Abstract
Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) using the electrode with negative polarity (DCEN) has been frequently suggested as a potential means of increasing production capacity. The objective of this work was to further study the performance of negative polarity in GMAW of carbon steels. In this project phase, bead-on-plate welds were carried out in flat position to assess the effect of different potential shielding gas compositions on bead geometry, finishing and spattering. The characteristics were compared with DCEP at the same current, but depositing the same volume of material per unit of length (more industrial related comparison). The arc length was kept the same by adjusting voltage to reach shortest arcs, yet with suitable non short-circuiting metal transfer mode. An approach to measure bead convexity was also proposed and assessed. The results showed that DCEN is feasible as a means of increasing GMAW production capacity. However, to become DCEN applicable with GMAW, the results suggest an Ar-based blend with around 6.5% of O2 is the most appropriate shielding gas, as much as that there is a demand for a standard electronic controlled power source able to work in constant current mode.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Arif N, Chung H (Sep 2014) Alternating current-gas metal arc welding for application to thin sheets. J Mater Process Technol 214(9):1828–1837. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.03.034
AWS (1991) Welding Processes: Welding Handbook – Vol 2, 8th Edn. AWS, p 119: ISBN: 0–87171-354.3
Dutra JC, Gonçalves E, Silva RH, Savi BM, Marques C, Alarcon OE (2016) New methodology for AC-pulsed GMAW parameterization applied to aluminum shipbuilding. J Braz Soc Mech Sci Eng 38(1):99–107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-015-0351-3
Edstorp M (2008) Weld pool simulations, PhD. Thesis, Chalmers University of Technology and University of Gothenburg, Department of Mathematical Sciences. NO:19, ISSN 1652-9715, http://www.math.chalmers.se/Math/Research/Preprints/2008/19.pdf
Egerland S (2015) A contribution to arc length discussion. Soldag Insp 20(3):367–380. https://doi.org/10.1590/0104-9224/SI2004.06
Hu J, Tsai HL (2007) Heat and mass transfer in gas metal arc welding - part I: the arc. Int J Heat Mass Transf 50(5–6):833–846. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2006.08.025
Jönsson PG, Murphy AB, Szekely J (1995) The influence of oxygen additions on argon-shielded GMAW processes. Weld J AWS 74(2):48s-58s
Kim K, Chung H (2017) Wire melting rate of alternating current gas metal arc welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 90(5-8):1253–1263. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-016-9384-8
Lucas W, Street JA, Watkins PVC (1978) Solid wire AC MIG welding. Welding Res Int 8(2):102–127
Mougenot J, Gonzales J-J, Freton P, Masquère M (2013) Plasma-weld pool interaction in tungsten inert gas configuration. J Phys D Appl Phys 46(13) 14 p. https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/46/13/135206
Murphy AB (2010) The effect of metal vapor in arc welding. J Phys D Appl Phys 43(43) 31 p. https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/43/43/434001434001
Norrish J (1974) High deposition MIG welding with electrode negative polarity. Proc. Conf. “Advances in Welding Processes”, vol 16. TWI paper, Harrogate, pp 121 –128
Park HJ, Kim DC, Kang MJ, Rhee S (2013) The arc phenomenon by the characteristic of EN ratio in AC pulse GMAW. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 66(5–8):867–875. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-012-4371-1
Pitscheneder W, Debroy T, Mundra K (1996) Role of sulfur and processing variables on the temporal evolution of weld pool geometry during multikilowatt laser beam welding of steels. Welding J 75(3):71.s–80.s
Saldi ZS (2012) Marangoni driven free surface flows in liquid weld pools 159 p. Doctoral Thesis, Delft University of Technology, Fac Appl Sci. https://doi.org/10.4233/uuid:8401374b-9e9c-4d25-86b7-fc445ec73d27
Scotti A, Rodrigues CEAL (2009) Determination of momentum as a mean of quantifying the mechanical energy delivered by droplets during MIG/MAG welding. Eur Phys J Appl Phys 45(1):11201. https://doi.org/10.1051/epjap:2008196
Scotti A, Ponomarev V, Lucas W (2014) Interchangeable metal transfer phenomenon in GMA welding: features, mechanisms, classification. J Mater Process Technol 214(11):2488–2496. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.05.022
Shirvan AJ, Choquet I, Nilsson H (2016) Effect of cathode model on arc attachment for short high-intensity arc on a refractory cathode. J Phys D Appl Phys 49(48):17. https://doi.org/10.1088/0022-3727/49/48/485201
Silva DCC, Scotti A (2017) Using either mean or RMS values to represent current in modeling of arc welding bead geometries. J Mater Process Technol 240:382–387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2016.10.008
Souza D, Resende AA, Scotti A (2010) A qualitative model to explain the polarity influence on the fusion rate in the MIG/MAG process. Weld Int 24(12):934–941. https://doi.org/10.1080/09507110903569032
Acknowledgements
The authors of this work would like to thank Esab AB and University West for the laboratory facilities. They acknowledge the financial support from the Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth, under grant 20200328, and Region Västra Götaland, under grant RUN 612-0254-15. These grants support the project MAPLAB. They also thank the colleague Dr. Isabelle Choquet, for the inputs on bead formation governing parameters.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
About this article
Cite this article
Li, P., Hurtig, K., Högström, M. et al. A contribution to the study of negative polarity in GMA welding. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 95, 2543–2553 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-017-1349-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-017-1349-z