A methodology for the simulation of the butt fusion welding process applied to the joining of plastic pipes has been developed using the finite element package ABAQUS as a precursor to a more detailed and extensive simulation. This has been accomplished using a time-stepping approach in which the process is subdivided into small time steps, where melt flow and heat transfer are analysed separately. All the necessary stages in the development of this finite elment model are described and a simulation of the first stage of the welding process, the bead-up stage, is presented.
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