穿孔等离子弧焊接热场和流场的数值模拟

考虑熔池和小孔的耦合作用,建立了穿孔等离子弧焊接热过程的三维瞬态模型.采用焓孔隙度法处理了凝固熔化过程中相变潜热以及动量损耗问题.基于流体体积函数法（VOF）对小孔界面实施追踪.对等离子弧焊从小孔形成到穿孔的瞬态演变行为、熔池流场的动态变化过程进行了数值模拟.开展了穿孔等离子弧焊接试验,对数值模拟结果进行了试验验证.结...     

Modeling the keyhole shape and dimension in plasma arc welding

It is of great significance to model the keyhole shape and dimensions to optimize the plasma arc welding process parameters. In this study, through employing a combined volumetric heat source mode, the weld pool in keyhole plasma arc welding is determined firstly, and then the dynamic force-balance condition on the interface between the plasma jet and the molten metal is dealt with in describing the keyhole formation inside the weld pool. The effects of welding current on the shape and size of keyhole are numerically analyzed. The sharp transformation from a partial keyhole to a full-penetration keyhole is quantitatively demonstrated.     

激光焊接瞬态小孔与运动熔池行为模拟

提出了一种三维瞬态小孔与瞬态熔池相结合的激光小孔焊接耦合数学模型.该模型综合考虑了多重反射菲尼尔吸收、小孔界面上的间断边界条件、金属蒸气/等离子体的辐射传热、Marangoni力、固-液相间的摩擦力、浮力、粘性力、蒸发潜热、熔化/凝固潜热,以及热传导、对流、辐射等多种因素对激光小孔焊接过程的耦合作用.采用水平集方法和快速扫描方法对小孔演化方程进行求解,得到了三维瞬态小孔形貌;并采用SOLA方法求解了瞬态熔池的三维传热和流动过程.结果表明,该模型能够较好地模拟激光小孔焊接中瞬态小孔和熔池的动态演化行为.     

小孔等离子弧焊接热场瞬时演变过程的数值分析

根据小孔等离子弧焊接的工艺特点,考虑等离子弧对熔池的“挖掘”作用,提出了一种新的焊接热源模型（TPAW）,以描述和反映等离子弧作用下“倒喇叭”状焊缝横断面的特点以及等离子弧热流沿工件厚度方向的分布．在此基础上,对小孔等离子弧焊接热场进行了有限元计算,分析了引弧后熔池及周围温度场的瞬时演变过程．计算出的小孔等离子弧焊缝形状与实验结果基本吻合,达到准稳态的时间与实验测试值一致．     

等离子弧焊小孔行为的反翘电压检测

在穿孔等离子弧焊接过程中,小孔稳定性对焊接过程的稳定和优质的焊缝成形是非常关键的。文中采用无源探针对由等离子弧梯度电压和等离子鞘层电压构成的等离子反翘(等离子云)电压进行检测。根据等离子鞘层理论,随等离子反翘长度和角度变化的反翘电压可以反映小孔的状态信息及其形成、坍塌过程。文中讨论了检测信号的特征,以及材料、探针位置、焊接电流,等离子气流等因素对检测信号的影响。试验证明,该方法可以有效的预测小孔信息和焊缝熔透情况。     

Influence of nozzle orifice diameter in keyhole plasma arc welding

Abstract

Keyhole welding with the plasma arc welding process occurs when the engineered nozzle and the plasma gas flowrate impart the arc pressure and heat distribution necessary for the formation of a keyhole weld pool. Experimental investigations were conducted to determine the influence of nozzle orifice diameter on weld width and weld stability for a range of substrate thicknesses in Ti-6Al-4V. The experimental results are compared with a semianalytical heat flow model. Both the experimental results and the semianalytical model show that the nozzle orifice diameter can significantly influence the top width and penetration for a given parameter set, particularly in relatively thin substrates.     

铝合金变极性等离子弧穿孔横焊焊缝成形规律分析

以穿孔等离子弧焊接过程中形成的穿孔熔池为研究对象,根据熔池热源形态的特点,采用数值模拟与试验相结合的手段研究横焊位置下的铝合金变极性等离子弧焊缝成形.由于焊接速度波动和工件厚度的影响,体热源作用下的穿孔熔池背面存在最高温度点和最大熔宽截面相背离的现象;因此通过对穿孔熔池背面进行分区和定义,提出温宽偏离度概念,即熔池背面最高温度点和最大熔宽截面的偏离程度,用以描述穿孔熔池状态及焊缝成形;通过调节焊枪角度来改变焊接过程中的温宽偏离度,在其它参数不变的情况下减轻重力在焊接过程中对焊缝成形的影响,实现变极性等离子弧穿孔焊接在横焊位置上的良好成形.     

Determining the keyhole geometry based on double-elliptic distribution of plasma arc pressure

The plasma arc pressure plays an important role in determining the keyhole formation and size. So it is of great significance to choose adaptive distribution mode of the plasma arc pressure for determining keyhole shape and size. In this study, through employing a double-elliptic distribution mode of plasma arc pressure, three-dimensional keyhole was numerically simulated. The unsymmetric feature of the keyhole inside the weld pool was described. The development of keyhole was demonstrated under different levels of welding current. The critical current required to form an open keyhole was obtained for the study cases.     

铝合金变极性等离子弧穿孔焊过程控制

分析了铝合金变极性等离子弧穿孔立焊工艺特点,提出了通过对焊接参数的精确控制,实现变断面铝合金变极性等离子弧穿孔立焊工艺的方法,并将焊接电流、离子气流量和焊接速度确定为变断面铝合金变极性等离子弧穿孔立焊过程的被调节参数.保持穿孔熔池上"热"和"力"的动态平衡是调节焊接参数的根本依据,是实现变断面试件自动焊接的关键所在.采用单片机为核心的控制器对焊接参数进行实时调节,动态保持穿孔熔池上热和力平衡,实现了变断面铝合金变极性等离子弧穿孔立焊工艺.     

小孔型等离子弧焊接条形气孔形成机理

等离子弧焊接中厚钢板时,常存在焊接工艺窗口窄问题. 在中厚不锈钢板小孔型等离子弧焊(keyhole plasma arc welding,K-PAW )中发现,离子气体流量较弱而使匙孔未打开,形成盲孔时,会在焊缝内产生平行于焊接方向的长条形气孔,形成条形气孔时,等离子弧形态发生明显变化,电弧面积增加且波动更为剧烈,出现向后的反射. 使用高速摄影装置研究了条形气孔的形成过程.结果表明,中厚板等离子弧焊中,条形气孔是在一定的焊接速度和较低的电弧能量下,熔池前壁倾角较大,等离子弧受熔池前壁反射作用冲击熔池后壁,使熔池后壁发生弯曲,并在一定的凝固条件下保留,产生平行长气孔. 对条形气孔的研究有助于为匙孔等离子弧焊接中匙孔形成条件及机制提供新认识.     

小孔等离子弧焊接热场的有限元分析

根据小孔等离子弧焊接的工艺特点，建立了相应的热源模型和焊接热场的分析模型。数值模拟结果表明，一般的双椭球体热源和三维锥体热源不能准确描述小孔等离子弧焊接热过程。提出了改进型的三维锥体热源模型，可以较准确地计算焊缝的正面和背面熔宽，但熔合线走向的计算精度仍较低。在此基础上，考虑等离子弧对熔池的热-力作用，建立了符合小孔形态的热源模型，对小孔等离子弧焊接热场进行了有限元分析，计算出的小孔等离子弧焊缝形状与试验结果吻合良好。     

Analysis of keyhole geometry in plasma arc welding

The key problem for numerical simulation of plasma arc welding （PAW） process is to develop a suitable and adaptive volumetric heat source mode which reflects the physical characteristics of keyhole PAW. To this end, the keyhole geometry under different PAW process conditions must be predicted. In this paper, a mathematical model for determining the keyhole shape is developed with considering the mass and momentum conservation of the in-keyhole plasma jet as well as the pressure equilibrium at the plasma jet/liquid metal boundary. A suitable heat source model related to the keyhole shape is applied to the calculation of PAW weld dimensions. The predicted results are in good agreement with the experimental ones.     

电子束焊熔池温度场及小孔演变的数值模拟

针对2024铝合金电子束定点焊物理输运特点,在质量守恒、动量守恒、能量守恒以及VOF方程的基础上,建立了电子束深熔焊三维数学模型,系统描述了加热阶段以及冷却回填阶段点焊熔池的温度场以及小孔的演变过程,并通过焊缝形貌对比对计算结果进行了试验验证.结果表明,蒸汽反冲压力是小孔形成和加深的主要驱动力;在小孔出现以后,加热阶段的熔池最高温度区间位于瞬态小孔的底部,而当熔池冷却时冷却速度由上至下逐渐增加,并导致了焊缝微观组织的晶粒细化.     

Soft variable polarity plasma arc horizontal welding technology and weld asymmetry

Abstract

Soft variable polarity plasma arc welding technology has been proposed to solve the problems in horizontal position welding for aluminium alloys. Arc thermal field shape, arc pressure distribution and the characteristic of the weld pool, which are important for keyhole stability, have been changed compared with the ordinary variable polarity plasma arc. Its stability in application can be evaluated by the operational window. The thermal cycle curves, microstructures and microhardness of the horizontal position weld indicate the weld asymmetry. The influence of asymmetry as well as welding defects on tensile strength and fracture behaviour has been studied. The fundamental reason for the asymmetry was considered as the asymmetric fluid flow around the keyhole in the weld pool.     

Measurement method of the arc welding current and voltage

Plasma arc welding can realize high-speed welding, deeper weld penetration and, furthermore, smaller thermal distortion. For these reasons, plasma arc welding is employed for keyhole welding. However, it has been pointed out that it is difficult to obtain the stability of the welding. In this study, we have developed a unified plasma arc welding model for analysing the welding mechanism and influence of the torch design and operation conditions of the arc on the welding process. In this paper, the keyhole welding of a thick aluminium plate employing the plasma arc was numerically analyzed for clarifying the mechanism determining the keyhole size which is important for improving the stability of the process. As a result, it was found that the keyhole size is determined mainly by a force balance between the surface tension of a weld pool and metal vapour pressure.     

Experimental determination of the weld penetration evolution in keyhole plasma arc welding

Keyhole plasma arc welding experiments are conducted to measure the weld geometry and penetration at different moments during the initial phase from igniting arc to quasi-steady state. Indirect information on keyhole formation and evolution in plasma arc welding can be extracted based on the weld macrophotograph at cross section. It has laid foundation to verify the mathematical models of keyhole plasma arc welding.     

NTWV-based sensing keyhole dimension in plasma arc welding

During stable keyhole plasma arc welding, the pilot arc and the transferred arc exist at the meantime, and the arcs can be considered as a composition of two parts inside and outside the nozzle, respectively. Under the mechanical constriction and thermal contraction effects, the inside arc has certain arc length, electron density and arc profile etc. inducing constant tungsten-to-nozzle voltage. However, the arc outside the nozzle diverges at about 5 degrees and has certain characteristics similar to the free arcs. The nozzle-to-workpiece voltage （NTWV） depends mainly on the length of the arc, which gets bigger as increasing of the weld penetration and keyhole size. The NTWV sensor is developed for monitoring NTWV in real time. The welding experiments are designed to get different penetrations and keyhole sizes. It is found that as the weld penetration and the keyhole size increase, NTWV also increases linearly. The NTWV signals can be used as the feedback variable in automatic control of keyhole plasma arc welding.     

Numerical analysis of transient keyhole shape in pulsed current plasma arc welding

Based on the characteristics of ＂one keyhole in a pulse＂ in pulsed current plasma arc welding （PAW） , the transient variation process of weld pool in a pulse cycle is simulated through the establishment of corresponding heat source model. And considering the effects of gravitational force, plasma arc pressure and surface tension on the weld pool surface, the dynamic change features of the keyhole shape in a pulse cycle are calculated by using surface deformation equation. Experiments are conducted and validate that the calctdated weld fusion line is in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Process control based on double-side image sensing of keyhole puddle for the VPPA welding of aluminum alloys

The double-side image sensing of the keyhole puddle in the variable polarity plasma arc welding of aluminum alloys has been investigated in this paper, to extract the characteristically geometrical size of the keyhole and to realize the feedback controlling for weld formation in the welding process. Some geometrical sizes of the visible keyhole in the front and back images such as the width, height, area, etc. can be used to monitor both the keyhole puddle and the weld formation in the welding process. Under the condition of the varied heat sink, varied gap and misalignment, the trend from normal welding to cutting can be reflected from the variations of geometrical sizes of the keyhole puddle respectively. The keyhole area, the keyhole height and the shape parameters of the keyhole puddle are the key parameters which reflect the trend from normal welding to cutting when meeting the condition of the varied heat sink, varied gap and misalignment respectively. The algorithm for the image processing of the keyhole puddle and the periphery extracting of the visible keyhole developed in the paper can be used to determine real-timely the geometrical sizes of the visible keyhole. Artificial neural network is applied to establish the model for predicting the geometrical sizes of the back keyhole puddle. The inputs of the model are the geometrical sizes of the front keyhole puddle and the weld parameters, the outputs of the model are the geometrical sizes of the back keyhole puddle. The model can be used to control the stability of keyhole and the weld formation.     

Novel soft variable polarity plasma arc and its influence on keyhole in horizontal welding of aluminium alloys

A novel soft variable polarity plasma arc has been proposed to solve the problems in horizontal welding of aluminium alloys (in 2G position). It is defined as an arc with reduced arc pressure while retaining the ability to maintain a stable keyhole. In this paper, its characteristics were studied and its influence on the stability of keyhole was investigated. The results indicate that it has been changed in the energy and pressure distribution compared with ordinary variable polarity plasma arc. It is beneficial for the stability of keyhole especially for the stability of keyhole shrinking process. The keyhole can be established easily. It can also improve the wetting and spreading of molten metal in weld pool. The reason for a stable keyhole is that the soft variable polarity plasma can provide a suitable heat input and a suitable arc pressure.