Original Article

J Strain Analysis
1–15
Ó IMechE 2016
Experimental investigation and Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
numerical simulation of weld bead DOI: 10.1177/0309324716669612
sdj.sagepub.com

geometry and temperature

distribution during plasma arc welding
of thin Ti-6Al-4V sheets

V Dhinakaran, N Siva Shanmugam and K Sankaranarayanasamy

Abstract
Numerical and experimental investigations of autogenous plasma arc welding of thin titanium alloy of 2 mm thick and
modelling the temperature distribution for predicting the weld bead geometry are presented. The finite element code
COMSOL Multiphysics is employed to perform non-linear unsteady heat transfer analysis using parabolic Gaussian heat
source. Temperature-dependent material properties such as thermal conductivity, density and specific heat are used to
enhance the efficiency of simulation process. A forced convective heat transfer coefficient was used to account for the
effect of convection. The experimental trials were conducted by varying the welding speed and current using Fronius
plasma arc welding equipment. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental results.

Keywords
Ti-6Al-4V, plasma arc welding, finite element model, parabolic Gaussian heat source, sheet metal

Date received: 2 February 2016; accepted: 11 August 2016

Introduction process and at lower operating cost in comparison with

Titanium and its alloys are distinct from other metals
and alloys due to their high specific strength and excel-
lent corrosion resistance. Due to these properties, tita-
nium and its alloys are preferred in aerospace, chemical
and marine industries. Among the titanium alloys, Ti-
6Al-4V is known as workhorse of titanium family
because of its good balance of properties such as hard-
ness, yield strength and tensile strength. Ti-6Al-4V is
the benchmark alloy in titanium alloy group against
which all other titanium alloys are compared for appli-
cation. More than 50% of the demand is for Ti-6Al-
4V, of which 80% usage is in aerospace industries and
3% is used for medical prosthesis. Also, considerable
amount of Ti-6Al-4V is consumed by marine, chemical
and automotive industries.1–3 Among the welding
methods available for joining titanium and its alloys in
aerospace industry, plasma arc welding (PAW) has the
ability to produce high depth-to-width ratio and higher
welding rate, and hence, PAW is preferred in compari-
son with other conventional arc welding methods for
welding titanium and its alloys.4
PAW is also capable of producing high-quality
welds compared to gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW)
electron beam or laser beam welding.5 PAW is categor-
ized under high-density welding process or keyhole
welding process. The formation of keyhole in PAW is a
complicated phenomenon. Temperature distribution
around weld bead is one of the significant factors in the
formation of keyhole and its stabilization. Therefore, it
is essential to simulate the temperature distribution and
weld pool geometry in keyhole PAW process.6 This
may be one of the reasons for limited research work
being reported on simulation of PAW. So far, general
Gaussian or double-ellipsoidal heat source (DEHS)
models were used to simulate arc welding processes.
Wu et al.7 reported that the DEHS may not be a suit-
able heat source model for high-density welding pro-
cesses, and they proposed a modified three-dimensional
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology –
Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli, India
Corresponding author:
N Siva Shanmugam, Department of Mechanical Engineering, National
Institute of Technology – Tiruchirappalli, Tiruchirappalli 620 015, Tamil
Nadu, India.
Email: nsiva@nitt.edu

Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016

2 Journal of Strain Analysis
Table 1. Chemical composition of Ti-6Al-4V (wt.%).
Component Al Fe
Weight % 6 0.25
heat source and also a quasi-steady-state PAW heat
source. This model was used to carry out numerical
analysis of PAW of stainless steel of higher thickness.
Since either Gaussian or rotary Gaussian is not able to
describe the keyhole in PAW accurately, a combined
heat source model was proposed by Wu et al.8 to ana-
lyse the temperature field distribution of keyhole PAW
process using finite element simulation. Short et al.9
investigated the effect of the current, transverse speed
and plasma gas flow rate on weld bead dimensions and
keyhole stability of autogenous weld of Ti-6Al-4V.
Daha et al.10,11 used an adaptive heat source model to
simulate the temperature field and weld bead geometry
for PAW of duplex stainless steel and dissimilar weld-
ing of duplex stainless steel and low-carbon steel alloy
of 6.8 mm thick. Deshpande et al.12 used three-
dimensional conical (TDC) heat source model in their
simulation of keyhole PAW of titanium alloy of
2.1 mm thick. Li and Wu13 considered the arc pressure
distribution and keyhole evolution on heat source to
develop a three-dimensional transient model for weld-
ing stainless steel of 6 mm thick.
The detailed literature review reveals that modifica-
tions were suggested for existing heat source models,
and also, new heat source models were proposed for
numerical simulation of welding thick materials.
However, for welding thin materials, especially for tita-
nium and its alloys heat source models to depict the
process accurately, not much work has been reported.
In this research, parabolic Gaussian heat source
(PGHS) model proposed by Dhinakaran et al.17 is
applied along with a forced convective heat transfer
coefficient to account for convective heat transfer dur-
ing PAW of thin titanium sheets in predicting tempera-
ture distribution pattern and weld bead geometry.
Experimental investigations
Experimental work is carried out for characterizing the
temperature measurement and weld bead geometry.
Plates of Ti-6Al-4V material of 2 mm thick, 200 mm
long and 100 mm wide are used to conduct the PAW
trials. Table 1 shows the chemical composition of the
Ti-6Al-4V material. Titanium alloy is carefully cleaned
as it is a prerequisite to obtain a sound weld. The sur-
face should be free from any scale, dirt and other for-
eign material to prevent contamination during welding.
A stainless steel wire brush is employed to remove the
oxide layers from the surface, and it is further wiped
with acetone. The plates to be welded are clamped
using a fixture designed for this purpose which ensures
Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016
O V Mn Nb Remaining
0.2 4 0.009 0.022 Ti
Table 2. Plasma arc welding set-up conditions.
Power source Fronius magic wave 4000
Polarity DCEN
Electrode 2% Thoriated tungsten electrode
Electrode diameter 1 mm
Plasma gas Argon
Plasma gas flow rate 1.5 L/min
Shielding gas Argon
Shielding gas flow rate 12 L/min
Trailing shield gas flow rate 20 L/min
Nozzle to plate distance 8 mm
Nozzle orifice diameter 2.8 mm
Torch position Vertical
Operation type Automatic
DCEN: direct current electrode negative.
electrical contact during the welding process and at the
same time to arrest any movement during welding. The
photograph of the fixture designed for titanium weld-
ing is shown in Figure 1.
Fronius magic wave 4000 PAW is used to conduct
the experiment trials. The welding polarity is an impor-
tant factor in determining the melting efficiency of the
welding arc.15 Direct current electrode negative
(DCEN) operating mode is selected in the PAW
machine which makes the electrons to flow towards the
base metal and striking the area with high speed.
During PAW, material is heated to elevated tempera-
tures, and therefore, the molten metal reacts with atmo-
spheric air resulting in deterioration of mechanical
properties of the weldment.16 To avoid reaction of mol-
ten metal with atmosphere, a custom-made fixture and
trailing box are fabricated. The shielding provided by
the plasma arc torch along the axis of the torch is not
sufficient to protect the molten pool from reacting with
the atmospheric air. Hence, there is a need to protect
the trailing side of the weld zone. For this purpose, the
trailing box is designed to provide streamlined flow of
gas to protect the trailing side of the weld zone. A num-
ber of experimental trials are conducted to design the
custom-made trailing box to obtain streamlined flow of
gas to protect the back side of the weld zone. Argon
gas of 99% purity is used as trailing and purging gas.
PAW set-up conditions are given in Table 2.
Welding parameters play a vital role in obtaining
good quality welds. Among the wide range of process
parameters, the most three influential parameters,
namely, welding current, voltage and welding speed, are
varied at two levels to perform bead-on-plate experi-
mental trials, and stick off distance is maintained as
constant. In addition to that, voltage also influences the
Dhinakaran et al.
Table 3. Welding parameters employed in conducting the nine experimental trials.
S. no. Welding current, I Voltage, V
1 50 20.5
2 50 20.4
3 50 20.4
4 55 21.1
5 55 21
6 55 21
7 60 20.8
8 60 20.7
9 60 20.7
Figure 1. Details of the fixture designed for titanium welding.
process, it is automatically adjusted by the machine
itself. Overall, nine bead-on-plate trials are conducted.
The welding parameters employed for carrying out
experimental trials are listed in Table 3.
An infrared (IR) thermometer is used to measure the
radiation emitted from the welded plate at desired loca-
tion. The detector element in the IR thermometer
detects the radiation and converts the radiation into
equivalent electric signal. The signal processor unit con-
verts the electric signal into surface temperature of the
welded plate at a particular location. Figure 2 shows the
temperature measurement on the surface of Ti-6Al-4V
sheet during PAW trial using IR thermometer. This
IR-750 thermometer is a product of Amprobe (the
United States), having the distance-to-spot ratio of 50:1
and capable of measuring up to 1773 K. A total of three
bead-on-plate experimental trials have been conducted
to measure the temperature history at three locations A,
B and C which are at a distance of 7, 14 and 21 mm
from the weld centre line, respectively. The measure-
ment of temperature at heat-affected zone (HAZ) is car-
ried out during the bead-on-plate trial for the parameter
of 60 A and 250 mm/min speed.
The thermal conductivity of the Ti-6Al-4V alloy is
very low when compared with other alloys, and this
Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016
3
Welding speed (mm/min) Heat input per unit length (J/mm)
250 246
275 223
300 204
250 279
275 252
300 231
250 298
275 272
300 248
Figure 2. Temperature measurement using IR thermometer.
results in overheating.3 Electrical discharge machine
(EDM-wire cut) is employed to cut the specimen. The
use of water cooling in EDM machine prevents the
effect of local overheating during cutting. Abrasive
cloths made of silicon carbide with coarse grit and
smooth are used to polish the specimen. Kroll’s agent
with volumetric composition of 2% hydro fluoric acid,
3% sulphuric acid and 95% of water is used as etchant
to obtain the macrograph of the weld. The quality of
titanium and titanium alloys weld is assessed by the col-
our of its weldment after the welding process. Figure 3
shows the weld bead surfaces of the bead-on-plate
trials. Bright silver colour is the evident which indicates
the good quality of welds,2 and weld pool was properly
shielded by the argon inert gas. The macrograph of the
weld bead is analysed with Welding Expert System and
Software (Struers, Germany), which ensures the precise
inspection of the weld seam.
Microstructure analysis
Ti-6Al-4V is a dual-phase alloy having body-centred
cubic (BCC) structured beta phase and hexagonal close
packed (HCP) structured alpha phase. The beta phase
spreads along the boundaries of alpha phase. Alpha
phase is stabilized by the presence of aluminium (6%),
and beta phase is stabilized by the presence of vana-
dium (4%). Figure 4 shows the microstructure of base
metal, HAZ and weld zone. Figure 4(a) shows the
4 Journal of Strain Analysis
Figure 3. Weld bead surface of bead-on-plate trials.
presence of the intergranular beta phase which is black
in colour and is distributed in equiaxed alpha base
which is white in colour. During welding of Ti-6Al-4V,
high-temperature beta phase is formed from primary
beta phase and primary alpha phase when the tempera-
ture attains beta transus temperature. During cooling
process, the high-temperature beta again transforms
into martensite alpha prime. This is accomplished by
diffusion or shear or both. Cooling rate is an important
factor in structural formation. The HAZ meets a low
maximum temperature than the weld metal because of
this it contains a mixture of acicular alpha, primary
alpha along with martensitic alpha prime. This is clearly
Figure 4. Microstructures of PAW Ti-6Al-4V: (a) base metal, (b) HAZ and (c) weld zone.
Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016
seen from Figure 4(b). Since the weld metal (refer
Figure 4(c)) meets higher maximum temperature, it is
almost with full of martensite alpha prime phase.
Micro hardness measurement
The hardness across the weld cross section is measured
using a fully automated Vickers hardness testing
machine. The experiment is conducted in Gas turbine
Research Establishment, Bangalore. The measurement
is carried out across the welding at an interval of 1 mm
with a load of 500 g and 10 s dwell time to calculate the
depth of penetration of the diamond tip indenter.
Figure 5 shows the hardness variation from the weld
centre line to the base metal for bead-on-plate trials
made with welding current of 60 A and welding speed
of 250 mm/min and welding current of 55 A and weld-
ing speed of 250 mm/min. Figure 5 shows that the hard-
ness of the base metal is initially observed to be VHN
360 in both the cases. It is observed that the micro
hardness increases in the weld zone and decreases
towards the base metal. When the welding current is
55 A and welding speed is 250 mm/min, the heat input
is low which leads to rapid cooling as the weld depos-
ited is small in relation to the parent material, and the
parent material acts as a heat sink. Because of the rapid
cooling, the hardness at the fusion zone (FZ) is high.
When the welding current is 60 A and welding speed is
250 mm/min, the heat input is high compared to the
previous case which leads to slower cooling. It is also
Dhinakaran et al.
Figure 5. Micro hardness measurement.
observed that the hardness value of the weld metal and
HAZ increases with a decrease in heat input. The rea-
son for having higher hardness value with low heat
input is because of the structure (martensitic alpha
prime) formed is similar to a structure quenched from
beta phase above beta transus temperature. Therefore,
the rapid cooling leads to promotion of martensite
structure in both weld metal and HAZ compared to the
slow cooling.
Numerical modelling
Numerical modelling is an essential tool in the develop-
ment of welding due to the availability of high-speed
computers, accuracy and data storage.12 It also helps in
understanding dynamic behaviour of the welding pro-
cess. However, welding is a complicated phenomenon
which involves both heat transfer and fluid flow.
Furthermore, optimizing welding parameters is one of
the prime motives of conducting welding trials which
requires time and effort. Since Ti-6Al-4V is a costly
material, conducting experimental trials is very expen-
sive. Hence, numerical modelling is an effective alterna-
tive method to reduce the number of experimental
trials and helps in obtaining optimum welding para-
meter with less time and effort.
Any numerical modelling problem in welding
requires three steps. First step is to formulate a
Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016
5
mathematical equation for the heat source which
reflects the arc behaviour, and the model is called as
heat source model. Choosing the most effective method
to solve the governing equation is the second step.
Mostly, any commercially available software based on
finite element formulation is used to solve the govern-
ing equation. Third step is to ensure that the results of
simulation reflect the modelled physics. Weld bead pro-
file predicted from simulated temperature isotherms
(above the melting point of the base metal) is compared
with the experimentally measured weld bead geometry
to check the adequacy of the simulated model.
Heat source model
Welding is a complicated thermomechanical process in
which metallurgical changes and heat transfer take
place. The critical part in thermomechanical modelling
is the development of a heat source model. The avail-
able heat source models such as DEHS, conical
Gaussian (TDC), modified three-dimensional conical
(MTDC) and quasi-steady-state PAW are used to date
to represent the heat intensity distribution along the
thickness of the plate for high-density welding pro-
cesses. The heat intensity distribution along the thick-
ness direction in available heat source models is
decreasing either linearly or logarithmically. It is
observed from the experimental experience that the
6 Journal of Strain Analysis

The value of maximum heat intensity for PGHS

model is given by

3hVIe3
Q0 = ð5Þ
A v p ð e 3  1Þ

where
 
H5
Av = a2 z4i H + 2z2i H3 + 2z3i H2 + zi H4 +
5
 3

H
+ 2ab z2i H + zi H2 + + b2 H ð6Þ
3
 
3hVIe3 3r2
Qv ðr, zÞ = exp  ð7Þ
Av pðe3  1Þ r20

where h refers to efficiency (0.53)18 as e refers to the

mathematical (exponential) constant.
Figure 6. Parabolic Gaussian heat source model.

fusion line of the weld cross section results in a para-
bolic shape (refer Figure 4). Dhinakaran et al.17 devel-
oped a new moving volumetric heat source model with
the parabolic heat intensity variation for simulating the
PAW process on titanium alloy sheet for predicting the
weld bead geometry from the resulting temperature
contours. Hence, PGHS is chosen to perform the finite
element simulation of PAW process to predict the tem-
perature distribution in order to obtain macro profile
of the weld bead. The PGHS model is depicted in
Figure 6.
The power density distribution at plane normal to
the z-axis is denoted by
 
3r2
Qv ðr, zÞ = Q0 exp  2
r0
where Q0 is the maximum heat intensity value and r0 is
the distribution parameter along the radial direction.
The height of the PGHS is H = ze 2 zi, where zi and ze
are the z-coordinates of the bottom and top surfaces,
respectively, and the radii at the bottom and top sur-
faces of the heat source at z = zi and z = ze are ri and
re, respectively. The distribution parameter in the
PGHS model is given by Dhinakaran et al.17
r0 ðzÞ = az2 + b
where
re  ri
a=
z2e  z2i


ri z2e  re z2i
b=
z2e  z2i
where re is the top radius of the volumetric heat source;
ri is the bottom radius of the volumetric heat source;
and ze and zi are the z-coordinates of the top surface
and bottom surface, respectively.
Governing equation
Law of conservation of energy is the basic principle for
any fusion welding process.19 The general three-
dimensional Fourier heat conduction equation in mov-
ing coordinate system for a heat source moving along
the x direction given by equation (8) is used for simu-
lating the PAW process
dT dT
rCp + rCp ðvÞ = r  ðkrTÞ + Qv ðr, zÞ ð8Þ
dt dx
where k is the thermal conductivity of material
(W/m K), r is the density of material (kg/m3), Cp is the
specific heat of material (J/kg K), Qv (r, z) is the inten-
sity of heat source and v is the speed with which heat
source moves on the plate (mm/s).
ð1Þ COMSOL Multiphysics code which is based on
finite element formulation is used to solve the govern-
ing equation (8) in order to obtain temperature distri-
bution and weld bead geometry during PAW of Ti-
6Al-4V.
Initial and boundary conditions. Initial and boundary con-
ditions are essential to solve any transient non-linear
thermal heat conduction equation. During PAW, the
plasma arc is focused along the centre line, and heat
ð2Þ energy is taken into the rest of the material through
conduction. The exchange of heat between the materials
and the surrounding takes place due to convective and
radiative heat transfer. This leads to the cooling of weld
plate. The boundary conditions are shown in Figure 7.
ð3Þ
The initial condition is specified as
Tðx, y, z, tÞ = T0 ðx, y, zÞ ð9Þ
ð4Þ
It is understood from the equation that the entire
plate is maintained at ambient temperature, and the
condition is only as the function of spatial coordinate.
The Newton’s law of cooling and Stefan–Boltzmann
law propose the equation to model the convective and

Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016

Dhinakaran et al. 7

Figure 7. Schematic diagram of transverse section of plate with applied boundary condition.

Figure 8. Schematic diagram of custom-made trailing shielding box.

radiative heat transfer. The heat losses are defined by physical properties of argon gas are listed in Table 4.
the following equation The flow from the trailing shields is considered as trian-

gular jet of arrays, and the value of heat transfer coeffi-
 n  ðkrTÞ = es T40  T4 + h  (T0  T) ð10Þ cient is determined as 55.4 W/m2 K from the following
where e is the emissivity of the surface (0.8 for correlation20–23
Ti-6Al-4V alloy), s is Stefan–Boltzmann constant Nud = 0:067Re0:74 1=3 0:061(S=d)
ð11Þ
d Pr e
(5.67 3 1028 W/m2 K4), T0 is the ambient temperature
(303 K) and h is the convective heat transfer coefficient. where Nud is the Nusselt number, Red is the
Among the three modes of heat transfer, convection Reynolds number, Pr is the Prandtl number and s=d is
plays a major role in forming the weld pool and shape the ratio of distance between the jets to the diameter of
in PAW process. The candidate material Ti-6AL-4V the jet.
has high affinity towards atmospheric gases. Hence, a
custom-made trailing shield box is designed and devel-
oped to enclose the molten pool from atmosphere. Simulation of PAW
Figure 8 shows the custom-made trailing shield. Argon The finite element model (FEM) is formulated based on
gas with 99.9% purity is used as shielding gas, and the the following assumption:

Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016

8 Journal of Strain Analysis

Table 4. Physical properties of argon gas. Table 5. Temperature-dependent material properties.

Thermal conductivity 17.72 3 1023 W/m K Temperature Thermal Specific heat Density
Density 1.784 kg/m3 (T; K) conductivity (Cp; J/kg K) (r; kg/m3)
Specific heat 0.52 kJ/kg K (k; W/m K)
Dynamic viscosity 2.257 3 1025 N s/m2
298 7 546 4420
373 7.45 562 4406
473 8.75 584 4395
1. Plasma arc travels with constant velocity along the 573 10.15 606 4381
673 11.35 629 4366
workpiece; 773 12.6 651 4350
2. Temperature-dependent material properties of Ti- 873 14.2 673 4336
6Al-4V are considered; 973 15.5 694 4324
3. The physical phenomena such as viscous force, 1073 17.8 714 4309
buoyancy force, convective melt flow and 1173 20.2 734 4294
1273 22.7 643 4282
Marangoni effect are neglected; 1473 22.9 678 4252
4. Forced convective heat transfer coefficient is 1573 23.7 696 4240
considered; 1673 24.6 714 4225
5. Clamping force (mechanical boundary condition) 1773 25.8 732 4205
is neglected; 1873 27 750 4198
1923 28.4 759 4050
6. Thermal boundary conditions are only considered. 1973 33.4 830 3886
2100 34.6 830 3818
Simulation of PAW process is carried out using 2200 34.6 830 3750
COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element analysis 3500 34.6 830 3750
(FEA) package, to simulate the PAW process. The
FEM is developed with the same dimensions as of the
plate used to conduct the experimental trials. The weld Table 6. Finite element mesh used for FE simulation of plasma
material Ti-6AL-4V alloy is an alpha–beta alloy in arc welding process.
which aluminium acts as alpha stabilizer, and vanadium
acts as beta stabilizer.1 The temperature-dependent 1. Prism elements 8010
2. Triangular elements 3204
material properties1,24 such as thermal conductivity,
3. Quadrilateral elements 290
density and specific heat capacity considered during 4. Edge elements 236
PAW process are presented in Table 5. 5. Vertex elements 10
The temperature field is very high in the weld metal
region and decreases along the transverse direction.
The effect of temperature gradient is accounted by
selecting more number of elements in the weld region,
about 10 mm on either side of the weld centre line with employing the PGHS model. Validation of simulation
sequence of convergence test. The number of elements result from the numerical model and applicability of
used for generating the FEM is shown in Table 6. Due newly developed volumetric heat source model are car-
to the consideration of Gaussian mode of heat distribu- ried out by comparing the macro profile resulting from
tion, the amount of heat input absorbed by the sub- simulation with the macrograph acquired from the
strate metal is higher in FZ and HAZ compared to the experimental trials as well as comparing the tempera-
base metal region. Hence, fine meshing is generated ture history obtained from the IR thermometer and
about 10 mm on either side of the weld centre line to simulation.
capture the temperature field. The suitable number of The melting temperature of the considered material
elements is selected by conducting sequence of conver- Ti-6Al-4V is 1923 K. Hence, the temperature contours
gence test. are obtained for different combinations of welding
The PGHS model is introduced in the FEM under speed and current by setting the range of temperature
heat transfer analysis to simulate the PAW of Ti-6Al- above melting point in the molten pool. Figure 9 shows
4V sheet. A non-linear transient time-dependent analy- weld bead profile predicted from finite element simula-
sis was carried out to solve the heat source equation tion and experimental work of PAW for welding cur-
and simulate the temperature distribution to predict rent of 60 A and welding speed of 275 mm/min. It
the weld bead geometry using initial condition and nat- emphasizes that the formation of melted material in the
ural boundary conditions. FZ is imperative as the surface temperature of the heat
source rises beyond 1923 K. The surface area that
attains a temperature of above 1923 K gets melted lead-
Results and discussions
ing to the formation of molten pool. The dotted line is
Temperature distribution of PAW of Ti-6Al-4V sheet is drawn on the fusion line boundary of each experimen-
computed through finite element simulation by tal weld bead profiles obtained for different

Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016

Dhinakaran et al.
Figure 9. Simulated and experimental weld bead profile.
combinations of welding current and speed as defined
in Table 3 and correspondingly compared to simulated
weld profiles as shown in Figure 10. It is perceived from
Figure 10 that the weld bead geometry is in good agree-
ment with simulated weld bead profile.
When the plasma arc travels with the heat input of
298 J/mm, it is seen that the temperature in the FZ rises
above the melting point of Ti-6Al-4V and reaches the
peak temperature of around 3739 K. Since the vapori-
zation temperature of the substrate material is 3533 K,
the peak temperature attained is enough in forming the
stable keyhole which leads to the conversion of liquid
molten metal to vapour phase.25 Hence, the parameters
considered for the present analysis help to achieve full
depth of penetration.
Along the transverse direction, the heat is trans-
ferred as a result of conduction. When compared with
GTAW, the total arc power contribution for convective
heat transfer to the workpiece is high which exercises
considerable effect on width and depth of the weld
pool. The flow of gas from the plasma torch and the
shielding box plays a vital role in transferring the heat
through convection due to the momentum associated
with gas. The arc power is carried away in the trans-
verse direction and melts the base metal which increases
the width of the weld pool.
The temperature history obtained from the IR ther-
mometer and finite element simulation is presented in
Figure 11. The temperature rise is seen to be same in
both experiment and simulation at the beginning. The
measured peak temperatures at locations A, B and C
are 1140, 676 and 510 K, respectively. It is observed
that predicted values from finite element simulation in
all three locations are observed to be lower than the
measured value. But the predicted peak temperatures
from the FEM show good conformity with the experi-
ment value since the error lies within 5% in all the
cases. The noticeable error between the simulated val-
ues and experimental may be because of the assump-
tion made during the simulation and selection of heat
source model. Even though the macro profile obtained
from the simulation and experiment seems to be same,
the slope of cooling from the graph is observed to be
Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016
9
little different for experimental and simulation but
shows good agreement with the experimental results.
The FEA results for PAW for an arc length of 2 mm
and different combinations of current and welding
speed are presented here. Figure 12 shows the tempera-
ture field distribution obtained for welding with para-
meters of 60 A current and 300 mm/min speed. It is
observed that the temperature (3186 K) at the fusion
zone on the top surface of the plate is high and tem-
perature (1600 K) is low on the bottom surface of the
plate. The results are shown for welding times of 10
and 20 s. The gradient of temperature becomes insignif-
icant due to insufficient heat energy supplied, that is,
248 J/mm. When the speed of welding is decreased to
275 mm/mm, the supply of heat energy for welding
increases from 248 to 272 J/mm. This temperature field
distribution is shown in Figure 13. Under these condi-
tions, the temperature gradient is seen only at the top
of the surface. Along the y direction, the temperature
gradient is observed deeper than the previous welding
condition of 60 A current and 300 mm/min speed. In
welding conditions with 60 A current and 300 mm/min
and 60 A current and 275 mm/min, there is no evidence
of melting of metal at the bottom surface.
From Figure 14, the steep increase in temperature
gradient is noted at the top and bottom surfaces under
the welding conditions 60 A current and 250 mm/min
speed. Since the energy supplied is sufficient to increase
the temperature, the propagation of heat raises more
volume of material above the melting point of
Ti-6Al-4V. The peak temperature is observed as
3739 K which is above the boiling point of Ti-6Al-4V.
Near the surface the peak temperature of 3739 K
causes the conversion of the liquid state of Ti-6Al-4V
to vapour state and hence there exists a downward
force on the liquid. The eventual penetration of vapour
cavity produces a keyhole or vapour along the trans-
verse direction. This creates the surface tension force
and makes the molten metal to flow in behind the key-
hole to form the weld bead. Therefore, it is evident
from Figure 14 that the welding conditions 60 A cur-
rent and 250 mm/min speed form a stable keyhole and
could be used as parametric envelope for keyhole PAW
of thin Ti-6Al-4V sheets of 2 mm thick.
Figure 15 shows the temperature filed distribution
of the welded sheet for welding current of 60 A and
speed of 250 mm/min for a time period from t = 4 to
20 s and for the time at t = 23.8 s. The quasi-steady-
state temperature is reached when time reaches 4 s and
peak temperature becomes 3800 K. The peak tempera-
ture remains constant over the period from 4 to 22 s.
The quasi-steady-state temperature changes when the
arc reaches a distance after 22 s. The rise in temperature
becomes very high after 23.5 s of welding time. Within
0.2 s, the rise in temperature becomes 400 K from 23.6
to 23.8 s. The reason for high rise in temperature is due
to the fact that when plasma arc torch travels to the
end of the sheet, the heat transfer becomes very low
due to less material available.
10 Journal of Strain Analysis

Figure 10. Comparison of simulated weld bead profile with experimental outcomes.

Figure 16 shows the temperature distribution along
the transverse direction of the welded plate under the
parameters welding current of 60 A and speed of
300 mm/min. The peak temperature is 3186 K. It is
observed that the heat energy supplied is insufficient to
create thermal gradient to melt the material, and no
keyhole formation was observed since the peak tem-
perature is below the boiling point of material. Hence,
partial penetration (1.2 mm) is observed from
Figure 16.

Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016

Dhinakaran et al.
Figure 11. Comparison of experimental temperature history
with simulation at three different points A, B and C on the
surface.
Figure 17 shows the temperature filed distribution
along the longitudinal direction of the plate with para-
meters 60 A welding current and 250 mm/min speed.
The peak temperature rises to 3739 K from 3186 K
because more amount of heat energy is supplied when
plasma arc travels with a speed of 250 mm/min. It is
also observed that thermal gradient is high enough to
Figure 12. Temperature distribution on the surface for the heat input of 248 J/mm.
Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016
11
melt large volume of material and form a stable keyhole
since the peak temperature is well above the boiling
point. Hence, a full depth of penetration is observed.
The greater width is due to the reason that the convec-
tive heat transfer carried a considerable amount of heat
along the y direction.
Conclusion
PAW of Ti-6Al-4V sheet of 2 mm thick is reported in
this research work. Experimental trials are conducted
to obtain the macro profile of the weld bead and mea-
sure the temperature history using IR thermometer.
Numerical simulations are carried out to predict the
weld bead profile and temperature history during weld-
ing. Based on the investigations, the following conclu-
sions are made:
1. The three-dimensional FEM can predict the weld
bead profile of both full penetration and partial
penetration of PAW of titanium thin sheets;
2. It is found that the temperature gradient becomes
insufficient during welding with low heat input
which plays a major role in creating and stabilizing
the keyhole;
3. A stable keyhole condition and full depth of pene-
tration are achieved for parameters 60 A welding
12 Journal of Strain Analysis

Figure 13. Temperature distribution on the surface for the heat input of 272 J/mm.

Figure 14. Temperature distribution on the surface for the heat input of 298 J/mm.

Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016

Dhinakaran et al. 13

Figure 15. Temperature distribution on the surface for the current of 60 A and welding speed of 250 mm/min at different time
steps.

Figure 16. Temperature distribution along the thickness of the plate for parameters 60 A and 300 mm/min.

current and 250 mm/min speed with 8 mm stick off
distance for a 2-mm-thick Ti-6Al-4V weld;
4. The micro hardness values are observed to be
higher than both HAZ and base metal. The reason
for higher value in weld metal is because of the
martensite structural formation;
5. Based on the analysis results, it is inferred that
the weld bead profile predicted from the simulated
temperature field through finite element simulation
using the PGHS model shows good agreement
with the experimentally measured weld bead
geometry;

Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016

14
Figure 17. Temperature distribution along the thickness of the plate for parameters 60 A and 250 mm/min.
6. Furthermore, comparison between measured and
predicted temperatures at distances of 7, 14 and
21 mm from the weld trajectory on the surface of
the substrate material shows good agreement. The
difference between the measured and predicted is
below 5%, thus indicating that the developed
model can reasonably be applied for predicting the
shape and size of the plasma arc weld.
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest
with respect to the research, authorship and/or publica-
tion of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the
research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
References
1. Boyer R, Welsch G and Coolings EW. Material proper-
ties handbook: titanium alloys. Materials Park, OH: ASM
International, 2007.
2. Donachie MJ. Titanium: a technical guide. 2nd ed. Mate-
rials Park, OH: ASM International, 2000.
3. Leyens C and Peters M. Titanium and titanium alloys:
fundamentals and applications. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH
Verlag GmbH & Co, 2003.
4. Langford G. Plasma arc welding for large titanium aero-
space structures. SAE technical paper 660646, 1966.
5. Martikainen JK and Moisio TJI. Investigation of the
effect of welding parameters on weld quality of plasma
arc keyhole welding of structural steels. Weld Res Suppl
1993; 2(7): 329s–340s.
6. Tseng KH, Hsieh ST and Tseng CC. Effect of process
parameters of micro-plasma arc welding on morphology
Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016
Journal of Strain Analysis
and quality in stainless steel edge joint welds. Sci Technol
Weld Joi 2003; 8(6): 423–430.
7. Wu CS, Wang HG and Zhang YM. A new heat source
model for keyhole plasma arc welding in FEM analysis
of the temperature profile. Weld J 2006; 85: 284s–291s.
8. Wu CS, Hu QX and Gao JQ. An adaptive heat source
model for finite-element analysis of keyhole plasma arc
welding. Comp Mater Sci 2009; 46(1): 167–172.
9. Short A, McCartney DG, Webb P, et al. Parametric
envelopes for keyhole plasma arc welding of a titanium
alloys. In: Proceedings of the 8th international conference
trends in welding research, Pine Mountain, GA, 1–6 June
2008, pp.690–696. Materials Park, OH: ASM
International.
10. Daha MA, Nassef GA, Abdullah IA, et al. Three-dimen-
sional thermal finite element modeling for keyhole plasma
arc welding of 2205 duplex stainless steel plates. Int J Eng
Tech 2012; 2(4): 720–728.
11. Daha MA, Nassef GA and Abdullah IA. Numerical
modeling of heat transfer and fluid flow in keyhole
plasma arc welding of dissimilar steel joints. Int J Eng
Tech 2012; 4(2): 506–512.
12. Deshpande AA, Short A, Sun W, et al. Finite-element
analysis of experimentally identified parametric envelopes
for stable keyhole plasma arc welding of a titanium alloy.
J Strain Anal Eng 2012; 47(5): 266–275.
13. Li TQ and Wu CS. Numerical simulation of plasma arc
welding with keyhole-dependent heat source and arc
pressure distribution. Int J Adv Mater Technol 2015; 78:
593–602.
14. Stenbacka N. On arc efficiency in gas tungsten arc weld-
ing. Soldagem Insp 2013; 18(4): 380–390.
15. Otani T. Titanium welding technology. Shinnittetsu Giho
2006; 385: 88–92.
16. Recipe for welding simulations in present research, http://
prr.hec.gov.pk/chapters/254S-3.pdf
17. Dhinakaran V, Siva Shanmugam N and Sankaranaraya-
nasamy K. Some studies on temperature field during
plasma arc welding of thin titanium alloy sheets using
parabolic Gaussian heat source model. Proc IMechE,
Dhinakaran et al.
Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science. Epub ahead of
print 21 December 2015. DOI: 10.1177/0954406215
623574.
18. Li Y, Feng YH, Zhang XX, et al. An improved simula-
tion of heat transfer and fluid flow in plasma arc welding
with modified heat source model. Int J Therm Sci 2013;
64: 93–104.
19. Metcalfe JC and Quigley BC. Heat transfer in plasma-arc
welding. Weld J 1975; 54(3): 99s–103s.
20. Ott HH. Heat transfer to a plate cooled by air. Schweiz
Bauztg 1961; 79: 834–840.
21. Living Hood JNB and Hrycak P. Impingement heat trans-
fer from turbulent air jets to flat plates – a literature survey.
NASA technical memorandum, NASA TM X-2788, May
1973, pp.1–42. Washington, DC: NASA.
Downloaded from sdj.sagepub.com at CORNELL UNIV on October 4, 2016
15
22. James W, Gauntner Herbert J, Gladden Daniel J, et al.
Cross flow effects on impingement cooling of a turbine
vane. NASA technical memorandum, NASA TM X-
3029, March 1974, pp.1–19. Washington, DC: NASA.
23. Hrycak P. Heat transfer from impinging jets a literature
review. Final report for period: September 1979–Novem-
ber 1980. Flight Dynamics Laboratory, http://www.dtic.
mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a106723.pdf
24. Jamshidinia M, Kong F and Kovacevic R. Numerical
modeling of heat distribution in the electron beam weld-
ing of Ti-6Al-4V. J Manuf Sci E: T ASME 2013; 135:
061010-1–061010-14.
25. Zhang T, Wu CS and Feng Y. Numerical analysis of heat
transfer and fluid flow in keyhole plasma arc welding.
Numer Heat Tr A: Appl 2011; 60(8): 685–698.