Comparison of constant current and pulsed gas metal arc welding processes on basis of electrode resistive dissipation

Abstract

The dependence of electrode electrical parameters (resistivity and action) on temperature results in a variation of voltage drop along the electrode extension. In the present work, effects and interactions of the temperature dependent electrical parameters in constant current gas metal arc welding and pulsed gas metal arc welding of mild steel are examined and the differences between these two welding processes are determined using the above mentioned electrical parameters, which are calculated based on a resistivity model. The temperature dependent electrical parameters are also used to compute the electrode voltage drop and the arc voltage, which are very difficult to measure directly in practice. Furthermore, the processes are compared using electrode resistive dissipation. Use of the same input in both processes assists in the comparison of the two processes.