Abstract
In this study, a 2D mathematical model was developed for both arc and weld pool in stationary GTA welding. In arc model, current continuity equation has been solved in both arc and cathode regions without any assumption of fixed current density on the cathode surface which was essential in most previous works. The results of arc model were presented for both copper and aluminum anodes to investigate the effect of anode material on arc properties. It was seen that aluminum anode has lower maximum anode current density and heat flux but the distributions are wider than copper anode. Furthermore, shear stress on anode surface is higher in the case of aluminum anode. Also, calculated results of this study were compared with other available theoretical and experimental results. It has been shown that the agreement between calculated and experimental results was fairly good. The necessary information to simulate the weld pool, including the anode current density and heat flux to the workpiece were taken from the arc model. In this model, due to high thermal conductivity of pure aluminum, fluid flow into the weld pool was ignored. Effects of arc variables, i.e., arc length, applied current and welding time on the shape and size of the weld pool were investigated as well. In order to check the validity of the weld pool model, a comparison between calculated results and the results of our experimental tests was conducted. Generally, these comparisons reveal an acceptable agreement between calculated results and experimental data.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Murphy AB, Tanaka M, Tashiro S, Sato T, Lowke JJ (2009) A computational investigation of the effectiveness of different shielding gas mixtures for arc welding. J Phys D Appl Phys 42:115205
Lu S, Dong W, Li D, Li Y (2009) Numerical study and comparisons of gas tungsten arc properties between argon and nitrogen. Comput Mater Sci 45:327–335
Lago F, Gonzalez JJ, Freton P, Gleizes A (2004) A numerical modelling of an electric arc and its interaction with the anode: part I. The two-dimensional model. J Phys D Appl Phys 37:883
Savaş A, Ceyhun V (2012) Finite element analysis of GTAW arc under different shielding gases. Comput Mater Sci 51:53–71
Traidia A, Roger F, Chidley A, Schroeder J, Marlaud T (2011) Effect of helium-argon mixtures on the heat transfer and fluid flow in gas tungsten arc welding. World Acad Sci Eng Technol 73:1053–1058
Tashiro S, Tanaka M, Ushio M, Murphy AB, Lowke JJ (2006) Prediction of energy source properties of free-burning arcs. Vacuum 80:1190–1194
Zacharia T, David SA, Vitek JM, Kraus HG (1991) Computational modeling of stationary gas tungsten-arc weld pools and comparison to stainless steel 304 experimental results. Metall Trans B 22:243–257
Jou M (2003) Experimental study and modeling of GTA welding process. J Manuf Sci Eng 125:801–808
Tanaka M, Terasaki H, Ushio M, Lowke J (2002) A unified numerical modeling of stationary tungsten-inert-gas welding process. Metall Mater Trans A 33:2043–2052
Kumar S, Shahi AS (2011) Effect of heat input on the microstructure and mechanical properties of gas tungsten arc welded AISI 304 stainless steel joints. Mater Des 32:3617–3623
Goodarzi M (1997) Mathematical modelling of gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) Processes. Dissertation, University of Toronto, National Library of Canada
Goodarzi M, Choo R, Toguri JM (1997) The effect of the cathode tip angle on the GTAW arc and weld pool: I. Mathematical model of the arc. J Phys D Appl Phys 30:2744
Goodarzi M, Choo R, Takasu T, Toguri JM (1998) The effect of the cathode tip angle on the gas tungsten arc welding arc and weld pool: II. The mathematical model for the weld pool. J Phys D Appl Phys 31:569
Lu F, Yao S, Lou S, Li Y (2004) Modeling and finite element analysis on GTAW arc and weld pool. Comput Mater Sci 29:371–378
Tanaka M, Ushio M, Lowke JJ (2004) Numerical study of gas tungsten arc plasma with anode melting. Vacuum 73:381–389
Hsu KC, Etemadi K, Pfender E (1983) Study of free-burning high intensity argon arc. J Appl Phys 54:1293–1301
Ramirez MA, Trapaga G, McKelliget J (2004) A comparison between different numerical formulations for welding arc representations. J Mater Process Technol 155–156:1634–1640
Marco AR, Gerardo T, John M (2003) A comparison between two different numerical formulations of welding arc simulation. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 11:675
Gonzalez JJ, Lago F, Freton P, Masquere M, Franceries X (2005) Numerical modelling of an electric arc and its interaction with the anode: part II. The three-dimensional model—influence of external forces on the arc column. J Phys D Appl Phys 38:14
Du HY, Wei YH, Wang WX, Lin WM, Fan D (2009) Numerical simulation of temperature and fluid in GTAW-arc under changing process conditions. J Mater Process Technol 209:3752–3765
Dong W, Lu S, Li D, Li Y (2011) GTAW liquid pool convections and the weld shape variations under helium gas shielding. Int J Heat Mass Transf 54:1420–1431
Dong W, Lu S, Li D, Li Y (2010) Modeling of the weld shape development during the autogenous welding process by coupling welding arc with weld pool. J Mater Eng Perform 19:942–950
Farzadi A, Serajzadeh S, Kokabi AH (2010) Investigation of weld pool in aluminum alloys: geometry and solidification microstructure. Int J Therm Sci 49:809–819
Farzadi A, Serajzadeh S, Kokabi AH (2008) Modeling of heat transfer and fluid flow during gas tungsten arc welding of commercial pure aluminum. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 38:258–267
Xu G, Hu J, Tsai HL (2008) Three-dimensional modeling of the plasma arc in arc welding. J Appl Phys 104:103301–103309
Kim WH, Fan HG, Na SJ (1997) A mathematical model of gas tungsten arc welding considering the cathode and the free surface of the weld pool. Metall Mater Trans B 28:679–686
Patankar SV (1980) Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow. McGraw-Hill, New York
Jamshidi Aval H, Farzadi A, Serajzadeh S, Kokabi AH (2009) Theoretical and experimental study of microstructures and weld pool geometry during GTAW of 304 stainless steel. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 42:1043–1051
Pehlke R (1982) Summary of thermal properties for casting alloys and mold materials. University of Michigan, US
Hatch J (1984) Aluminum: properties and physical metallurgy. American Society for Metals/Metals Park, US
Holman J (2001) Heat transfer. Mc-Graw Hill, New York
Lee SY, Na SJ (1996) A numerical analysis of a stationary gas tungsten welding arc considering various electrode angles. Weld J 75:S269–S279
Nestor OH (1962) Heat intensity and current density distributions at the anode of high current, inert gas arcs. J Appl Phys 33:1638–1648
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Faraji, A.H., Goodarzi, M., Seyedein, S.H. et al. Experimental study and numerical modeling of arc and weld pool in stationary GTA welding of pure aluminum. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 71, 2059–2071 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-014-5651-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-014-5651-8