Heat transfer and fluid flow in a partially or fully penetrated weld pool in gas tungsten arc welding

In this study, fluid flow driven by a combination of electromagnetic force, buoyancy force, arc drag force, and surface tension gradient is numerically analyzed for a partially or fully penetrated weld pool in stationary gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). Irregular shape of the weld pool and the moving liquid–solid interface is handled by a boundary-fitted-coordinates technique. Surface tension on the top and the bottom free surfaces of the weld pool is found to play a critical role in determining the flow pattern in the weld pool. The calculated GTA weld bead geometry compares favorably with experimental results.     

Numerical and experimental study of arc and weld pool behaviour for pulsed current GTA welding

A finite element model is introduced in this paper to describe the coupling between the welding arc and the weld pool dynamic in pulsed gas tungsten arc welding. The cathode, arc-plasma and melting anode regions are taken into account. The unified time-dependent model describes the heat transfer, fluid flow and electromagnetic fields in the three regions. The originality of the numerical model is its ability to treat the arc and weld pool time evolution under pulsed current welding in a unified formalism, taking into account eddy current in the weld pool. The case of thin plates with fully penetrated weld pools is also handled.To validate the predictions of the model, an Infra-Red camera is used to film the dynamic of the weld pool surface. Then an image processing algorithm permits to get the time evolution of the weld pool width directly from the film. The numerical model is applied to the 304 stainless steel welding, and the computed results show that the predictions are in fair agreement with the experimental results.     

Stellite 21 coatings on AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel by gas tungsten arc welding

Abstract

Degradation of AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel, a typical alloy for many applications such as steam turbine blade, could impair its efficiency and lifetime. To overcome this problem, critical surfaces could be modified by weld cladding via gas tungsten arc welding technique. In the present research, a comparative study of Stellite 21 weld overlays deposited in three different thicknesses, i.e. dilutions, at various preheat and post-weld heat treatment temperatures on the surface of AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel, has been made. The surface of coatings has been examined to reveal their microstructures, phase characterisation and mechanical properties using XRD, microhardness tester and metallographic techniques. The results showed that the deposition of Stellite 21 coating on AISI 410 martensitic stainless steel improved its corrosion resistance. Moreover, the volumetric dilution had a considerable effect on the hardness, microstructure and electrochemical corrosion behaviour of Stellite 21 weld overlays.     

Three-dimensional modeling of arc plasma and metal transfer in gas metal arc welding

An integrated comprehensive 3D model has been developed to study the transport phenomena in gas metal arc welding (GMAW). This includes the arc plasma, droplet generation, transfer and impingement onto the weld pool, and weld pool dynamics. The continuum formulation is used for the conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy in the metal zone. The free surface is tracked using the volume-of-fluid (VOF) technique. The 3D plasma arc model is solved for the electric and magnetic fields in the entire domain. The interaction and coupling between the metal zone and the plasma zone is considered. The distributions of velocity, pressure, temperature, and free surface for the metal zone and the velocity, pressure, and temperature for the plasma zone are all calculated as a function of time. The numerical results show the time-dependant distributions of arc pressure, current density, and heat transfer at the workpiece surface are different from presumed Gaussian distributions in previous models. It is also observed that these distributions for a moving arc are non-axisymmetric and the peaks shift to the arc moving direction.     

Determination of equilibrium wire-feed-speeds for stable gas metal arc welding

In gas metal arc welding (GMAW), a consumable electrode wire is fed normally at a pre-determined constant speed in order to achieve a stable welding process for given welding conditions. In this article, a comprehensive mathematical model for GMAW was employed to study the interplay among electrode melting; the formation, detachment, and transfer of droplets; and the plasma arc under various welding conditions. It is found that a stable GMAW process can be obtained through a balance between the wire-feed-speed (WFS) and the dynamic electrode melting rate due to the transient behavior of plasma arc. Otherwise, an unstable welding process including electrode burned-back or stick-onto the weld pool could occur. The model-predicted equilibrium WFS varying with welding current and feeding-wire diameter is in good agreement with the published empirical results obtained through a trial-and-error procedure.     

Heat and mass transfer in gas metal arc welding. Part I: The arc

A unified comprehensive model was developed to simulate the transport phenomena occurring during the gas metal arc welding process. An interactive coupling between arc plasma; melting of the electrode; droplet formation, detachment, transfer, and impingement onto the workpiece; and weld pool dynamics all were considered. Based on the unified model, a thorough investigation of the plasma arc characteristics during the gas metal arc welding process was conducted. It was found that the droplet transfer and the deformed weld pool surface have significant effects on the transient distributions of current density, arc temperature and arc pressure, which were normally assumed to be constant Gaussian profiles.     

Effect of weld metal properties on fatigue crack growth behaviour of gas tungsten arc welded AISI 409M grade ferritic stainless steel joints

The effect of filler metals such as austenitic stainless steel, ferritic stainless steel and duplex stainless steel on fatigue crack growth behaviour of the gas tungsten arc welded ferritic stainless steel joints was investigated. Rolled plates of 4 mm thickness were used as the base material for preparing single ‘V’ butt welded joints. Centre cracked tensile (CCT) specimens were prepared to evaluate fatigue crack growth behaviour. Servo hydraulic controlled fatigue testing machine was used to evaluate the fatigue crack growth behaviour of the welded joints. From this investigation, it was found that the joints fabricated by duplex stainless steel filler metal showed superior fatigue crack growth resistance compared to the joints fabricated by austenitic and ferritic stainless steel filler metals. Higher yield strength, hardness and relatively higher toughness may be the reasons for superior fatigue performance of the joints fabricated by duplex stainless steel filler metal.     

Heat and mass transfer in gas metal arc welding. Part II: The metal

In this Part II, a thorough investigation of the melting of the electrode; the droplet formation, detachment, transfer and impingement onto the workpiece, and the weld-pool formation and dynamics was conducted. The transient melt-flow velocity and temperature distributions in the droplet and in the weld pool were calculated. The resulting crater in the weld pool and the weld-pool oscillation due to periodical droplet impingement were predicted. The solidification process in the electrode and in the weld pool after the current was turned off was also simulated. The predicted droplet flight trajectory is in good agreement with published data.     

Weld pool dynamics and the formation of ripples in 3D gas metal arc welding

This article studies the transient weld pool dynamics under the periodical impingement of filler droplets that carry mass, momentum, thermal energy, and species in a moving 3D gas metal arc welding. The complicated transport phenomena in the weld pool are caused by the combined effect of droplet impingement, gravity, electromagnetic force, plasma arc force, and surface tension force (Marangoni effect). The weld pool shape and the distributions of temperature, velocity, and species in the weld pool are calculated as a function of time. The phenomena of “open and close-up” for a crater in the weld pool and the corresponding weld pool dynamics are analyzed. The commonly observed ripples at the surface of a solidified weld bead are, for the first time, predicted by the present model. Detailed mechanisms leading to the formation of ripples are discussed.     

Predicting the influence of groove angle on heat transfer and fluid flow for new gas metal arc welding processes

This article studies the three dimensional transient weld pool dynamics and the influence of groove angle on welding of low carbon structural steel plates using the ForceArc® process. The deformation of the weld bead is also calculated with an accurate coupling of the heat transfer with fluid flow through continuity, momentum and the energy equations combined with the effect of droplet impingement, gravity, electromagnetic force, buoyancy, drag forces and surface tension force (Marangoni effect). Different angles of V groove are employed under the same welding parameters and their influence on the weld pool behavior and weld bead geometry is calculated and analyzed, which is needed for subsequent calculations of residual stress and distortion of the workpiece.Such a simulation is an effective way to study welding processes because the influence of all welding parameters can be analyzed separately with respect to heat transfer, weld pool dynamic, and microstructure of the weld. Good agreement is found between the predicted and experimentally determined weld bead cross-section and temperature cycles. It is found that the main flow pattern is more or less the same although the groove angle increases, but it will evoke larger amount of fluid to flow downward to get deeper penetration.     

Multivariable adaptive control of the bead profile geometry in gas metal arc welding with thermal scanning

This research implements the newly introduced scan welding technique in processes with material deposition. A laboratory station is developed with robotic plasma-arc welding under infrared pyrometry sensing for thermal scanning, and with gas metal arc welding under laser profilometry feedback for material transfer. The dynamics of the weld profile geometry (i.e. the bead width and reinforcement height) are modeled experimentally with respect to the process conditions (weld speed and wire feed). This model serves as the basis for the development of a simple geometry feedback control scheme. A multivariable adaptive control system, based on a generalized one step ahead regulation algorithm is also established and validated experimentally. Application of such bead profile regulation is explored in multipass weld joining, orbital welding, coating hardfacing and rapid manufacturing methods.     

高压加热器进出水管的埋弧焊接技术

高压加热器的进出水接管与水室的连接方式有两种设计结构,一种是插入式结构,一种是安放式结构,目前国内自主设计的高加多为插入式结构,且马鞍埋弧焊接技术较为成熟,而一些按ASME标准设计的高加,采用了骑坐式结构,目前也实现了埋弧焊接.     

Experimental investigation on the effect of photovoltaic panel partially and fully submerged in water

This study presents an experimental analysis of improving the thermal, electrical efficiency, and yield of a conventional solar still (CSS). The photovoltaic (PV) efficiency decreases with increase in water depth inside the basin while the still efficiency is higher in the case of fully submerged condition. The maximum water production was about 8 kg/m ²/day with PV under fully submerged condition; and during off‐shine hours the still efficiency was higher when compared with the partially submerged condition. Similarly, with a decrease in water temperature the panel efficiency is increases. The maximum hourly water production with and without the PV was found to be 1.3 and 0.45 kg/m ², respectively. The main outcome of this study is that this mechanism can be used in isolated locations where there is a scarcity of current and distilled water.     

Finite circular fin method for wavy fin-and-tube heat exchangers under fully and partially wet surface conditions

The present study proposes the finite circular fin method for analyzing the heat and mass transfer characteristics of wavy fin-and-tube heat exchangers under fully and partially wet surface conditions. The analysis is carried out by dividing the wavy fin-and-tube heat exchanger into many tiny segments. The tiny segments can be analyzed based on surface conditions, i.e. fully wet, fully dry or partially wet surface condition. From the experimental results, it is found that the heat and mass transfer characteristics are insensitive to the inlet relative humidity but the effect of relative humidity on mass transfer characteristic become more pronounced when the partially wet surface condition takes place. The heat transfer characteristic is independent of the fin spacing. Effect of fin spacing on mass transfer characteristic is small when fin spacing is larger than 2.5 mm. However, at smaller fin spacing, the mass transfer characteristic slightly decreases when the relative humidity increases. The ratios of h_c,o/h_d,oC_p,a are in the range of 0.6–1.2. Correlations are proposed to describe the heat and mass transfer characteristics. These correlations can describe 95.63% of the heat transfer characteristic within 15% and 95.14% of the mass transfer characteristic within 20%. Correspondingly, 94.68% of the ratios of h_c,o/h_d,oC_p,a are predicted by the proposed correlation within 20%.     

Sensitivity to welding positions and parameters in GTA welding with a 3D multiphysics numerical model

A three-dimensional numerical model of Gas Tungsten Arc welding has been developed to predict weld a bead shape, fluid flow in the weld pool, as well as thermal field in the workpiece. This model accounts for coupled electromagnetism, heat transfer, and fluid flow with a moving free surface to simulate different welding positions. The solution strategy of the coupled non-linear equations that has been implemented in the Cast?M finite-element code is also discussed. The capabilities of our numerical model are first assessed by comparison to the experimental results. Then, as fluid flows in a weld pool play a prominent role in the weld quality as well as in the final shape of the weld bead seam, the effect of various welding positions on the weld pool shape has been investigated. This constitutes the main novelty of this work. The performed computations point out a strong sensitivity to gravity on the weld pool shape depending on assisting or opposing the weld direction with respect to gravity. This study contributes to assessing the model capabilities that provide a deeper physical insight into a more efficient optimization of welding processes.     

汽化炉封头与筒身内环缝埋弧焊应用

在石化容器的焊接生产过程中,埋弧自动焊以较高的焊接生产效率和稳定的焊接质量,得到了广泛的应用.本文介绍了在汽化炉的焊接生产中,通过对埋弧焊接设备的改造,实现了封头和筒身对接内环缝的埋弧焊接,提高了生产效率,降低了操作者的劳动强度,保证了焊接质量.     

Optimal Reynolds number for the fully developed laminar forced convection in a helical coiled tube

This paper analyzes the optimal Re for the steady, laminar, fully developed forced convection in a helical coiled tube with constant wall heat flux based on minimal entropy generation principle. Two working fluids, water and air, are considered. It is found that the entropy generation distributions are relatively insensitive to coil pitch, λ. Through the entropy generation analysis for cases of coil curvature ratio, δ ranging from 0.01 to 0.3, and two dimensionless duty parameters, η₁ from 0.1 to 3.0, and η₂/10²⁰ from 0.01 to 1.0, the optimal Re for cases with various combinations of the design parameters is reported. In addition, a correlation equation for the optimal Re, δ, η₁, and η₂ is proposed after a least-square-error analysis. The optimal Re should be adopted as the operating condition according to the relevant design parameters of the helical coils so that the thermal system can have the best exergy utilization with the least irreversibility.     

Effects of electromagnetic force on melt flow and porosity prevention in pulsed laser keyhole welding

Porosity formation in pulsed laser keyhole welding was found to be affected by two competing factors: (1) the solidification rate of molten metal and (2) the back filling speed of molten metal during the keyhole collapse process. Porosity (pores/voids) was found in welds when the solidification rate of molten metal exceeds the back filling speed of molten metal. In this study, the use of electromagnetic force was proposed to control the back filling speed of molten metal, and a mathematical model was developed to investigate the effects of electromagnetic force on the transient melt flow, keyhole dynamics, and porosity formation. The results demonstrate that porosity in pulsed laser welding can be prevented by an applied electromagnetic force. Parametric studies to determine the desired strength of the electromagnetic force and its duration were also conducted to achieve quality welds.     

Finite circular fin method for heat and mass transfer characteristics for plain fin-and-tube heat exchangers under fully and partially wet surface conditions

This study proposes a new method, namely the “finite circular fin method” (FCFM), to analyze the performance of fin-and-tube heat exchangers having plain fin configuration under dehumidifying conditions. The analysis is done by dividing the heat exchanger into many tiny segments (number of tube rows × number of tube passes per row × number of fins). The tiny segments are distinguished into three types: the fully dry, partially wet or fully wet surface conditions. The proposed method is capable of handling fully and partially wet surfaces. From the test results, it is found that the sensible heat transfer performance and the mass transfer performance are insensitive to changes of fin pitch. The influence of inlet relative humidity on the sensible heat transfer performance is small, and is almost negligible when the number of tube rows is above four. For one and two row configurations, considerable increase of mass transfer performance is encountered when partially wet condition takes place. The sensible heat transfer coefficient is about the same for those in fully wet and partially wet conditions provided that the number of tube row is equal or greater than four. Correlations applicable for both fully wet and partially wet conditions are proposed to describe the heat and mass performance for the present plain fin configuration.