Numerical simulation of shielding gas behaviour in tungsten inert gas welding of titanium plate

To minimise the volume of argon required for on-site tungsten inert gas welding of titanium plate, the authors investigated the behaviour of argon flow in a trailing–shielding box by means of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. In this study, a solid rectangular shielding box consisting of 9·5×105 tetrahedral elements was modelled. Then, argon flow was simulated for two shielding parameters, namely, the argon supply rate and the gap between the box and the floor. In the experiment, the relation between the oxygen content in the shielding box and the shielding parameters was studied. The experimental results show that the simulation model used in the CFD simulations can predict the behaviour of argon. It is concluded that the simulation model is useful for improving the structure of the shielding box.