Coupled Simulation of Forming and Welding with LS-DYNA for the design of Distortion-Compensation

In the past the simulation methods for forming simulation and welding structural simulation were developed respectively for themselves. This leads to the situation that forming simulation was performed with one code and welding simulation was performed with an other code. The coupling of both simulations is time-consuming and only possible by a loss of accuracy during the mapping of history variables. In the industry grows the interest in simulations modelling the complete process chain: Welding simulation considering the state of a previous forming or welding step Forming simulation considering the state of a previous forming or welding step A forming process leads to deformation, strain hardening and residual stress, hot forming or welding additionally lead to a change in microstructure and thus to a change of the material properties. These effects have to be considered in the process chain simulation as well. The latest developments for LS-DYNA enable welding structural analysis. Thus the coupled simulation of forming and welding in one finite element code is feasible with LS-DYNA. If its possible to simulate the manufacturing process in the right way, it is also possible to simulate correction task for the manufacturing process and design them. Correction tasks to compensate welding distortion are necessary to receive the final assembly with the desired geometry.