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Comparing two different arc welding processes through the welding energy: a selection analysis based on quality and energy consumption

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Abstract

The welding seams procedure is widely used in the manufacturing industries for intermediary steps of the steel production or joints of parts of several manufactured products such as automobile, ships and aircrafts. The weld seams can be produced through a number of different arc welding processes, but the comparison of two different welding processes for the production of a quality weld seam is not trivial, and a quantitative method, which gives comparable parameters, is necessary to be developed. In this work, a method is proposed for comparing between two welding processes through the statistical study of the effects that two welding energy levels have on the selected output variables of each one. A 22 full factorial design of experiment was applied. The process responses are one-dimensional weld bead geometry (penetration, width and reinforcement), two-dimensional weld bead geometry (penetration area and reinforcement area), dilution and weld bead microstructure. The statistical analyses showed that the methodology presented is capable of determining objective parameters (statistically based) which can be useful in comparing and selecting a suitable process for a specific application. The comparison of the results between fluxed core arc welding (FCAW) and shielded metal arc welding processes reveled that both produced weld seams with the same penetration. Therefore, in this study, it was recommended the selection of the FCAW process at low energy level, which was able to produce larger width weld seams and improved microstructure quality, saving 30% of the energy consumption.

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Abbreviations

α :

Constant of proportionality for anode or cathode heating

β :

Constant of proportionality for electrical resistance heating

η :

Thermal efficiency factor

A :

Reinforcement area

B :

Penetration area

CTWD:

Contact tip-to-work distance

D :

Dilution

DM:

Deposited metal

DR:

Deposition rate

E :

Welding energy

E c :

Electrode composition

E ex :

Electrode extension

E fs :

Electrode feed speed

E φ :

Electrode diameter

H :

Heat input

I :

Welding current

L :

Arc length

MR:

Melting rate

MTM:

Metal transfer mode

OF:

Operating factor

P :

Penetration

R :

Reinforcement

S :

Travel speed

SGc :

Shielding gas composition

U :

Welding voltage

U source :

Voltage set on power source

W :

Width

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Laboratory of Materials Characterization of Federal Institute of Southeast of Minas Gerais State—IF Sudeste MG, and the Laboratory for Welding Process Optimization of Federal University of Juiz de Fora—UFJF, for providing laboratorial support. The authors also thank the ESAB Company in Brazil for the consumables supply. This work was supported by FAPEMIG (article publication) and UFJF (undergraduate research scholarship program). We specially thank Professor Américo Scotti (Federal University of Uberlândia) for discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Industrial and Metallurgical Engineering, Fluminense Federal University, Volta Redonda, Brazil

    Gulliver Catão Silva & José Adilson de Castro

  2. Faculty of Engineering, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil

    Roberto Malheiros Moreira Filho & Moisés Luiz Lagares Jr.

  3. Federal Institute of Southeast of Minas Gerais State – IF Sudeste MG, Juiz de Fora, Brazil

    Lecino Caldeira

Authors
  1. Gulliver Catão Silva
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  2. José Adilson de Castro
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  3. Roberto Malheiros Moreira Filho
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  4. Lecino Caldeira
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  5. Moisés Luiz Lagares Jr.
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Correspondence to Moisés Luiz Lagares Jr..

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Silva, G.C., de Castro, J.A., Filho, R.M.M. et al. Comparing two different arc welding processes through the welding energy: a selection analysis based on quality and energy consumption. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 41, 301 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-019-1804-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-019-1804-x

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