Development of a high current density welding process “Hi-WELD”

Abstract

The paper describes on a new development of a high current density welding process “Hi-WELD” for high deposition rate welding by CO₂ gas shielding. The process provides high-quality, high-efficient welding at lower cost by using both CO₂ shielding gas and a seamless copper plated flux cored electrode wire of 1.2mm in diameter, in combination with a 600A inverter controlled power supply with a high speed wire feeder unit having 40m/min maximum feeding speed. In the paper, investigation for fundamental characteristics of the process, such as metal transfer phenomena, effect on penetration shape and mechanical properties and so on, was done for successful application to welding of steel frames and heavy constructions.