Development of ultra-narrow gap welding with constrained arc by flux band

Narrow gap welding has merits of lower residual stress and distortion, and superior mechanical properties of joints. A major problem of this process is the lack of fusion in sidewalls, hence many methods of weaving arc have been developed to increase heating effect of arc to the sidewalls. In this work, a new approach Without weaving arc is attempted to ensure the penetration of sidewall, and ultra-narrow gap welding with the gap of less than 5 mm was executed successfully. In this approach, the width of gap is decreased further, so that the sidewalls are made within range of arc heating to obtain the enough heat. In order to prevent the arc from being attracted by sidewall and going up along the sidewalls, two pieces of flux bands consisting of the specified aggregates are adhered to the sidewalls to constrain the arc. In addition, when flux band being heated by the arc, slag and gases are formed to shield the arc and the weld pool. This technique was tested on the welding experiment of pipeline steel with thickness of 20 mm. The involved welding parameters were obtained, that is, the width of gap is 4 mm, the welding current 250 A, and the heat input 0. 5 kJ/mm, the width of heat-affected zone is 1 -2 mm.

YAG laser welding with surface activating flux

YAG laser welding with surface activating flux has been investigated, and the influencing factors and mechanism are discussed. The results show that both surface activating flux and surface active element S have fantastic effects on the YAG laser weld shape, that is to obviously increase the weld penetration and D/W ratio in various welding conditions. The mechanism is thought to be the change of weld pool surface tension temperature coefficient, thus, the change of fluid flow pattern in weld pool due to the flux.

Optimality analysis of multiplex A-TIG welding flux for nickel-base superalloy

Orthogonal experiment is employed to study a new kind of multiplex flux for nickel-base superalloy. This activated TIG welding flux is composed of NaF, MgF2 and CaF2, and their proportion is 5：4：1. Compared with conventional TIG welding, the penetration increases 164% by the action of the flux. Tensile test result indicates that the fracture strength of the mixed flux A-TIG weld bead is higher than base metal, and it increases along with the decrement of the welding current. The average extensibility of the weldment is beyond 100%, which means perfect ductility. MetaUographs elucidate that there exist lots of deep and evenly distributed dimples on the fiacture section of weld bead while on that of base metal there only exists a few shallow dimples and massive tearing ridge.

Research on the Mechanism of Penetration Increase by Flux in A-TIG Welding

The mechanism of penetration depth increased by activating flux in activating tungsten inert gas (A-TIG) weldingwas studied by measuring the distribution of trace element Bi in the weld and monitoring the change of arc voltageduring A-TIG welding of stainless steel 0Crl8Ni9 with fluxes SiO2 and TiO2. The results show that the mechanismof penetration depth in A-TIG welding depends on the sort of flux used. The weld pool convection after coating theflux SiO2 and flux TiO2 is changed inversely compared with convectional TIG welding without flux. The arc voltageis increased by flux SiO2 whilst flux TiO2 does not have effect on the arc voltage. The reason of penetration depthincrease for SiO2 is due to the constriction of arc plasma and the change of surface tension gradient. The increaseof weld penetration depth with TiO2 only ascribes to the change of surface tension gradient.

Development of the active flux in superalloy laser welding and the effect on the weld formation

In this study,adopting uniform design method established a mathematical model to prepare multi-element active flux. GH4169 superalloy plates were welded by the Nd: YAG laser equipment with the prepared active flux. The results show all kinds of fluxes increase the depth to width ratio and the multi-component systems are more significant. The largest increment of the weld depth to width ratio is 159%,obtained by using of the F12 series flux. It is proved that by using of the active flux to increase the depth to width ratio of micro laser welding is feasible.

Activating Flux Design for Laser Weldingof Ferritic Stainless Steel

The behaviors of YAG laser welding process of ferritic stainless steel with activating fluxes were investigatedin this study. Some conventional oxides, halides and carbonates were applied in laser welding. The resultsshowed that the effect of oxides on the penetration depth was more remarkable. Most activating fluxes improved thepenetration more effectively at low power than that at high power. The uniform design was adopted to arrange theformula of multicomponent activating fluxes, showing that the optimal formula can make the penetration depth up to2.23 times as large as that without flux, including 50% ZrO2, 12.09% CaCO3, 10.43% CaO and 27.48% MgO. Throughthe high-speed photographs of welding process, CaF2 can minimize the plasma volume but slightly improve the penetrationcapability.

Effect of Submerged Arc Welding Flux Component on Softening Temperature

Based on simplex algorithm of optimal design, the multicomponent mixture regression model was used to investigate physical properties of submerged arc welding flux. The effect of complex interaction of seven components in agglomerated flux on softening temperature was analyzed. The results indicate that the interaction of MgO-TiO2-CaCOa-AI20a increases the softening temperature of flux, but the additions of CaF2 and ZrO2 can decrease the softening temperature.

Experimental Investigation on the Performance of Armour Grade Q&T Steel Joints Fabricated by Flux Cored Arc Welding with Low Hydrogen Ferritic Consumables

Quenched and Tempered （Q＆T） steels are widely used in the construction of military vehicles due to its high strength to weight ratio and high hardness. These steels are prone to hydrogen induced cracking （HIC） and softening in the heat affected zone （HAZ） after welding. The use of austenitic stainless steel （ASS） consumables to weld the above steel was the only available remedy to avoid HIC because of higher solubility for hydrogen in austenitic phase. Recent studies revealed that low hydrogen ferritic （LHF） steel consumables can also be used to weld Q＆T steels, which can give very low hydrogen levels in the weld deposits and required resistance against cold cracking. Hence, in this investigation an attempt has been made to study the performance of armour grade Q＆T steel joints fabricated by flux cored arc welding with LHF steel consumables. Two different consumables namely （i） austenitic stainless steel and （ii） low hydrogen ferritic steel have been used to fabricate the joints by flux cored arc welding （FCAW） process. The joints fabricated by LHF consumable exhibited superior transverse tensile properties due to the presence of ferrite microstructure in weld metal. The joints fabricated by ASS consumable showed higher impact toughness due to the presence of austenitic phase in weld metal microstructure. The HAZ softening in coarse grain heat affected zone （CGHAZ） is less in the joints fabricated using LHF consumable due to the lower heat input involved during fabrication compared to the joints fabricated using ASS consumables.

Effects of the Process Parameters on Austenitic Stainless Steel by TIG-Flux Welding

The effects of the process parameters of TIG （tungsten inset gas）-flux welding on the welds morphology, angular distortion, ferrite content and hot cracking in austenitic stainless steel were investigated. Autogenous TIG welding process was applied to the type 304 stainless steel through a thin layer of activating flux to produce a bead on plate welded joint. TiO2, SiO2, Fe2O3, Cr2O3, ZnO and MnO2 were used as the activating fluxes. The experimental results indicated that the TIG-flux welding can increase the weld depth/width ratio and reduce the HAZ （heat affected zone） range, and therefore the angular distortion of the weldment can be reduced. It was also found that the retained ferrite content within the TIG-flux welds is increased, and has a beneficial effect in reducing hot cracking tendency for stainless steels of the austenitic type weld metals. A plasma column constriction increases the current density at the anode spot and then a substantial increase in penetration of the TIG-flux welds can be obtained.

Activated flux tungsten inert gas welding of 8 mm-thick AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel

AISI 304 stainless steel plates were welded with activated flux tungsten inert gas(A-TIG) method by utilizing self-developed activated flux. It is indicated from the experimental results that for 8 mm-thick AISI 304 stainless steel plate, weld joint of full penetration and one-side welding with good weld appearance can be obtained in a single pass without groove preparation by utilizing A-TIG welding. Moreover, activated flux powders do not cause significant effect on the microstructure of TIG weld and the mechanical properties of A-TIG weld joints are also superior to those of C-TIG(conventional TIG) welding.

Microstructure,properties and first principles calculation of titanium alloy/steel by Nd: YAG laser self-fluxing welding

The experiment of Nd： YAG pulsed laser self-fluxing welding for 304 stainless steel/Ti6Al4V titanium alloy dissimilar metal was carried out. The microstructure properties of welded joint were analyzed by SEM, EDS and XRD. The equilibrium lattice constants, enthalpies of formation, cohesive energies, mechanical properties, Debye temperatures and valence electron structures of Ti-Fe intermetallic compounds （IMCs） were calculated by the first principle pseudopotential plane wave method based on density functional theory （DFT）. According to the thermodynamic data of Ti-Fe-Cr compounds, the Gibbs free energy per mole of compound at different temperatures was calculated and their thermal stability was compared. The results show that there are no macroscopic cracks in the welded joints, and the IMCs distributed evenly along the welding interface exhibits 3 distinct layers of microstructure with different colors. The welds interface generates IMCs of TiFe, TiFe 2 and a small amount of Ti 5Cr 7Fe 17 IMCs. Ti-Fe IMCs with high thermodynamic stability and easy alloying formation. The results of Gibbs free energies show that the sequence of precipitates in the interface is Ti 5Cr 7Fe 17 , TiFe 2 and TiFe in high temperature during the metallurgical reaction. The G/B values of Ti-Fe IMCs are greater than the critical value of 0.5, indicating that it is an intrinsic brittleness.

Effects of process parameters on the depth-to-width ratio of flux-cored wire underwater wet welding

The effects of process parameters on the depth-to-width ratio （D/W） of flux-cored wire underwater wet welding with a certain type of homemade .flux-cored wire are studied. It is found that the welding .speed, wire feeding speed and torch oscillating amplitude hare significant effects on the dopth-to-width ratio （D/W） of welds. The D/W ratio of welds increases significantly with the increase of welding speed without the oscillating of welding torch. It increased （from 0. 14 to 0. 26 ） with the increase of wire feeding speed while the torch oscillating. And it decreased linearly with the increase of torch oscillating amplitude. However, the influelwe of oscillating speed, wire extension and welding voltage on the D/W ratio of welds was not obvious.

Effect of activating flux on arc shape and arc voltage in tungsten inert gas welding

The effects of activating fluxes on welding arc were investigated. A special set of water-cooling system and stainless steel were used as parent material. During welding process, high-speed camera system and oscillograph were used for capturing instantaneous arc shape and arc voltage respectively. The experimental results indicate that the SiO2 flux can increase the arc voltage, while TiO2 has no this effect on arc voltage. Compared with conventional tungsten inert gas welding (C-TIG), it is found that the arc shape of A-TIG welding used with the SiO2 flux has changed obviously.

Study on arc characteristics and behavior of metal transfer in pulse current flux-cored arc welding of mild steel

The variation in arc characteristics and behavior of metal transfer with the change in pulse parameters has been studied by high speed video camera during pulse current flux-cored arc weld deposition.A comparative study of similar nature has also been carried out during flux-cored arc weld deposition in globular and spray transfer modes.The effect of pulse parameters has been studied by considering their mean current and arc voltage.The arc characteristics studied by its root diameter,projected diameter and length,and the behavior of metal transfer noted by the metal transfer model and the droplet diameter have been found to vary significantly with the pulse parameters.The observation may help in understanding the arc characteristics with respect to the variation in pulse parameters which may be beneficial in using pulse current FCAW to produce desired weld quality.

EFFECT OF Fe_2O_3 ON WELDING TECHNOLOGY AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WELD METAL DEPOSITED BY SELF-SHIELDED FLUX CORED WIRE

Five experimental self-shielded flux cored wires are fabricated withdifferent amount of Fe_2O_3 in the flux. The effect of Fe_2O_3 on welding technology and mechanicalproperties of weld metals deposited by these wires are studied. The results show that with theincrease of Fe_2O_3 in the mix, the melting point of the pretreated mix is increased. LiBaF_3 andBaFe_(12)O_(19), which are very low in inherent moisture, are formed after the pretreatment. Themechanical properties are evaluated to the weld metals. The low temperature notch toughness of theweld metals is increased linearly with the Fe_2O_3 content in the flux due to the balance betweenFe_2O_3 and residual Al in the weld metal. The optimum Fe_2O_3 content in flux is 2.5 percent approx3.5 percent.

Effects of fluxes with single component on weld depth in A-TIG welding of magnesium alloy

The effects of fluxes with single component on weld penetration depth in TIG welding of magnesium alloy were investigated. Seven kinds of halides were selected as the activating flux in the experiments. The effects of coating quantity of these fluxes on weld depth-to-width ratio were also studied. The results show that all of the selected halides can increase the weld depth under the same welding conditions compared with conventional TIG welding. The increase of penetration is different for the fluxes with different component. Among them, the flux of CdCl2 is the best, which can increase up to 334% of weld depth compared with the conventional TIG welding.

Arc Characteristic and Metal Transfer of Pulse Current Horizontal Flux-Cored Arc Welding

In this work, we utilized high-speed video photography to investigate the arc characteristics, metal transfer behavior, and welding spatter of the pulse-current flux-cored arc welding(P-FCAW) process in the horizontal position. The results indicate the presence of a stable ‘‘flux pole'' during both the pulse-on and pulse-off periods when the mean current ranged from 140 to 170 A. The existence of this ‘‘flux pole'' was beneficial for droplet transfer in the‘‘axial droplet transfer'' mode. With respect to welding spatter, with an increase in the welding current, we observed three kinds of spatter—explosive spatter,rebounded droplet spatter, and scattering spatter. With an increase in the pulse current from 310.6 to 345.6 A, the deflection of the arc reduced from 30.4° to 16.6°, which positively influenced the arc rigidity, particularly in the horizontal position.

Influence of Flux and Sulfur on YAG Laser Welding

The influence of flux and sulfur content on YAG laser welding has been investigated, and the influencing factors and mechanism were discussed. The results show that both surface activating flux and surface active element S have fantastic effects on the YAG laser weld shape, that is to obviously increase the weld penetration and D/W ratio in various welding conditions. The mechanism is thought to be the change of surface tension temperature coefficient in weld pool, thus, the change of fluid flow paten in weld pool due to the flux and sulfur.

Droplet Transfer Behavior of Flux Cored Wire TIG Welding

This paper puts forward a new method to achieve flux cored wire TIG welding and uses high-speed photography to analyze the droplet transfer behavior and forces acting on the droplet. The droplet transfer forms include bridging transfer, slag column guided transfer, and non-contact transfer; each of these forms may be observed as the melting position of the welding wire changes. The important role of surface tension in the process of droplet transfer is proposed using static force balance theory and pinch instability theory. The phenomenon of droplet backward swing during welding process could be attributed to the vapor recoil force produced by vapors from the droplet. The welding experiments show that the proposed welding process is stable and that the weld quality produced is good.

Effect of oxygen-containing additives on weld penetration in self-shielded flux cored arc welding

The effect of Fe203 and Liz CO3 additives in flux core on the weld metal oxygen content and weld penetration in self-shielded flux cored arc welding were studied schematically. The result shows that the oxygen content in the weld metal and weld penetration both increased with the Fe203 addition increased in the range of 5 wt. % to 20 wt. %. The oxygen content in the weld metal was increased with the Li2CO3 addition increased in the range of 1 wt. % to 8 wt. %. However, the weld penetration decreased when Li2CO3 addition exceeding 4 wt. %. High-speed photographic images show that when Fe2O3 addition influx core exceeding 15 wt. %, droplet became excessively large, so that spatters were frequently generated in large numbers. In this study, Fe203 and Li2 CO3 in the amount of 11 wt. % and 4 wt. %, respectively, jointly added in the flux core can achieve a deeper weld penetration with sound usability characteristics.