ASM Handbook, Volume 6A, Welding Fundamentals and Processes T. Lienert, T. Siewert, S. Babu, and V.

Acoff, editors

Copyright # 2011 ASM InternationalW All rights reserved www.asminternational.org

Arc Physics of Gas Tungsten and Gas Metal Arc Welding

Y.M. Zhang, University of Kentucky

THIS ARTICLE provides basic physics needed to understand two most widely used arc welding processes: gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and gas metal arc welding (GMAW). The GTAW part is an update from the article Arc Physics of Gas-Tungsten Arc Welding authored by J.F. Key (of EG&G Idaho, Inc.) and published in Welding, Brazing, and Soldering, Volume 6 of ASM Handbook, 1993. Treatments for general arcs, arcs in other specic arc welding processes, and arc physics in greater depths may be found in the Selected References listed at the end of this article and from other literature. A general description of arc welding processes is also given in the article Overview of Welding Processes in this Volume.

Gas Tungsten Arc Physics

The GTAW process is performed using a welding arc between a nonconsumable tungsten-base electrode and the workpieces to be joined. C.E. Jackson dened a welding arc as a sustained electrical discharge through a high-temperature conducting plasma producing sufcient thermal energy so as to be useful for the joining of metals by fusion. This denition is a good foundation for the discussion that follows. The physics of GTAW are fundamental to all arc processes and are more straightforward, because the complications of materials (for example, ller and ux) transferred through and interacting with the arc can be avoided. Geometrically, the arc discharge in GTAW is between a rod-shaped tungsten electrode and a planar-shaped electrode, that is, the workpiece. Pure tungsten electrodes are less expensive and, possibly, more environmentally compatible than those with rare earth or other oxide additions. They are used for less critical welds, where tungsten contamination that could be caused by the molten electrode surface can be tolerated. They are also used for alternating current (ac) welding of aluminum, copper,

magnesium, and thin sections of low-alloy and stainless steels. Analysis of the arc discharge is separated into electrode regions and the arc column. The electrode regions are conned to very small distances from the electrode surfaces, have very high electrical and thermal elds, and have much higher current density, because of the contraction of the arc to a small spot. As a result, electrode regions for both the cathode and the anode are difcult to analyze by diagnostic measurements and theoretical computation. This situation must be remedied for a thorough understanding of the process, because the process parameters control the arc discharge at the cathode, with the anode serving as the connection to ground. The arc column, on the other hand, is relatively easy to analyze but is important primarily as a means to deduce arc characteristics at the electrodes. Polarity. The GTAW process generally uses a direct current (dc) arc, where the tungsten electrode has a negative polarity. The tungsten electrode thus becomes the cathode and the workpiece becomes the anode. The polarity is called straight polarity, or direct current electrode negative (DCEN). Reverse polarity, or direct current electrode positive (DCEP), is literally the reverse of DCEN. The workpiece is the cathode and the tungsten electrode serves as the anode. Because most heat is generated at the anode in the GTAW process, DCEP is used for welding certain thin-section, low-melting-point materials when DCEN would be likely to cause excessive penetration or burn-through. Either ac or DCEP is used for removing an oxide lm from the surface of the weld pool or workpiece. This is particularly important in obtaining a sound joint in metals with a tenacious oxide, such as aluminum. The oxide lm promotes emission during the half-cycle (ac) when the workpiece is negative polarity. As the oxide is depleted, the emission moves to a new location that has a high enough oxide content to sustain the discharge of electrons. The arc root or cathode spot where the emission

occurs is highly mobile in ac or DCEP and, as a result, the arc is much less stable than in DCEN. Gas Shielding. In all cases, the arc and both electrodes are shielding by gas, usually an inert gas or a gas mixture. Argon and argon-helium mixtures are used most often, although argonhydrogen mixtures are used for some applications. The GTAW process may simply use the arc to fuse the workpieces together without the addition of ller materials (autogenous), or ller may be added to the molten pool to ll grooves in thicker weldments. A reasonable understanding of welding arc fundamentals and the GTAW process requires a more thorough discussion of the electrode regions of the arc and the arc column. Electrode Regions and Arc Column. The cathode and anode are similar in several respects. Both exhibit a voltage drop caused by a space charge that covers a very thin region over their surfaces, and the arc is signicantly contracted on the surfaces. Figure 1 shows that the total arc voltage is partitioned between the electrode drops and arc column. The relative magnitude of these drops depends on welding parameters and electrode material. The arc discharge requires a ow of electrons from the cathode through the arc column to the anode, regardless of polarity or whether ac or

Fig. 1

Plot of relative arc voltage distribution versus relative arc length between electrodes

250 / Arc Welding Processes

dc is used. Two cases of electron discharge at the cathode are discussed: thermionic emission and nonthermionic emission, also called cold cathode or eld emission. Thermionic emission results from joule heating (resistance) of the cathode by the imposed welding current until the electron energy at the cathode tip exceeds the work function (energy required to strip off an electron). This case applies to the general case of DCEN, where the tungsten electrode is the emitter, or cathode. Pure tungsten electrodes must be heated to their melting point to achieve thermionic emission. Once molten, the equilibrium tip shape becomes a hemisphere, and a stable arc results from uniform emission over this surface. Thoria (ThO2), zirconia (ZrO2), or ceria (CeO2) are added to pure tungsten in amounts up to 2.2 wt% ThO2, 0.4 wt% ZrO2, or 3.0 wt% CeO2 to lower the work function, which results in thermionic emission at lower temperatures and avoids melting the cathode tip. These electrodes typically have a ground conical tip, and thermionic emission is localized to a cathode spot. Thermionic emission creates a cloud of electrons, called a space charge, around the cathode. If a second electrode at a higher potential is nearby (the workpiece, in this case), then the electrons will ow to it, thus establishing the arc. Nonthermionic, or eld, emission creates an electron discharge with a very high electric eld, typically exceeding 109 V/m. This intense electric eld literary pulls electrons out of a relatively cold or unheated cathode. This would not appear to be applicable to welding until one considers that for reverse polarity or DCEP, a condensation of positive ions from the arc column can build up in a very thin (1 nm, or 0.04 min.) layer over the cathode surface, creating a very high localized electric eld even though the cathode voltage drop may only amount to several volts. An oxide layer, which is always present on the cathode surface in an actual weld, facilitates the discharge with a source of lower work-function electrons. When the oxide layer is very thin (on the order of one atom layer), emission occurs via a tunneling mechanism through the lm to an emitting site. Thicker oxide lms exhibit locally conducting spots at the end of lamentary channels through the oxide. Large currents ow in these channels, which are on the order of 100 nm (4 min.) in diameter and have lifetimes of 0.001 to 1 ms. The cathode cleaning action, which is one of the principal reasons to use DCEP or ac, results from stripping away the oxide lm at the emitting sites by very small and intense jets of metal vapor and debris. It becomes obvious that a practical implication of the short lifetime of these cathode spots is a generally unstable arc that is due to the necessity of continual movement of the cathode spot to undepleted regions of oxide lm. Arc instability is undesirable and DCEP or ac is only used when cathodic cleaning or the minimizing of heat input to the workpiece is a higher priority than optimizing weld bead shape and location. Anode. Welding process parameters (for example, current and voltage) control the arc discharge at the cathode. The electron ow enters the anode through the anode spot and constitutes 85% of the energy going into the weld pool, thus making current density the single most important welding parameter that determines pool shape. However, events at the anode can only be controlled indirectly by controlling the cathode. Anode spot stability does depend somewhat on shielding gas composition and the shape of the anode (that is, weld groove). Current density and heat input measurements at the anode help to explain how process parameters that are largely controlling events at the cathode will, in turn, inuence the shape and melting rate of the weld pool. The relative contributions of heat transfer to the workpiece, in terms of the GTAW process, are shown in Fig. 2. The Thomson effect represents the energy lost by electrons as they move from higher to lower temperatures. The sum of work function, Thomson effect, and anode fall gives an electron contribution to heat transfer of approximately 84%. The remaining 16% is due to thermal effects (that is, conduction, convection, and radiation). There are small heat losses from the pool that are due to evaporation of metal ions and radiation. Figure 3 shows that the

Fig. 2

Relative heat-transfer contributions to workpiece with gas tungsten arc welding. (a) Contribution of individual parameters to anode heat input. (b) Heat output at cathode (workpiece) relative to weld pool heat loss

Fig. 3

Plot of electron and thermal contributions to heat transfer. A, total arc power (standard deviation, s, of 0.8 mm, or 0.031 in.); B, electron contribution (s = 0.7 mm, or 0.028 in.); C, thermal contribution. Weld parameters: current, 10 A; voltage, 10 V; time, 10 s; shielding gas, argon; electrode angle, 30

Arc Physics of Gas Tungsten and Gas Metal Arc Welding / 251
energy distribution for this particular case approaches a Gaussian distribution (that is, normal distribution curve). High helium contents in the shielding gas have produced data that are typically better t by a Lorentzian curve, indicating a narrower current density distribution (that is, a more-contracted arc at the anode spot). Arc efciency, in addition to those variables that have an effect on it, is an extremely important term in the heat-transfer analysis of welding. It gives the percentage of heat dissipated in the arc that actually is captured by the workpieces and is available for melting. Arc efciency, as a function of all GTAW welding parameters and many materials, has been determined experimentally and found to be nominally 75%. The variables having the greatest effect on arc efciency are arc voltage and anode material. For those variables, the effect is usually no more than 5%. Other parameters have a negligible effect. Arc Column. The electron discharge between the electrodes partially ionizes the shielding gas in its path, thus making the arc column a conductor, or plasma. Overall, the arc column is neutral and is composed of electrons, positive gas and possibly metal ions, and neutral gas atoms. Ironically, fundamental measurements of arc properties are most easily made in the arc column, although the actual effect of these properties on the electrode region of an actual weld must still be inferred. Nevertheless, it is useful to understand fundamentals of the arc that relate essential welding variables (for example, current, voltage, electrode gap, choice of shielding gas, and electrode shape) to arc temperature, current density distribution, and gas ow structure at the anode surface. Effect of Cathode Tip Shape. For the general case of straight polarity, DCEN, the tip of the tungsten alloy cathode is ground to a point and then truncated somewhat to prevent the sharp tip from burning off and contaminating the weld. The included angle of the cone and the diameter of the truncation under some welding conditions have a signicant effect on weld pool shape. Figure 4 shows examples of the effect of these two parameters on weld pool shape. For a stationary spot-on-plate weld shielded by pure argon, the weld depth-to-width ratio increased with an increasing vertex angle up to 90 and with an increasing truncation diameter. The arc became less bell shaped and more ball shaped as the vertex angle or truncation diameter increased. These results should be a valid indication of the effect of cathode tip shape for pulsed current welding, which produces a series of overlapping spot welds. A study of bead-on-plate welds (Fig. 5) made with constant current and velocity indicated a similar but less pronounced trend. These conditions produce a tear-drop molten pool shape when viewed from above, compared to a circular shape for spot or pulsed current welding. Fluid and heat ow within the pool is less uniform front-to-rear in a tear-drop-shaped pool and probably has a greater inuence on pool shape than electrode tip shape. When the arc is used in a weld groove, the relative shapes of the cathode tip and the anode groove become more important. The arc discharge from the cathode will seek a path to ground with the lowest electrical resistance. For a stable arc properly centered in the groove (for example, a root pass), the shortest path to ground should be between the cathode tip and the bottom of the groove (Fig. 6). This will require the cathode vertex angle to be somewhat less than the included angle of the groove and/or a sufciently wide groove to ensure that the shortest path to ground is from the cathode tip to the groove bottom and not, for example, from the electrode shoulder to the groove wall, as the case would be with a 90 electrode in a 10 narrow groove. Welding in a groove places a higher priority on arc stability and location than on maximum penetration. To understand the effects of tip shape, temperature distributions in the plasma were measured. Figure 7 shows that as the cathode vertex angle increases, the plasma radius of the arc column increases at midgap and becomes more constricted near the anode. The quantitative interpretation of these results requires theoretical modeling, which has yet to be completed. Effect of Shielding Gas Composition. The GTAW process typically uses either an inert gas, such as argon, or an inert gas mixture, such as argon and helium, to shield the arc and the weld from atmospheric contamination. Occasionally, a slightly reactive gas mixture, such as argon with up to 15 vol% H2, is used. (The 15 vol% limit is based on safety considerations.) Shielding gas composition has a rather strong effect on arc temperature distribution and, under certain conditions, a signicant effect on weld pool shape. Figure 8 shows how shielding gas affects arc voltage. The curves would all be displaced downward for shorter arc lengths, but the relative positions would be maintained. Figure 9 shows the effects of both cathode vertex angle and shielding gas composition on weld pool shape for spot-on-plate welds. Increasing additions of helium to argon show a remarkable increase in penetration when using a 30 vertex angle. However, the effect is much less evident when using a 90 vertex angle. To understand these phenomena, arc temperature distributions for a variety of shielding gases and mixtures, electrode shapes, current, arc voltages (electrode gaps), and anode materials have been measured in order to clarify welding arc fundamentals. Welding arcs are composed of electrons, positive gas ions, and neutral gas atoms. Some measurement techniques give the temperature of one species (electrons), whereas other techniques give the

Fig. 4

Fusion zone prole for spot-on-plate welds as a function of electrode tip geometry using 100% Ar as a shielding gas. Weld parameters: current, 150 A; duration, 2 s

Fig. 5

Fusion zone prole for bead-on-plate welds as a function of electrode tip geometry using 100% Ar as a shielding gas. Weld parameters: current, 150 A; welding speed, 3 mm/s (0.12 in./s)

252 / Arc Welding Processes

temperature of another species (neutral atoms). If the arc is in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), all techniques should give the same temperature. Although the assumption of LTE used to be considered completely valid, contemporary investigations have suggested that this is not always the case and that some of the older measurements may be somewhat in error. Absolute values of arc temperature are only needed to establish boundary conditions for detailed arc modeling of temperature-dependent properties. What is of more importance to the welding engineer or technologist is the relative effect of essential variables on heat input to the workpiece. Arc temperature measurement is one useful indication of how these variables affect the arc. When compared to Fig. 7(a), Fig. 10 shows that large additions of helium to argon decrease peak temperatures slightly and increase the plasma diameter in the plasma column. The arc appears to become a broader and more isothermal heat source. The lower peak temperature is reasonable, because a combination of the high ionization potential of helium and relatively low currents of welding arcs gives an arc column that is only slightly ionized. Figure 7 showed that a large vertex angle had a similar, but less pronounced, effect on arc temperature when adding helium to the shielding gas (that is, the axial peak temperature decreased and the plasma diameter increased). Figure 11 shows that doubling the current from 150 to 300 A produces an increase in plasma diameter (that is, that portion of the arc above approximately 8000 K, or 13,900  F). This effect occurs regardless of the shielding gas composition. The arc length or gap between the electrodes is yet another process parameter that must be considered, especially for mechanized welding, where it can be kept reasonably constant. Because arc voltage increases roughly in proportion with arc length, longer arcs have higher arc voltages and consume more energy for the same current. However, this increased energy is generally lost through radiation to the environment surrounding the weld and does not effectively supply additional heat to the workpieces. Mechanized welding generally uses rather short arc lengths (2 to 3 mm, or 0.08 to 0.12 in.), whereas manual welding uses a longer arc length. Unfortunately, relationships that establish a direct correlation between the temperature distribution in the arc column and the weld pool shape still have not been established, primarily because weld pool shape depends on other factors, such as compositionally dependent molten metal properties. Flow Structure. Shielding gas is used to displace reactive gases in the atmosphere from the vicinity of the weld. Inert gases are preferred for the GTAW process, because they minimize unwanted gas-metal reactions with the workpieces. A uniform laminar ow of gas from the gas cup would be ideal and, in fact, is usually achieved as long as there is no welding arc. However, the arc discharge rapidly heats the gas in the arc column, and thermal expansion causes plasma jets. The lower temperature near the cathode tip in Fig. 11 is an indication of a jet pumping in cooler gas. This becomes an important factor at high currents, because these jets can depress the surface of the weld pool and alter heat transfer to it. The rapid gas expansion can cause the ow to deviate from laminar and, in extreme cases, the ow can become turbulent. Turbulence tends to mix atmospheric contaminants into the arc, often where they can do the most harm: at the surface

30

30

30

80 90

80 90

80 90

(a)

(b)

(c)

Fig. 6

Effects of electrode tip geometry on the path length to ground in weld grooves of various shapes. (a) 75 V-groove. (b) 40 U-groove. (c) 10 narrow groove

Fig. 7

Effect of vertex angle on gas tungsten arc welding arc column temperature distribution with 100% Ar used as shielding gas. (a) 30 electrode vertex angle. (b) 90 electrode vertex angle. Welding current, 150 A

Arc Physics of Gas Tungsten and Gas Metal Arc Welding / 253
of the molten weld pool. Holographic interferometry and Schlieren photography have been used to characterize gas ow. Figures 12 to 14 show examples of laminar and turbulent ow. The ow from a commercial-design gas cup for three current levels is shown in Fig. 12. Laminar ow occurs where the fringes are generally straight and parallel. Turbulent ow is indicated by very wavy or circular fringes. Increasing current tends to make the laminar region somewhat broader and thicker, effectively increasing the area shielded from atmospheric contamination. Figures 13 and 14 result from experiments with gas cup shapes that were designed to improve shielding. Figure 13 shows that a converging cone would be a very poor choice for the GTAW process, as indicated by the very small area of laminar ow and the extreme turbulence in the surrounding region. Figure 14 is a venturi shape, which provides a large laminar ow region for all current levels and excellent shielding. This design may be somewhat better than commercial designs, but weld contamination studies should be conducted to verify this possibility. Arc Length Control. As mentioned earlier, the arc length or gap between the electrodes is an important process parameter that must be considered. In particular, the distribution of the arc (thus arc force and heat distributions) is also determined by the arc length together with the arc current. Unlike the tungsten shape and ow gas that can be easily controlled, the arc length uctuates and needs to be controlled for precision joining, where GTAW has its advantages. The most convenient way to control the arc length is to use the arc voltage as a feedback of the arc length. This is because a change in the arc length would result in the same change in the arc column. In a rst-order approximation, the voltage of the arc column is considered to be proportional to the arc length (length of the arc column), and the voltage drops at the anode and cathode are considered to be constant for the given shielding gas and workpiece material. Hence, the change in the arc voltage is considered to be proportional to the change in the arc length, and controlling the arc length at a constant would be the same as controlling the arc voltage at a constant. For precision sensing and control of arc length, especially when the arc length is small or the current may change, the aforementioned rst-order approximation may not always be sufcient. The complexity has been demonstrated through the following:
 For the same arc length, the voltage of a

tungsten-copper arc in argon decreases rapidly before the current increases to 50 A and decreases signicantly before the current increases to 100 A (Ref 1).  When the current is the same, the arc voltage decreases before the arc length increases to approximately 1 mm (0.04 in.) and then increases gradually when the arc length further increases (Ref 2, 3). To use the arc voltage, V, as a precision feedback/measurement of the arc length, l, studies are needed for the particular anode (workpiece) to measure the arc voltage at different currents and arc lengths in order to establish an accurate model for the specic material being welded:

Fig. 9

Effect of electrode tip geometry and shielding gas composition on weld pool shape for spot-on-plate welds. Welding parameters: current, 150 A; duration, 2 s

Plot of arc voltage versus arc current for selected inert shielding gases. Welding parameters: anode, titanium; cathode, tungsten; polarity, direct current electrode negative; arc length, 12.7 mm (0.050 in.)

Fig. 8

Fig. 10

Plot of gas tungsten arc welding arc column temperature distribution as a function of anode distance and arc position. Welding parameters: electrode vertex angle, 30 ; current, 150 A; shielding gas, 10Ar-90He

254 / Arc Welding Processes

Fig. 11

Fig. 14
Plot of gas tungsten arc welding arc column temperature distribution relative to anode distance and arc position. Welding parameters: electrode vertex angle, 30 ; current, 300 A; shielding gas, 100% Ar

Effect of geometry on venturi gas cup laminar and turbulent ow as detected by real-time holographic interferometry

Fig. 15

Argon atomic line intensity versus arc length

Effect of geometry on commercial gas cup laminar and turbulent ow as detected by real-time holographic interferometry

Fig. 12

Fig. 13

Effect of geometry on converging cone cup laminar and turbulent ow as detected by real-time holographic interferometry

Gas Metal Arc Physics

The gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process is performed using a welding arc established in a shielding gas between a continuously-fed consumable wire electrode and the workpieces or base metal to be joined. Part of the shielding gas that is continuously supplied around the wire is ionized to form the arc column and to establish the arc; the rest surrounds the arc and molten metal to shield them from the atmosphere. The most widely used variant of GMAW is ux cored arc welding, where the wire electrode is solid metal and cored with ux of specic chemical powders. The most fundamental difference between GMAW and GTAW is the presence of the metal-transfer process; that is, the consumable electrode must be melted and the liquid metal of the melted consumable wire must transfer from the electrode into the pool being formed by molten metal from the workpieces and

l f V; I

(Eq 1)

where I is the current. However, despite the possibility that such a model may be established and the model is deterministic, it is likely that this model will be nonlinear, as has been demonstrated in the previously referenced studies. In the previous studies, because of the lack of capabilities to measure the weld pool surface, the arc length was difcult to accurately measure, and the gap between the tungsten and the unmelted workpiece was typically used as the measurement of the arc length. When the arc length is small and the welding current is large (such that the difference between the weld pool surface and the

workpiece surface is large), the arc length should be measured more accurately. To this end, technology recently developed to measure the three-dimensional weld pool surface may be used (Ref 4). The nonlinearity issue seen in Eq 1 may be overcome by replacing the arc voltage using an argon atomic line intensity (Ref 5). Figure 15 shows the linear relationship between argon atomic line intensity and arc length. Ideal linear relationships are found in the entire arc length range that is typically used. Of course, the measurement of the line intensity requires the use of an optical-electric sensor with a band-pass lter, and it is more complex than the measurement of the arc voltage.

Arc Physics of Gas Tungsten and Gas Metal Arc Welding / 255
electrode. Both the melting of the electrode and how the melted electrode metal detaches from the electrode into the weld pool play fundamental roles in determining the behavior of the arc, the quality of the resultant welds, and the productivity of the process. The detachment of the melted electrode is controlled by forces acting on the liquid droplet formed by the melted electrode. Of these forces, the electromagnetic force often plays a dominant role in determining the mode of the metal-transfer process and how the detachment is completed. The primary variable that controls the electromagnetic force is the welding current, while other factors such as electrode diameter, shielding gas, polarity, and so on also affect the electromagnetic force, but they are not conveniently adjusted during welding. Another fundamental difference between GMAW and GTAW is that the material of the electrode varies with the application, because it will be melted and transferred into the base metal to become part of the weld metal. Also, the electrons are emitted from the material being welded in typical direct current electrode positive GMAW applications. Because the material that emits the electrons varies with application, the cathode voltage varies from application to application. Further, the electrons tend to emit from areas of lower electron voltage in the weld pool, the location of the cathode in relation to the anode (wire tip) may change, and the arc column may not always be straight if the reduction in the voltage for electron emission is greater than the increase in the arc column voltage. Because the location of the area of lower electron voltage in relation to the wire tip may change during welding, the arc (path, column, distribution) may be subject to change. In particular, because of cyclic changes in the arc length due to metal-transfer variations, the arc length in GMAW typically must be long enough to tolerate these periodic changes. This increased length of the arc also promotes the change of the arc. As a result, the arc voltage uctuates in addition to the periodic change. For constant voltage (CV) power supplies, the current also uctuates accordingly. Such uctuations make it more difcult to sense by use of the arc signals than in GTAW. The GMAW process generally uses a dc arc, where the electrode wire has a positive polarity. The wire thus becomes the anode and the workpiece becomes the cathode. The polarity is called reverse polarity, or DCEP. The purpose of DCEP is to detach the droplets formed by the melted wire. This is because the component of the electromagnetic force generated by the current along the wire axis direction typically has the same direction as the current in argonrich gases. Hence, when the current ows away from the droplet, the electromagnetic force is a detaching force. Further, DCEP can remove oxide lms from the surface of the weld pool or workpiece. The oxide lm promotes emission. As the oxide is depleted, the emission moves to a new location that has sufcient oxide content to sustain the discharge of electrons. The arc root or cathode spot where the emission occurs is highly mobile. Together with the oscillation of the weld pool surface caused by impact from the detached droplets, the arc is typically not completely stable. The arc voltage uctuates, and for CV power supply the uctuation in the arc voltage will cause the current to uctuate. In DCEP, the wire is primarily melted by the anode heat whose power is IVanode, where I is the welding current, and Vanode is the anode voltage. The heat directly imposed on the workpiece by the arc is IVcathode. For GMAW applications, the workpiece and wire are similar materials, and the Vcathode/Vanode ratio is approximately 2 (Ref 6). Hence, if GMAW is performed using straight polarity, the wire is expected to be melted at double speed, so the deposition speed is doubled. That is, straight polarity helps GMAW to increase the deposition rate or reduce the heat input. However, in DCEN, the electromagnetic forces prevent the droplet from being detached. Hence, variable polarity or ac GMAW has been proposed that uses DCEN to speed the wire melting and DCEP to detach the droplet. In all cases, the arc and both electrodes are shielded by gas, usually an inert gas, a gas mixture, or pure CO2. The inert gas is typically argon, and the gas mixture is Ar-O2 or ArCO2. A gas mixture is used to improve the penetration capability and weld bead, and pure CO2 is used for reduced costs and increased deposition and arc temperature. A reasonable understanding of welding arc fundamentals and the GMAW process requires a more thorough discussion of electrode melting and droplet detachment/metal transfer, including the physics and physics-based controls. Wire Melting. In GMAW (Fig. 16), a consumable wire is fed to the contact tube, which is typically connected to the positive terminal of the power supply. A shielding gas is supplied to surround the wire and is restricted by the nozzle to deliver to the local area that surrounds the wire. When the wire touches the negatively charged workpiece (connected to the negative terminal of the power supply), the tip of the wire is rapidly melted, forming a gap between the wire and the workpiece, and an arc is ignited across this gap. The anode of the arc directly melts the wire, and melted metal forms a droplet at the tip of the wire. The formation and detachment of the droplet is typically referred to as the metal-transfer process. Before droplet detachment and metal transfer are analyzed, the melting of the wire in GMAW must be understood. Basically, the wire is melted by the anode and resistive heat, which are proportional to the current and its square, respectively. However, the resistive heat also depends on the length of the wire extension (E). The heat that melts the wire is often simplied as:
Qwire IVanode  r A EI2 (Eq 2)

where r is the resistivity of the wire material, and A is the cross-sectional area of the wire. In a rst-order approximation, r is treated as a constant. If greater accuracy is needed, the dependence of resistivity on temperature, that is, r(T) and @r(T)/@T 6 0, can be considered, and an equivalent resistivity can be calculated as the average resistivity over the wire extension to replace the constant resistivity in Eq 2:
Z r
E 0 rTtdt

 =E

(Eq 3)

However, a more accurate calculation of this equivalent resistivity requires the following:
 r(T), the dependence of resistivity on tem T(t), the dependence of temperature on posi-

perature for the given wire material

tion t(0 t E) in the wire extension for the given wire material, diameter, current, and wire extension

One may nd that extremely high precision for the heat that melts the wire is often not required because the temperature in the liquid droplet is not uniform, and the average temperature of the droplets changes with the current and droplet volume in addition to other metal parameters. Hence, the wire metal melt cannot be accurately determined from the heat. Arc Length/Voltage Control. The length of the arc column from the droplet to the cathode on the weld pool surface is the arc length. The welding voltage is the sum of the voltage drop on the wire extension, the anode voltage drop, the arc column voltage, and the cathode voltage. The arc length is an approximate indicator for the distance from the wire tip to the weld pool surface and must be controlled at an appropriate level to prevent unintentional

Fig. 16

Illustration of gas metal arc welding processes

256 / Arc Welding Processes

short-circuiting (too short an arc length) or burning of the contact tube (too long an arc length). To this end, the arc length must be feedback controlled. Because the voltage drop on the wire extension is typically much smaller than the arc column voltage, and the cathode and anode voltage drops are both approximately constant, the arc column voltage can be approximately controlled by controlling the welding voltage. The major parameter that determines the arc column voltage is the arc length, although the welding current also affects the arc column voltage. A rst-order approximation is:
V V0 kl (Eq 4)

where V0 = Vanode + Vcathode + Vwire and k are both considered constant, although Vwire and k are both current-dependent and Vwire is also wire-extension-dependent. Hence, the welding voltage can be used to indicate the arc length, and the control of the arc length can be converted into the control of the welding voltage, which can be easily measured. The arc length control is based on the following melting-feeding balance equation:
dl % c1 Qwire vf dt (Eq 5a)

Detailed discussion and application of either theory to determine when and how the droplet is detached is beyond the scope of this article. This article only introduces the principle of static force balance. When applying the static force balance theory, all forces imposed on the droplet are projected to the axis of the wire and are categorized into detaching forces (pointing away from the liquid-solid interface) and retaining forces (pointing toward the liquidsolid interface). In typical cases (an argon-rich shielding gas and DCEP), the major detaching forces are the electromagnetic force, which can be considered to approximately increase quadratically with the current, and the gravitational force, which increases proportionally with the mass of the accumulated mass in the droplet; the major retaining force is the surface tension at the liquid-solid interface, along with some supportive force from the momentum of electrons and ions. For a given wire material and diameter, the surface tension is approximately xed, and the major parameters that determine when and how the droplet is detached are the welding current and arc length:
 Short-circuiting transfer is characterized by

or
dV % kc1 Qwire vf dt (Eq 5b)

where vf is the nominal wire feed speed, and c1 is a constant that depends on wire material, diameter, and droplet temperature. When the contact-tube-to-work distance suddenly increases, the arc length immediately increases, such that the welding voltage also increases immediately. In this case, the feedback control system will reduce the voltage, and the needed dV/dt is negative. Based on Eq 5(b), Qwire must decrease. From Eq 2, the current must be reduced. Once the current decreases, dV/dt < 0 will be realized, and the voltage will decrease. Metal Transfer. The wire is continuously melted, but the metal melted from the wire may not transfer continuously/immediately into the base metal/weld pool. Instead, it accumulates at the tip of the wire to form a droplet, primarily because of the surface tension at the droplet (liquid)/wire (solid) interface that functions as a retaining force for the droplet. The metal-transfer process is often loosely used to refer to the entire process associated with wire melting, droplet formation and detachment, and merging with the base metal. Droplet detachment is specically referred to in this section. The droplet is transferred into the base metal through three major modes/types described subsequently: short-circuiting, globular, and spray transfer. There are two major established theories for when and how the droplet is detached: pinch instability and static force balance.

the occurrence of short-circuiting between the droplet and weld pool. When the wire feed speed is low, such that the current needed to melt the wire is small, the electromagnetic force will be small. Unless a condition exists for the droplet to grow to a level such that its gravitational force, together with the electromagnetic force,

exceeds the surface tension, the droplet will touch/short-circuit with the weld pool before transferring into the weld pool. Figure 17 shows a typical short-circuiting metaltransfer process. It is found that much spatter may be generated in this process.  Globular transfer is characterized by relatively large droplets whose diameters are signicantly greater than that of the wire. Two conditions are needed for this to occur: the arc length, l (Fig. 16), is sufcient to allow the droplet to grow to a diameter that is signicantly larger than that of the wire, and the current is relatively small, such that the corresponding electromagnetic force is not sufcient to form a competent detaching force that exceeds the surface tension without a droplet of relatively large diameter to provide a sufcient gravitational force. Two typical globular transfers are shown in Fig. 18.  In spray transfer, if the current is sufcient that the detaching electromagnetic force is close to or exceeds the retaining surface tension, the droplet will detach without a need for additional gravitational force. The diameters of the droplets will thus be similar to (drop spray) or much smaller than that of the wire. Figure 19 shows a typical drop spray metal transfer. The occurrence of spray transfer is primarily determined by the current level for the given wire diameter and material, and the arc length, l, is irrelevant as long as it is not extremely short. The current level that determines if a

Fig. 17

Typical short-circuiting metal-transfer process

Fig. 18
transfer

Schematic of typical globular metal transfer. (a) Axial globular transfer. (b) Nonaxial globular

Fig. 19

Typical drop spray metal transfer

Arc Physics of Gas Tungsten and Gas Metal Arc Welding / 257
spray transfer could occur is referred to as the transition current, It, and it is approximately 230 A for steel wire of 1.2 mm (0.05 in.) diameter. At I < It, the gravitational force will play a role in providing sufcient detaching force. If l is sufcient, globular transfer theoretically could occur at any I < It, and the diameter (volume) of the droplets detached decreases as I increases; otherwise, short-circuiting would occur. For a given l, the transfer tends to change from short-circuiting to globular as I increases. Static Force Balance and Arc Climb. The wire is continuously melted, but the resultant droplet typically detaches from the wire and transfers into the base metal discontinuously. The static force balance can be a good start to understanding the metal-transfer process. The major forces acting on the droplet include gravitational force, electromagnetic force (Lorentz force), aerodynamic drag force, surface tension, and momentum force. The force due to gravity can be expressed as:
4 Fg md g prd 3 rg 3 (Eq 6) Ft Fg Fd Fm Fem (Eq 11)

where md is the mass of the droplet, rd is the droplet radius, r is the droplet density, and g is the acceleration of the gravity. The surface tension is given as:
Fs 2pRs (Eq 7)

where R is the electrode radius, while s is the surface tension coefcient. The aerodynamic drag force can be expressed as:
Fd 1=2Cd Ad rp vp 2 (Eq 8)

where Cd is the aerodynamic drag coefcient, Ad is the area of the drop seen from above, and rp and vp are the density and uid velocity of the plasma, respectively. The momentum force can be expressed as:
Fm vs md _ (Eq 9)

_ where vs is the wire feed speed, and md is the change of the droplet mass. The electromagnetic force, Fem, is given by:
Fem   m0 I2 1 ri ln 4p 2 ru (Eq 10)

where m0 is the magnetic permittivity, I is the welding current, ri is the exit radius of the current path, and ru is the entry radius of the current path; ri and ru are related with the process of the droplet status. Before the droplet starts to be detached, ru is the same as the radius of the wire and is thus a constant. However, once the droplet is being detached, ru decreases. The increase of Fem thus accelerates the detachment of the droplet. In the conventional GMAW process, the droplet is not detached when the retaining force, Fs, is still sufcient to balance the detaching force, Ft:

During the metal-transfer process, the major variables that affect the detaching force are the droplet mass and the current, as can be seen from Eq 6 to 10. Because the surface tension is the major retaining force and it is xed for the given wire, the droplet can only be detached either by waiting for the droplet to grow into a larger size, such that the gravitational force is sufcient to break the balance; waiting for the droplet to touch the weld pool, such that an additional detaching forcesurface tension between the droplet and weld poolis added; or by increasing the current to increase the electromagnetic force. The phenomenon of the transition current implies that the effect of the electromagnetic force as the detaching force changes rapidly around the transition current. The rapid increase of the electromagnetic force reduces the dependence on the gravitational force to overcome the surface tension at the liquid-solid interface on the wire tip. Such a rapid increase in the electromagnetic force at detaching is due to the rapid climb of the arc (anode) from the bottom of the droplet toward the neck of the droplet (the solid-liquid interface). The climb of the arc increases the exit radius of the current in Eq 10. When the arc climbs rapidly as the current increases, the exit radius of the current in Eq 10 increases rapidly, such that the required gravitational force component is much smaller. (Figure 20 demonstrates the arc climb phenomenon.) As a result, the diameter of the droplet decreases rapidly in the narrow range around the transition current, from being much larger than that of the wire to being much smaller than that of the wire. Metal-Transfer Control. Metal transfer plays a critical role in determining the quality of the welds produced. In conventional GMAW with a continuous waveform CV power supply, the continuous waveform current is dictated by the wire feed speed. If the wire feed speed is large, such that the resultant current is higher than the transition current, that is, I ! It, the droplets are automatically detached smoothly at relatively small diameters as spray transfer, and the metal transfer is typically not an issue of concern unless the current is extremely high, producing a rotating transfer. However, if I < It is required, the metal transfer could cause problems. If the arc length is long, the large droplets pending at the tip of the wire would wander about the wire axis and cause not only an arc instability but also uncertainties in the travel direction of the detached droplet. Droplets thus merge into the weld pool at different locations, forming irregular weld beads. If the arc length is short, resulting in short-circuiting transfers, spatters would be produced. Hence, a continuous waveform current is typically not used in the large current range I < It. A number of methods have been developed to control the metal-transfer process if the needed current is smaller than the transition current.

Pulsed Arc Control. This is a method to achieve the desired spray transfer over a wide range of average current by using a square waveform with a background current, Ib < It, to maintain the arc and a peak current, Ip ! It, to detach the droplet, as shown in Fig. 21. The applications of GMAW that require different levels of heat input are thus greatly extended. Surface Tension Transfer (STT, Lincoln Electric). This technology was developed from an understanding of phenomena associated with short-circuiting transfer. By detecting the progress of the short-circuiting process, the current waveform is controlled/optimized differently in different metal-transfer stages to minimize the production of spatters. Figure 22 shows its typical current waveform. Cold Metal Transfer (CMT). Gas metal arc welding typically feeds the wire forward continuously by using a motor (wire feeder) at a distance from the welding torch to minimize the weight being carried and to maximize the torch accessibility. The CMT uses a second motor installed close to the torch to draw the wire back after the droplet touches the weld pool. As a result, the droplet can be successfully separated from the solid wire and transferred into the weld pool, and the arc is re-established during the separation process, as shown in Fig. 23. During the separation and arc re-establishment, the current is controlled at a minimal level to minimize the production of spatter. Double-Electrode GMAW. In conventional GMAW, the current melts the wire. By adding a bypass electrode and bypass loop (Fig. 24), such that part of the current passes through the bypass loop, there will be two cathodes, one on the base metal and another on the bypass electrode. The current owing to the workpiece becomes lower than the melting current. As a result, the arc root on the wire becomes more distributed, and the spray transfer is achieved with a base-metal current much smaller than the transition current (Ref 7). Heat Input Control. Many GMAW applications require that a certain amount of metal be deposited into the workpiece with a minimal heat input. This problem can be posed as

Fig. 20

Arc climb phenomenon. (a) Below transition current. (b) Above transition current

258 / Arc Welding Processes

achieving a maximum efciency ratio, dened as the effective heat over heat input ratio:
l He =H (Eq 12)

where H is the heat input into the workpiece, and the effective heat, He, is the heat that melts the wire. This can be simplied by omitting the arc column heat and resistive heat. In conventional direct current electrode positive GMAW:
He Va I=v H Va Vc I=v (Eq 13)

(Eq 14)

where Va is the anode voltage drop, Vc is the cathode voltage drop, and v is the travel speed. Their ratio is:
l Va =Va Vc (Eq 15)

In GMAW, the materials of the wire and base metal are similar, and Vc % 2Va (Ref 6). Hence, for conventional direct current electrode positive GMAW, the efciency ratio is approximately 33%. In direct current electrode negative GMAW:
He Vc I=v H Va Vc I=v
Typical pulsed gas metal arc welding process

(Eq 16)

Fig. 21

(Eq 17)

The efciency ratio is approximately 66%. However, in electrode negative (EN) mode, the electromagnetic force prevents the droplet from being detached. To resolve this issue, the polarity can be switched between EN and electrode positive (EP), such that the efciency ratio is increased using EN but the droplet is detached using EP. The resultant processes are variable-polarity GMAW and ac GMAW. In double-electrode GMAW, if the bypass electrode is nonconsumable, such as a tungsten:
He Va I=v H Va I Vc Ibm =v (Eq 18)

(Eq 19)

where Ibm is the base-metal current, and the melting current I = Ibp + Ibm, that is, the sum of the base-metal current and bypass current. The efciency ratio is:
l % I=I 2Ibm (Eq 20)

If Ibp = Ibm, then l = 50%. If Ibp = 4Ibm, then l = 5/7 = 71%. For consumable double-electrode GMAW where the bypass electrode is a wire:
He Va I Vc Ibp =v (Eq 21)

Fig. 22

Schematic of surface tension transfer process and current waveform

H Va Vc I=v

(Eq 22)

Arc Physics of Gas Tungsten and Gas Metal Arc Welding / 259
Arc Welding, Met. Constr., Vol 15, 1983, p 272278 J.H. Choi, J. Lee, and C.D. Yoo, Dynamic Force Balance Model for Metal Transfer Analysis in Arc Welding, J. Phys. D, Appl. Phys., Vol 34 (No. 17), 2001, p 26582664 C.E. Jackson, The Science of Arc Welding, Weld. J., Vol 39, 1960, p 129s 140s, 177s190s, 225s230s J.F. Key, Arc Physics of Gas-Tungsten Arc Welding, Welding, Brazing, and Soldering, Vol 6, ASM Handbook, ASM International, 1993, p 3035 J.F. Key, J.W. Chan, and M.E. McIlwain, Process Variable Inuence on Arc Temperature Distribution, Weld. J./Weld. Res. Supp., Vol 62 (No. 7), 1983, p 179-s to 184-s Y.S. Kim, Metal Transfer in Gas Metal Arc Welding, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA, 1998 J.F. Lancaster, Ed., The Physics of Welding, 2nd ed., International Institute of Welding, Pergamon Press, 1986 K.H. Li, J.S. Chen, and Y.M. Zhang, DoubleElectrode GMAW Process and Control, Weld. J., Vol 86 (No. 8), 2007, p 231s237s K.H. Li and Y.M. Zhang, Consumable Double-Electrode GMAW Part I: The Process, Weld. J., Vol 87 (No. 1), 2008, p 11s17s P.J. Modenesi, C.M.D. Starling, and T.I. Reis, Wire Melting Phenomena in Gas Metal Arc Welding, Sci. Technol. Weld. Joining, Vol 10 (No. 5), 2005, p 610616 C.G. Pickin and K. Young, Evaluation of Cold Metal Transfer (CMT) Process for Welding Aluminum Alloy, Sci. Technol. Weld. Joining, Vol 11 (No. 5), 2006, p 583585 Process of Surface Tension Transfer, http:// content.lincolnelectric.com/pdfs/products/literature/nx220.pdf S. Rhee and E. Kannatey-Asibu, Analysis of Arc Pressure Effect on Metal Transfer in Gas-Metal Arc-Welding, J. Appl. Phys., Vol 70 (No. 9), 1991, p 50685075 M. Richardson, P.W. Bucknall, and I. Stares, The Inference of Power Source Dynamics on Wire Melting, Weld. J., Vol 73 (No. 2), 1994, p 32s37s E.K. Stava, System and Method of Short Circuiting Arc Welding, U.S. Patent 5,148,001, 1992 E.K. Stava, Short Circuit Arc Welder and Method of Controlling Same, U.S. Patent 6,501,049, 2002 J.S. Thomsen, Control of Pulsed Gas Metal Arc Welding, Int. J. Model., Identif., Control, Vol 1 (No. 2), 2004, p 115125 Q.L. Wang and P.J. Li, Arc Light Sensing of Droplet Transfer and Its Analysis in Pulsed GMAW Process, Weld. J., Vol 76 (No. 11), 1997, p 458s469s

 

Fig. 23

Cold metal-transfer process (metal inert gas/metal active gas dip-transfer arc process). Courtesy of Fronius USA LLC, 2007

    

Fig. 24

Nonconsumable double-electrode gas metal arc welding (GMAW). GTAW, gas tungsten arc welding

The efciency ratio is:

   2 Ibp  % 33% 3 I (Eq 23)

If Ibp = Ibm, then l = 66%. If Ibp = 4Ibm, then l = 86%. REFERENCES 1. K. Goldman, Electric Arcs in Argon, Physics of the Welding Arc, Institute of Welding, London, 1966 2. K. Ando and J. Nishikawa, Studies on Anode and Cathode Energy of TIG Arc, IIW Document 211-158-68, 1968 3. J.F. Lancaster, Energy Distribution in Argon-Shielded Welding Arcs, Br. Weld. J., Vol 1, 1954, p 412416 4. H.S. Song and Y.M. Zhang, Measurement and Analysis of Three-Dimensional

Specular Gas Tungsten Arc Weld Pool Surface, Weld. J., Vol 87 (No. 4), 2008, p 85s95s 5. P.J. Li and Y.M. Zhang, Analysis of Arc Light Mechanism and Its Application in Sensing of GTAW Process, Weld. J., Vol 79 (No. 9), 2000, p 252s260s 6. E.J. Soderstrom, K.M. Scott, and P.F. Mendez, Calorimetric Measurement of Droplet Temperature in GMAW, Weld. J. Res. Suppl., Vol 90, 2011, p 77-s to 84-s 7. K.H. Li and Y.M. Zhang, Metal Transfer in Double-Electrode Gas Metal Arc Welding, J. Manuf. Sci. Eng. (Trans. ASME), Vol 129 (No. 6), 2007, p 991999 SELECTED REFERENCES
 M. Amin, Pulse Current Parameters for Arc

   

Stability and Controlled Metal Transfer in