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    Welding for Challenging Environments: Proceedings of the International Conference on Welding for Challenging Environments, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 15–17 October 1985
    Welding for Challenging Environments: Proceedings of the International Conference on Welding for Challenging Environments, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 15–17 October 1985
    Welding for Challenging Environments: Proceedings of the International Conference on Welding for Challenging Environments, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 15–17 October 1985
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    Welding for Challenging Environments: Proceedings of the International Conference on Welding for Challenging Environments, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 15–17 October 1985

    By Sam Stuart

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    About this ebook

    Welding for Challenging Environments documents the proceedings of the International Conference on Welding for Challenging Environments held in Ontario, Canada on October 15-17, 1985. This compilation provides a unique reference to the state of technological development, research, and application of welded fabrications in challenging environments. This book discusses the developments in pulsed gas metal arc welding; pulsed FM-GMA welding; and narrow gap welding of pressure vessels. The fracture toughness considerations for offshore structures; microcomputer method for predicting preheat temperatures; and submerged arc welding of high yield strength steel are also elaborated. This text likewise covers the influence of nitrogen content on deposited weld metal notch toughness gas-metal-slag interactions of binary fluxes containing CaF2 and evaluation of susceptibility of welds made with a stable austenitic welding wire to hot cracking. This publication is a good source for welders and metallurgists, as well as students interested in welded fabrications in challenging environments.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherElsevier Science
    Release dateJun 28, 2014
    ISBN9781483279114
    Welding for Challenging Environments: Proceedings of the International Conference on Welding for Challenging Environments, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 15–17 October 1985
    Author

    Sam Stuart

    Dr. Sam Stuart is a physiotherapist and a research Fellow within the Balance Disorders Laboratory, OHSU. His work focuses on vision, cognition and gait in neurological disorders, examining how technology-based interventions influence these factors. He has published extensively in world leading clinical and engineering journals focusing on a broad range of activities such as real-world data analytics, algorithm development for wearable technology and provided expert opinion on technology for concussion assessment for robust player management. He is currently a guest editor for special issues (sports medicine and transcranial direct current stimulation for motor rehabilitation) within Physiological Measurement and Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, respectively.

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      Welding for Challenging Environments - Sam Stuart

      Canada

      RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PULSED GAS METAL ARC WELDING

      C.J. Allum,     GEC Industrial Controls Limited, Rugby, England

      ABSTRACT

      Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is currently attracting much interest on account of significant developments in process control over the past few years. These developments are largely associated with benefits gained from the application of modern solid state power devices to welding power supplies. In this paper pulsed current GMAW is considered with emphasis on interactions between pulse parameters, parameter selection, fusion characteristics and process control.

      KEYWORDS

      Pulsed current gas metal arc welding

      metal transfer

      power sources

      process control

      INTRODUCTION

      GMAW is arguably the most versatile of all welding processes being capable of joining in any position a wide range of materials, using manual or mechanised techniques on thin sheet or sections hundreds of millimeters thick. Process productivity is potentially high since filler metal is continuously deposited, with little slag, at high deposition rates (associated with efficient wire melting) and suitable for use in narrow gap weld preparations. Good toughness with very low deposited hydrogen levels are achievable meeting the requirements of many demanding applications. Furthermore GMAW allows close control of plate dilution and finds applications besides welding in cladding and brazing.

      GMAW has however, yet to achieve the potential outlined above. Historically, two process weaknesses (metal transfer and fusion characteristics) and a number of equipment related short comings have limited the application of GMAW.

      Metal may be transferred in a variety of modes. At very low currents short circuiting (dip transfer) is required and not all materials are weldable in this mode. The explosive nature of such transfers gives rise to spatter and intermittent arcing produces a susceptability to lack of fusion defects. At higher currents transfer becomes globular and non projected. Further increases in current result in a spray of small droplets, typically of wire diameter projected across the arc gap.

      Synergy is a control technique used in pulsed current MIG welding (Ref 1) where mean current is determined by wire feed speed such that stable wire melting and drop transfer occur. The outcome of this technique is simplified process operation with nominally one knob control. A wide range of methods exist for achieving the above characteristics but only two basic approaches are considered here (see Ref 8). One technique consists of driving the power supply in response to a wire feed speed control signal. This might for instance be used to increase pulse frequency proportionally to wire feed speed demand. Metal transfer can then be controlled by predetermined unit pulses of current (of specified Ip and Tp) while frequency control simply changes the time spacing between pulses with the effect of altering mean current. With this control scheme droplets of uniform size are detached at every mean current (i.e. W/F in constant) and mean current increases approximately in proportion to wire feed rate when low background currents are employed. Process control is then achieved directly from wire feed rate. For this type of control no arc length self adjustment exists i.e. when the torch is withdrawn from the work arc length increases with fixed wire extension.

      Arc length self adjustment may also be achieved by incorporating voltage control. Here a voltage error signal is generated (difference between reference voltage and measured voltage) which in effect modifies the wire feed to pulse frequency ratio to achieve the desired arc voltage. Features of conventional self adjusting GMAW are thereby regained. A second so called synergic technique relies entirely on voltage control to produce frequency modulation without any link between power supply and wire feed unit. Having set the required voltage and wire feed rate, the spacing between pre-determined pulses is modulated in self regulating manner i.e. arc current is self regulating. Process control is again of the one knob type and when a welding torch is withdrawn from the work both pulse frequency and mean current then fall in a self regulated manner so as to maintain a given arc voltage. By reducing process control to nominally one knob a range of further possibilities are presented. For instance thermal pulsing and backface control of full penetration. In the first case low frequency modulation of wire feed speed is used to produce overlapping weld beads which can have beneficial effects on fusion. The required changes in current changes are then automatically accomodated by the synergic type control technique. With backface penetration control (as practiced in TIG welding) a radiation signal from the underbead may be used to modulate top face heat input thereby controlling penetration (although this technique has yet to be developed for GMAW).

      All of the above techniques rely on steplessly variable control of the current waveform (especially pulse frequency). This may be achieved electronically with solid state devices (transistors and a range of thyristors) which are used in power circuits as current switches or variable resistors. Series regulator circuits use devices as variable resistors and have inherently high response with low ripple. However, at low arc voltages most of the process power is dissipated across power devices and these circuits, although essentially simple, are very inefficient with high cooling requirements. Switching circuits have much lower losses and air cooling is often appropriate. Devices are then either on or off and switched at a frequency characteristic of the circuit design/device capability (typically of order 20KHz). These circuits generate current ripple and have a slower response than achievable with series regulators. One praticularly energy efficient and physically small class of switching circuit are inverters of which there are a number of basic types. With these switching is on the primary side of the transformer and transformers can then be made much smaller than for secondary switched circuits.

      The first condition is concerned with drop detachment and reflects the observation that background parameters usually have little influence on the detachment event. It is often observed (see Fig 1) that a peak detachment can occur at high peak currents (Ip) of short duration (Tp) or lower peak currents of longer duration such that (1) is approximately obeyed where D, a detachment parameter, is constant and influenced by wire composition, wire diameter and shield gas type. Typical values for D are given in Table 1. In many situations preferred combinations of Ip and Tp exist and those identified by the writer are also shown in Table 1 where it is interesting to note that preferred peak currents are typically 1.5 times the so-called spray transition current (Is).

      TABLE 1

      Detachment Relationships

      Fig. 1 Influence of peak parameters on one drop per pules transfers with 1.2mm diameter wires.

      The second condition is a simple statement of droplet volume (ϕ) when one drop per pulse is detached where W is wire feed rate, F pulse frequency and A is wire cross-sectional area.

      is mean current and K is a constant. Equation 2 then becomes:-

      (3)

      Equations 1 and 3 allow pulse parameters to be specified provided K and D are known. The method is then:-

      /F.

      /F then gives required pulse frequency.

      3. Select Ip (at 1.5 Is say) and use D to calculate Tp.

      4. Tb is now determined since frequency and pulse duration are known.

      5. Background current is also determined and can be evaluated from the expression for mean current.

      In many commercial equipments, rules of this type are incorporated as control circuitry and the required parameter adjustments are automatically made thereby resulting in considerable simplifications in process operation (see process control).

      For many materials spray transfer occurs at currents too high to allow managable weld pool control in any position other than downhand welding. The principal method of overcoming transfer limitations outlined above was developed over two decades ago and uses pulses of current to detach small droplets while background current is held at a level compatible with managable weld pool size in out of position applications. Only recently with the advent of commercially available solid state power supplies has the potential of pulsed current welding been realisable.

      Pulse parameters can now be independently and steplessly varied to meet arc requirements where earlier equipments operated at fixed frequencies (related to mains frequency). The use of a range of process control techniques has also become practical (see Section "Process Control").

      Power control developments have undoubtedly removed many of the previous limitations concerning aspects of metal transfer behaviour and spatter. However, fusion characteristics appear to be largely determined by mean current and welding speed, technique and shield gas composition. As such, recent developments in power control have had relatively little impact on fusion which represents a significant challenge for future process developments. Indeed, shielding gases used are largely those previously developed for non-pulsed GMAW applications.

      METAL TRANSFER

      Current pulsing is applied in GMAW with the central objective of controlling the transfer of filler material. Using nominally square wave d.c. pulses it has been found possible to almost eliminate spatter and maintain stable arcs with small droplet transfers at currents down to about 50 amps (Ref 1). Satisfactory transfers are achieved by choosing suitable peak and background parameters which are usually identified by trial and error experimentation (Ref 2 and 3). Often more than one set of suitable parameters exist. The choice of parameters can in principal affect a wide range of droplet and arc characteristics including droplet volume, position of detachment within a pulse, number of droplets per pulse, droplet acceleration and momentum, arc stiffness and arc stability. In practice observation suggests that weld beads are tolerant to parameter changes (for a given mean current) and so general running characteristics (e.g. spatter, stability, stiffness, arc control) form the main criteria for parameter selection.

      An approach widely adopted is to choose parameters giving one droplet per pulse with detachment near the trailing pulse edge and transfer during the quiet background period. For given material parameters it is usually observed that the position within a pulse of drop detachment is determined by peak current (Ip) and duration (Tp) (Ref 2). Droplet volume is also influenced by background parameters (Ref 3). Clearly a wide range of parameter combinations exist in pulse current welding and often it is useful to employ a systematic approach to parameter selection. A semi-empirical approach to this problem is developed below.

      We start by considering conditions related to drop detachment and droplet volume:-

      (1)

      (2)

      * Data from Reference 3

      ** Data from Reference 4

      *** Data from Reference 5

      Also see Figures 1 and 2.

      Fig. 2 Influence of mean current on burn-off rate for 1.2mm wire diameters. nominally 5mm arc lengths with 15mm electrical extension).

      WIRE MELTING BEHAVIOUR

      Wire melting behaviour has important implications for productivity and this can be affected by choice of pulse parameters. In pulsed MIG welding high current excursions have a significant influence on Ohmic heating and produce deposition rates higher than those achieved at the corresponding steady current. In view of high current peak excursions a none linear burn-off dependence on current might be expected. However, this is not generally observed (see Fig 2). To understand why linear behaviour is often observed consider the mechanisms by which wire melting occurs. Arc and resistive effects give:-

      Where α is a coefficient related to arc heating and R is related to resistance offered by the electrically heated wire extension. The value of I² averaged over a square pulse is approximately:-

      then

      (4)

      /F and D can clearly affect deposition rate per amp and maximum deposition at any mean current is obtained by the use of high frequency, high detachment parameter conditions (/F is constant.

      Deposition rate is little influenced by shield gas composition in GMAW. Welding polarity can however have a very significant effect where 50% higher deposition rates are observed (Ref 6) in a.c. welding of mild steel (compared with wire positive deposition rates) although a.c. synergic GMAW sets are not currently commercially available.

      FUSION CHARACTERISTICS

      The general characteristics of weld bead and plate fusion shape in GMAW (see Fig 3) are such that at least eight weld geometry characteristics may be identified which inturn depend on a variety of process parameters and many of these relationships have yet to be fully investigated. Emphasise here is therefore largely on qualitative effects although some quantitative results are discussed.

      Fig. 3a General Characteristics of a GMA weld.

      The major process variables influencing plate fusion characteristics are mean current, welding speed and shield gas composition where the precise choice of pulse parameters is of secondary importance. For a given mean current and welding speed, shield gas composition has a pronounced effect on plate fusion shape (see Fig 3).

      Fig. 3b Influence of shield gas on weld shape for mild steel.

      Plate fusion generally exhibits a finger of penetration with weak secondary fusion extending towards the bead edges. Secondary fusion is much less pronounced on relatively low thermal conductivity materials (e.g. steels) than for aluminium. For steels secondary fusion is enhanced by the addition of CO2 or helium to argon shields. However, non central finger penetration is often observed in helium rich shields and metal transfer characteristics deteriorate with the addition of high CO2 levels. Significant work remains to identify Ar/He/CO2/O2/H2 gas mixes which optimise both transfer and fusion shape and thereby reduce susceptibility to fusion defects.

      Such work is considered particularly important for all-positional manual welding since dilution is often low (typically 20%) although at high currents/high speeds satisfactory dilution (50% and above) is achievable.

      Dilution (δ) is found to be a useful measure of fusion and defined by:-

      Where Ap and Ad are cross-section areas of plate fusion and deposited bead area respectively. For thick plates simple modelling considerations have been used to show that δ is a function of Īv. (Ref 7, mean current x welding speed) a result substantiated by− experiment and it is found that δ behaves as shown in Fig 4. At high values of Īv, δ reaches a saturation value (δm) and plate fusion area then increases in proportion to heat input. However, at lower values of Īv, plate fusion is not a function of heat input. In this region a range of plate fusion areas corresponding to a given deposition area may exist depending on the structure of heat input). Such behaviour can be further illustrated by noting that the assymtotic shape of δ = δ(Īv) becomes almost linear when 1/δ is plotted against 1/Īv (see Fig 5). Then;

      Fig. 4 Influence of mean current and welding speed on bead dilution.

      Fig. 5 Linear representation of the dilution dependence on I.v.

      (5)

      Where C is a constant representing the line slope. Dilution now gives;

      Noting that v.Ad = Wa (where a is wire cross-sectional are a) and substituting for allows Ap to be expressed as:-

      (6)

      and behaviour of Ap at high and low values of Īv is given by:-

      The first expression indicates that heat input dominates in mechanised applications (with high current and speed) while the second expression indicates that current is dominant in manual welding situations where welding speed plays a much weaker role. As an example of the use of equation (6) consider melting behaviour for a 1.2mm diameter mild steel wire in an argon 5% CO2 shield. Ap may be evaluated by noting that experiment gives 6m = 0.5 (Ref 7). C is evaluated by noting that when Īv = 250A mm/S, S = 0.2 (Ref 7) giving C = 750 A mm/S. Taking the burn-off factor K, as 3m/min/100A (Ref 7) then gives:-

      (7)

      Equation (7) can be used to determine Ī as a function of v for given fusion areas and results of this form are presented in Fig 6. Operating parameters can be determined by noting the point of intersection of required deposition and plate fusion characteristics.

      Fig. 6 Influence of mean current and welding speed on plate fusion ares (Ap) and deposited bead ares (Ap) on thick mild steel plate (1.2mm C-Mn wire. Ar 52 Co2 Shield).

      These characteristics are significantly affected by the choice of shield gas. For example helium rich gases give higher valves of δm and produce relatively more plate fusion at high heat inputs.

      The analysis presented above does not apply to thin plate situations and these are not reported in any detail here. However investigations of full penetration welds on 304 stainless steel (Ref 5) indicate that full penetration occurs at 40% dilution regardless of plate thickness, current and welding speed. Furthermore the plate fusion area associated with these welds is proportional to heat input (for any plate thickness).

      The brief discussion of plate fusion presented here shows that heat input has a direct bearing on plate melting in root welding situations and in high deposition filling passes (as achievable in mechanised welding). However, in manual multipass welding fusion is dominated by current where welding speed is often of much less significance. It has also been indicated that thick plate fusion areas may be estimated using equation (12) which is characterised by three constants (K, 6m, C). If these are known estimates for any current and welding speed can be obtained. It is possible that V-groove situations could be accounted for by assuming an appropriate fraction of the total heating is received by each side wall.

      PROCESS CONTROL

      Preceeding sections have considered process characteristics. Here a brief review is given of some techniques aimed at controlling such characteristics. The application of solid state power devices to welding power supplies has enabled process parameters to be accurately specified and steplessly controlled in an independent manner. Use is made of these features in synergic and adaptive control.

      Inverters represent the general trend in commercially available equipments since these are inherently smaller and can be made at a lower cost than other designs. However, the exact requirements of GMAW in terms of power supply/waveform specification are not presently clear and it is therefore difficult to assess power supply specification in a broad context.

      CLOSING REMARKS

      This paper has considered some general aspects of pulsed current GMAW with emphasis on process control, metal transfer and fusion characteristics. These are all areas where GMAW has historically suffered limitations. Over the past few years process development has mainly centred on the design of power supplies to overcome such limitations and these efforts have undoubtedly been successful with regard to process control and metal transfer. Comments and observations made here indicate ways in which fusion characteristics can be influenced mainly by choice of gas and Ī, v parameters. However in many instances only limited ranges of current and welding speed are practical. To relax these apparent constraints more work on the development of shielding gases for pulsed GMAW is thought important. Other areas for future development include the use of tubular consumables in pulsed current/voltage modes and work leading to a better appreciation of the practical significance of power supply specification.

      REFERENCES

      1. Amin, M. Metal Construction. 1981;13(6).

      2. Matsuda, F., Vshio, M., Tanaka, Y. Trans. J.W.R.I. 1983;12(1).

      3. Allum C.J (1983). Metal Construction, June.

      4. Trindade E., Allum C.J (1984). Welding and Metal Fab., September.

      5. Oliveira Santos J.F., Allum C.J (1985). IIW Doc. 212-628-85.

      6. Lucas W., Needham J.C (1975). The Welding Institute Bulletin.

      7. Allum C.J., Quintino L (1985). Metal Construction., April, May.

      8. Allum, C. J., Morris, A. W., Spray, W. D., Crane, A. D. WI Conf. Advanced Welding Systems, London, 1985. November

      SYNERGIC PULSED GMAW – IN PERSPECTIVE

      Steve Barhorst and Howard Cary,     Hobart Brothers Company, Troy, Ohio 45373 USA

      ABSTRACT

      Pulsed gas metal arc welding, with the fixed frequency power source, has not obtained an anticipated acceptance in industry. This may be attributed to poor arc and metal transfer stability, and welder difficulties in weld parameter set-up. Two recent new developments, the electronic power source and synergic one knob control, have dramatically changed the attractiveness of pulsed GMAW. Past difficulties are removed. Improved process stability and ease of parameter set-up are attainable with the new synergic pulsed system throughout the wire feed speed range.

      KEY WORDS

      Synergic programs

      variable pulse frequency

      arc length control

      spatter-free

      spray transfer

      one drop per pulse

      one knob control

      INTRODUCTION

      The gas metal arc welding process has been used since the mid 1950′s with spray, globular, and short circuiting metal transfer. Spray transfer is characterized by spatter-free axial droplet transfer in an argon-rich shielding gas. The globular transfer mode uses gravity to transfer large globules of molten electrode. Short circuiting metal transfer occurs during rapid short circuits with the molten weld pool. The type of metal transfer depends upon welding current, shielding gas type, electrode wire size, and arc voltage.

      Spray transfer is a high current density process for joining heavy sections in the flat and horizontal positions, shown by Fig. 1. This mode of GMAW transfer is experienced with high weld current, small diameter and argon-rich shielding gas. During spray transfer, fine sized droplets of electrode metal are transferred to the weld pool by strong electromagnetic forces. These pinching forces provide for spatter-free welds.

      Fig. 1 Traditional modes of metal transfer in GMAW.

      The process yields high deposition rates with good bead appearance. Despite its advantages, spray transfer could not be used for all applications. The required transition current for spray transfer is approximately 220 amps, which produced a penetrating arc that could not be used for thin sheet metal. Also, this minimum current produced a large molten weld puddle that was difficult to control in out-of-position welding, restricting its use to the flat and horizontal positions.

      The globular type of metal transfer is encountered at higher arc voltages in CO2-rich shielding gas. During globular transfer, magnetic detachment forces associated with current density are insignificant. Globules of molten electrode transfer across the arc due to gravity. The frequency of droplet transfer is relatively low, in the order of a few per second. Drop size as shown in Fig. 1 is large, typically 3 times the electrode wire diameter. Globular transfer produces large amounts of spatter and its use is limited to the flat and horizontal positions.

      The short-circuiting transfer method (micro wire) was developed in the late 1950′s for thin sheet steel and out-of-position welding. This transfer mode, shown in Fig. 1, uses a constant voltage power source, low average currents and small diameter electrode wire with CO2 and 75% Ar – 25% CO2 shielding gas. Because carbon is absorbed in the weld impairing corrosion resistance, CO2 shielding gas is not generally used to join stainless steel. Short circuiting transfer produces localized arc heat. Welds in thicker sheet, 1/4 inch (6.35 mm) and greater, may have lack-of-fusion or cold lap defects when the optimum technique is not used. Poor short-circuiting transfer can cause excessive spatter, if the machine is not balanced or tuned properly.

      Pulsed GMAW was introduced in the late 1960′s to resolve these problems associated with spray, globular, and short circuit GMAW.

      The basic aim of the pulsed GMAW process is to remove the limitations of globular transfer. In pulsed transfer, the welding current is rapidly switched from a high pulse current to a low background current. This technique is shown by Fig. 2. The background current (Ib) serves primarily to sustain the arc but is insufficient for metal transfer. The pulse current (Ip) is set above the critical level to produce sufficient electromagnetic pinch force to eject one discrete metal droplet from the electrode wire tip. Droplet size is approximately equal to the wire diameter. The pulsed current technique produces spray transfer at lower average current. The process provides all the benefits associated with the spray transfer mode.

      Fig. 2 The pulsed GMAW technique.

      EARLY PULSED GMAW EQUIPMENT

      With early pulsed gas metal arc welding power sources, the background and pulse current was switched at multiples of power input frequency (60/120 Hz or 50/100 Hz). The output pulse waveform was sinusoidal. Most welders had great difficulty in setting pulse parameters. As shown in Fig. 3, three pulse variables–background current (Ib), pulse current (Ip), and pulse frequency (F)–each had to be properly adjusted to obtain droplet spray transfer. In addition, the average current, determined by all the pulse parameters, had to produce a useable burnoff rate at a constant arc length. Improper balancing between these pulse parameters and wire feed speed would result in irregular metal transfer and poor arc stability. The difficulty in pulse parameter set-up was a major reason for limited acceptance of the fixed frequency pulsed welding mode.

      Fig. 3 Fixed frequency output waveform.

      There were other difficulties. Because pulse frequency was fixed (60/120 Hz or 50/100 Hz), only two small ranges of wire feed speed were coincident with ideal conditions for one drop per pulse transfer. This is shown schematically in Fig. 4. Arc characteristics and process stability were compromised outside these wire feed speed ranges. The sine based pulse shape caused difficulty in precisely controlling pulse energy in relation to metal transfer. It would not allow independent control of pulse current time (width of pulse) and pulse current (pulse height). The process was sensitive to stickout. Small variations in stickout would disrupt the delicate balance of pulse energy to metal transfer, causing arc outages and spatter.

      Fig. 4 Small ranges of wire feed speed.

      With the fixed frequency pulsed spray technique, complaints about undercut were reported, particularly with mechanized welding made in the vertical position. This undercutting problem can be attributed to arc characteristics and process stability restrictions due to fixed frequency sinusoidal current output. Arc energy and arc column width was excessive, not properly filling the joint at the toe lines.

      Although reasonably successful, applications with fixed frequency pulsed GMAW equipment were generally limited to aluminum, nickel alloys, stainless steel sheet metal work, and for out-of-position welding.

      NEW DEVELOPMENTS

      Two major developments, electronic power sources and synergic one knob control, have dramatically changed the attractiveness of the pulsed GMAW process.

      Inverter and transistor power sources with their inherent fast response times produce square pulse wave shapes as shown in Fig. 5. They provide precise independent regulation of the pulse shape, (see Fig. 6): pulse current (Ip), pulse current time (Tp), pulse frequency (F), and background current (Ib). The electronic power sources can produce continuously variable 25 to 250 Hz pulse frequencies. With variable frequency pulsing, the correlation between pulse energy, burnoff rate, and arc characteristics can now coincide with all electrode wire feed speeds to provide one drop per pulse metal

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