Analysis of transient temperature distribution in rotating arc GMA welding by considering droplet deflection

Abstract

This paper presents a mathematical model predicting the temperature distribution in rotating GMA welding. The bead width increases with rotation frequency at the same rotation diameter because the molten droplets are deflected by centrifugal force. The numerical solution is obtained by solving the transient three-dimensional heat conduction equation considering the heat input from the welding arc, cathode heating and molten droplets. Generally in GMA welding the heat input may be assumed as a normally distributed source, but the droplet deflection causes some changes in the heat input distribution. To estimate the heat flux distribution due to the molten droplet, the contact point where the droplet is transferred on the weld pool surface is calculated from the flight trajectory of the droplets under the arc plasma velocity field obtained from the arc plasma analysis. The numerical analysis shows a tendency of broadened bead width and shallow penetration depth with the increase of rotating frequency. The simulation results are in good agreement with those obtained by the experiments under various welding conditions.