Theoretical study of a consumable anode in a gas metal welding arc

Book · Tue Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1996

OSTI ID:442961

Zhu, P; Simpson, S W ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Sydney (Australia)

A better understanding of the behavior of the metal transfer process in a welding arc is important for further improvement of quality control for gas-metal-arc welding (GMAW). The problems related to the metal transfer are generally complicated because (a) the metal transfer process is strongly coupled with the arc plasma, which is not stable, for example, the length of the arc plasma varies during the formation and detachment of a metal droplet, and (b) the formation of the electrode droplet itself is influenced by energy transfer, the anode-plasma interface, and also the location of the liquid-solid interface inside the anode. This paper presents primary results of an investigation of the consumable anode in a gas metal welding arc. The study includes theoretical predictions of the properties related to metal transfer including moving anode temperature profile, welding arc length and arc current as a function of time for various wire feed rates, as well as numerical treatment of droplet formation. The anode temperature profile and the melting rate are analyzed by a metal transfer model which couples a two-dimensional arc model to a one-dimensional anode thermal model. The droplet formation is predicted by a quasi-one-dimensional dynamic model of a pendant drop which accounts for the electromagnet pinch effect, the surface tension, gravitation and the momentum transfer due to wire motion. Comparison between experimental observation and theoretical predictions will also be discussed.

• OSTI ID: 442961
• Report Number(s): CONF-950682--; ISBN 0-87170-567-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALLOYS
ANODES
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
GAS METAL-ARC WELDING
HEAT FLUX
LIQUID METALS
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METALS
PREDICTION EQUATIONS
THEORETICAL DATA