Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmatprotec

Alternating current-gas metal arc welding for application

to thin sheets
Nabeel Arif, Hyun Chung
Division of Ocean Systems Engineering, KAIST, 291-Daehak ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The metal transfer in alternating current-gas metal arc welding (AC-GMAW) was analyzed in order to
Received 19 December 2013 predict the drop size. The effects of complex waveforms of the process, involving both the electrode
Received in revised form 1 March 2014 positive (EP) and the electrode negative (EN) pulse regions, were investigated analytically. The force-
Accepted 31 March 2014
displacement model was modied to predict the drop size in AC-GMAW. Experiments were conducted
Available online 8 April 2014
using different types of wires for validating the predicted results. The effect of EN pulse parameters on the
drop size was modeled, eliminating the need for experimental trial and error. The drop size information
Keywords:
can be used to predict the range of the joint gap that can be bridged effectively. The proposed technique
Gas metal arc welding
Alternating current-gas metal arc welding
was found to be equally applicable to both direct current-gas metal arc welding and P-GMAW.
(AC-GMAW) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Wire melting
Thin sheet welding
Gap bridging
Arc behavior

1. Introduction
The application of steels with strengths of 1 GPa and higher to
automotive bodies has helped to increase their durability while
reducing their weight. Such application comes with the challenges
of avoiding burn-through and nding ways to bridge the joint
gaps, without increasing the costs signicantly. Lee et al. (2012)
discussed the higher joint-gap susceptibility of such steels that
originated from their higher springback values, which ultimately
resulted in welding problems. Harada et al. (1999) reported the
implementation of certain advanced power supplies having the
ability to overcome such problems, mainly for thin sheets of alu-
minum alloy. These power supplies combine the arc stability in
the direct-current electrode positive (DCEP) region with the advan-
tage of a high melting rate in the direct-current electrode negative
(DCEN) region; the resulting process is called alternating current-
gas metal arc welding (AC-GMAW). Ueyama et al. (2005) showed
that burn-through is overcome because the DCEN polarity in the
pulse provides a low heat input to the workpiece while also offering
a higher wire melting rate, which results in shallower penetration
with gap-bridging ability. The AC-GMAW process also provided
improved distortion control even in the case of low joining accuracy
Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 42 350 1513; fax: +82 42 350 1510.
E-mail addresses: nabeel81@kaist.ac.kr (N. Arif), hyunny92@kaist.edu
(H. Chung).
by depositing more material into the gap with a smaller amount of
heat. Park et al. (2012) measured the drop sizes in welding by using
certain pulse parameters and also demonstrated that the corre-
sponding lap joint gaps were reasonably lled by these drops. An
increase in the drop size was reported with increasing EN ratios.
Vilarinho et al. (2009) studied the effects of different waveforms on
metal transfer in AC-GMAW and reported large drop sizes observed
at high EN ratios, with observation of instabilities and spatter. Tong
et al. (2001) conducted experimental work with parameters ensur-
ing the one drop one pulse (ODOP) condition, where an increase
in the EN ratio resulted in a higher deposition rate. Higher rein-
forcement heights through a lower heat input for the process were
reported, which provided the advantage of increased gap bridging.
Kumar et al. (2009) tested the mechanical properties of the strength
and percentage elongation of joints fabricated by AC-GMAW and
reported them to have reasonable values.
Because the drop size governs the gap-bridging ability of the
AC-GMAW process, it becomes important to understand the drop
dynamics in this process. The electrode negative (EN) region is sig-
nicant because pendant droplets grow rapidly in this region owing
to the higher melting rate of the process; in contrast, the low-
electrode-positive (EP) region is signicant because it is used for
maintaining the arc and the high-EP region is signicant because
this is where drop detachment occurs. To be able to analyze the
AC-GMAW process, it is important to understand the physics of the
phenomena occurring in both the EN region and the EP region. So
et al. (2010) described the behavior of an arc in the EN region, where

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.03.034
0924-0136/ 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837
Fig. 1. Modied current waveforms in DW-300 with EN ratio of up to 30% (a) and above 30% (b) (Kah et al., 2012).
initially, the arc root homogenously covers the drop and also climbs
the solid portion of the wire, resulting in rapid melting at smaller
drop sizes. Norrish (1974) demonstrated much earlier that as the
drop size increases and achieves a steady state, the arc switches
to a single spot cathode mode and becomes rooted to the droplet
bottom. Soderstrom and Mendez (2008) explained that for nega-
tive electrodes, the path of the welding current at the electrode
tip becomes conned to a small, high-current-density area, which
leads to a high repulsive force. Scotti et al. (2012) discussed the for-
mation of concentrated arc spots in the EN region, which resulted
in a backward-acting pinching effect and was responsible for the
molten drop exhibiting attaching behavior at the wire tip. Park et al.
(2012) reported that the arc behavior in the EP region of the welding
pulse is the same as that in DC-GMAW, with the occurrence of drop
elongation and detachment in this region. The welding parameters
that dene the EP and EN regions of the welding pulse govern the
drop dynamics, making it important to study the effects of current
waveforms on the metal transfer. Palani and Murugan (2006) dis-
cussed the increase in the number of parameters that need to be
controlled in the case of using complex waveforms, which would
make it difcult to achieve optimal metal transfer through experi-
mental trial and error.
The performance enhancement of GMAW systems has always
attracted research attention because such an enhancement would
widen the applicability of the GMAW process and make it more
efcient. For example, Wu et al. (2006) studied inverter-based
power supplies that can generate additional process parameters
on account of advancements in technology and power electronics
devices. Praveen et al. (2005) reported some other advancements
made in P-GMAW power supplies that prevented excessive heating
of the base material. The P-GMAW process remained inadequate
for the welding of thin sheets, especially those having joint gaps.
Joseph et al. (2005) discussed more simplied controls of weld-
ing parameters made possible by synergic power supplies, wherein
preprogrammed pulse parameters are employed by the power sup-
ply under a preselected wire feed speed, electrode diameter, wire
material, and shielding gas. Jaskulski (2010) presented a detailed
discussion of AC-GMAW power supplies that were manufactured
in Japan with the aim of overcoming the drawbacks of P-GMAW in
thin sheet welding. It was shown that the Japanese power supply
manufacturer OTC Daihen implemented a new synergic program in
their inverter power source (DW-300) to achieve optimal control
over the AC-GMAW process for both steel and aluminum alloys.
Arc stability in carbon steel welding was achieved by adopting an
EN ratio greater than 30%; this ratio is dened as the ratio of the
EN pulse area to the total pulse area of one cycle. The EN region of
the current pulse was divided into the EN base region for maintain-
ing the arc and the EN peak region for increasing the wire melting
rate. This enabled a good balance between fusion and gap bridging.
For aluminum welding, this balance was achieved by adopting a
1829
simpler classical waveform having a stable arc up to an EN ratio of
30%. The schematic of such current waveforms is shown in Fig. 1.
Kah et al. (2012) demonstrated the application of an AC-GMAW
pulse having an EN ratio greater than 30% in welding of the steels.
Nevertheless, a detailed investigation is required to understand the
process fully.
Application of an AC pulse is not a new concept in gas tungsten
arc welding and submerged arc welding (SAW); furthermore, com-
plicated numerical techniques have long been employed to explain
these welding processes. For example, Cho et al. (2013) modeled the
arc forces, drop ight, and weld bead prole using computational
uid dynamics in order to gain a better understanding of the SAW
process in both DC and AC modes. Different numerical and ana-
lytical techniques have also been applied for analyzing the GMAW
process. From among different analytical force balance models used
to predict the metal transfer in the free-ight modes of GMAW,
Arif et al. (2009) presented the model for the P-GMAW process.
Wong and Ling (2014) recently conducted an experimental study
of GMAW to evaluate the effects of the most signicant electro-
magnetic forces on the metal transfer. A more detailed analysis and
understanding of the involved mechanisms are desirable in the case
of AC-GMAW.
In the present study, the forcedisplacement model of Arif et al.
(2009) was modied to enable its application to AC-GMAW, as well
as to other free-ight modes of GMAW. The uid ow velocity
within a drop and the effects of varying arc-covered areas in the EP
and EN regions of the pulse were studied. The effects of EN dura-
tion on drop size were considered. Detaching drop diameters for
certain pulse parameters were predicted (i.e., calculated) and com-
pared with the experimental data, in keeping with the fact that the
drop size acts as a controlling parameter for the gap-bridging ability
of the process.
2. Mathematical formulation for AC-GMAW
The conventional static force balance model (SFBM) was modi-
ed by Arif et al. (2009), establishing the drop detachment criteria
on the basis of pendant drop displacement instead of the force bal-
ance criterion. The axial component of the electromagnetic force
Fem was derived by Amson (1965); in his work, he used illustrations
for detailed explanation of the force. The momentum ux force Fmf
was added to the SFBM in order to consider the effect of the radial
component of the electromagnetic force, which was ignored in the
original model. Amongst the acting forces, the surface tension force
F acts as the attaching force, whereas the electromagnetic force
Fem and momentum ux force Fmf act as detaching forces; these
are expressed as (see Arif et al. (2009) for further details)
F = Dw  (1)
1830 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837

Fig. 2. Schematic of pendant drop.


o I 2 1 1 2 where
Fem = ln(d sin ) +
4 4 1 cos  (1 cos )
2
Fg = gVa (6)
2
 Da
ln , where d = (2) 1
1 + cos  Dw Fd = CD Ap g u2p (7)
2
 2 I 2  The switching between the EP and EN regions in a pulse results in
o Dw exit the jumping of the arc on the wire, resulting in varying arc-covered
Fmf = (3)
4 Da I angles, as shown in Fig. 2. One of the limitations of the original
momentum ux force expression in Eq. (3) was that it neglected
The total acceleration force Fa was given by
the effect of the changing arc coverage. Another limitation was

Ft = Fa = (Fem + Fmf ) F (4) the zero uid ow velocity on the arcdrop cross-sectional plane,
which may become signicant at lower arc angles. The modied
The forces acting on the drop in P-GMAW vary with its growth;
formula for the momentum ux force is based on the derivation of
however, elongation occurs mainly in the peak region under the
average pressure generated by the surface tension and pinch effect
electromagnetic and momentum ux forces. With the addition of
of magnetic force on a plane as expressed below:
the EN pulse region in AC-GMAW, drop sizes can become larger

than those in P-GMAW, making it necessary to consider the effects 4 PdA
of gravitational force Fg and drag force Fd . In the steady-state DCEN Paverage = (8)
D2
mode, the electromagnetic and momentum ux forces may become
the attaching forces depending on the value of the arc-covered using
angle, drop diameter, and magnitude of the current. Under the o I 2 (D2 d2 ) 4
assumption of a symmetrical spherical drop, the general expres- P= + (9)
2 D2 D
sion for the balance of forces also holds for the EN region of the
pulse, and it is expressed as where P is the generalized pressure on a plane, D is the outer diam-
eter of the plane, and d is the diameter of the circle through which
Ft = Fa = Fem + Fmf + Fg + Fd F (5) the current is considered to ow. On the drop surface, d = D. Plane
 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837 1831

Fig. 3. Schematic of experimental setup.

1 represents the circular cross section at the arcdrop intersection, m(t) = Aw Vm (t) (17)
and plane 2 lies at the drop bottom that has the same diameter
The rst and second terms in Eq. (16) represent arc heating and
as that of the wire. The pressure P resulted from the component
joule heating, respectively, where joule heating is negligible in the
of electromagnetic force acting toward the center, and was bal-
case of an aluminum wire. The mass of an attached drop during its
anced by a radial uid pressure acting in the opposite direction that
growth at any instant is given by
resulted from the surface tension. The average pressures acting on
plane 1 and plane 2 shown in Fig. 2 were respectively derived as 
n
m(t) = mi ti + mr (18)
o I 2 4
P1 avg = + (10) i=1
22 Dc2 Da
The remaining mass at the wire tip after drop detachment, mr ,
o I 2 Dw
2 4 was considered. During each step, the pendant mass was converted
P2 avg = + (11)
32 A2arc Da into the volume of the attached drop, from which the diameter of
the attached drop was calculated as
using
  2  3
I Va = 2 )  (D +
Da (Da + Da2 Dw Da2 Dw
2) (19)
a
Js = (12) 8 24
Aarc
The pendant drop grew with time and the mass center moved.
Considering the uid ow velocity on plane 1, the Bernoulli and
The acceleration in this case was given as
mass ow equations were respectively expressed as
Ft (t)
2(P1 avg P2 avg ) (t) = (20)
u21 = u22 (13) m(t)

The drop displacement (z) was calculated by double-integrating
and the acceleration in the above equation until it reached the critical
A2 u2 displacement (zcr ) value. The remaining volume determined the
u1 = (14)
A1 critical displacement, which was further compared with the instan-
taneous displacement to check whether the drop detachment
Based on (13) and (14), the modied formula for momentum
criterion was met (z zcr ) (see Arif et al., 2009). Drop detachment
ux force was expressed as
 u1
 occurred when the drop displacement reached critical displace-
Fmf = A2 u22 1 (15) ment.
u2
The drop size and drop transfer depend on the waveform 3. Experimental setup
dynamics, which was controlled by pulse parameters. The different
wire melting rates and behaviors of forces in the EP and EN regions Experiments were performed using a DW-300 OTC Daihen digi-
of the pulse are important variables in terms of the gap-lling abil- tal inverter power supply, with the experimental setup as shown in
ity of the process. The wire melting rate and the corresponding Fig. 3. A gas-mixing unit was incorporated to supply mixed shiel-
mass rate at any time instant t in the waveform were respectively ding gas as required. A programmable 2-axis linear stage system
given as was used to move the workpiece during welding while the torch
was kept stationary. An HKS P-1000 sensor was used to measure
2
Vm (t) = a(t) Iavg (t) + b(t) Le Irms (t) (16) the welding voltage and current signals at 9.6 kHz. A high-speed
1832 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837

camera, Phantom V310, was used to record the high-speed video

(HSV) of welding at 3200 fps with a resolution of 1280 800 pix-
els. The extreme dynamic range (EDR) feature of the camera was
used under 100 s exposure and 3 s EDR. The 12-bit-pixel-depth
capability of the camera was employed to obtain an increased gray
level and ner detail. A Nikon 200-mm f/4D micro lens with a UVIR
lter and multiple neutral-density (ND) lters was used to capture
the arc behavior and drop transfer during welding. The total optical
density of the ND lters varied between 6 and 7.2. The use of a UVIR
band-pass lter with a 420680-nm range helped in achieving the
desired object sharpness and separation. The welding current and
voltage data from the sensor were synchronized and embedded
with the HSV using a National Instruments PXIe 1082 chassis and
DAQ board 6363. A single trigger switch was used to initiate syn-
chronized image capture and data acquisition during the welding
process.
Filler wires (diameter: 1.2 mm) of steel (ER-70S) and aluminum
alloy (ER-5356 and ER-4043) were used in the experiments with
Ar17% CO2 and pure Ar, respectively, as shielding gases. The gas
ow rate was kept at 18 L/min. In the experiments, base plates of
AH36 steel and AA5086 aluminum alloy, each 10 mm in thickness,
were used. Bead-on-plate welding with a 20-mm electrode exten- Fig. 4. Schematic of current waveforms in AC-GMAW.

sion was carried out using the synergic AC-pulse welding mode of
the power supply. Different EN ratios were used in the tests, and
dynamically varying welding parameters of current and voltage
were recorded. The schematic of the observed welding waveforms
and related parameters is shown in Fig. 4.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Application to AC-GMAW
4.1.1. Effects of pulse parameters
In AC-GMAW, the arc-covered angle and the direction of cur-
rent ow vary during each pulse as the pulse switches between
the DCEP and the DCEN modes. The effects of these variations
on the momentum ux force are given by Eq. (15), and those on
the electromagnetic force are given by Eq. (2). Table 1 lists the
constants and material properties considered in the model calcula-
tions (see Arif et al., 2009). The effect of variations in the arc-covered
angle on the abovementioned forces for the 1.2-mm steel wire is
shown in Fig. 5, for a current of 200 A and drop size Da of 1.5Dw .
The current-based forces do not vary signicantly in the EP region,
since the arc-covered angle may change between 60 and 120 with
a change in the shielding gas; therefore, the arc-covered angle can
be xed at 90 for generality and further calculations. The effect
of the shielding gas can be considered by varying the arc-covered
angle. The smaller arc-covered angle observed in the case of CO2 -
rich shielding gas would require more force to detach a drop of
the same size, also resulting in a higher transition current. The
momentum ux force and electromagnetic force become negative
at small arc-covered angles and act as attaching forces. The uid
ow velocity on plane 1 resulted in a reduction in the magnitude of
the momentum ux force and prevented an exponential increase
in this magnitude at high arc angles.
The variations in axial electromagnetic and momentum ux
forces with current for the 1.2-mm steel wire are shown in Fig. 6
for the DCEN mode. Specically, Fig. 6(a) shows the behavior for
intense-arc angles of 25 and 42 at Da Dw and Da = 1.25Dw ,
respectively. The calculation of forces in the EN region is based on
the intense-arc angles, which were experimentally measured for
the steel wire. The values of the intense-arc angles were measured

Table 1
Nomenclature and material properties used in model calculations (see Fig. 2).

Symbol Nomenclature Symbol Nomenclature

A1 Cross-sectional area of plane 1 P Generalized pressure on a plane of diameter d

A2 Cross-sectional area of plane 2 P1 avg Average pressure on plane 1
Aarc Arc-covered surface area of drop P2 avg Average pressure on plane 2
Ap Projection area of drop ti Small time interval
Aw Cross-sectional area of wire up Plasma velocity
a Arc heating constant, mm/A s u1 Fluid ow velocity on plane 1
b Joule heating constant, A2 /s u2 Fluid ow velocity on plane 2
CD Drag coefcient, 0.44 Va Volume of attached drop
D Plane diameter Vm Wire melting rate
Da Diameter of attached drop z Drop displacement
Dc Diameter of cross-sectional plane 1 zcr Critical drop displacement
Dw Wire diameter, 1.2 mm Drop acceleration
d Diameter of a circle on a plane in which current is owing d Drop diameter ratio, Da /Dw
I Current (instantaneous), A  Surface tension constant
Iavg Average current, A for steel, 1.2 N/m
Iexit Current through plane 2 for aluminum, 0.6 N/m
Irms RMS current, A  Angle of arc-covered area,
Js Uniform current density on surface of arc-covered area  Material density
Le Electrode extension, mm for steel, 7.86 103 kg/m3
m Drop mass for aluminum 2.68 103 kg/m3
mr Remaining mass g Shielding gas density, 1.784 kg/m3
m Mass rate o Permeability in space, 4 107 H/m
 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837 1833

Fig. 7. Comparison of drop growth rates between EP and EN modes.

Fig. 5. Effect of variations in arc-covered angle on forces.

through an analysis of the HSV during the EN peak duration using

the proprietary Phantom Camera Control software. The effect of the
arc on the drop diameter was minimized by adopting the experi-
mental settings explained earlier. The arc-covered angles during
the EN peak duration were not measured in detail, because their
effect, which results in the attaching behavior of the forces, dimin-
ishes upon entering the EP region of the pulse. It is shown that the
net force Ft acting on the drop has a higher attaching tendency at
lower drop sizes, where the effects of the gravitational and drag
forces are negligible. The attaching behavior of Fmf is attributed to
the location of the cross-sectional planes and the drop size, as well
as to the magnitude of the current. In the EN region, the arc climbs
up the solid wire, resulting in the generation of arc angles as high
as 150 . Lancaster (1986) previously explained the two portions of
such an arc: intense arc and weak arc. The experimental image that
represents the arc behavior at 300 A is shown at the inset of Fig. 6(a).
The attaching effect of the weak arc can be ignored, unlike that of
the intense arc, because a high-current-density cathode spot forms
in the latter, which is responsible for the repulsive action of the
pinching momentum ux force. The magnitudes of the attaching
electromagnetic and momentum ux forces are mainly a function
of current; that is, they increase with increasing current.
During low EN currents, only the weak arc was observed and the
predicted behavior of the forces was as shown in Fig. 6(b). These
forces do not play a signicant role in drop dynamics, since the main
attaching force, i.e., the surface tension force, is much higher, and
the drop remains in a steady state during low EN currents. This is

Table 2
Wire melting constants used for steel wire.

Constants for arc heating and joule heating, EP region, 1.2-mm-diameter

steel wire

aep (mm/A s) bep (104 , A2 /s)

0.28 1.0

Constants for arc heating and joule heating, EN region, 1.2-mm-diameter

steel wire

ten (ms)

05.9 68 911.9 12.014.8

aen (mm/A s) 0.8 0.8 0.72 0.78

Fig. 6. Behavior of forces in EN region. (a) EN peak region and (b) EN base region. ben (104 , A2 /s) 5.9 6.0 5.4 4.2
1834 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837

t(b) , (ms)

1.6
2.5
8.3
10.5

I(b) , (ms)

60
55
50
60
t(rup) , (ms)

0.46
0.32
0.5
0.8

t(rdn) , (ms)

0.45
0.32
0.4
0.5

Fig. 8. Effect of EN duration on drop diameter.

also shown in the experimental image in the inset of Fig. 6(b). The

t(p) , (ms)
important feature of wire melting was also considered in the low

1.45
EN current region, as it contributes to drop growth. In very long EN

0.7
1.4
1.5

0.8
1.1
2.4

0.5

3.1
3.9

current durations, drop detachment may occur in the EN region in
an undesirable manner and may lead to defects. This detachment
can occur because of either the signicantly high gravitational and

I(p) , (A)
drag forces in the low EN current region or the high repulsion forces

135
125
140

150
135
165

330
340
350
375
in the high EN region. Drop detachment is desirable in the EP region
of the pulse; typical P-GMAW-like behavior was observed as the
drop entered the EP region of the pulse. Park et al. (2012) reported t+(b) , (ms)
a similar arc phenomenon in which the EP region of AC-GMAW is
similar to that of DC-GMAW. Therefore, the effect of the attach-
0.63
2.1
0.6

0.3

2.4
0.4
0.6
0.4

1.5
2.5
2.5
2.4
2.4
ing behavior of the forces smoothens out as the pulse enters the
EP region and this behavior does not affect drop detachment. The
transition from the EN region to the EP region is also smoothed by
I+(b) , (A)

providing a necessary ramp-up time to the current pulse.

110
115
125
115

75
105
125
90

55
60
65
65
60
The difference in the predicted wire melting rates and mass
gains between the DCEP and DCEN modes for the 1.2-mm steel
wire is illustrated in Fig. 7. A higher wire melting rate is predicted
t+(rdn) , (ms)

in the EN mode than in the EP mode for the same current. The aver-
age and RMS current values were assumed as being equal for the
0.75

results presented in Fig. 7. It was also shown by Vilarinho et al.

0.6
0.9
1.2

1.5
1.5
1.6
1.6

0.6
0.6
0.6
0.6
1

(2009) that the average and RMS current values are almost equal
for the current ranges considered in calculations. The wire melting
t+(rup) , (ms)

0.42
0.8
0.9
1.6
1.4

1.6
1.3

0.9
0.6

0.5
0.3
2

2
t+(p) , (A)

0.95

1.25

1.97
1.2

1.1

1.5
1.5
1.8
1.6

0.9
1.2

2.1
2.1
I+(p) , (A)

305
295
290
310

305
305
305
330

430
395
370
400
365
Experimental pulse parameters.

%EN (Cal.)

9.5
0

15
17

0
7
11
24

0
32
40
60
70
ER5356
ER4043

ER70S
Table 3

Wire

Fig. 9. Experimental analysis of drop size.

 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837 1835

Fig. 10. Comparisons between experimentally measured and calculated drop sizes and gap-bridging ability corresponding to drop size. (a) Comparison between experimental
and calculated drop sizes for ER-70S steel wire. (b) Comparison between experimental and calculated drop sizes for ER-4043 and ER-5356 aluminum wires. (c) Drop sizes
and their corresponding gap-bridging ability.

constants used in Eq. (16) are listed in Table 2 (see Harwig et al.
(2006)). These constants were derived by Harwig et al. (2006) for
a pulse that does not show pulsed behavior in the EN duration,
i.e., an EN base region and an EN peak region. Owing to a research
gap in the calculation of appropriate wire melting constants, the
constants of Harwig et al. (2006) were adopted in the present work
for all further calculations and used with average and RMS current
values. Monteiro and Scotti (2013) recently demonstrated another
approach for calculating wire melting constants in AC-GMAW for
an exponential pulse; however, in their study, they did not consider
the pulsed behavior of the current waveform in the EN region. The
increased melting in the EN region, as shown in Fig. 7, is attributed
to the higher measured values of the arc and the resistive heating
constants for the EN pulse region as compared to those in the EP
pulse region of AC-GMAW. As the reported values of the wire melt-
ing constants vary with the EN durations, the corresponding values
of the constants were used in the calculations. Similar drop growth
behavior was predicted for the 1.2-mm aluminum wire, and the
required wire melting constant was calculated from Eq. (21) (see
Park et al., 2012).
a(t) = 0.0088REN + 0.88
where the EN ratio (REN ) is given by
 t =max
t =0
EN
REN =  tpulse 100 (22)
0
(EP + EN)
Prediction of the detached drop diameter is of prime importance
in the analysis of AC-GMAW, as it is correlated to the gap-bridging
ability of the process. The predicted drop diameters and their corre-
sponding peak times are shown in Fig. 8 for the 1.2-mm aluminum
wire, where the predicted values were obtained through calcu-
lations using the wire melting constants based on Eq. (21). The
calculation conditions in terms of the pulse parameters were as
follows: EP ramp-up and EP ramp-down times of 1.5 ms each, EP
base time of 2 ms, EP base current of 80 A, EP peak current of
300 A, and EN peak current of 120 A. The EN duration was increased
and correspondingly increasing drop sizes were predicted. When
larger-sized drops were produced by the long EN durations at the
onset of the EP region, higher forces were required to detach the
drop. Such a large drop size may increase the spatter susceptibil-
ity and cause detachment to occur in an undesired manner in the
succeeding EN pulse part. This can be reduced by increasing the
EP peak time and EP peak current values, which provide a higher
(21) detaching force to facilitate the drop detachment.
1836 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837

4.1.2. Experimental validation

Experiments were conducted to measure the drop size using
the pulse conditions listed in Table 3. The experiments were con-
ducted without the use of laser backlight, and the EDR feature of
the camera was used along with multiple lters to obtain reason-
able image quality for viewing the drop and arc behaviors. A low
EDR value enabled the camera pixels to reset themselves rapidly as
soon as the light intensity reached the saturation limit of that pixel,
especially in a very high light intensity region of the welding arc.
The non-saturated pixels of the sensor retained the global exposure
value. This scheme resulted in capture of reasonable imagery of the
metal transfer and of the arc behavior. Experimental drop detach-
ment was observed mostly at the onset of the EP base region, and 10
readings were averaged to obtain the drop size for a certain pulse.
Drop detachment in the case of the simulation also occurred at the
onset of the EP base region. The current and voltage waveforms for
a steel test specimen with an EN ratio of 60% are presented in Fig. 9.
The presented images correspond to different portions of the pulse,
extracted from the HSV, and they are shown in order to demon-
strate the arc behavior and drop transfer. A peak in the EN current
was observed in the current waveform, which helped in preventing
the occurrence of the arc instabilities associated with previously
implemented long EN durations. The EN peak also enabled rapid
wire melting and provided a larger EN ratio in a shorter duration.
The experimental EN ratio was calculated using Eq. (22) based on
the welding current signals acquired during experiments. Experi-
ments were also conducted for the 1.2-mm aluminum alloy wires
ER-4043 and ER-5356. The drop sizes were recorded against the
pulse parameters of the complex waveforms; these are also listed
in Table 3.
For comparison purposes, the detached drop sizes were also cal-
culated using the experimental pulse parameters. Fig. 10 shows a
comparison of detached drop sizes for the (a) steel and (b) alu-
minum wires. Unlike P-GMAW, in the AC-GMAW process, drop
sizes greater than 1.3Dw were observed also at higher EN ratios,
resulting in a higher gap bridging capability of the latter process.
The drop sizes were predicted reasonably at low EN ratios; how-
ever, the discrepancy in the prediction increased with increasing EN
Fig. 11. Application of proposed model to DC-GMAW and P-GMAW. (a) Prediction
ratio owing to the melting constants for the EN pulse region being of drop size in DC-GMAW. (b) Prediction of ODOP range in P-GMAW.
inaccurate. The occurrence of the multi drop one pulse (MDOP)
condition, rather the ODOP condition, was observed at a 70% EN
ratio in the case of the 1.2-mm steel wire; only one large exper- between the drop size and the corresponding sheet gap that can be
imental drop size is presented in Fig. 10(a). The simulation could bridged. The increase in the EN ratio in the experiments resulted in
not predict the MDOP behavior, and the calculated results were an increase in the drop size under the ODOP condition. The higher
limited to the ODOP condition. In the case of the steel wire, the drop diameters resulted in greater reinforcement heights, which
ODOP imagery for a 0% EN ratio is shown in video 1. Though MDOP in turn improve the gap-bridging ability of the process. The gap-
is an undesired phenomenon, experimental results for an EN ratio bridging ability corresponding to a certain set of parameters can
greater than 70% showed the consistent presence of the MDOP con- therefore be predicted by calculating the detached drop diameters.
dition. Further research is necessary to develop a model that can It was seen that a drop diameter of 1.3 mm can bridge a gap of
also explain the MDOP and multi pulse one drop (MPOD) behaviors. 01 mm and a drop diameter of 1.35 mm can ll a gap of 01.7 mm
Fig. 10(b) shows a comparison between the experimentally mea- with reasonable penetration.
sured and calculated drop diameters for the aluminum alloy wires; Supplementary Video 1 related to this article can be found,
in this case, the experimental results are predicted in a more rea- in the online version, at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.
sonable way for the ER-4043 wire. The use of the same arc heating 2014.03.034.
constant for both ER-4043 and ER-5356 wires resulted in a dis-
crepancy in the prediction of drop sizes in the case of ER-5356 wire, 4.2. Application to DC and pulsed GMAW
since the constants used were calculated with the ER-4043 wire. Fu
et al. (1983) measured the wire melting rate for ER-4043 wire and The modied model remains applicable to DC- and P-GMAW.
ER-5xxx wires and observed a higher melting rate for ER-5xxx wires Fig. 11(a) shows the metal transfer in DC-GMAW for the 1.2-
under the same pulse parameters. This explains the prediction of mm steel wire. The results are compared with those of the SFBM,
smaller drop diameters in comparison to observed drop diame- which assumes that drop detachment occurs at the onset of bal-
ters, because the wire melting rate used in the calculations was ance between the attaching surface tension force and the combined
lower than the experimental melting rate. Accurate prediction of detaching effect of the electromagnetic, gravitational, and drag
results for the ER-5356 wire can be made using appropriate wire forces. Though the accuracy of the model in predicting the exper-
melting constants. Fig. 10(c) presents experimental data from Park imental data is not high in the higher current range, the model
et al. (2012) in graphical form in order to demonstrate the relation is physically more acceptable because it considers the uid ow
 N. Arif, H. Chung / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 214 (2014) 18281837
velocity and has the ability to consider different arc-covered areas
in DC-GMAW resulting from different shielding gases. The model
can also predict the dynamic drop growth and drop transfer rate,
which are useful in a thermal analysis of the process as this informa-
tion eliminates empirical reliance. Fig. 11(b) shows the comparison
of experimental and predicted ODOP ranges in P-GMAW for the 1.2-
mm steel wire, where peak times were calculated for varying peak
currents. The calculations were performed under the experimen-
tal conditions of Matsuda et al. (1983). The experimental average
currents varied from 163 A to 275 A with a corresponding increase
in the wire feed rate. The shielding gas mixture of Ar20% CO2 was
used in the experiments; this mixture results in a lower arc-covered
angle than that obtained using an Ar-rich mixture. The resulting
reduction in the arc coverage does not affect the momentum ux
force much, though a small effect may be seen in the case of the
electromagnetic force, as shown in Fig. 5. This will result in a small
increase in the calculated peak time and an increase in the tran-
sition current as well. The experimental data of Allum (1985) fall
within the predicted ODOP range; however, the absence of infor-
mation about the power supply and pulse parameters used for
his experiments may have generated the discrepancy in the pre-
diction. The ability of the modied model to follow any possible
current waveform and predict the drop transfer for the free-ight
modes of GMAW reasonably is the reason for its better and broader
applicability.
5. Conclusions
The metal transfer in the AC-GMAW process was analyzed, and a
comprehensive model was proposed for predicting the metal trans-
fer in free-ight modes of DC-GMAW, P-GMAW, and AC-GMAW.
The following are the key results and conclusions of the study.
1. The momentum ux force was modied by incorporating the
uid ow velocity at the arc cross-section.
2. Drop sizes, which control the key gap-bridging ability of the
process, were predicted and compared with the correspond-
ing experimental data for different wires of steel and aluminum
alloys.
3. Discrepancy in prediction increased at high EN ratios owing to
the unavailability of appropriate wire melting constants for the
pulsed EN region for steel wire.
4. Reasonable results were achieved in the ODOP range; however,
the proposed model has a limitation in predicting the metal
transfer in the MDOP and MPOD modes of P- and AC-GMAW.
5. In the welding of thin sheets with varying gaps, the model can
also be used for the prediction of required parameters in real
time and updating them to the welding power supply.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Human Resources Development
of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning
(KETEP) grant funded by the Korea Government Ministry of Knowl-
edge Economy (No. 20114030200040) and the Simulation-based
1837
Production Technology for Ships and Offshore Plants (IT Fusion,
10035331) Program of the Korean Ministry of Knowledge and
Economy, Republic of Korea.
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