Heat transfer and fluid flow in the welding arc

Through the numerical solution of the Navier/Stokes equation, the energy transport equation, and the magnetic diffusion equation, a mathematical model has been developed to predict the velocity, temperature, and current density distributions in inert gas welding arcs. Although the model has one adjustable parameter, the cathode current density, it was found that a single value of this variable was sufficient to provide internally consistent results for a range of arc lengths and arc currents representative of welding. The computed temperature distributions in the arc were found to be in good agreement with spectroscopically measured temperatures taken from the literature, and similar agreement was obtained between the predicted and measured current density distributions at the surface of water cooled copper anodes. The mechanisms of heat and momentum transfer to the anode were investigated in the light of recent findings concerning the anode boundary layer and the presence of negative anode fall voltages. The predicted convective heat fluxes to the anode were found to be generally consistent with experimental data.