Weld Distortion and Residual Stresses in Aluminum Hollow Section T-Joint

Welding is known as one of the most popular attaching methods for different hollow section components. However, local concentrated heating, distortion, and residual stresses at welded joints are unavoidable. In this article, the welding simulation for rectangular hollow (RHS) sections for the front axle carrier of the new BMW series-7 is discussed and weld distortion and residual stresses in its aluminum T-joint for one proposed sequence are investigated. Comparisons of the results of this paper for this recommended sequence with experimental results in some references show good agreement and indicate that characteristics of the welding distortions are fully forecasted. In the following of this paper, the Finite Element Method (FEM) is used to offer a better sequence with smaller weld distortion and residual stresses. Weld distortion and residual stresses are highly influenced by welding strategy. In the proposed strategy, the needed time to perform the welding process decreased, and the total weld distortion and residual stresses decreased by 24% and 4%, respectively.