Mechanisms increasing welding efficiency during new development of double shielded TIG process

Abstract

A new welding method has been developed for the tungsten inert gas process which can both improve the weld depth/width (D/W) ratio and protect the electrode from oxidation during the welding process. The effects of the welding parameters and the Marangoni convection patterns on the weld pool shapes are discussed. Results showed that the change of welding parameters directly change the temperature distribution on the pool surface and the concentration addition of the surface active element, hence, eventually affect the pattern and strength of the Marangoni convection. For the liquid pool on stainless steel, the weld shapes depends to a large extent on the pattern and strength of the Marangoni convection. It is possible to generate a heavy oxide layer on pool surface under a relatively high oxygen content to affect the surface tension stress. The heavy oxide layer may inhibit the heat flow on the weld pool surface, and reduce the D/W ratio.     

焊接电弧与活性组元对TIG焊熔池形貌影响的数值模拟

通过对FLUENT软件进行二次开发,建立了焊接电弧和焊接熔池模型,模拟分析了不同活性组元O元素含量下定点和移动TIG焊熔池形貌变化,对比了氩弧和氦弧的电弧参量及其对熔池形貌的影响.结果表明,由活性组元O元素含量变化导致的熔池内Marangoin对流变化是熔深增加的主要因素;在氩弧下,来自于电弧的气体剪切力对熔池形貌有较大影响;与氩弧相比,氦弧明显收缩,电流密度更大,更多的热量传递到熔池,增大了电磁力引起的内对流运动,可获得更深熔深.焊缝深宽比的模拟结果与试验结果吻合较好.

Abstract：

Welding arc and weld pool modeh were established by FLUENT software for spot and moving TIG welding of SUS304 stainless steel to investigate the effect of the surface-activating element oxygen on the weld shape and analyze the properties of argon arc and helium arc and their effects on the weld shape. The results show that the change of the Marangoni convection induced by different oxygen contents can be considered as one of the principal factors to increase penetration. The plasma drag force from the argon arc has obvious effect on the weld shape. Compared with the argon arc, the hehum arc is more constricted, the welding current density is much greater and the much more heat flux is transferred into the weld pool, which increase the inward convection induced by the electromagnetic force, thus the deeper weld depth can be obtained.The calculated weld D/W ratio agrees with that of the experiment.     

Study of the law between the weld pool shape variations with the welding parameters under two TIG processes

A double-shielded TIG method was proposed to improve weld penetration and has been compared with the traditional TIG welding method under different welding parameters (i.e., speed, arc length and current). The strength of the Marangoni convection was calculated to estimate the influence of the welding parameters on the variations in weld pool shapes. The results show that the changes in the welding parameters directly impact the oxygen concentration in the weld pool and the temperature distribution on the pool surface. The oxygen content and heat distribution on the weld pool surface are determinants of the pattern and strength of the Marangoni convection. For a negative temperature coefficient of surface tension (∂σ/∂T < 0), an outward Marangoni convection leads to a wide and shallow weld pool shape. The narrow and deep weld pool shape occurs when the Marangoni convection flows along an inward direction (∂σ/∂T > 0). The oxide layer that may appear with the relatively high oxygen content in the weld pool is harmful for the heat flow along the pool surface so as to reduce the welding efficiency especially in the double shielded TIG process.     

Effect of oxygen content in He–O2 shielding gas on weld shape in ultra deep penetration TIG

Abstract

The effect of the shielding gas concentration on the weld shape was studied for the moving bead on plate TIG welding of SUS304 stainless steel under He–O₂ mixed shielding. The small addition of oxygen to the helium base shielding gas can precisely control the oxygen content in a liquid pool and the weld shape. Oxygen is a surface active element for stainless steel. When the oxygen content in the liquid pool is above the critical value of ～ 70 ppm, the weld shape suddenly changes from a wide shallow type to a deep narrow one due to the change in the Marangoni convection from the outward to inward direction on the liquid pool surface. Weld shape variations influenced by the welding parameters including welding speed, welding current and electrode tip work distance under pure He and He–0.4%O₂ mixed gas shielding were systematically investigated. The investigation results showed that the final shape of the TIG weld depends to a large extent on the pattern and magnitude of the Marangoni convection on the pool surface, which is governed by the combined effect of the oxygen content in a liquid pool, temperature coefficient of the surface tension (dσ s/dT) and the temperature gradient on the pool surface (dT/dr, r is the radius of the weld pool surface). It is considered that the change in welding parameters alters the temperature distribution and gradient on the pool surface, and thus, affects the magnitude of the Marangoni convection and final weld shape.     

Modeling of the Weld Shape Development During the Autogenous Welding Process by Coupling Welding Arc with Weld Pool

A numerical model of the welding arc is coupled to a model for the heat transfer and fluid flow in the weld pool of a SUS304 stainless steel during a moving GTA welding process. The described model avoids the use of the assumption of the empirical Gaussian boundary conditions, and at the same time, provides reliable boundary conditions to analyze the weld pool. Based on the two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical modeling of the argon arc, the heat flux to workpiece, the input current density, and the plasma drag stress are obtained. The arc temperature contours, the distributions of heat flux, and current density at the anode are in fair agreement with the reported experimental results. Numerical simulation and experimental studies to the weld pool development are carried out for a moving GTA welding on SUS304 stainless steel with different oxygen content from 30 to 220 ppm. The calculated result show that the oxygen can change the Marangoni convection from outward to inward direction on the liquid pool surface and make the wide shallow weld shape become narrow deep one. The calculated result for the weld shape and weld D/W ratio agrees well with the experimental one.     

微量活性组元氧对焊接熔池Marangoni对流和熔池形貌影响的数值模拟

针对SUS304不锈钢的定点钨极惰性气体保护焊过程,建立三维瞬态定点热源作用下的焊接熔池数学模型,系统研究了不同氧含量下的熔池温度场、速度场以及熔池形貌演变过程.结果表明:随着熔池中活性组元氧的增加,熔池内的对流模式经历了以外对流为主、内外对流共存到以内对流为主的演变过程,熔池形貌由浅且宽形、"勺"形变成深且窄形.熔池中微量氧直接影响熔池表面张力温度梯度系数,改变熔池表面Marangoni对流模式和熔池最终形貌.当氧含量低于80×10-6时,熔池表面以外向Marangoni对流为主,熔池形貌宽且浅;当氧含量超过120×10-6时,熔池表面以内向Marangoni对流为主,熔池形貌窄且深;当氧含量处于(80-120)×10-6之间时,熔池形貌为"勺"形,并且随时间的增加,熔池内外对流区域逐渐变小,内对流区域逐渐变大.定点联合保护焊实验结果表明,熔池形貌变化规律的模拟结果与实验结果吻合.     

Weld shape comparison with iron oxide flux and Ar–O2 shielding gas in gas tungsten arc welding

Abstract

The influence of iron oxide flux and O₂–Ar mixed shielding gas on weld shape and penetration in gas tungsten arc welding is investigated by bead-on-plate welding on SUS 304 stainless with low oxygen and low sulphur contents. The oxygen content in the weld metal is measured using a HORIBA EMGA-520 oxygen/nitrogen analyzer. The results show that both the iron oxide flux and the O₂–Ar mixed shielding gas can significantly modify the weld shape from shallow wide to deep narrow. A large weld depth/width ratio around of 0.5 is obtained when the oxygen content in the shielding gas is in the range of 3000–6000 vol. ppm. Oxygen over a certain critical value, i.e. 70 wt. ppm, in the weld pool alters the temperature coefficient of the surface tension on the pool surface, and hence changes the Marangoni convection. A thick oxide layer on the weld pool surface is generated when the oxygen content in the shielding gas is over 6000 vol. ppm, which becomes a barrier for the oxygen conveyance to the liquid pool and prevents the liquid pool from freely moving, and therefore, decreases the intensity of the Marangoni convection on the pool surface.     

Weld shape variation and electrode protection under Ar–(Ar–O2) double shielded GTA welding

Abstract

Double shielded gas tungsten arc welding (GTA welding or TIG welding) of an SUS304 stainless steel with pure inert argon as the inner layer shielding and the Ar–O₂ active gas as the outer layer shielding is proposed in this study in order to investigate its effect on the tungsten electrode protection and the weld shape variation. The experimental results show that the inner inert argon gas can successfully prevent the outer layer active gas from contacting and oxidising the tungsten electrode during the welding process. The active gas, oxygen, in the outer layer shielding is decomposed in the arc and dissolves in the liquid pool, which effectively adjusts the active element, oxygen, content in the weld metal. When the weld metal oxygen content is over 70 ppm, the surface tension induced Marangoni convection changes from outward into inward, and the weld shape varies from a wide shallow one to a narrow deep one. The effect of the inner layer gas flowrate on the weld bead morphology and the weld shape is investigated systematically. The results showed that when the flowrate of the inner argon shielding gas is too low, the weld bead is easily oxidised and the weld shape is wide and shallow. A heavy continuous oxide layer on the liquid pool is a barrier to the liquid pool movement.     

Arc ignitability,bead protection and weld shape variations for He–Ar–O2 shielded GTA welding on SUS304 stainless steel

The influences of argon and oxygen in helium base shielded GTA welding on the arc ignitability, bead protection and weld penetration are systematically investigated by bead-on-plate welding on SUS304 stainless steel. Experimental results show that the critical electrode tip work distance for arc ignition is increased from 1 mm under pure He shielding to 5 mm under He–50%Ar shielding. Small addition of oxygen content to the He–Ar mixed shielding can significantly change the weld shape from a wide shallow type to a narrow deep one, and the weld depth/width ratio can be doubled due to the change in the Marangoni convection from an outward to an inward direction.     

Numerical simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow in GTA/Laser hybrid welding

Abstract

In order to understand the temperature fields, cooling rates and mixing in the weld pool, a comprehensive, three-dimensional heat transfer and fluid flow model is developed and tested by comparing model predictions with two sets of experimental data. The first set of data was taken from the literature. The experiments varied the separation distance between the heat sources for three arc current levels at a constant laser power. The second set of experiments analysed the effect of varying laser power for a constant heat source separation distance. The results demonstrate that the distance between the two heat sources significantly affects the cooling rates. The calculated results showed that the hybrid weld pool was very well mixed with strong convection currents resulting from the interaction between the electromagnetic and Marangoni forces. The calculated and experimental results showed that hybrid welding increases the weld pool width and gap bridgability when compared with laser welding. The weld pool depth in hybrid welding was affected mainly by the characteristics of the laser beam. Hybrid weld pool penetration depth is maximised at an optimal distance between the arc electrode and laser beam. The cooling rate increases significantly when the heat sources are separated beyond a critical distance. At close separation between arc and laser, calculations show that the arc radius must be decreased to achieve the observed weld depths.     

Influence of welding parameters on distribution of wire feeding elements in CO2 laser GMA hybrid welding

Abstract

The effect of welding parameters on the distribution of wire feeding elements has been investigated during CO₂ laser and pulsed gas metal arc hybrid welding process. The molten metal flow on the pool surface and inside of the samples was observed by a high speed video camera and an in situ X-ray transmission imaging system respectively. The results indicate that the fluid flow towards the inside of keyhole, namely inward flow, improves the homogeneity of weld metal. The distribution of alloying elements is more homogeneous in leading laser compared with leading arc, since both of the drag force of the plasma jet and momentum of droplet promote the inward flow in leading laser. Almost homogeneous distribution of alloying elements can be attained if the oxygen content in the shielding gas is more than 2%, since the Marangoni flow direction changes from outward to inward with increasing the oxygen content.     

He与He＋CO_2双层气流保护TIG焊工艺

以0Cr13Ni5Mo水轮机转轮用低碳马氏体不锈钢为母材,开展了内层为氦,外层为He＋CO2的双层气流保护TIG焊工艺研究.内层通纯氦避免电极直接接触外层CO2而氧化烧损,外层添加活性气体CO2向熔池溶解活性元素氧改变熔池表面张力对流模式,进而增加熔深和焊缝深宽比.研究了外层气体中CO2含量的变化对电极保护和焊缝形貌的...     

铝合金变极性TIG焊接电弧行为

分别采用正弦波变极性和方波变极性氩弧焊对铝合金试板进行了焊接试验,利用高速摄像机和汉诺威分析仪分别对焊接过程中变极性电弧形态及电信号进行采集分析. 结果表明,电弧电压概率密度分布和高速摄像图证实了较小焊接参数条件下正弦波变极性比方波变极性电弧稳定性差的现象. 正弦波变极性TIG电弧随EP(反极性)的增加清理宽度增加,但熔宽未增加,证明此条件下正弦波变极性TIG电弧过于发散;焊接参数较大时,随EP的增加,正弦波变极性熔宽变宽,证实正弦波变极性TIG电弧稳定性随之提高,证明了铝合金变极性TIG焊接过程中EP极性电弧产热大于EN极性电弧能量的本质特征.     

活性化TIG焊中活性剂和焊接参数对焊缝深宽比的影响

研究了在TIG焊中单一成分的活性剂 (SiO2 、CaF2 、TiO2 、Cr2 O3 、NaF)对不锈钢焊缝深宽比 (D/W )的影响 ,并针对SiO2 活性剂 ,分别研究了活性剂的涂敷量和焊接规范参数 (焊接电流、焊接速度和弧长 )对A -TIG焊焊缝深宽比的影响。试验结果表明 ,焊道深宽比随活性剂涂敷量的增加而增大 ,在所选择的五种活性剂中 ,以SiO2 的影响最为显著。涂敷活性剂SiO2 的试件 ,随着焊接电流、焊接速度和弧长的增加 ,焊缝的深宽比与无活性剂时相比有明显的增加。在TIG焊中应用某种活性剂 ,使用原有的设备就能够大幅度提高焊缝的深宽比 ,从而降低生产周期和制造成本 ,具有很好的应用前景。     

气体熔池耦合活性TIG焊方法

提出了一种新型活性TIG焊方法——气体熔池耦合活性TIG焊,即GPCA-TIG焊.该焊接方法将气体分两层流动,内层气体采用惰性气体起到保护熔池的作用;外层气体则为含活性元素O的气体,将活性元素O引入熔池金属,达到增加熔深的目的.文中以SUS304不锈钢为焊接母材,研究了GPCA-TIG焊接法对焊接电弧及焊缝成形的作用,以及该方法主要工艺参数对焊缝熔深和深宽比的影响.结果表明,在相同参数下,与常规TIG焊方法相比,GPCA-TIG焊可不开坡口一次性焊透8 mm不锈钢板,焊接效率明显提高.同时采用该方法,可以有效避免钨极的氧化烧损.     

PA position full penetration high power laser beam welding of up to 30 mm thick AlMg3 plates using electromagnetic weld pool support

Abstract

Full penetration 15 kW Yb fibre laser butt welding of thick AlMg3 (AW 5754) plates was performed in PA position. A contactless inductive electromagnetic weld pool support system was used to prevent gravity dropout of the melt. The welding speed needed to achieve 20 mm penetration was ～0·5 m min^?1. An ac power supply of ～244 W at 460 Hz was necessary to completely suppress gravity dropout of the melt and eliminate sagging of the weld pool root side surface. The oscillating magnetic field can suppress the Marangoni convection in the lower part of the weld pool. The system was also successfully used in the full penetration welding of 30 mm thick AlMg3 plates.     

TIG焊接过程中熔池对流形式的示踪分析

为验证传统钨极惰性气体保护焊接过程和双层气流保护焊接过程的熔池表面对流形式,确定双层气流保护焊接方法的熔池深度增加机理,试验研究以钨颗粒为示踪相,焊前将300～500μm的钨颗粒均匀涂覆于焊件表面,同时在熔池底部两侧插入钨板,将焊接熔池中心区域和边缘区域阻隔开.传统钨极惰性气体保护焊接方法在熔池表面产生外向对流,钨颗粒...     

Effects of torch configuration and welding current on weld bead formation in high speed tandem pulsed gas metal arc welding of steel sheets

Abstract

Undercut and humping bead are the common defects that limit the maximum welding speed of tandem pulsed gas metal arc (GMA) welding. In order to increase the maximum welding speed, effects of the inclination angle, interwire distance and welding current ratio between the leading wire and trailing wire on bead formation in high speed welding are investigated. The undercut and humping bead is attributed to the irregular flow of molten metal towards the rear part of the weld pool. This irregular flow can be prevented by the trailing wire with a push angle from 5° to 13° , which provides an appropriate component of arc force in the welding direction. The irregular flow is also related to the distance between the leading wire and the trailing wire, and the flow becomes regular when the distance is in the range 9–12 mm. Moreover, the stabilisation of the bulge of the weld pool between the two wires, the presence of enough molten metal below the trailing arc, and the reduced velocity of molten metal flow towards the rear part of the weld pool, are essential to increase the maximum welding speed. These conditions can be obtained by adjusting the ratio of the leading arc current to the trailing arc current. A maximum welding speed as high as 4–4·5 m min^?1 is achieved by setting the current ratio to a value ranging from 0·31 to 0·5.     

Three-dimensional turbulent weld pool convection in gas metal arc welding process

Abstract

A three-dimensional model has been developed to study turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer in a gas metal arc weld pool. The phase change process during melting and solidification is modelled using the enthalpy–porosity technique. Mass and energy transports by droplet transfer are considered through a thermal analysis of the electrode. The droplet heat addition into the molten pool is considered to be in the form of a volumetric heat source distributed in an imaginary cylindrical cavity within the weld pool ('cavity' model). A two-equation k-&epsi; model capable of addressing turbulent weld pool convection, taking into account the morphology of the phase change, is presented. The weld pool dynamics and geometry (shape and size) in a moving gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process are studied and the effects of enhanced diffusivities on the turbulent weld pool are discussed. The predicted weld pool geometry using laminar and turbulent models is also compared with corresponding experimental post-weld sections.     

三电极高速CO_2双边角焊质量及稳定性分析

对三电极高速CO2双边角焊焊接工艺进行研究,通过LabVIEW电信号采集与高速摄影分析了焊接质量及过程稳定性.结果表明,焊接中引导电流应为最大,且引导焊枪与中间焊枪之间电流差距100A左右可获得理想的焊缝成形,中间焊枪与跟随焊枪的电流差距大小对焊接质量无明显影响,且焊枪指向位置在底板为宜.在同一工艺时,随着焊接速度增大,焊接过程变得不稳定,同一焊接速度时,试验电流400/300/300A组合时焊接过程最稳定.大电流组合时,应增大焊丝之间距离以减小电弧之间的干扰.