometry of weld pool, the spacing between two adjacent humps and hump height along humping weld bead are calculated under different levels of welding current and welding speed. It shows that wire feeding rate, power intensity and the moment of backward flowing molten jet are the major factors on humping bead formation.

Analysis of droplet transfer of pulsed MIG welding based on electrical signal and high-speed photography

In order to study how welding parameters affect welding quality and droplet transfer, a synchronous acquisition and analysis system is established to acquire and analyze electrical signal and instantaneous images of droplet transfer simultaneously, which is based on a self-developed soft-switching inverter. On the one hand, welding current and voltage signals are acquired and analyzed by a self-developed dynamic wavelet analyzer. On the other hand, images are filtered and optimized after they are captured by high-speed camera. The results show that instantaneous waveforms and statistical data of electrical signal contribute to make an overall assessment of welding quality, and that optimized high-speed images allow a visual and clear observation of droplet transfer process. The analysis of both waveforms and images leads to a further research on droplet transfer mechanism and provides a basis for precise control of droplet transfer.

High speed tandem TIG welding of ferritic stainless steel plate

Weld humping and undercut are the most common appearance defects in high speed welding. A high speed tandem TIG welding process was developed to suppress the formation of these appearance defects and to improve the productivity of TIG welding. In this paper, the mechanical properties and microstructure of joints obtained front tandem and single 77G welding were tested and compared. The results show that the sound weld appearance can be obtained by tandem TIG welding at the welding speed of 3 m/min for 1.5 mm thick 409L stainless steel plate. The mechanical properties of the tandem T1G welded joint are in the similar level with single TIG welded joint. The analysis of the tandem TIG welding process indicates that the assistant arc with a push angle can prevent the liquid metal flowing backward to the trailing region of weld pool and the premature solidification of thin liquid layer in the gouging region.

Longitudinal forces of continuously welded track on high-speed railway cable-stayed bridge considering impact of adjacent bridges

A proven beam-track contact model was used to analyze the track-structure interaction of CWR (continuously welded track) on bridge. Considering the impact of adjacent bridges, the tower-cable-track-beam-pier-pile finite element model of the cable-stayed bridge was established. Taking a bridge group including 40-32m simply-supported beam and (32+80+112)m single-tower cable-stayed bridge and 17-32m simply-supported beam on the Kunming-Shanghai high-speed railway as an example, the characteristics of CWR longitudinal force on the cable-stayed bridge were studied. It is shown that adjacent bridges must be considered in the calculation of the track expansion force and bending force on cable-stayed bridge. When the span amount of adjacent bridges is too numerous, it can be simplified as six spans; the fixed bearing of adjacent simply-supported beams should be placed on the side near the cable-stayed bridge; the track expansion device should be set at the bridge tower to reduce the track force near the bridge abutment.

Damage Tolerance Assessment of a Brake Unit Bracket for High-Speed Railway Welded Bogie Frames

The brake unit bracket of a bogie frame is an important load-carrying component, particularly under emergency start/stop conditions. Conventional infinite/safe life approaches provide an over-conservative recommendation for the allowable strength and lifetime, which hinders the lightweight design of modern railway vehicles. In this study, to ensure the reliability and durability of a brake unit bracket, an attempt was made to integrate the nominal stress method and an advanced damage tolerance method. First, a complex bogie frame was modelled using solid elements instead of plate and beam elements. A hot spot stress region on the bracket was found under an eight-stage load spectrum obtained from the Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway line. Based on the probability of foreign damage, a semi-elliptical surface crack was then assumed for residual life assessment. The results obtained by the cumulative damage and damage tolerance methods show that the brake unit bracket can operate for over 30 years. Moreover, even if a 2-mm depth crack exists, the brake unit bracket can be safely operated for more than 2.27 years, with the hope that the crack can be detected in subsequent maintenance procedures. Finally, an appropriate safety margin was suggested which provides a basis for the life prediction and durability assessment of brake unit brackets of high-speed railways.

Methodology to Evaluate Fatigue Damage of High-Speed Train Welded Bogie Frames Based on On-Track Dynamic Stress Test Data

The current method of estimating the fatigue life of railway structures is to calculating the equivalent stress amplitude based on the measured stress data. However, the random of the measured data is not considered. In this paper, a new method was established to compute the equivalent stress amplitude to evaluate the fatigue damage based on the measurable randomness, since the equivalent stress is the key parameter for assessment of structure fatigue life and load derivation. The equivalent stress amplitude of a high-speed train welded bogie frame was found to obey normal distribution under uniform operation route that verified by on-track dynamic stress data, and the proposed model is, in effect, an improved version of the mathematical model used to calculate the equivalent stress amplitude. The data of a long-term, on-track dynamic stress test program was analyzed to find that the normal distribution parameters of equivalent stress amplitude values differ across different operation route. Thus, the fatigue damage of the high-speed train welded bogie frame can be evaluated by the proposed method if the running schedule of the train is known a priori. The results also showed that the equivalent stress amplitude of the region connected to the power system is more random than in other regions of the bogie frame.

Analysis of Laser-Induced Plume During Disk Laser Welding at Different Speeds

During high power disk laser welding, the high-speed photography was used to measure the dynamic images of the laser-induced plume at different laser welding speeds. Various plume features （area, height and brightness） were extracted from the images by the color space clustering algorithm. Combined with observation on the surface and the cross sections of welding samples, the effect of welding speed on welding stability was analyzed. From the experimental results, it was found that these features of plume could reflect the welding state. Thus changes of the plume features corresponded to different welding speeds, which was helpful for monitoring the laser welding stability.

Effects of current waveform parameters during droplet transfer on spatter in high speed waveform controlled Short-circuiting GMAW

Aim at improving the stability of the Short-circuiting Gas Metal Arc Welding （GMAW-S） process for the enhanced speed usage, effects of current waveform parameters during short-term on the welding stability have been investigated by experimental method. The welding power source used for the research is an inverter with a special current waveform control. It is shown that the spatter decreases at first then increases with each increase of the low current period, current increase rate and the maximum current limit. The test results are provided for welding of 1 mm and 3 mm mild steel at speed of 1.2 m/min. The stable GMA W-S process under high speed welding condition has been achieved by optimizing the parameters.

Laser-pulsed MIG hybrid welding technology of A6N01S aluminum alloy

Welding research of A6N01S-T5 aluminum alloy profile for high-speed train was done by using laser-MIG hybrid welding and MIG welding individually. And the weld appearance,welding distortion,mechanical properties of the joints and microstructures were analyzed. The test results demonstrated that high-efficient welding for the profile can be achieved by using laser-MIG hybrid welding,the speed of which can be over 3. 0 m/min. The processing had a good gap bridging ability,even if the gap of the butt joint was up to 2. 0 mm,a good weld appearance can also be got. While the hybrid welding speed was greater than 2. 5 m/min,the welding distortion of the laser-tandem MIG hybrid joints was just about 33% of that of the MIG joints,but the welding efficiency was over 3 times of MIG welding. And tensile strength of the hybrid joints was 85% of that of A6N01S-T5 base metal,9% higher than that of the MIG joints. Fatigue properties was tested individually with pulsed tensile fatigue method in the condition of 1 × 10~7 lifetime. The test results demonstrated that the fatigue strength of the joints was a little lower than that of base material,which could be up to 115 MPa. But the fatigue strength of hybrid welding joints was 107. 5 MPa,which was 23% higher than 87 MPa of MIG welding joints.

Droplet transition for plasma-MIG welding on aluminium alloys

The synchronous acquisition system of droplet image inspection and arc electric signals were established and the droplet transition characteristics of aluminum alloys were researched in the plasma-MIG welding process.Typical droplet transition modes include globular transfer mode,short circuiting transfer mode,metastable spray transfer mode and projected transfer mode.The result indicates that MIG droplet transfer frequency and droplet transfer modes are changed by introducing the plasma arc in the plasma-MIG welding process compared with the MIG welding on the aluminum alloys,which broadens the range of welding parameters when the stable welding process proceeds.The metastable spray transfer and projected transfer mode are proved to be the most optimal modes by comparing the stability of electronic signal,droplet transition,weld appearance and weld penetration.

Sensitive factors research for track-bridge interaction of Long-span X-style steel-box arch bridge on high-speed railway

X-style arch bridge on high-speed railways(HSR)is one kind of complicated long-span structure,and the track-bridge interaction is essential to ensure the safety and smoothness of HSR.Taking an X-style steel-box arch bridge with a main span of450 m on HSR under construction for example,a new integrative mechanic model of rail-stringer-cross beam-suspenderpier-foundation coupling system was established,adopting the nonlinear spring element simulating the longitudinal resistance between track and bridge.The transmission law of continuous welded rail(CWR)on the X-style arch bridge was researched,and comparative study was carried out to discuss the influence of several sensitive factors,such as the temperature load case,the longitudinal resistance model,the scheme of longitudinal restraint conditions,the introverted inclination of arch rib,the stiffness of pier and abutment and the location of the rail expansion device.Calculating results indicate that the longitudinal resistance has a significant impact upon the longitudinal forces of CWR on this kind of bridge,while the arch rib’s inclination has little effect.Besides,temperature variation of arch ribs and suspenders should be taken into account in the calculation.Selecting the restraint system without longitudinally-fixed bearing and setting the rail expansion devices on both ends are more reasonable.

Arc Characteristic and Metal Transfer of Pulse Current Horizontal Flux-Cored Arc Welding

In this work, we utilized high-speed video photography to investigate the arc characteristics, metal transfer behavior, and welding spatter of the pulse-current flux-cored arc welding(P-FCAW) process in the horizontal position. The results indicate the presence of a stable ‘‘flux pole'' during both the pulse-on and pulse-off periods when the mean current ranged from 140 to 170 A. The existence of this ‘‘flux pole'' was beneficial for droplet transfer in the‘‘axial droplet transfer'' mode. With respect to welding spatter, with an increase in the welding current, we observed three kinds of spatter—explosive spatter,rebounded droplet spatter, and scattering spatter. With an increase in the pulse current from 310.6 to 345.6 A, the deflection of the arc reduced from 30.4° to 16.6°, which positively influenced the arc rigidity, particularly in the horizontal position.

Numerical and Experimental Study on Nugget Formation Process in Resistance Spot Welding of Aluminum Alloy

The weld nugget formation in the resistance spot welding(RSW) of aluminum alloy was investigated in the present study. The nugget formation process was directly observed by using a digital high-speed camera. Numerical simulation was also employed to investigate the nugget formation process. The results showed that for the RSW of two aluminum alloy sheets, a nugget was first formed in the workpiece/workpiece(W/W) interface and grew along the radial direction and axial direction of the sheets, and then it became a large elliptical nugget. For the RSW of three aluminum alloy sheets, two small nuggets were firstly formed in two W/W interfaces and grew along the axial direction and radial direction; finally they fused into one nugget. Besides, there existed a critical welding time, after which the nugget size remained nearly unchanged. This indicates that a long welding time is unnecessary for the RSW of aluminum alloy. In addition, the calculated nugget radius was compared with the experimental results, which showed that the simulation results agreed well with the experimental results.

Molten pool and temperature field in CO_2 laser welding

Two measuring methods, high-speed camera and optical monitoring system, were used to study processes of laser welding. Molten pool, cooling time and temperature field were analyzed based on real measured images and optical signal data. The results show that the width of molten pool is almost equal to the width of weld, and length is about 7. 8 mm. The solidification time is about 0. 5 s and the temperature gradient is great, so HAZ is very small. The method and results will be of benefit to build the relationship between welding parameters and microstructure.