A Comprehensive Model on the Transport Phenomena During Gas Metal Arc Welding Process

A comprehensive mathematical model and the associated numerical technique have been developed to simulate the coupled, interactive transport phenomena between the electrode (droplets), the arc plasma, and the workpiece (weld pool) during a stationary axisymmetric gas metal arc welding process. The simulation involves arc plasma generation, electrode melting, droplet formation, detachment, transfer, and impingement onto the workpiece, and weld pool dynamics. During transfer from the tip of the electrode to the workpiece, the droplet subjects to gravity, electromagnetic force, surface tension, and arc plasma drag force. Transient temperature and velocity distributions of the arc plasma, shapes of the electrode, droplet, and weld pool, and heat transfer and fluid flow in the weld pool are all calculated in a single, unified model. The predicted solidified weld bead shape compares favourably with the experimental result.

[1]  W. Finkelnburg,et al.  The Potential Field in and around a Gas Discharge, and Its Influence on the Discharge Mechanism , 1951 .

[2]  John J. Lowke,et al.  Theory of free-burning arc columns including the influence of the cathode , 1992 .

[3]  C J Allum,et al.  Metal transfer in arc welding as a varicose instability. II. Development of model for arc welding , 1985 .

[4]  F. White.  Viscous Fluid Flow , 1974 .

[5]  Thomas W. Eagar,et al.  Heat and metal transfer in gas metal arc welding using argon and helium , 1995 .

[6]  J. Haidar,et al.  A theoretical model for gas metal arc welding and gas tungsten arc welding. I. , 1998 .

[7]  C. W. Hirt,et al.  Volume of fluid (VOF) method for the dynamics of free boundaries , 1981 .

[8]  Radovan Kovacevic,et al.  Droplet formation, detachment, and impingement on the molten pool in gas metal arc welding , 1999 .

[9]  C. Wu,et al.  Mathematical modeling of three-dimensional heat and fluid flow in a moving gas metal arc weld pool , 1997 .

[10]  J. Szekely,et al.  Arc characteristics in gas‐metal arc welding of aluminum using argon as the shielding gas , 1993 .

[11]  J. Szekely,et al.  Heat transfer and fluid flow in the welding arc , 1986 .

[12]  J. Brackbill,et al.  A continuum method for modeling surface tension , 1992 .

[13]  C J Allum,et al.  Metal transfer in arc welding as a varicose instability. I. Varicose instabilities in a current-carrying liquid cylinder with surface charge , 1985 .

[14]  Thomas Zacharia,et al.  Effect of evaporation and temperature-dependent material properties on weld pool development , 1991 .

[15]  V. Nemchinsky.  Size and shape of the liquid droplet at the molten tip of an arc electrode , 1994 .

[16]  Peiyuan Zhu,et al.  Formation of molten droplets at a consumable anode in an electric welding arc , 1995 .

[17]  S. K. Choi,et al.  Dynamic simulation of metal transfer in GMAW, Part 2: Short-circuit transfer modes , 1998 .

[18]  J. Szekely,et al.  Fluid flow, heat transfer, and solidification of molten metal droplets impinging on substrates: Comparison of numerical and experimental results , 1992 .

[19]  E. Pfender,et al.  Analysis of the anode boundary layer of high intensity arcs , 1980 .

[20]  H. Tsai,et al.  Shrinkage-induced fluid flow and domain change in two-dimensional alloy solidification , 1992 .

[21]  Suck-Joo Na,et al.  A Study on the Three-Dimensional Analysis of Heat and Fluid Flow in Gas Metal Arc Welding Using Boundary-Fitted Coordinates , 1991 .

[22]  Peiyuan Zhu,et al.  A unified theory of free burning arcs, cathode sheaths and cathodes , 1992 .

[23]  John J. Lowke,et al.  Predictions of metal droplet formation in arc welding , 1996, Proceeding of Progress in Plasma Processing of Materials 1997.

[24]  J. Szekely,et al.  On the calculation of the free surface temperature of gas-tungsten-arc weld pools from first principles: Part II. modeling the weld pool and comparison with experiments , 1992 .

[25]  Hai-Lung Tsai,et al.  Impingement of filler droplets and weld pool dynamics during gas metal arc welding process , 2001 .