18
H. Li et al.
and shipbuilding industries [1–3], etc. However, the welding is a challenge because
of the different material properties, the surface contact, the residual stresses and
the brittle intermetallic compounds [4, 5]. So far, all kinds of welding techniques
have been developed and used in the metal welding, such as the laser welding,
friction stir welding (FSW), resistance spot welding (RSW), metal inert gas (MIG)
welding, [6–8], etc. At the same time, many numerical simulation methods have
been proposed to analyze and improve these welding techniques. For instance, Chao
et al. [9] and Riahi and Nazari [10] investigated the FSW for aluminum alloy 6061T6 based on a thermal and thermo-mechanical modeling. Kumaresan et al. [11]
analyzed the heat transfer and residual stress in a butt welded plate. Tang et al. [12]
studied the heat input and temperature distribution of FSW. Zhang and Zhang [13]
presented a fully coupled thermos-mechanical model for FSW. Gannon et al. [14]
revealed the effect of welding sequence on residual stress and distortion in flat-bar
stiffened plates. Moreover, Pardo and Weckman [15] predicted the welding pool and
reinforcement dimensions of GMA welds using a finite element method with the
element birth and death technique. In summary, these works mentioned above have
made a great contribution to evaluating and improving the welding processes, welding
technologies and welded structures. However, a novel and efficient computational
method is still grateful for the simulation of thermal and mechanical analyses of
welded structures.
In the last twenty years, a nonlocal peridynamics proposed by Silling [16] has
attracted a lot of researchers’ interests due to its natural advantages to deal with the
discontinuous and contact problems. The peridynamic method is expressed by an
integral motion equation and mainly contains two kinds of forms, i.e., the bondbased peridynamics and the state-based peridynamics. Since the proposal of the
peridynamic method, its basic theories have been deeply developed from several
perspectives [17–22]. Meanwhile, the peridynamic method has been widely extended
to many fields. For example, an improved peridynamic fracture model for the analyses
of the brittle fracture problems was developed by Huang et al. [23]. A peridynamic
formulation for transient heat conduction was presented by Oerkus et al. [24] and
Bobaru and Duangpanya [25] to simulate the heat conduction problems in bodies with
evolving discontinuities. Further, Ouchi et al. [26] and Zhang et al. [27] proposed a
coupling peridynamic approach for the consolidation and dynamic analyses of saturated porous media. Li et al. [28] developed a peridynamic model for the nonlinear
analyses of bimodular truss structures, tensegrity structures and membranes. In addition, a peridynamic modeling of pitting corrosion was presented by Chen et al. [29]
for the simulation of the chemical corrosion and damage in metal. According to the
successful applications of the peridynamic method mentioned above, it is revealed
that the peridynamic method could commendably deal with the heat conduction
problems and the discontinuous problems. Therefore, it is promising to propose a
peridynamic method for the simulation of the thermal and mechanical analyses of
MIG welded structures.
H. Li et al.
and shipbuilding industries [1–3], etc. However, the welding is a challenge because
of the different material properties, the surface contact, the residual stresses and
the brittle intermetallic compounds [4, 5]. So far, all kinds of welding techniques
have been developed and used in the metal welding, such as the laser welding,
friction stir welding (FSW), resistance spot welding (RSW), metal inert gas (MIG)
welding, [6–8], etc. At the same time, many numerical simulation methods have
been proposed to analyze and improve these welding techniques. For instance, Chao
et al. [9] and Riahi and Nazari [10] investigated the FSW for aluminum alloy 6061T6 based on a thermal and thermo-mechanical modeling. Kumaresan et al. [11]
analyzed the heat transfer and residual stress in a butt welded plate. Tang et al. [12]
studied the heat input and temperature distribution of FSW. Zhang and Zhang [13]
presented a fully coupled thermos-mechanical model for FSW. Gannon et al. [14]
revealed the effect of welding sequence on residual stress and distortion in flat-bar
stiffened plates. Moreover, Pardo and Weckman [15] predicted the welding pool and
reinforcement dimensions of GMA welds using a finite element method with the
element birth and death technique. In summary, these works mentioned above have
made a great contribution to evaluating and improving the welding processes, welding
technologies and welded structures. However, a novel and efficient computational
method is still grateful for the simulation of thermal and mechanical analyses of
welded structures.
In the last twenty years, a nonlocal peridynamics proposed by Silling [16] has
attracted a lot of researchers’ interests due to its natural advantages to deal with the
discontinuous and contact problems. The peridynamic method is expressed by an
integral motion equation and mainly contains two kinds of forms, i.e., the bondbased peridynamics and the state-based peridynamics. Since the proposal of the
peridynamic method, its basic theories have been deeply developed from several
perspectives [17–22]. Meanwhile, the peridynamic method has been widely extended
to many fields. For example, an improved peridynamic fracture model for the analyses
of the brittle fracture problems was developed by Huang et al. [23]. A peridynamic
formulation for transient heat conduction was presented by Oerkus et al. [24] and
Bobaru and Duangpanya [25] to simulate the heat conduction problems in bodies with
evolving discontinuities. Further, Ouchi et al. [26] and Zhang et al. [27] proposed a
coupling peridynamic approach for the consolidation and dynamic analyses of saturated porous media. Li et al. [28] developed a peridynamic model for the nonlinear
analyses of bimodular truss structures, tensegrity structures and membranes. In addition, a peridynamic modeling of pitting corrosion was presented by Chen et al. [29]
for the simulation of the chemical corrosion and damage in metal. According to the
successful applications of the peridynamic method mentioned above, it is revealed
that the peridynamic method could commendably deal with the heat conduction
problems and the discontinuous problems. Therefore, it is promising to propose a
peridynamic method for the simulation of the thermal and mechanical analyses of
MIG welded structures.