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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Gas contamination during plasma welding in Al–Li alloy 2195

Abstract

Keyhole and cover pass variable polarity plasma arc welds were made on aluminium alloy 2195 with measured contamination levels of nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen. Contamination levels ranged from less than 10 to 500 ppm in both the argon plasma gas and the helium shield gas. It was found that nitrogen leads to more severe porosity than either hydrogen or oxygen, and that rear shielding is required for keyhole welding of Al–Li 2195 alloy to protect the weld from nitrogen in the atmosphere. Both nitrogen and oxygen contamination produced a dark surface on the weld bead, which comprised metallic aluminium particles, nucleated in the melt, that had aggregated at the surface of the weld pool.     

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.     

Study of keyhole closure and analysis of microstructure and mechanical performance of weld joints for variable polarity vertical up plasma arc welding process

Abstract

Two technical approaches for keyhole closure were conducted. Workpieces of aluminium alloy 2219 were welded using variable polarity vertical up plasma arc welding technology. Effects of welding process parameters on keyhole closure were analysed. Appropriate technical criteria for keyhole closure in the welding of aluminium alloys (3 or 6 mm in thickness) via the variable polarity vertical up plasma arc welding technique were obtained. Experimental simulation of girth welding (overlap welding) was conducted using the appropriate process parameters for the keyhole closure stage of plate butt welding, and the feasibility of circumferential welding was verified. Accordingly, girth welding of the external tank of a carrier rocket was achieved using the appropriate parameters for the keyhole closure technique. In addition, the metallurgical process and mechanical performance for the single pass and overlap welds were analysed and compared.     

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．     

Analytical thermal model of conduction mode double sided arc welding

Abstract

An analytical thermal model of conduction mode double sided arc welding (DSAW) has been derived and used to predict the weld pool dimensions and shapes and temperatures within 2˙5 and 1˙15 mm thick AA5182 Al alloy sheets as functions of the primary DSAW parameters. Separate Gaussian distributed arc heat sources from a plasma arc welding and gas tungsten arc welding torch were assumed to act on the top and bottom surfaces of the sheets. There was excellent correlation between observed and predicted DSAW weld pool dimensions and shapes provided that suitable values for arc efficiencies and distribution coefficients for the two separate arcs were used in the model. The model is capable of predicting weld pool dimensions and shapes of both full and partial penetration conduction mode DSAW welds made in Al alloy sheet, the welding speed at which there is a transition from full to partial penetration welding and the speed above which no melting occurs.     

2A12铝合金变极性等离子弧穿孔焊缝性能分析

采用具有辅助压缩孔喷嘴结构的焊枪,在大电流高焊速的焊接工艺下制备了2A12铝合金变极性等离子弧穿孔焊缝,并分析了焊缝的组织和力学性能.由于辅助压缩孔对焊接电弧的压缩,使正面焊缝宽度变窄,背面焊缝宽度增加,并提高了两侧焊缝的余高.焊缝内部以细小的等轴非枝晶结构为主,其强化相以Al₂Cu为主,还有少量的S相.Al₂Cu的形状及其分布状况决定了焊缝的力学性能,试验表明基体和焊缝的硬度差别不大,焊缝沿中轴线的显微硬度呈马鞍状分布,焊缝内部比较平缓,正反两侧焊缝的硬度分布波动较大.     

Numerical analysis of keyhole establishment time in keyhole plasma arc welding

Numerical analysis of keyhole shape and keyhole establishment time is of great significance for selection and optimization of the process parameters in keyhole plasma arc welding. In this paper, a three-dimensional transient model is developed to analyze the evolutions of keyhole shape and keyhole establishment time in continuous current plasma arc welding process. Firstly, a combined volumetric heat source model is used to simulate the transient variation of temperature field. And then the surfaced formation equation is adopted to calculate dynamic features of the keyhole shape and keyhole establishment time inside weld pool, in which the force action on weld pool surface is considered. Experiment is conducted to validate the numerical simulation results. The predicted keyhole size and keyhole establishment time are in agreement with the experimental measurement. And the calculated fusion zone geometry is consistent with the measured one.     

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.     

变极性脉冲MIG焊的控制

研究变极性脉冲MIC焊的主要目的是控制形成浅焯缝,高效焊接铝合金薄板变极性脉冲MIG蚌的控制系统由逆史控制系统和单片机控制系统构成。控制系统协调控制电弧极性、电弧稳定性、焊丝熔化及熔滴过渡、电弧电压等焊接参数,获得稳定的焊接过程。变极性脉冲MIG焊在电弧EP极性时,利用脉冲电流熔化焊丝、形成熔滴过渡,电弧EN极性时电弧沿焊丝端上爬,EN极性电孤促进焊丝熔化、减小电弧对熔池的加热作用,减小焊缝熔深,焊接薄板时其有独特优势。     

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.     

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.     

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...     

焊丝熔化方式对激光焊接过程的影响

研究了两种焊丝熔化方法(电弧预熔丝激光焊、激光填丝焊)激光焊接过程对匙孔稳定性以及焊缝成形的影响,进一步研究了焊丝熔化方法对焊接接头质量的影响,并对比分析了两种焊丝熔化方式对焊接速度的适应性. 结果表明,电弧预熔丝激光焊过程中,熔池表面匙孔开口尺寸变化不大,匙孔较为稳定;激光填丝焊方法由于熔化的液态金属距离匙孔边缘很近,焊接过程中熔池表面匙孔开口尺寸变化较大,而且容易出现熔池表面匙孔的闭合. 与激光填丝焊相比,电弧预熔丝激光焊熔化的焊丝端部可以沿熔池边缘流入,与匙孔边缘的距离较远,匙孔稳定性较好,焊缝气孔数量较少. 当焊接速度为8 m/min时,电弧预熔丝激光焊的焊缝成形良好;而激光填丝焊焊缝背面成形不连续,并且出现了未焊透的缺陷.     

电弧弧长对激光-电弧复合焊飞溅和底部驼峰的影响

由于热源形式的特殊性,激光-电弧复合焊接过程中激光和电弧间易发生相互干扰,产生飞溅和底部驼峰等缺陷。以590 MPa级船用高强钢为研究对象,研究了电弧弧长对激光-电弧复合焊飞溅和焊缝底部驼峰的影响。为了深入研究激光-电弧复合焊飞溅和底部驼峰的产生机理,利用高速摄像设备对熔滴过渡行为和焊缝底部熔池进行了观察。结果表明,适当缩短电弧弧长可以降低激光和电弧间的相互干扰,提高复合焊接过程的稳定性,进而降低飞溅产生的倾向。底部驼峰是小孔熔透性差和底部熔池流动不连续所引起的。缩短电弧弧长可以对底部驼峰的产生起到抑制作用,这是因为缩短电弧弧长可以降低等离子体对激光的吸收,提高激光的能量利用率,增加小孔熔透性和稳定性。 创新点： 研究了电弧弧长对激光-电弧复合焊飞溅和底部驼峰的影响,采用高速摄像方法对底部熔池流动进行了观察,进一步明确了激光-电弧复合焊接焊缝底部驼峰的产生原因。     

2A14铝合金变极性等离子横向焊缝成形特点

对6 mm厚2A14铝合金变极性等离子弧横向焊接的难点及焊接工艺参数的特点进行了研究,通过横向焊穿孔熔池受力分析,阐释了变极性等离子横向焊缝成形缺陷产生的原因.变极性等离子弧横向焊接的难点是焊缝正面和背面的咬边缺陷及焊缝上部(靠近熔合线)宏观气孔的聚集.稍小的焊接线能量有利于消除横向焊缝正面咬边缺陷,稍大的焊接线能量有利于消除焊缝背面咬边缺陷.分析认为变极性等离子横向焊缺陷的产生与穿孔熔池受力平衡及重力方向改变导致的流动密切相关.     

不锈钢PA-GTA双面弧焊工艺特点分析

详细分析了不锈钢等离子弧(PA)-钨极氩弧(GTA)双面弧焊(DSAW)的工艺特点,该工艺可以增加熔深,减小焊后热变形,尤其适用于中厚板的焊接.当小孔效应建立后,PA-GTA双面弧焊过程中的电弧均得到了不同程度的压缩,两焊枪之间的电弧电压出现下降趋势,节省了能源.形成小孔后,电弧穿过工件从工件内部进行加热,提高了热效率.表面张力、电弧吹力和电磁搅拌力均有利于获得较大的熔深,浮力有利于增加焊缝中间部位的宽度.