Welding is one of representative manufacturing processes in the industrial field. Cryogenic storage containers are also manufactured through welding, and conversion to laser welding is issue in the field due to many advantages. Since welding causes thermal-elastic deformation, design considering distortion is required. Prediction of distortion through FEM is essential, but laser welding has difficulties in the field because there is no representative heat source model. The author presented the model that can cover various models using a multi-layer heat source model in previous studies. However the previous study has a limitation which is a welding heat source model must be derived after performing bead on plate welding. Thus this study was attempted to estimate the welding heat source parameters by comparing the shape of bead under various conditions. First, the difference between penetration shape and welding heat source parameters according to welding power was analyzed. The radius of the welding heat source increased according to the welding power, and the depth of the welding heat source also increased. The correlation between the penetration shape and the welding heat source parameter appears at a similar rate, however the follow-up research is necessary with more model data.

In this study, the structural analysis and welding performance experiments were performed to reduce the weight of the semi-automatic TIG welding device. The structural analysis based on finite element method was performed on the lightweight design of the wire feeder's main frame to evaluate the structural safety and straightness of the lightweight frame. To reduce the weight of the welding wire feeder, the step motor was changed to a servo motor and a pinion gear made of lightweight reinforced plastic material was applied. In addition, a new type of welding torch was developed to reduce the weight of the welding torch and to supply more effective fillers. As a result of performing the TIG welding experiment using a prototype of TIG welding device consisting of a lightweight frame, feeding device and welding torch, it was confirmed that the working criteria were satisfied in terms of welding speed, welding bead shape, feeding uniformity and torch durability. The developed lightweight TIG welding device is expected to improve welding productivity and work convenience.