Abstract
We study about effects of metal vapor on arc plasma and heat source properties in a gas metal arc (GMA) welding by a GMA model considering behavior of metal vapor.
The metal vapor from a weld pool is swept away towards surrounding of arc plasma. On the other hand, the metal vapor from a wire is mixed into arc plasma, and then, arc center is dominated by metal vapor. The highest temperatures occur at the edge of the arc center. Because metal vapor have strong radiation, energy loss of radiation becomes large. In GMAW process, temperature of arc plasma is low because energy loss of radiation is large at the arc center.
