Metal Transfer in Gas Metal Arc Welding

Abstract : The ultimate goal of the present work is to develop sufficient fundamental understanding of generic GMA welding to enable prediction of the weld quality to be made in terms of the material properties and control parameters. Evidence from experiments and simple analyses shows that the melting rate is controlled by the thermo-fluid-mechanic behavior of the molten electrode tip. Consequently, an analytical and numerical study of the transient, thermo-fluid-mechanic behavior of the detachment phase for metal transfer in GMA welding has been initiated. The present report, for the first half year of the study, reviews the related background and then concentrates on approximate length and time scales analyses preparatory to the development of a transient, axisymmetric numerical analysis to describe droplet detachment in globular and spray modes. To date these analyses have not revealed any significant simplifications which would be useful for the governing partial differential equations. The numerical approach in process is outlined briefly. Welding, Heat transfer, Metal transfer, Submersibles, Droplet, Detachment, Melting, Numerical predictions.