Penetration and defect formation in high-current arc welding

The work performed during the three previous years can be roughly divided into two main categories: (1) development of advanced modeling techniques; and (2) modeling of arc welding process. The work in the first category comprised the development of the Order of Magnitude Scaling (OMS) technique, which is complementary to numerical modeling techniques such as finite elements, but it provides approximate formulas instead of just numerical results. Borrowing concepts from OMS, another modeling technique based on empirical data was also developed. During this stage special software was also developed. The second category comprised the application of OMS to the three main subsystems of arc welding: the weld pool, the arc, and the electrode. For each of these subsystems they found scaling laws and regimes. With this knowledge, they analyzed the generation of weld pool defects during high current arc welding, proposed a mechanistic description of the process, and possible solutions.