1996 Volume 14 Issue 2 Pages 243-247
In this investigation, a new approach based on the energy minimization method is proposed to analyze the mechanism of the metal transfer (globular and spray modes) in the GMAW process. Energies due to the surface tension, gravity, electromagnetic and drag forces exerted on the pendant drop are minimized and the shape of molten drop in the equilibrium state is calculated without presumed geometry. The energy due to the electromagnetic force is derived using the Maxwell stress. Effects of welding conditions on the shape of the pendant molten drop are analyzed. Results show that the proposed approach can be applied to both globular and spray modes. When compared with other approaches such as force balance and pinch instability models, the results of proposed approach show similar trends and predict the available experimental results more accurately.
