Numerical simulation for welding pool and welding arc with variable active element and welding parameters

Abstract

A numerical modelling of the welding arc and weld pool is established for moving argon shielded gas tungsten arc welding to systematically investigate the effect of the active element oxygen and the welding parameters on the Marangoni convection and the weld shape using FLUENT software. The different welding parameters will change the temperature distribution and gradient on the pool surface, and affect the strength of Marangoni convection and the weld shape. Under high oxygen content, the weld depth/width (D/W) ratio substantially depends on the welding parameters. A high welding speed or large electrode gap (arc length) will make the weld D/W ratio decrease. The weld D/W ratio initially increases and then remains constant around 0·5 with the increasing welding current. When the oxygen content is lower, the weld D/W ratio decreases with the increasing welding current. However, the weld D/W ratio is not sensitive to the welding speed or electrode gap. The predicted weld D/W ratio agrees well with the experimental results.