2002 Volume 20 Issue 2 Pages 237-245
In previous reports, an ultra-narrow gap CO2 gas metal arc welding process has been developed in order to produce excellent welded joints. In the ultra-narrow gap (less than 5 mm gap) welding process, as the welding wire melting behavior was controlled by low frequency pulsated arc current waveform, the arc generating at the wire tip was widely oscillated in the direction of thickness and a good weld bead with large throat thickness was formed. In such a higher efficient welding process, the strong arc force of CO2 arc is essential to obtain sound beads without lack of fusion at a groove bottom, however, the oxygen content of weld metal in CO2 arc welding has to be reduced to obtain high-toughness at weld metal. In this report, a newly welding process is proposed in which an arc is widely oscillated along groove walls and oxygen content of welded metal is reduced as periodically controlling composition of CO2 gas in shielding gas. As an arc length between the wire tip and groove wall is held constant in ultra-narrow I type gap joint, arc current at stable operating point of CO2 arc essentially decreases less than that at stable operating point of Ar arc in constant potential characteristics of power source. It was confirmed from the numerical simulations on both wire melting and electric welding circuit that pulsated current waveform was produced as periodically alternating CO2 arc with MIG arc. Using the developed welding torch locally introducing CO2 gas into Ar+2%O2 shielding gas, the welding was carried out under V-type groove with less than 30 degree in the bevel angle. It was shown that the arc was widely oscillated along V groove walls and sound bead was formed in one side welding. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the oxygen content of weld metal in the proposed process was reduced to the level of that in MIG arc welding, and absorbed energy of weld metal was the same level as the MIG arc welding.
