Multiphysics Modeling and Simulations of Mil A46100 Armor-Grade Martensitic Steel Gas Metal Arc Welding Process

Optimization of Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) Process for Maximum Ballistic Limit in MIL A46100 Steel Welded All-Metal Armor

“…These deficiencies of the public-domain GMAW process models have been addressed in our recently developed multiphysics GMAW process model (Ref [1][2][3][4][5]. A brief description of the basic structure of this model and the defining features of its six modules will be provided in section 2.…”

“…Our recently proposed multi-physics computational model for the conventional gas metal arc welding (GMAW) joining process (Ref [1][2][3][4][5] has been extended in the present work with respect to its predictive capabilities regarding the process optimization for the attainment of maximum ballistic limit within the weld. The original GMAW process model was already capable of correlating the welding process parameters with the spatial distribution of the ballistic limit within the weld (consisting of the solidified weld pool, also referred to as the fusion zone, FZ, and the adjacent heat-affected zone, HAZ).…”

“…Based on the overview presented above, the concepts most relevant to the present work are (a) the basics of GMAW; (b) weld zones; (c) weld microstructure evolution in steels; (d) welding of MIL A46100 steel; (e) GMAW process modeling; and (f) GMAW process optimization. Since the concepts (a)-(c) were covered in great detail in (Ref [1][2][3][4][5], the same will not be reviewed here. On the other hand, in the remainder of this section, a brief description is provided for concepts (d)-(f).…”

Correlation of Neutron-Based Strain Imaging and Mechanical Behavior of Armor Steel Welds Produced with the Hybrid Laser Arc Welding Process

“…The process is gaining wider recognition as a viable welding process as more materials are successfully welded. Several studies [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] evaluating the application of various welding processes to joining high-strength armor steels have shown the importance of minimizing the width of the welding heat-affected zone, which correlates with improved ballistic resistance as tempering of martensitic base metal occurs, leading to softening. The benefits of the steeper thermal gradient of HLAW (compared to arc welding alone) and gap bridging ability make the process of great interest [7].…”

“…Therefore, a better understanding of welding-induced thermal stresses can mitigate damage by precluding those forms of cracking. Several modeling efforts have been directed to the process to evaluate heat transfer and subsequent microstructural and residual stress evolution [6,9]. X-ray diffraction was used in the latter study to experimentally determine residual stresses in steel hybrid laser arc (HLA) welds for validation of numerical simulations [9].…”