WELDING PHYSIOLOGY

 Welding physiology associated with the welding process and

the formation of a good weld bond.
 To make a good weld bead, it is necessary supply enough
energy to heat up and/or pressure to connect both metal
 Heat supply can be obtained from: the electrical, mechanical,
chemical reactions and those combined source
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 Welding, generally involves application of local heat, precisely

at the end of metal. Hence the energy only produce local
melting, not a whole melting.
 Energy source works to supply welding process with power as
needed
 The power available is used for:
 Ignite / initiate the arc

 Maintain arc stability during the welding process

 Energy source as input energy
4

 The concept of "input energy" ( on the welding scope known as

 “arc input energy") is : study about "how heat source affects
the materials being welded“
 Input energy will be transferred in two stages. First stage is a
transfer from heat source to work piece surface. And second
stage is conduction within work piece to colder region.
 HEAT INPUT
5

 During welding, the area which melted/ joined is only the

edge of the metal, hence the heat given should be focused on
these areas.
 Heat input area is relatively small compared to the parent
metal area (total area)
 There are three factors that affect the amount of heat input:
 Energy per unit of time (watt)
 Distribution of heat input in the parent metal
 Welding travel speed
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 When arc welding is performed, then the heat is called “arc

heat input”
 The arc heat input is the quantity of energy per unit weld
length of a heat source.
 The heat input is the ratio of the total input power source of
heat (watts) and displacement speed in millimeters/ second
(inch/ min).
P
H
v
 P
H
v
7

which
 H = input energy (J/mm)
 P = total power of heat source (watt) atau (J/s)
 v = travel velocity of heat source (mm/s)
 Equation above can be modified, when power comes from
electrical sources EI
H
v
which
 E = arc potential or voltage (Volt)

 I = current (Ampere)
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 To make a precise determination regarding the effect of arc

heat at welded material, the net energy input, Hnett should be
used f1 P f1 EI
H nett  f1 H  
v v
 Hnett is only part of the energy supply from the heat source H
(less than 100%)

The greater the proportion of

Hnett, the better, because it
means that only a little supply
of energy is wasted (lost)
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 The ratio of Hnett / H is expressed as “the arc efficiency  f1”

 The value is between 0.7 to 0.9 for arc welding.
 Arc efficiency for some welding types
10
 Arc efficiency can be expressed :
11
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 In order to determine the value

of arc efficiency, certain test
can be performed using
rectangular pipe and given
certain type of welding.
 Two valves are installed on both
tube end.
 Thermometer is also installed on
both end.
 Testing is performed by flowing
water through pipe.
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 At the same time, the pipe is

heated using welding equipment
with opposite direction with flow
of water. This heating causes
temperature inside the pipe
increases.
 Water temperature is measured
at inlet (Tin) and outlet out (Tout).
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 A cross section of welds consists of three areas:

Aw = Am + Ar
where
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 Ar = Indicate area that are predominantly metal filler (filler).

 Am = indicate area dominated by parent metal which melted
directly caused by heat transfer
 Ax = is a solid metal that experiencing heat flow. Hence there
are significant changes in the structure and properties.
 In case there is no filler electrode involved
Aweld = Am
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 In a welding process, the amount of melting enthalpy (Q)

required to melt a volume of metal, will be used for:
 Raising the temperature to the melting point (Tm) metal

 Transformation of metal phase from solid to liquid (heat of

fusion)
 The value of Q can be found using equation below :

Q
Tm  273
2
J / mm3
300.000
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 Melting efficiency (f2) is the theoretical quantity of heat

needed to melt the metal, divided by the net input energy
 f2 can be determined by measuring the cross-section of the
weld metal (Aw) and net energy input (Hnett).

Q
Tm  273
2
J / mm2
300.000
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 To predict the melting efficiency, the equation for two-

dimensional heat flow in a thin plate can be used.
1
f2 
 8 
 2
 5vw 
 which
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 Similar relation has been developed for three dimensional

analysis

 The value of f2 is no more than 0.5 for two dimensional and no

more than 0.37 for a three dimensional analysis
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 Relationship between weld cross sectional area and input

energy is

 Melting efficiency (f2) is associated with welding parameter

and metal to be welded
 If a metal has a high thermal conductivity, the efficiency is low,
because the heat will flow faster toward the base metal
 For aluminum welding, heat from gas acetylene only 2% is
used to melt metal. While the rest is lost due to conduction
 Example
21

If a welding plan has parameters below:

 E = 20 Volt, I = 200 A, V = 5 mm/s,
 f1 = 0.9 f2 = 0.3 Q = 10 J/mm3
 Then welding cross sectional area (Aw) will be:

f1 f 2 EI 0.9  0.3  20 Volts  200 Amperes

Aw  
vQ 5 mm 10 J
s mm3

 Aw = 21.6 mm2 (0.03 in2)

 Arc Characteristic
22

 Arc can be called as gas conductor that convert electric energy

into heat.
 Arc plays important role because of its function in protecting
metal from oxidation and localizing heat
 Arc welding is considered as the process of releasing electrons
which formed in the conductive environment
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 Arc current carried by plasma

 Plasma is an ionized gas, consisting of electrons and nuclei of
gas
 Plasma electrons flow from the negative terminal (cathode) to
the positive terminal (anode)
 Inside plasma, there is a mixture of molten metal, gas, slag
and gas combustion products
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 Electrical energy used in welding,

transforms into heat, radiation,
magnetic force and flow force
 The heat is distributed to the three
places
 toward the anode

 toward the cathode

 Being arc welding

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 Power consumed at those three zones can be approached with

equations:
 Temperature
26

 From the measurement results, the temperature of the welding

arc ranges from 5000K s / d 30.000K, depending on the
characteristics of plasma and current used
 In SMAW (stick welding), Na and K elements in the filler can
generate heat up to 5500K
 In arc welding with inert gas, the heat generated can reach
30.000K
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 Temperature distribution of GMAW

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 When the arc is formed, there is a loss of energy in the form

of conduction, diffusion, convection and radiation
 To reduce the loss, one of the method is by using a flux welding
(SMAW and SAW)
 HEAT FLOW
29

 In fusion welding, the relationship between the metal with heat

source produce an increasing of temperatures and melting
metal process
 Fusion of metal and gap filling occur simultaneously between
heat and molten metal cyclone with buoyancy (ability to float)
 Buoyancy involving surface tension gradient, impingement,
friction; and if it involves electric current there would be an
electromagnetic forces
 These behavior affect the welding result
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 To control the metallurgical behavior during welding, thermal

conditions inside and near weld metal should well calculated
 Welding is a “time dependent process” (heating, melting and
cooling), so there will be interaction between temperature with
time
 This interaction is called thermal cycle of welding
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 Thermal cycles will affect

 microstructure
 distortion
 residual stress
 On the surface, thermal cycle will affect the amount of alloying
elements that evaporate due to high temperatures
 Hence, it will affect the chemical composition of the weld metal
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 Heat propagation in the weld metal is a "time dependent"

heat transfer by conduction and convection
 The equation according to S Kou
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 Heat Deposition
35

 For arc welding, heat deposition can be approached by the

distribution of heat flux on weld surface.
 If we assume that the heat of the arc works at any time is
considered as a heat flux, heat deposition rate is expressed
by the following equation:
 Heat Loss
36

 Heat on the welding will be lost (partially) in the atmosphere

by convection and radiation.
 Radiation will be proportional to T4 (absolute temperature) on
the metal surface.
 Loss due to convection depends on the characteristics of
shielding gas, flow rate, and the configuration of welding
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 Heat which flow/ released to atmosphere can be expressed

using equation below:
 Heat Conduction
38

 During fusion welding process,

temperature will be distributed
differently (forms gradients)
along parallel or transversal
direction of the work piece.
 Therefore, it can be said that
heat propagation of welding
occurs in three dimensions
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 This propagation phenomena can be simplified by using the

following assumptions
 The energy from the heat source is considered to have a
constant rate
 The heat source moves at a constant speed in a straight
path relative to the work piece
 Cross section of weld joint is constant

 Effects due to initiation and termination of welding are

ignored.
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 Heat propagation in three dimensions according to Rosenthal:

 On a thin plate, heat propagation occurs only in two dimensions

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 Cooling Rate
42

 The thermal energy supplied during the welding process is

distributed in all directions.
 This distribution yields a combination of temperature raise,
heat transfer to the work piece and heat loss to the
environment
 When an arbitrary point of weld reaching peak temperature,
the temperature will gradually immediately.
 Cooling Rate
43

 A cooling rate will give a significant effect in the metallurgical

structure, mechanical properties and soundness of the weld.
 It can be said that in a heat treatment of steel (and related
process, including welding), the cooling rate is one of the most
important element.
 Metallurgical structures on weldment will be highly determined
by the rate of cooling from the peak temperature when the
welding process takes place
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 Cooling Rate for Thick and Thin Plates
45

 For carbon steel or low alloy steel, critical temperature is the

temperature near the "nose" of pearlite in the TTT diagram
(Time Temperature Transformation).
 Maximum cooling rate is at the center line of the weld.
 However, the cooling rate near fusion
line has only a little difference in the
center line. Hence, cooling rate
equation can be applied for whole
weld metal including fusion line.
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 If a welding process needs at least 6 times pass to join, the

cooling rate equation used is thick plate equation:
 Cooling Rate equation

 k is assumed 0.022 Btu/(in.oF min) or 0.028 J/[mm s oC]

 Thin Plate Equation
47

 For plate with less than 5 times pass, equation used:

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 Thick plate equation is used when three-dimensional heat flow

occurs.
 While the thin plate ignores a heat flow to thickness direction
 Because of the terms thick - thin plates is very relative, it is
difficult to distinguish between thick plate and thin plate.
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 For welding purpose, it can be defined  a plate thickness is

a non-dimensional value, which is called relative thickness of
plate (), with following equation

 When  > 0.9, thick plate equation is used, and if  < 0.6,
thin plate equation is used
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 However, for moderate calculation, some standard said that 

= 0.75 would be better to distinguish thin or thick plate

Thin plate equation |0.75| thick plate equation

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