A Measurement of Arc Force in Argon Arc Welding (Part 1)

Abstract

As the arc force is considered to be an important factor in the problems of the penetration in arc welding and of the characteristic of welding rod, we made some measurements of it in the argon-tungsten arc, using a kind of electromagnetic balance (Figs. 1 and 2). The experimental results are summarized as follows:
(1) The impinging force of shielding gas is found to be additive to the arc force. (Figs. 5 and 6)
(2) The arc force varies little with the arc length or the thickness of electrode in the usual range. (Fig. 6)
(3) The arc force depends principally upon the arc current and is proportional to the square of it. (Fig. 7)
(4) The arc force in DCRP is almost 15% less than that in DCSP, and these are given by the following experimental formulae.
f_arc. S.P.=0.455×10^-4I²
f_arc. R.P.=0.385×10^-4I²
(5) The addition of hydrogen into shielding gas is found to increase the arc force.
(6) The main part of the arc force in argon-tungsten arc is considered due to the impinging force of high temperature gas of arc.