Gas metal arc welding

About: Gas metal arc welding is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 11706 publications have been published within this topic receiving 109555 citations. The topic is also known as: metal active gas welding & GMAW.

Metal vapors in gas tungsten arcs: part ii. theoretical calculations of transport properties

Abstract: Theoretical calculations of gas tungsten arc transport properties have revealed that small amounts of low ionization potential elements such as aluminum or calcium do not have as great an effect on the electrical and thermal conductivities as has been previously reported, if the presence of other metal vapors such as iron or manganese is also considered. It is therefore concluded that the effects of minor elements on arc properties may be less important than has previously been believed in explaining the variable penetration often associated with minor element additions to the base metal, and that weld pool convection effects such as surface tension modifications are probably more important. However, the effects of vapors emitted by the tungsten electrode may have a great effect on arc properties, as the shielding gas is otherwise free of contaminants in the upper regions of the arc.

Workplace exposure to nanoparticles from gas metal arc welding process

Abstract: Workplace exposure to nanoparticles from gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process in an automobile manufacturing factory was investigated using a combination of multiple metrics and a comparison with background particles. The number concentration (NC), lung-deposited surface area concentration (SAC), estimated SAC and mass concentration (MC) of nanoparticles produced from the GMAW process were significantly higher than those of background particles before welding (P < 0.01). A bimodal size distribution by mass for welding particles with two peak values (i.e., 10,000–18,000 and 560–320 nm) and a unimodal size distribution by number with 190.7-nm mode size or 154.9-nm geometric size were observed. Nanoparticles by number comprised 60.7 % of particles, whereas nanoparticles by mass only accounted for 18.2 % of the total particles. The morphology of welding particles was dominated by the formation of chain-like agglomerates of primary particles. The metal composition of these welding particles consisted primarily of Fe, Mn, and Zn. The size distribution, morphology, and elemental compositions of welding particles were significantly different from background particles. Working activities, sampling distances from the source, air velocity, engineering control measures, and background particles in working places had significant influences on concentrations of airborne nanoparticle. In addition, SAC showed a high correlation with NC and a relatively low correlation with MC. These findings indicate that the GMAW process is able to generate significant levels of nanoparticles. It is recommended that a combination of multiple metrics is measured as part of a well-designed sampling strategy for airborne nanoparticles. Key exposure factors, such as particle agglomeration/aggregation, background particles, working activities, temporal and spatial distributions of the particles, air velocity, engineering control measures, should be investigated when measuring workplace exposure to nanoparticles.

Study of laser MIG hybrid welded AZ31 magnesium alloy

Abstract: The laser metal inert gas (MIG) hybrid welded AZ31 magnesium alloy is discussed in weld shape, microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties in comparison of single laser and arc welding. The stable MIG arc, reliable droplet transfer and regular weld that are hardly obtained in single MIG welding can be obtained in hybrid welding by laser arc synergic effects. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of hybrid weld are far higher than those of laser weld and reach 97·8 and 87·5% of base metal respectively. Under this experimental condition, the efficiency of hybrid welding is 1·20 times faster than that of single laser welding. Between the wide upper part (arc zone) and the narrow lower part (laser zone), obvious difference is observed. Arc zone has coarser grain size and wider partial melted zone than laser zone. Finally, the porosity reduction mechanism of hybrid weld is discussed according to the weld pool shape and the acting forces on it.