Effects of weld penetration on tensile properties of 2219 aluminum alloy TIG-welded joints

Numerical simulation and experimental methods were used to investigate the effects of weld penetration on tensile properties of 2219 aluminum alloy tungsten inert gas(TIG)welded joints.The results show that when other geometric parameters are consistent,within a certain range,the deeper the weld penetration of the capping weld is,the lower the tensile strength of the j oint is.The deeper weld penetration of the capping weld can cause the more concentrated stress at the weld toe and the joint is more likely to crack accordingly.Based on necessary assumptions,a model for analyzing the mathematical relation between the weld penetration of the capping weld and the tensile strength of the joint was proposed to validate the experimental results. The decrease of weld penetration of capping weld can be controlled by decreasing welding current,helium content or increasing welding voltage.

Effects of pulse parameters on arc characteristics and weld penetration in hybrid pulse VP-GTAW of aluminum alloy

A novel ultrafast-convert hybrid pulse variable polarity gas tungsten arc welding process （HPVP-GTAW） is developed. High frequency pulse square-wave current which has a frequency of more than 20 kHz is exactly integrated in the positive polarity current duration. The effects of pulse current parameters on arc characteristics and weld penetration have been studied during the HPVP-GTAW process using Al-5. 8 Mg alloy plates. The arc characteristics studied by arc voltage and its profile, weld penetration noted by the ratio of weld depth to width have been found to be influenced significantly by the pulse current. The experimental results show that the HPVP-GTA W process can improve the arc profile predominantly and obtain the higher weld penetration with lower heat input. The observation may help in understanding the weld characteristics with respect to variation in the pulse current parameters which may be beneficial in using the novel HPVP-GTAW process to produce the better weld quality of aluminum alloy plates.

Experimental determination of the weld penetration evolution in keyhole plasma arc welding

Keyhole plasma arc welding experiments are conducted to measure the weld geometry and penetration at different moments during the initial phase from igniting arc to quasi-steady state. Indirect information on keyhole formation and evolution in plasma arc welding can be extracted based on the weld macrophotograph at cross section. It has laid foundation to verify the mathematical models of keyhole plasma arc welding.

A NEURAL NETWORK FOR WELD PENETRATION CONTROL IN GAS TUNGSTEN ARC WELDING

Realizing of weld penetration control in gas tungsten arc welding requires establishment of a model describing the relationship between the front-side geometrical parameters of weld pool and the back-side weld width with sufficient accuracy. A neural network model is developed to attain this aim. Welding experiments are conducted to obtain the training data set （including 973 groups of geometrical parameters of the weld pool and back-side weld width） and the verifying data set （108 groups）. Two data sets are used for training and verifying the neural network, respectively. The testing results show that the model has sufficient accuracy and can meet the requirements of weld penetration control.

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.

Real-time monitoring of weld penetration quality in robotic arc welding process

It is of great significance to develop an intelligent monitoring system for weld penetration defects such as incomplete penetration and burn-through in real-time during robotic arc welding process. In this paper, robotic gas metal arc welding experiments are carried out on the mild steel test pieces with Vee-type groove. Through-the-arc sensing method is used to capture the transient values of the welding voltage and current. The raw data of the captured welding current and voltage are processed statistically, and the feature vector SIO is extracted to correlate the welding conditions to the weld penetration information. It lays foundation for intelligent monitoring of weld quality in robotic arc welding.

Penetration of the Stiffener Web to Deck Plate Weld in Orthotropic Plated Bridge Decks

This paper reports the results of experimental research the longitudinal stiffeners in an orthotropic plated bridge deck on concerning the connection between the deck plate and the web of a microscopic scale. An important number of test specimens of a weld are studied with the help of a video microscope, to detect the efficiency of the root of the weld. The second part of the paper is concerned with parametric analysis of the lack of weld penetration by using accurate finite element modelling. The results demonstrate that the weld quality often required can not always be assured, which surely has important consequence on the stresses in the weld and the fatigue resistance.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLASMA OPTIC SIGNAL AND PENETRATION DEPTH FOR PARTIAL-PENETRATION LASER WELDING

Through sampling and analyzing of plasma optic signals of 400-600 nm emitted from partial-penetration laser welding processes, how the penetration depth is related to the welding parameter and the plasma optic signal is studied, Under the experimental conditions, the plasma optic signal has good response to variety of the weld penetration, and the signal＇s RMS value increases with the penetration in a quadratic curve mode. The inherent relation between the plasma optic signal and the penetration depth is also analyzed. It is also found that, between the two common parameters of laser power and welding speed, laser power has more influence on penetration while welding speed has more influence on weld width. The research results provide theoretic and practical bases for penetration real-time monitoring or predicting in partial-penetration laser welding,

Critical power of keyhole formation in CW Nd:YAG laser deep penetration welding

The energy model was founded to calculate the critical power of keyhole formation by using the limit principle in CW （ continuous wave ） Nd： YAG laser deep penetration welding process. The model was validated by experiments. The results show that ＇.there are two errors between the calculated critical power of keyhole formation and that of experiments ： one is that the calculated results is less than those of experiments, which is caused by not considering the energy loss by heat conduction in the model of keyhole formation. The other is that there is 0. 9 mm error between the axis of the calculated curve of critical power with location of laser focus and that of experimental curve, which is induced by the excursion of laser focus in laser deep penetration welding. At last, the two errors were revised according to the analyses of the errors.

Numerical simulation of temperature field in deep penetration laser welding of 5A06 aluminum cylinder

Deep penetration laser welding temperature field of 5A06 aluminum alloy canister structure was simulated using the surface-body combination heat source model by ANSYS, which was made up of Gauss surface heat source model and Gauss revolved body heat source model. Convection, radiation and conduction were all con,sidereal during the simulation process. The thermal cycle curves of the points both on the shell outer surface and in the seam thickness direction were calculated. Simulated results agreed well with the experiment results. It concluded that the surface-body combination heat source model was fit for the temperature field simulation of deep penetration laser welding of the aluminum alloy canister structure. This method was proved to be an efficient way to predict the shape and dimension of welded joint for deep penetration laser welding of the aluminum alloy canister structure.

Relation between welding parameter and acoustic emission information during laser deep penetration welding

In laser non penetration deep penetration welding process, welding material will vaporize, metal vapor and ambient gas will produce a higher degree ionization, which forms plasma of high concentration. In the case of forming a small hole, plasma will eject from the hole, and form acoustic emission (AE) signals. Because AE information has many advantages such as non contact measuring, fast response, and high ratio of signal to noise, it can be used as a monitor variable for in process control. By studying AE information, information of welding pool and small hole can be obtained. According to characteristic of AE information, this paper reveals the correlation between welding parameters and AE signals, and provides a good base for further quality control.

The arc characteristic of ultrasonic assisted TIG welding

Many applications of ultrasonic-assisted methods were used during metal solidification, but they could not be introduced into weld pool. In this paper, a way of ultrasonic assisted TIG welding is introduced. By directly imposed ultrasonic vibration on welding arc, the vibration interacts with arc plasma and passes to the weld pool. Measurement results show that arc pressure is significantly increased with the ultrasonic vibration and the arc pressure distribution models are changed. Bead-on-plate welding tests on SUS304 confirm that this technology can influence the style of metal melting and increase weld penetration depth.

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.

Experimental study on activating welding for aluminum alloys

TIG welding and EB welding Jbr aluminum alloy 3003 were carried out to study the effects of activating flux on weld penetration of activating welding for aluminum alloys. SiO2 was used as the activating flux. It is found that, SiO2 can increase the weld penetration and decrease the weld width of FBTIG when the flux gap is small. For A-TIG welding and EB welding with focused mode, the weld penetrations and the weld widths increase simultaneoudy. SiO2 has little effect on the weld penetration and weld width of EB welding with defocused mode. It is believed that, change of surface tension temperature gradient is not the main mechanism of SiO2 improving weld penetration of activating welding for aluminum alloys.

Effect of Weld Parameters on Effective Notch Stress at Weld Root and Toe of Load Carrying Cruciform Joints

Cruciform joints in ships are prone to fatigue damage and the determination of type of weld plays a significant role in thefatigue design of the joint. In this paper, the effect of weld geometry on fatigue failure of load carrying cruciform joints inships is investigated using Effective Notch Stress (ENS) approach. A fictitious notch of 1 mm radius is introduced at theweld root and toe and fatigue stress is evaluated. The effect of weld leg length (l) and weld penetration depth (p) on ENS atweld root and toe are determined. The critical weld leg length (lcr) at which fatigue failure transitions from weld root toweld toe is investigated. An approximation formula for determination of the critical weld leg length considering weldpenetration depth (p) is proposed.

Transport phenomena and keyhole evolution process in laser welding of stainless steel

Knowledge of transport phenomena and keyhole evolution is important for controlling laser welding process. However, it is still not well understood by far due to the complex phenomena occurring in a wide temperature range. A transient 3D model including heat transfer, fluid flow and tracking of free surface is built in this study. The transport phenomena are investigated by calculating the temperature and velocity fields. The 3D dynamic keyhole evolution process is revealed through tracking free surface using volume-of-fluid method. The results show that the keyhole deepening speed decreases with laser welding process before the quasi-steady state is reached. The plasma can greatly affect the keyhole depth through absorbing a great amount of laser energy and thus lowering the recoil pressure. Moreover, the relationship between keyhole depth and weld penetration is also discussed. This paper can help to better understand the dynamics in molten pool and then improve laser welding process.

Neural network modeling and intelligent control of FCAW penetration

The neural network modeling of FCAW penetration is researched in this paper, molten pool image is acquired by CCD, and preweld gap is gotten from laser vision system, the weld penetration is estimated according to the information include welding current, welding voltage, weld width, molten pool half length and gap width. The training samples of network can be partially gotten by numerical simulation. Single neuron self-tuning PID weld penetration controller is designed, and improved Hebb learning algorithm is applied for weights adjusting. Welding current is adjusted to make the weld penetration stable. The results of experiment with various cross-section and preweld gap workpiece show that this system is suitable to molten pool control.

Welding residual stresses analysis of aluminum alloy cylinder

The laser welding residual stresses in an aluminum alloy thick-wall cylinder is investigated by means of nonlinear finite element method. The article has simulated the residual stresses distribution of the longitudinal weld. The result shows that the temperature is high and temperature gradients are large in the very narrow zone under the laser beam. And the axial residual stress shows the alternate tensile stress and compressive stress. Also the axial residual stress is tensile stress along weld line and the stress peak value appears in the middle of the welded seam. What is more, it is symmetric distribution in the distance from the beginning and the last step welding 20 mm. Good agreements are found between calculated results and measured results indicating the validity of the assumptions made for the development of the model.

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.

Welding mode transition and process stability in high power laser welding

For high-power CO2 laser welding, besides two well known stable welding processes, i.e. stable deep penetration welding (DPW) and stable heat conduction welding (HCW), the authors have found the third welding process, i.e. unstable-mode welding (UMW) under the certain condition. UMW has its basic feature that the two welding modes (DPW and HCW) appear intermittently, with jumping of penetration depth and weld width between large and small levels. In this paper, effects of welding parameters (focal position, laser power and traveling speed) on laser welding mode and weld appearance have been comprehensively studied. Double-U curves of laser welding mode transition have been obtained, which indicate the ranges of the three mentioned welding processes. This work affords science foundation for selecting the welding process parameters correctly and obtaining stable laser welding.