Investigation of Fume Formation Mechanism in Gas Shield Arc Welding

Abstract

In this paper, individual effects of quenching rate and pressure of metal vapor on fume formation process were investigated through experimental observation with the equipment which enables to produce a simple one-dimensional arc plasma stream and to discuss both effects individually and numerical simulation. Consequently, it was clarified that high pressure of metal vapor enlarged size of fume particles. In addition, it was also found that high quenching rate generated large amount of particles because much more metal vapor was consumed by homogeneous nucleation. As a result, typical particle shape becomes like chain.