• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.38-45
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• 1999

Shielding gas has significant effects on arc stability, metal transfer and weld quality in the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process. The double gas-shielded MAG(DMAG) and auxiliary gas-shielded MAG (AMAG) torches are investigated for their capability to provide argon-rich gas mixture using small amount of argon gas through the inner and auxiliary nozzles, respectively. Argon composition with the DMAG torch is calculated numerically, and compared with the measured data using the gas chromatogrphy. Gas flow pattern of the DMAG torch is calculated to change from the laminar to turbulent flow when total gas flow rate becomes larger than 4.5 liter/min at room temperature. While argon-rich shielding gas was obtained using both the AMAG and DMAG torches, the AMAG torch provides higher argon composition than the DMAG torch, which demonstrates that argon gas can be utilized more efficiently with the AMAG torch.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2006.10a
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• pp.63-65
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• 2006

The paper deals with the effect of hydrogen or helium in argon as a shielding gas on GTA welding of austenitic stainless steel. The studies were carried out in GTA(Gas Tungsten Arc) welding with a non-consumable electrode in case with different volume additions of hydrogen or helium to the argon shielding gas, i.e $5%H_2,\;10%H_2$, 30%He and 67%He. The penetration, welding voltage, microstructure and mechanical property were examined. The deepest penetration was obtained from the sample which was welded under shielding gas of $10%H_2$. The studies showed that hydrogen or helium addition to argon changes the static characteristic of the welding arc. The hydrogen or helium addition to argon increases arc power and the quantity of the material melted. The weld metal penetration depth and its width increased with increasing hydrogen or helium content. Additionally, welding voltage increased with increasing hydrogen or helium content.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.57-65
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• 1997

A study was undertaken to determine the influence of welding variables such as shielding and plasma gases, torch standoff, travel speed and heat input, etc. on the quality of plasma arc welds in Zircaloy-4 sheet, 2mm thick. Effect of shielding gases and their flow rates on the mechanical properties of Zircaloy-4 welds by plasma arc welding were determined in terms of tensile, bardness and bend tests. The microstructure and fracture surface of Zircaloy-4 welds were investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopies. In addition, the causes of porosity and undercut in plasma arc welds of Zircaloy-4 were also investigated. Zircaloy-4 weld bead width and depth by helium shielding gas showed a wider and deeper than those by argon. It was found that Zircaloy-4 welds with shielding gas of helium did dxhibit a little smoother and uniform weld beads than those with shielding gas of argon. It was also found that the optimum gas flow rates for Zircaloy-4 welding were 0.45l/min for plasma gas with Ar and 4.5 - 6 l/min for shielding gas with He. In addition, there was no big difference in the microstructure and fracture surface of the weld metals made by either Ar shielding gas or He shielding gas.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.12-21
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• 1987

To investigate the suitability of nitrogen gas as an internal purging gas, various properties of GTA welded joints of duplex, 316L stainless steel, Cu-Ni alloy pipe using nitrogen purging gas were evaluated with reference to onew purged with argon gas. Mechanical properties evaluated by the tensile, bending test, and hardness value of welded joints with nitrogen gas purging did not show any difference those with argon gas. General and local corrosion rates of each welded joint prepared by nitrogen gas purging also showed no difference with those prepared by argon gas. Based on the present test results it is confirmed that nitrogen is a suitable purging gas for GTA welding of stainless steels and nonferrous piping systems, which can be used at lower cost instead of argon.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.73-79
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• 1993

The phenomenon of metal transfer has been investigated for different transfer modes using a digital high speed motion analyzer and an arc shadow-graphing system based on a laser source and related optical system. It was observed that the pinch instability phenomenon did not occur for the globular transfer mode, since the liquid globule was then spherical rateher than a cylindrical liquid bar. On increasing the ratio of carbon dioxide to argon, the transition current from globular to spray transfer generally increased, but it is interesting that the transition was observed to occur at the lowest current in a 5% CO$_{2}$-95% argon gas mixture. For pure carbon dioxide and helium shielding gases, the drop frequency increased slowly with increasing current. At high currents or an argon based shielding gas, the length of liquid bar decreased as the carbon dioxide content increased. The acceleration of a droplet within the arc was determined using the gas drag force theory and was found to be greater than the experimental results.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.46-52
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• 1999

The auxiliary gas-shielded MAG (AMAG) process, which was devised to provide an argon-rich shielding environment using small amount of argon gas, was investigated experimentally to figure out its effects on metal transfer and weld quality. Proper conditions for the AMAG process including the argon gas ratio, position and direction of the auxiliary nozzle were determined experimentally. Performance of the AMAG process was compared with that of the double gas-shielded MAG(DMAG) and MAG processes by monitoring the bead profile, current and voltage waveforms. The AMAG process was found to provide better bead profile, more stable arc and wider operating range of spray transfer mode compared with the DMAG process. In general, performance of the AMAG process using the argon ratio of 30% was comparable to that of the MAG process using 80% argon and 20% CO₂ gas.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.41-48
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• 2000

Dynamic behaviors of the GMAW system are simulated using the short-circuit transfer model and the characteristic equations fir the power supply, wire system and arc. The conventional wire equation, which relates the rate change of the wire extension to the wire feed rate and melting rate, is modified to include effects of the molten drop attached at the wire tip. The modified wire equation describes behaviors of the GMAW system more precisely and provides information about the initial bridge volume for short-circuit transfer. The proposed short-circuit model predicts the variation of parameters such as the current, voltage, short-circuit frequency and time considering the effects of the surface tension and electromagnetic force due to current. The calculated results are in broad agreements with the experimental results under the argon shielding condition.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 1999.05a
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• pp.211-214
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• 1999

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 1998.05a
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• pp.150-154
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• 1998

The purpose of this paper is to investigate optimum welding conditions of STS 304 thin sheet by GTA welding and control 6 $\delta$--fenite which is harmful in mechanical processing, corrosion problem and can be formed brittle a phase in using long term at high temperature. One series of automatic welds was made using argon plus 10, 20, 30 % nitrogen to ensure a fully austenite deposit. Results obtained were summarized as follows: 1) 6 $\sigma$ferrite content in the weld metals is influenced largely by the nitrogen content. 2) Additions of nitrogen to the shielding gas can significantly reduce the amount of retained delta ferrite and result in an increase in hot cracking. 3) Bead width was increased when Ar + $N_2$ shielding gas was used and travel speed was increased. 4) Ar+$N_2$ shielding gas made weld metal ductile and reduce 6 -$\delta$-ferrite.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.317-324
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• 2001

This study deals with high power Nd:YAG laser welding of thin steels for small pressure vessels. Full penetration welding at the overlap joint was performed so as to assure sufficient weld strength. Results showed that mid-depth weld size reduced drastically with increasing the travel speed. Position of focus had little effect on the bead formation even though short focal system was used. However, the shape factor and the bead width had closely related with the position of focus. Based on the microstructural inspection, acceptable weld was obtained when the overlap clearance was controlled up to 20% of the base metal thickness. In the case that the joint contained more clearance than the critical value, both the tensile shear strength and the tear strength were reduced. Results also demonstrated that shielding gases were proved to play a key role as far as the bead formation characteristics was taken into consideration. Blowing dry air through 5mm in diameter nozzle produced narrower bead cross-section than that of argon or nitrogen shielding.