Numerical evaluation of the pressure force in butt cold welding for a range of aluminum bars diameters using a 2d axisymmetric FEM model

Abstract

Butt cold welding of aluminum bars or wires is a process with several important applications. The purpose of this paper is to create a numerical model (a twodimensional FEM model) of this process and to estimate numerically the pressure force required to obtain the join between two bars or two wires, based on the published information from the practice of butt cold welding. For bars in a range of diameters of 5mm up to 30mm were established the relationships between the diameters of aluminum bars on the one hand and the minimum pressure force, the displacement of the clamping die, and the plastic strain energy stored in the aluminum bars on the other hand. The FEM model is an axisymmetric one as the process is axisymmetric also.