Dear All,
I need to simulate a flash-butt welding process, where two steel bars
are welded together, head to head, applying electrical current (flash
welding) until the bar heads reach the melting temperature, eventually
pushing them together to make the joint.
During this process, some metal reaches the melting point (almost
evaporation) and bursts away, so some metal is lost during the heating
phase and the two bars must be brought closer together to keep the
current flowing and the process going on.
So the model would include (at least):
A) a transient thermal simulation with external convection and radiation
B) internal heat generated by joule effect
C) non-linear material properties
D) elements removal from the simulation once the melting temperature
has been reached, with consequent change of boundary elements on the
heads of the bars
E) moving the bars closer, step-by-step, to restore the surface
contact and current flow (no need of a real contact function, contact
can be estimated based on the boundary elements distance, since some
current can flow also when the faces are enough close).
To do so I've two options:
1) making a simulation model with a programming language like Python,
etc...
2) exploring the usage of the GetFEM library. At the end of the work,
a new scientific article will follow. The simulation is only the first
part, the article will also include a part related to the automation
control of the welding process.
Questions:
i) can GetFEM be convenient for the implementation of the above
mentioned problem?
ii) does GetFEM allows to implement all of the above features?
iii) principally, can you give me guidance about the needed GetFEM
native functions?
I've never used GetFEM before but I'd like to learn how to use it,
also in view of other future projects and publications.
Thank you in advance.
Lorenzo