Theoretical study of Marangoni convection and weld penetration under influence of high oxygen content in base metal

Abstract

A 3D mathematical model is developed to simulate the weld pool development in a moving weld pool of 304 stainless steels with different oxygen concentrations. It is shown that the oxygen can cause significant changes in fluid flow patterns and temperature fields. When oxygen content is <280 ppm, the weld penetration and depth/width ratios increase sharply with increasing oxygen content; positive and negative temperature coefficients of surface tension coexist and cause shallow and wide weld pool. When oxygen content is in the range of 280–500 ppm, positive temperature coefficient of surface tension dominates the flow patterns and causes deep and narrow weld pool. The weld penetration and depth/width ratios remain nearly constant. When oxygen content is >500 ppm, the weld penetration and depth/width ratios decrease again. Vortexes that have different positions, strength and directions may be found in the pool. The vortexes with opposite directions caused by positive temperature coefficient of surface tension can efficiently transfer the thermal energy from the arc, creating a deep weld pool.     

Influence of welding parameters on distribution of wire feeding elements in CO2 laser GMA hybrid welding

Abstract

The effect of welding parameters on the distribution of wire feeding elements has been investigated during CO₂ laser and pulsed gas metal arc hybrid welding process. The molten metal flow on the pool surface and inside of the samples was observed by a high speed video camera and an in situ X-ray transmission imaging system respectively. The results indicate that the fluid flow towards the inside of keyhole, namely inward flow, improves the homogeneity of weld metal. The distribution of alloying elements is more homogeneous in leading laser compared with leading arc, since both of the drag force of the plasma jet and momentum of droplet promote the inward flow in leading laser. Almost homogeneous distribution of alloying elements can be attained if the oxygen content in the shielding gas is more than 2%, since the Marangoni flow direction changes from outward to inward with increasing the oxygen content.     

Numerical simulation of heat transfer and fluid flow in GTA/Laser hybrid welding

Abstract

In order to understand the temperature fields, cooling rates and mixing in the weld pool, a comprehensive, three-dimensional heat transfer and fluid flow model is developed and tested by comparing model predictions with two sets of experimental data. The first set of data was taken from the literature. The experiments varied the separation distance between the heat sources for three arc current levels at a constant laser power. The second set of experiments analysed the effect of varying laser power for a constant heat source separation distance. The results demonstrate that the distance between the two heat sources significantly affects the cooling rates. The calculated results showed that the hybrid weld pool was very well mixed with strong convection currents resulting from the interaction between the electromagnetic and Marangoni forces. The calculated and experimental results showed that hybrid welding increases the weld pool width and gap bridgability when compared with laser welding. The weld pool depth in hybrid welding was affected mainly by the characteristics of the laser beam. Hybrid weld pool penetration depth is maximised at an optimal distance between the arc electrode and laser beam. The cooling rate increases significantly when the heat sources are separated beyond a critical distance. At close separation between arc and laser, calculations show that the arc radius must be decreased to achieve the observed weld depths.     

外加磁场对镁合金焊接熔池形态的影响

以镁合金焊接熔池为研究对象,建立了移动热源作用下焊接熔池的三维数学模型. 利用大型通用有限元软件ANSYS将电磁场分析结果导入到热流场分析中,实现电磁场和热流场之间的耦合分析. 模拟了无外加磁场作用下以及外加磁场作用下镁合金焊接熔池的温度场分布和流体流动的速度矢量分布. 结果表明,外加磁场产生的电磁力驱动熔池中熔融的液态金属发生旋转运动,改变了液态金属原有的运动方式和传热方式,流体流动速度和流动范围增加,焊缝熔宽增大,熔深减小. 试验结果验证了模拟结果的可靠性.     

TIG焊接熔透熔池的数学模型

根据流体力学理论和变分法原理，推导出了熔透情况下ＴＩＧ焊接熔池上表面和下表面变形的方程，建立了ＴＩＧ焊接熔透熔池流场与热场的数值分析模型，采用非正交贴体曲线坐标系成功地处理了熔池表面的曲面边界，将熔透情况下熔池上下表面变形的计算，与熔池流场与热场的计算相结合，不仅较好地计算出熔池的流场与热场，同时求得了焊接熔池的上下表面变形。焊接工艺试验表明，根据该模型计算的焊缝成形与试验测试结果吻合程度良好。     

CuZnSnSi合金钎料相变过程的热分析动力学

CuZnSnSi合金钎料在钎焊钢工件中具有良好的综合性能.为进一步探究其合金性能,借助差示扫描分析(DSC)和热重分析(TG)技术,分别采用微分非等温法和积分非等温法分析了CuZnSnSi合金钎料相变过程的热分析动力学.结果表明,CuZnSnSi合金的相变温度范围为1150.5~1221.5 K,吸热峰温度为1174.46 K,在相变过程中没有化学反应,但出现升温段的吸热峰温度滞后于降温段的放热峰,说明了合金钎料在结晶过程需要一定的过冷度;非等温分析法计算得到合金钎料相变表观活化能为615.72 kJ/mol;由Arrhenius公式得出合金钎料相变速率常数k的变化规律为1.71×1027exp(-6.16×10⁵/RT).     

Effect of active flux addition on laser welding of austenitic stainless steel

Abstract

The use of active flux in tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is known to increase its weld depth. The present paper involves study of active flux laser beam welding (ALBW) of austenitic stainless steel sheets with respect to its effect on plasma plume, microstructure and mechanical properties of the resultant weldments. ALBW performed with SiO₂ as the flux significantly modified shape of the fusion zone (FZ) to produce narrower and deeper welds. Plasma plume associated with the process was considerably smaller and of lower intensity than that produced during bead on plate laser beam welding (LBW). Flux addition during LBW produced thin and rough weld bead associated with humping. The development of such a weld bead is cause by reversal in the direction of Marangoni flow by oxygen induced inversion of surface tension gradient, widely fluctuating plasma plume and presence of oxides on the weld pool surface preventing free flow of the melt. Active flux laser weldments exhibited lower ductility than that of bead on plate laser weldments.     

脉冲电流作用下TIG焊接熔池行为的数值模拟

建立了脉冲焊接熔池行为的数值分析模型,分析了脉冲电流对ＴＩＧ焊接熔池流场,热场及熔池形状的影响规律。计算结果表明：熔池体积对电流的脉冲作用较敏感;脉冲ＴＩＧ焊接熔池内流体流动的主要驱动力是表面张力梯度。溶池中的流场随电流作周期性变化。     

微量活性组元氧对焊接熔池Marangoni对流和熔池形貌影响的数值模拟

针对SUS304不锈钢的定点钨极惰性气体保护焊过程,建立三维瞬态定点热源作用下的焊接熔池数学模型,系统研究了不同氧含量下的熔池温度场、速度场以及熔池形貌演变过程.结果表明:随着熔池中活性组元氧的增加,熔池内的对流模式经历了以外对流为主、内外对流共存到以内对流为主的演变过程,熔池形貌由浅且宽形、"勺"形变成深且窄形.熔池中微量氧直接影响熔池表面张力温度梯度系数,改变熔池表面Marangoni对流模式和熔池最终形貌.当氧含量低于80×10-6时,熔池表面以外向Marangoni对流为主,熔池形貌宽且浅;当氧含量超过120×10-6时,熔池表面以内向Marangoni对流为主,熔池形貌窄且深;当氧含量处于(80-120)×10-6之间时,熔池形貌为"勺"形,并且随时间的增加,熔池内外对流区域逐渐变小,内对流区域逐渐变大.定点联合保护焊实验结果表明,熔池形貌变化规律的模拟结果与实验结果吻合.     

激光辅助活性焊接法

提出了激光辅助活性焊接的方法,研究了焊接参数对激光熔化处理后TIG焊接熔深、熔宽的影响.首先,使用极小功率激光在氧气保护下熔化焊件表面,使焊缝表面的氧含量增加.然后使用普通的TIG焊接,覆盖激光焊缝,达到增加熔深的目的.利用此方法,不使用活性剂就可以使TIG焊焊接熔深增加约2倍,与A-TIG焊相比没有表面熔渣,表面成形较好.小功率激光处理后焊缝中O元素含量增加,熔池表面张力温度系数由负变正,导致激光辅助活性焊熔深增加.

Abstract：

On the bases of the study for the mechanism of the increasing of A-TIG welding penetration, a new method of activating TIG welding, the laser aided activating TIG welding was proposed. At first, the surface of weld was melt by the mini power laser protected by oxygen. As a result, the oxygen content increases in the weld pool surface. Then the conventional TIG welding was used to cover the weld. The oxygen could change the direction of fluid flow in molten pool, which leads to the weld beads with narrower width and deeper penetration. Without the activating flux, the penetration can be increased by 2 times. There is no slag in the surface of weld and the appearance is good. The oxygen can change the temperature dependence of surface tension gradient from a negative value to a positive value; and cause the significant changes in the weld penetration. Fluid flow could be inward along the surface of the weld pool toward the center and then down. This fluid flow pattem transfers heat to the weld root and produces a relatively deep and narrow weld efficiently. This change is the main cause to increase the penetration.     

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.     

Influence of molten metal flow on undercutting formation in GMAW

Molten metal flow on weld pool surface in gas metal arc welding process is investigated using a vision-based sensing system and an interpolation algorithm. Bead formation is investigated by analysing flow patterns and its driving forces of weld pool under different welding speed, welding current and shielding gas. Results show that if longitudinal to transverse velocity ratio exceeds 2.0 in the front of weld pool, outward molten metal mainly driven by arc force cannot reach the widest section of the weld pool. Meanwhile, the transverse spreading of molten metal is still hindered in the middle of weld pool as it turns to be inward flow dominated by Marangoni force. These phenomena impede molten metal supply to weld toes which causes undercutting defect. Scaling analysis shows that the predicted undercutting defect agrees well with that resulted from experiments.     

Effect of oxygen content in He–O2 shielding gas on weld shape in ultra deep penetration TIG

Abstract

The effect of the shielding gas concentration on the weld shape was studied for the moving bead on plate TIG welding of SUS304 stainless steel under He–O₂ mixed shielding. The small addition of oxygen to the helium base shielding gas can precisely control the oxygen content in a liquid pool and the weld shape. Oxygen is a surface active element for stainless steel. When the oxygen content in the liquid pool is above the critical value of ～ 70 ppm, the weld shape suddenly changes from a wide shallow type to a deep narrow one due to the change in the Marangoni convection from the outward to inward direction on the liquid pool surface. Weld shape variations influenced by the welding parameters including welding speed, welding current and electrode tip work distance under pure He and He–0.4%O₂ mixed gas shielding were systematically investigated. The investigation results showed that the final shape of the TIG weld depends to a large extent on the pattern and magnitude of the Marangoni convection on the pool surface, which is governed by the combined effect of the oxygen content in a liquid pool, temperature coefficient of the surface tension (dσ s/dT) and the temperature gradient on the pool surface (dT/dr, r is the radius of the weld pool surface). It is considered that the change in welding parameters alters the temperature distribution and gradient on the pool surface, and thus, affects the magnitude of the Marangoni convection and final weld shape.     

Weld shape variation and electrode protection under Ar–(Ar–O2) double shielded GTA welding

Abstract

Double shielded gas tungsten arc welding (GTA welding or TIG welding) of an SUS304 stainless steel with pure inert argon as the inner layer shielding and the Ar–O₂ active gas as the outer layer shielding is proposed in this study in order to investigate its effect on the tungsten electrode protection and the weld shape variation. The experimental results show that the inner inert argon gas can successfully prevent the outer layer active gas from contacting and oxidising the tungsten electrode during the welding process. The active gas, oxygen, in the outer layer shielding is decomposed in the arc and dissolves in the liquid pool, which effectively adjusts the active element, oxygen, content in the weld metal. When the weld metal oxygen content is over 70 ppm, the surface tension induced Marangoni convection changes from outward into inward, and the weld shape varies from a wide shallow one to a narrow deep one. The effect of the inner layer gas flowrate on the weld bead morphology and the weld shape is investigated systematically. The results showed that when the flowrate of the inner argon shielding gas is too low, the weld bead is easily oxidised and the weld shape is wide and shallow. A heavy continuous oxide layer on the liquid pool is a barrier to the liquid pool movement.     

Three-dimensional turbulent weld pool convection in gas metal arc welding process

Abstract

A three-dimensional model has been developed to study turbulent fluid flow and heat transfer in a gas metal arc weld pool. The phase change process during melting and solidification is modelled using the enthalpy–porosity technique. Mass and energy transports by droplet transfer are considered through a thermal analysis of the electrode. The droplet heat addition into the molten pool is considered to be in the form of a volumetric heat source distributed in an imaginary cylindrical cavity within the weld pool ('cavity' model). A two-equation k-&epsi; model capable of addressing turbulent weld pool convection, taking into account the morphology of the phase change, is presented. The weld pool dynamics and geometry (shape and size) in a moving gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process are studied and the effects of enhanced diffusivities on the turbulent weld pool are discussed. The predicted weld pool geometry using laminar and turbulent models is also compared with corresponding experimental post-weld sections.     

不同驱动力对熔池表面变形行为影响的数值模拟

基于流体动力学方程，采用焓-孔隙度法来处理液-固相变，采用VOF方法追踪熔池自由表面变形，建立了固定电弧下的三维瞬态TIG焊熔池数学模型，求解获得了在浮力、Marangoni力、电磁力和电弧压力单独作用时的熔池表面变形行为及其温度场与速度场的分布.模拟结果表明，在大电流（I≥250 A）时，在浮力、表面张力温度系数为正时的Marangoni力、电磁力单独作用于熔池上表面将会产生凸起变形，在电弧压力、表面张力温度系数为负时的Marangoni力单独作用下，熔池上表面将会产生凹陷变形.在大电流下，TIG焊和活性TIG焊熔池均产生凹陷变形.TIG焊熔池的中心区域形成向内的涡流，边缘部位形成向外的涡流，而活性TIG熔池在熔池中心和熔池边缘则分别形成两种成因不同的内向涡流.熔池表面变形量并不是各个驱动力作用的简单叠加.     

Modeling of the Weld Shape Development During the Autogenous Welding Process by Coupling Welding Arc with Weld Pool

A numerical model of the welding arc is coupled to a model for the heat transfer and fluid flow in the weld pool of a SUS304 stainless steel during a moving GTA welding process. The described model avoids the use of the assumption of the empirical Gaussian boundary conditions, and at the same time, provides reliable boundary conditions to analyze the weld pool. Based on the two-dimensional axisymmetric numerical modeling of the argon arc, the heat flux to workpiece, the input current density, and the plasma drag stress are obtained. The arc temperature contours, the distributions of heat flux, and current density at the anode are in fair agreement with the reported experimental results. Numerical simulation and experimental studies to the weld pool development are carried out for a moving GTA welding on SUS304 stainless steel with different oxygen content from 30 to 220 ppm. The calculated result show that the oxygen can change the Marangoni convection from outward to inward direction on the liquid pool surface and make the wide shallow weld shape become narrow deep one. The calculated result for the weld shape and weld D/W ratio agrees well with the experimental one.     

Vorticity based turbulence model for thermofluids modelling of welds

Abstract

A comprehensive thermofluids model of stationary gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) has been developed and used to examine the effects of thermofluids phenomena on the predicted temperatures and flow field in the weld pool, as well as their impact on the resultant weld pool dimensions in 304 stainless steel and 6061 aluminium plates. A dynamic numerical grid remapping technique was used within the finite element based model to model the geometry of the solid/liquid interface and free surface of the weld pool. Initial work showed that correlation between experimental and predicted weld pool dimensions was only possible provided that the effects of turbulence were modelled using a well posed k - &epsi; turbulence model. However, the two-equation k - &epsi; turbulence model introduces additional complexity and requires considerable additional computational effort. To overcome these shortcomings, a simpler vorticity based turbulence model has been developed in which the turbulent viscosity and thermal conductivity are based upon the magnitude of the vorticity in the flow field as predicted through solution of the continuity, momentum and energy equations. Excellent correlation was obtained between the weld pool dimensions predicted by the vorticity based turbulence model, the predictions from the k - &epsi; turbulence model and the experimental data from welds made in 304 stainless steel with three different sulphur impurity concentrations and in 6061 aluminium. The advantage of the vorticity based turbulence model is that it is significantly less computationally intensive than the standard k - &epsi; turbulence model and has, therefore, the potential of providing tractable and practical computations of fully three-dimensional welding processes.     

Study of the law between the weld pool shape variations with the welding parameters under two TIG processes

A double-shielded TIG method was proposed to improve weld penetration and has been compared with the traditional TIG welding method under different welding parameters (i.e., speed, arc length and current). The strength of the Marangoni convection was calculated to estimate the influence of the welding parameters on the variations in weld pool shapes. The results show that the changes in the welding parameters directly impact the oxygen concentration in the weld pool and the temperature distribution on the pool surface. The oxygen content and heat distribution on the weld pool surface are determinants of the pattern and strength of the Marangoni convection. For a negative temperature coefficient of surface tension (∂σ/∂T < 0), an outward Marangoni convection leads to a wide and shallow weld pool shape. The narrow and deep weld pool shape occurs when the Marangoni convection flows along an inward direction (∂σ/∂T > 0). The oxide layer that may appear with the relatively high oxygen content in the weld pool is harmful for the heat flow along the pool surface so as to reduce the welding efficiency especially in the double shielded TIG process.     

Absorption and transport of hydrogen during gas metal arc welding of low alloy steel

Abstract

Although hydrogen induced cracking remains a major problem in the welding of steels, the present methods of managing hydrogen in the weldment are mostly empirical in nature. In recent years, numerical modelling of heat transfer and fluid flow has provided detailed insight into the physical processes in welding. However, very little effort has been made in the past to use these transport phenomena based calculations to understand the dissolution of hydrogen in the weld metal and its subsequent transport in the liquid and solid regions. The aim of the present work was to address this important need. Heat transfer, fluid flow, and hydrogen transport calculations in transient, three-dimensional form are used to predict the spatial distribution of hydrogen concentration in the weld metal during gas metal arc welding of mild steels for different welding conditions. The enhanced hydrogen solubility in the weld metal above that predicted by Sieverts law was determined from a model for the partitioning of hydrogen between the weldment and its plasma environment. The model considers the presence of a superequilibrium concentration of atomic hydrogen which is significantly higher than that produced by thermal dissociation. The results indicate that for a meaningful prediction of the hydrogen concentration in the weld metal, hydrogen absorption at the weld pool surface, transport of hydrogen within the weld pool, and the diffusion of hydrogen away from the solidified weld metal should be considered simultaneously. The agreement between the experimental and predicted results indicates significant promise for predicting weld metal hydrogen concentration in fusion welds from fundamentals of transport phenomena.