Abstract
A mathematical formulation has been developed to represent the velocity field and the temperature field of DC welding arc. The formulation utilized an engineering approach in which the plasma was regarded as a continuum of known electrical properies, the behavior of which could be represented by using the MHD equations and the convective heat balance relationship including the concept of turbulent nature of flow. The calculations preceded by specifying the arc current and electric field distributions, and then governing equations were solved numerically, ultimately yielding the velocity and temperature profiles within the system under various condition of arc burning. The theoretical predictions of the temperature field and heat transfer characteristics are compared and discussed with experimental results.
