Effect of Welding Parameters on Dilution and Weld Bead Geometry in Cladding

The effect of pulsed gas metal arc welding （GMAW） variables on the dilution and weld bead geometry in cladding X65 pipeline steel with 316L stainless steel was studied. Using a full factorial method, a series of experiments were carried out to know the effect of wire feed rate, welding speed, distance between gas nozzle and plate, and the vertical angle of welding on dilution and weld bead geometry. The findings indicate that the dilution of weld metal and its dimension i.e. width, height and depth increase with the feed rate, but the contact angle of the bead decreases first and then increases. Meantime, welding speed has an opposite effect except for dilution. There is an interaction effect between welding parameters at the contact angle. The results also show forehand welding or decreasing electrode extension decrease the angle of contact. Finally, a mathematical model is contrived to highlight the relationship between welding variables with dilution and weld bead geometry.

Research on multi-objective optimization of GMAW welding of DH36 steel

Weld bead morphology plays an important role in welding procedure specification and welding process planning.In order to obtain the quantitative relationship between process parameters and weld morphology of DH36 marine steel plate,grey correlation method was used to study multiple morphology characteristics simultaneously.Eighteen experimental runs were proposed according to orthogonal method.With grey correlation theory,three response objectives,aspect ratio,depth of penetration and weld were transformed into a single grey correlation grade(GRG).The process parameters were quantitatively correlated to the GRG value and optimized with the target of maximum aspect ratio,minimum depth of penetration and maximum weld area.The results show that the optimized weld bead morphology is better than other weld bead morphology.The relative error of the predicted GRG with respect to the actual value is 5.06%,which further verifies the accuracy of the established model.The microstructure and hardness analysis suggests that the optimized welded joint has obtained required mechanical properties.The research outcomes provide a theoretical basis for multi-objective optimization of arc welding morphology in practical applications.

Welding Polarity Effects on Weld Spatters and Bead Geometry of Hyperbaric Dry GMAW

Welding polarity has influence on welding stability to some extent, but the specific relationship between welding polarity and weld quality has not been found, especially under the hyperbaric environment. Based on a hyperbaric dry welding experiment system, gas metal arc welding（GMAW） experiments with direct current electrode positive（DCEP） and direct current electrode negative（DCEN） operations are carried out under the ambient pressures of 0.1 MPa, 0.4 MPa, 0.7 MPa and 1.0 MPa to find the influence rule of different welding polarities on welding spatters and weld bead geometry. The effects of welding polarities on the weld bead geometry such as the reinforcement, the weld width and the penetration are discussed. The experimental results show that the welding spatters gradually grow in quantity and size for GMAW with DCEP, while GMAW with DCEN can produce fewer spatters comparatively with the increase of the ambient pressure. Compared with DCEP, the welding current and arc voltage waveforms for DCEN is more stable and the distribution of welding current probability density for DCEN is more concentrated under the hyperbaric environment. When the ambient pressure is increased from 0.1 MPa to 1.0 MPa, the effects of welding polarities on the reinforcement, the weld width and the penetration are as follows： an increase of 0.8 mm for the weld reinforcement is produced by GMAW with DCEN and 1.3 mm by GMAW with DCEP, a decrease of 7.2 mm for the weld width is produced by DCEN and 6.1 mm by DCEP; and an increase of 3.9 mm for the penetration is produced by DCEN and 1.9 mm by DCEP. The proposed research indicates that the desirable stability in the welding procedure can be achieved by GMAW with DCEN operation under the hyperbaric environment.

Development of an automatic post-weld inspection system based on laser vision

In order to overcome the limitations of manual post-weld visual inspection approach, an automated inspection system is developed which uses three-dimensioual laser vision system based on the principle of optical triangulation. The system hardware consists of a modular development kit （MDK）, a computer, an actuating mechanism and so on. In image processing algorithms, extraction accuracy of centric line of laser stripe is the critical factor that determines the system performance. So according to the features of laser stripe image, a novel algorithm is developed to detect the central line of laser stripe fast and accurately. Experiments have demonstrated that this system can be used in various weld features inspection of both butt and fillet types of weld. Compared with traditional manual inspection method, this method has obvious dominance. The three-dimensional reconstruction result shows that this system has high accuracy and reliability.

Quantitative research on the heat affected zone of weave bead welding for Invar alloy

Quantitative research on the heat affected zone （ HAZ） o f weave bead welding （ WBW） joint fo r Invar alloy is carried out in this paper. Based on the morphology and related data analysis of the weld seam, the width difference o f each layer and the forming mechanism are analyzed. Results show that the bottom layer （ Layer 1 ） has the widest HAZ and the smallest fluctuation, which reaches 1 200 ｜jLm. HAZ width o f layer 2 to 5 is relatively narrower which is basically below 600 jjim, while the amplitude fluctuation is greater. The main reason lies in the welding path. The long straight welding without weave causes the base metal near the groove fully melts which causes by the long straight welding without weave, while welding with weave leads to the uneven and inadequate melting of metal near groove.

Sensitivity analysis of rotating flux-cored arc welding process parameters

Empirical models were developed using curvilinear regression analysis to predict bead geometries of rotating fluxcored are welding （FCAW）. Parameters, such as rotational frequerwy, rotational radius, torch height and welding current, are used as design variables. The objective function is formed using bead width and penetration. Experiments of rotating FCAW were conducted based on orthogonal experimental design of four process parameters. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted and the effects of four process parameters on bead geometries were compared. The results show that the sensitivity of rotational radius on bead width is much higher than those of rotational frequency, torch height and welding current on bead width. Welding current is insensitive to bead width. The sensivity of rotational frequerwy on weld penetration is higher than those of other three parameters.

Investigation on mechanism of reducing diffusible hydrogen in weld using microelements

In this paper,the influence of microelements yttrium(Y)and tellurium(Te)on the diffusible hydrogen in weld bead has been investigated in a systemic way by means of alloying addition in the molten pool(AAMP).The results indicate that AAMP can notably reduce the diffusible hydrogen,economize the precious microelements microelements and improve the technological properties.Thus the microelements will play an important role in further developing the welding materials.This paper lays emphasis on the discussion of the mechanism of reducing hydrogen by microelements Y and Te.It is considered from the results that both Y and Te belong to surface active elements and can reduce the diffusible hydrogen in weld bead because they can change the surface properlies of molten pool metal and reduce the absorption of hydrogen atom in arc space of liquid metal surface.This research has a great significance in the development and utilization of microelements in welding.

Effect of variable polarity frequency on 2A14-T6 aluminum alloy welds using HPVP-GTAW process

Hybrid ultrahigh frequency pulse variable polarity gas tungsten arc welding （HPVP-GTAW） for 2A14-T6 high strength aluminum alloy was carried out and the effects of variable polarity frequency with constant pulse current frequency 40 kHz on weld bead geometry, microstrueture and microhardness were analyzed. Experimental results indicate that, compared to that of the conventional VP-GTAW process, the weld depth and ratio of weld depth to width are improved significantly by the variable polarity frequency in the HPVP-GTAW process, which the ratio of weld depth to width is improved by 36% at equal variable polarity frequency of 100 Hz, and improved by 55% with that of 200 Hz. Weld microstructure and microhardness distribution are changed obviously with the increase of variable polarity frequency. In the conventional VP-GTA W process, the grains in weld central zone are coarser, and the microhardness in weld central zone and fusion zone is about 95 HV and the lowest 82 HV, respectively. The microhardness is enhanced to a certain extent both in the weld central zone and fusion zone with the variation of variable polarity frequency in the HPVP-GTAW process due to the refinement and uniformity of weld microstructure. With the variable polarity frequency of 600 Hz, the microhardness in weld central zone and fusion zone reaches nearly 110 HV and 97 HV, respectively.

Evaluation of Geometric Quality of Weld Beads in the Joining of Carbon Steel Pipelines with Single Pass

This work presents the uncertainty evaluation associated with the measurement of linear parameters that define the weld geometry, specifically the width, using a profile projector, in order to meet the current technical standards. The following steps were proposed and implemented: identification of linear parameters that define the weld geometry;identification and study of variables that affect the measurement of these parameters;the adoption of the mathematical model to estimate the uncertainty;planning and execution of experiments for data collection, calculation of uncertainty and, finally, analysis and discussion of the results. Through the results analysis it was concluded that the weld in overhead position produces the lowest front bead width values and the vertical weld produces the largest width values. The expanded uncertainty values were between 0.016 mm and 0.075 mm for all measurements, and the overhead position showed, on average, the highest values.

Arc and Droplet Behaviors in Horizontal Short-Arc Pulsed Gas Metal Arc Welding of 9%Ni Steel with ERNiCrMo-3 Welding Wire

Short-arc pulsed gas metal arc welding(P-GMAW)was used to solve the dificulties of molten pool spreading and droplet transfer of Ni-based welding wire.Suppression of short-circuit current was used to reduce spatter.Arc length stabilizer was used to acquire a proper and stable arc length maintained at the critical position where short circuit starts to occur.Short-arc P-GMAW with or without arc length stabilizer was compared.The droplet transfer,arc behaviors and weld bead profiles were investigated and compared based on the high-speed photography and observation of weld cross-section.When the arc length stabilizer was deactivated,the arc length was unstable and too short.The droplet transfer mode was mainly short circuit partial transfer,with only a small part of the droplet transferred into the molten pool,with the characteristics of no obvious necking,a few spatters,small droplet impact,long short circuit duration and high short-circuit current.There was also a small proportion of short circuit complete transfer with obvious necking,larger droplet impact,shorter short-circuit duration and lower short-circuit current.With arc length stabilizer,droplet transfer modes were short circuit complete transfer and spray transfer.The spray transfer had the largest droplet impact,no short circuit and no spatter.With the arc length stabilizer activated,a deep penetration,a high penetration ratio,a small reinforcement and a large reinforcement factor were acquired.This provides an innovative method to solve the difficulties of droplet transfer and molten pool spreading and eliminate the incomplete fusion in the GMAW of 9%Ni steel with nickel-based alloy welding wire.

Feasibility study on tandem narrow gap GMAW of 65 mm thick steel plate

In this work, a tandem narrow gap gas metal arc welding（ GMA W） system was developed to improve the efficiency in welding of thicker materials, which are mostly used in shipbuilding and nuclear power plant. A special welding torch was desgined, where the two wires are fed through the bent contact tip to point to each side of narrow gap groove. Effect of wire distance and bent angle of contact tip on weld bead shape is studied. The experimental results show that defect free weld bead can be obtained when the wire distarwe is 5 mm and bent angle of contact tip is 10% Finally, tandem narrow gap GMAW of 65 mm thick low carbon steel was successfully carried out with one pass per layer. The obtained weld cross-section photo indicates that there is no defect of lack of side fusion or slag inclusion.

A wheel-type in-pipe robot for grinding weld beads

To improve the safety and efficiency of polishing operations in circular boiler headers, a new type of wheel-drive polishing robot was developed in this study. The robot was designed to grind weld beads on the inner walls of pipes in diameter between 550 mm and 714 mm. The robot consists of a moving structure, a positioning structure, and a polishing structure. Charge coupled device （CCD） cameras and line lasers are used in the robot＇s vision system, thus the robot can be manually controlled to move, locate, and grind quickly and accurately. The experimental results showed that the robot performed well in practical applications.

Multi-objective Optimization of Welding Parameters in Submerged Arc Welding of API X65 Steel Plates

Submerged arc welding（SAW）is one of the main welding processes with high deposition rate and high welding quality.This welding method is extensively used in welding large-diameter gas transmission pipelines and high-pressure vessels.In welding of such structures,the selection process parameters has great influence on the weld bead geometry and consequently affects the weld quality.Based on Fuzzy logic and NSGA-II（Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II）algorithm,a new approach was proposed for weld bead geometry prediction and for process parameters optimization.First,different welding parameters including welding voltage,current and speed were set to perform SAW under different conditions on API X65 steel plates.Next,the designed Fuzzy model was used for predicting the weld bead geometry and modeling of the process.The obtained mean percentage error of penetration depth,weld bead width and height from the proposed Fuzzy model was 6.06%,6.40% and 5.82%,respectively.The process parameters were then optimized to achieve the desired values of convexity and penetration indexes simultaneously using NSGA-II algorithm.As a result,a set of optimum vectors（each vector contains current,voltage and speed within their selected experimental domains）was presented for desirable values of convexity and penetration indexes in the ranges of（0.106,0.168）and（0.354,0.561）respectively,which was more applicable in real conditions.

Numerical simulation of humping phenomenon in high speed gas metal arc welding

It is of great significance to obtain a thorough understanding of the physical mechanisms responsible for humping bead phenomenon in high speed gas metal arc welding （GMAW） in order to raise welding efficiency. Experiments were conducted to observe the weld pool behaviors in high speed GMAW, and it was found that both the severely deformed weld pool surface and strong backward flowing play a dominant role in humping bead formation. In this study, a mathematical model is developed to quantitatively analyze the forming mechanism of humping beads for high speed GMAW through considering both the momentum and heat content distribution of the backward flowing molten metal inside the weld pool. The transient development of temperature profiles in the weld pool with severe deformation demonstrates the humping bead forming process under some welding conditions. The predicted and measured humping bead dimensions are in agreement.