Investigation of Copper Backing Plate Effects in Stainless Steel Welding Distortion, Heat Distribution, and Residual Stress

The current study uses a Finite Element (FE) Method to forecast residual stresses and deformation caused by the GTA welding process.The authors use a 5 mm thick stainless steel plate for the analysis.Residual stress and distortion predictions are made by successfully coupling thermal and mechanical studies.Mechanical and thermal analyses of moving heat source-exposed plates were conducted sequentially.Applications such as ANSYS and SOLIDWORKS are used to do the FE analysis.In transient thermal analysis, the arc's heat input has been modeled using a Gaussian distribution.Consideration of temperature-dependent physical and mechanical parameters is integral to the modeling process.The welding heat in stainless steel welding and how it behaves inside the joint has significant effects in determining the welding joint distortion, mechanical properties, and the weldments fit with the design criteria due to stainless steel thermal properties.Subsequent mechanical analysis is fed the transient thermal histories to the model.Analyzing mechanical systems involves using the big displacement hypothesis.How restrictions influence distortion and residual stresses is quantitatively investigated.The anticipated stresses and distortion values are presented and discussed for various scenarios.Welding distortion was minimized when a copper backing plate was used, as shown by a lower maximum deformation measured compared to situations without the plate.The backing plate reduced maximum stress values and lowered residual stresses.A backing plate also made the fusion zone smaller and the temperature drop from the peak welding temperature to room temperature steeper.According to the research, using a copper backing plate during stainless steel welding may significantly reduce deformation and residual stresses.The results could improve stainless steel welding by choosing the best materials for backing plates and improving welding.Investigation results and the mathematical models of welding simulation can significantly improve stainless steel deformation-reducing techniques in many applications and introduce particular techniques to predicate the impacts of backing plates in such welding processes as food, chemical, Pharmaceutical, Oil and Gas, and water treatment industries.