Abstract
The weld quality of $CO_2$ arc welding is closely related to the arc stability. As the characteristics of the arc are excessively complex and nonlinear, it is not easy to make the arc model as mathematical form and to control the arc state to be stabilized. This paper was aimed to estimate the arc stability and to control for stabilizing the arc state in short circuit metal transfer mode of $CO_2$ arc welding. For these purposes, the behaviors of arc stability was investigated at different welding conditions using Mita's arc stability index, and the fuzzy control algorithm which uses the arc stability index as control imput and the arc voltage as control output was developed. In the control of the arc stability, the experiments of two cases were performed; the case of setting an initial welding voltage arbitrarily, the case of the step change in workpiece shape. Obtained results were as follows; Mita's arc stability index was able to be estimated qualitatively in the case of using the inverter type welding power source and the control performance for stabilizing the arc status was excellent in the case of existing step change disturbance.
