Effect of power source characteristic on CO2 short circuiting arc welding

Abstract Some problems are reported concerning the observation of the weld pool and effects of the power source characteristic on arc stability in CO2 short circuiting arc welding. First, the effect of a power source with a constant voltage characteristic on CO2 short circuiting arc welding is investigated by analysing the behaviour of the voltage and the current. From the results of this analysis, the cause of spatter generation is identified. A new power source characteristic is then proposed to improve the stability and the self-regulation of the arc. By adjusting the power source characteristic, the metal transfer can be stabilised in the CO2 short circuiting arc welding process, i.e. the present authors have developed a power source having a non-linear characteristic. Its performance is verified by carrying out experiments.