A unified 3D model for an interaction mechanism of the plasma arc, weld pool and keyhole in plasma arc welding

A 3D model is developed to perform numerical investigation on the coupled interaction mechanism of the plasma arc, weld pool and keyhole in plasma arc welding. By considering the traveling of the plasma arc along the welding direction, unified governing equations are solved in the whole domain including the torch, plasma arc, keyhole, weld pool and workpiece, which involves different physical mechanisms in different zones. The local thermodynamic equilibrium-diffusion approximation is used to treat the interface between the plasma arc and weld pool, and the volume-of-fluid method is used to track the evolution of the keyhole wall. The interaction effects between the plasma arc, keyhole and weld pool as well as the heat, mass and pressure transport phenomena in the whole welding domain are quantitatively simulated. It is found that when the torch is moving along the joint line, the axis of the keyhole channel tilts backward, and the envelope of molten metal surrounding the keyhole wall inside the weld pool is unsymmetrical relative to the keyhole channel. The plasma arc welding tests are conducted, and the predicted keyhole dimensions and the fusion zone shape are in agreement with the experimentally measured results.

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