Influence of arc current and pressure on non-chemical equilibrium air arc behavior

The influence of arc current and pressure on the non-chemical equilibrium （non-CE） air arc behavior of a nozzle structure was investigated based on the self-consistent non-chemical equilibrium model. The arc behavior during both the arc burning and arc decay phases were discussed at different currents and different pressures. We also devised the concept of a non- equilibrium parameter for a better understanding of non-CE effects. During the arc burning phase, the increasing current leads to a decrease of the non-equilibrium parameter of the particles in the arc core, while the increasing pressure leads to an increase of the non-equilibrium parameter of the particles in the arc core. During the arc decay phase, the non-CE effect will decrease by increasing the arc burning current and the nozzle pressure. Three factors together-- convection, diffusion and chemical reactions--influence non-CE behavior.

Numerical Simulation of Low Current Vacuum Arc Supersonic Flow

Based on a two-dimensional axisymmetric magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） model, low current vacuum arc （LCVA） characteristics are studied. The influence of cathode process under different axial magnetic fields and different anode radii on LCVA characteristics is also simulated. The results show that the influence of both cathode process and anode radii on LCVA is significant. The sign of anode sheath potentials can change from negative to positive with the decrease of anode radii. The simulation results are in part verified by experimental results. Especially, as the effect of ion kinetic energy is considered, ion temperature is improved significantly; which is in agreement with experimental results.

Influence of arc constriction current frequency on tensile properties and microstructural evolution of tungsten inert gas welded thin sheets of aerospace alloy

The main objective of this investigation is to study the influence of arc constriction current frequency(ACCF)on tensile properties and microstructural evolution of aerospace Alloy 718 sheets(2 mm in thickness)joined by constricted arc TIG(CA-TIG)welding process.One variable at a time approach of design of experiments(DOE)was used,in which ACCF was varied from 4 to 20 kHz at an interval of 5 levels while other parameters were kept constant.The joints welded using ACCF of 4 kHz exhibited superior tensile properties extending joint efficiency up to 99.20%.It is attributed to the grain refinement in fusion zone leading to the evolution of finer,discrete Laves phase in interdendritic areas.An increase of ACCF above 12 kHz caused severe grain growth and evolution of coarser Laves phase in fusion zone.Alloy 718 welds showed more obvious tendency for Nb segregation and Laves phase formation at higher levels of ACCF due to the slower cooling rate.The volume fraction of Laves phase was increased by 62.31%at ACCF of 20 kHz compared to that at 4 kHz,thereby reducing the tensile properties of joints.This is mainly due to the stacking of heat input in weld thermal cycles at increased levels of ACCF.

Microstructures and properties of the nitrided layers fabricated on titanium substrate by direct current nitrogen arc melting technique

The nitrided layers mainly containing TiN dendrites were fabricated by direct current nitrogen arc melting method. The test results show that the layers are harder and more resistant to wear than the titanium substrate. Arc traveling speeds and arc currents have an effect on both the microstructures and the properties of the layers. Decreasing the arc traveling speed or increasing the arc current can obviously enhance the hardness and the wear resistance of the nitrided layers.

Optimization of pulsed current gas tungsten arc welding process parameters to attain maximum tensile strength in AZ31B magnesium alloy

An empirical relationship to predict tensile strength of pulsed current gas tungsten arc welded AZ31B magnesium alloy was developed. Incorporating process parameters such as peak current, base current, pulse frequency and pulse on time were studied. The experiments were conducted based on a four-factor, five-level, central composite design matrix. The developed empirical relationship can be effectively used to predict the tensile strength of pulsed current gas tungsten arc welded AZ31B magnesium alloy joints at 95% confidence level. The results indicate that pulse frequency has the greatest influence on tensile strength, followed by peak current, pulse on time and base current.

Numerical simulations of rip currents off arc-shaped coastlines

The rip currents induced by waves off arc-shaped coastlines are seriously harmful to humans, but understanding of their characteristics is lacking. In this study, the FUNWAVE model was used to calculate the wave-induced currents in the Haller experiment and the ideal arc-shaped coast similar to Sanya Dadonghai, Hainan Province,China. The results showed that the FUNWAVE model has considerable ability to simulate the rip currents, and it was used to further simulate rip currents off arc-shaped coastlines to investigate their characteristics. The rip currents were found to be stronger as the curvature of arc-shaped coastline increased. Coastal beach slope exerts a significant influence on rip currents; in particular, an overly steep or overly mild slope is not conducive to creating rip currents. Furthermore, the rip currents were found to become weaker as the size of arc-shaped coast decreased. When the height and period of waves increase, the strength of rip currents also increases, and, in some cases, wave heights of 0.4 m may produce dangerous rip currents.

Determination of arc pressure pool surface in and current density on the molten plasma arc welding

A unified numerical model is developed to couple the plasma arc, weld pool and keyhole in a self consistent way. The plasma arc/anode interface and the melt/solid interface are treated specially, the VOF method is used to trace the moving keyhole wall, and the fluid flow and heat transfer in both the plasma arc and weld pool are numerically simulated. The distributions of current density and arc pressure on the weld pool surface during the keyhole formation process are analyzed using the coupled model. The predicted arc pressure and current density are compared with the experimentally measured results, and both are in good agreement.

Investigation on the Arc Ignition Characteristics and Energy Absorption of Liquid Metal Current Limiter Based on Self-Pinch Effect

The GaInSn liquid metal current limiter based on the fluid pinch effect has broad application prospects due to its particular properties. However, the limited rated current and abil- ity of power dissipation are the critical problems for its wide application. Firstly, the temperature distribution of the liquid metal current limiter （LMCL） was obtained by experiments with a rated current of 1 kA and the arc ignition phenomenon was observed with 1.5 kA, which indicates that the rated current is mainly limited by the arc rather than the high temperature compared to the traditional switchgears. Furthermore, an improved method is proposed by adding the paralleled pure resistance, impedance or another LMCL element to protect the setup from the fault energy concentration in the setup. The problem of a slower arc voltage increasing rate can be solved by adding a paralleled impedance with suitable parameters. Finally, the current limiting properties based on the improved method were investigated and the alternating oscillating current was found between two paralleled LMCL elements owing to their deviation of arc ignition in reality.

Design of a Control Device for Synthetic Making Test Based on Pre-Arcing Current Detection and Phase Control

The synthetic making test has been widely used in evaluating the break ability of high-voltage circuit breaker. However, the test research and application are still inadequate, especially in the condition of rated voltage. According to the realistic conditions of test stations in China, a control device based on pre-arcing current detection and phase control is proposed in this paper. A sample of the control device made up of DSP TMS320LF2407A is fabricated, in which the CPLD MAX7064 is used to transmit signals for EMC design. It can be applied in full voltage synthetic making test at a level of 126kV/63kA. The test results show that, it is accurate to control the making phase of the applied voltage, whether the closing is demanded at voltage peak or zero.

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.

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. © 2017, Tianjin University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

The Arc Regulation Characteristics of the High-Current Ion Source for the EAST Neutral Beam Injector

The arc regulation method is applied to the high-current ion source for high-power hydrogen ion beam extraction for the first time. The characteristics of the arc and beam, including the probe ion saturation current, the arc power and the beam current, are studied with feedback control. The results show that the arc regulation method can be successfully applied to ion beam extraction. This lays a sound foundation for the testing of a new ion source and the operation of a conditioned ion source for neutral beam injector devices.

Numerical Simulation of High-Current Vacuum Arc with Consideration of Anode Vapor

A high-current vacuum arc （HCVA） with the consideration of anode vapor is modeled and simulated. First, from the HCVA column model, the heat flux density to the anode is obtained, which is put into the anode activity model, and the parameter distributions （such as the vapor temperature and velocity） of anode vapor are obtained from the simulation results of the anode activity model. Then, by iterating and calculating the HCVA column model and anode activity model, the interaction between the HCVA column and the anode vapor is simulated and analyzed. In the simulation, the distribution of the axial magnetic field （AMF） generated by the electrode system is calculated by software ANSYS. The simulation results show that the influence of anode vapor on the parameter distributions in the arc column is significant. The simulation results are also compared with the vacuum arc photograph.

Numerical Simulation of the Eddy Current Effects on the Arc Splitting Process

This paper focuses on a numerical simulation of the arc plasma behavior in the arc splitting process, considering the eddy currents in the electrodes and the splitter plate. Based on three-dimensional （3D） magneto-hydrodynamic （MHD） theory, a thin layer of nonlinear electrical resistance elements is used in the model to represent the voltage drop of plasma sheath and the formation of new arc root in order to include the arc splitting process in the simulation. In the arcing process, eddy currents in metal parts are generated by a time-varying magnetic field. The arc model is calculated with the time-varying magnetic field term, so that the eddy current effects can be considered. The effect of nonlinear permeability of a ferromagnetic material is also involved in the calculation. Using the simulation results for the temperature, velocity and current density distribution, the arc splitting process is analyzed in detail. The calculated results are compared with the simulation neglecting eddy currents.

The microstructural characterization of the nitrided layers prepared by direct current nitrogen arc

The characteristics of nitrided layers prepared on commercially pure titanium substrates by direct current nitrogen arc are presented by scanning electron microscopy （SEM） and transmission electron microscopy （TEM） micrographs as well as X-ray diffraction （ XRD ）. The titanium nitride （ TiN ） dendrites were fully developed with interconnected cellular morphologies at the top surface but grew almost perpendicular to the integrace with coarser arms in the middle area. Also less TiN was found near the interface. The energy inputs had an obvious effect on the microstructures and the hardness of the nitrided layers. The maximum micro-hardness was 2 500 HV at the top surface which was over 9 times higher than that of the substrate.

Influence of Jet Angle and Ion Density of Cathode Side on Low Current Vacuum Arc Characteristics

In this study, the influence of the initial jet angles （IJAs） and ion number densities （INDs） at the cathode side on the low current vacuum arc （LCVA） characteristics is simulated and analysed. The results show that the ion temperature, electron temperature, ion number density, axial current density and plasma pressure all decrease with the increase of the cathode IJAs. It is also shown that LCVA can cause a current constriction for lower cathode IND, and the anode sheath potential is more nonuniform, which is mainly related to the nonuniform distribution of the axial current density at the anode side.

Optimizing the Pulsed Current Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Parameters

The selection of process parameter in the gas tungsten arc （GTA） welding of titanium alloy was presented for obtaining optimum grain size and hardness. Titanium alloy （Ti-6Al-4V） is one of the most important non-ferrous metals which offers great potential application in aerospace, biomedical and chemical industries, because of its low density （4.5 g/cm^3）, excellent corrosion resistance, high strength, attractive fracture behaviour and high melting point （1678℃）. The preferred welding process for titanium alloy is frequent GTA welding due to its comparatively easier applicability and better economy. In the case of single pass （GTA） welding of thinner section of this alloy, the pulsed current has been found beneficial due to its advantages over the conventional continuous current process. Many considerations come into the picture and one needs to carefully balance various pulse current parameters to reach an optimum combination. Four factors, five level, central composite, rotatable design matrix were used to optimize the required number of experimental conditions. Mathematical models were developed to predict the fusion zone grain size using analysis of variance （ANOVA） and regression analysis. The developed models were optimized using the traditional Hooke and Jeeve＇s algorithm. Experimental results were provided to illustrate the proposed approach.

Direct Current Interruption with RLC Circuit-convoluted Arc Interaction

Investigations are reported into the use of an electromagnetically convoluted arc,external to a magnetic field(B-field)producing coil,in combination with a parallel R,L,C resonant circuit for interrupting quasi-steady currents.In order to elucidate the complex interactions between the arc,B-field and R,L,C circuit,the B-field producing coil is energised independently from the current to be interrupted and the R,L,C circuit.Experimental results are presented for the time variation of the currents flowing through the arc gap,the B-field coil and the parallel R,L,C circuit,along with the voltage across the arc gap.An insight is gained into the role of various effects,which are produced by the complex interactions and which might be used to advantage for direct current interruption.

The characteristics of welding currents in a rotating arc leadtandem GMAW process and the weld-seam tracking

Tandem gas metal arc welding （ T-GMAW） process shows a high deposition rate that up to three times o f the single electrode GMAW, so the welding speed could be significantly increased in this process. However, the majority o f this process applications are based on the pre-programmed robotic welding, which does not allow them to track the seam real-time during welding. Rotating arc sensor, sensing the seam position by detecting the changing of welding currents, has been widely adopted in the automatic robot welding process. It is proposed in this paper to integrate the rotating arc sensor with a trailing torch to develop a new approach of rotating arc lead tandem gas metal arc welding （RLT-GMAW） process. The characteristics of the welding currents in the proposed new welding process were firstly studied, and then a self-turning fuzzy control seam tracking strategy was developed for the mobile robot automatic welding. The experimental results showed that the proposed RLT-GMAW process had an excellent seam tracking performance and high welding deposition rate. Even if there were some electromagnetic interactions between the two arcs, the deviation of the welding seam could also be reflected by the fluctuation of the welding currents on the leading arc once the correct welding parameters were selected. Based on the detected deviation, the welding tracking experiments showed that the proposed self-turning fuzzy controller had a good performance for the RLT-GMAW process seam tracking.

Optimizing pulsed current gas tungsten arc welding parameters of AA6061 aluminium alloy using Hooke and Jeeves algorithm

Though the preferred welding process to weld aluminium alloy is frequently constant current gas tungsten arc welding (CCGTAW),it resulted in grain coarsening at the fusion zone and heat affected zone(HAZ).Hence,pulsed current gas tungsten arc welding(PCGTAW) was performed,to yield finer fusion zone grains,which leads to higher strength of AA6061 (Al-Mg-Si) aluminium alloy joints.In order to determine the most influential control factors which will yield minimum fusion zone grain size and maximum tensile strength of the joints,the traditional Hooke and Jeeves pattern search method was used.The experiments were carried out based on central composite design with 31 runs and an algorithm was developed to optimize the fusion zone grain size and the tensile strength of pulsed current gas tungsten arc welded AA6061 aluminium alloy joints.The results indicate that the peak current (Ip) and base current (IB) are the most significant parameters,to decide the fusion zone grain size and the tensile strength of the AA6061 aluminum alloy joints.