Chunli Yang

Penetration increase of AISI 304 using ultrasonic assisted tungsten inert gas welding

Abstract Ultrasonic assisted tungsten inert gas (U-TIG) welding method was developed. Both U-TIG and conventional TIG welding of AISI 304 stainless steel with 5 mm thickness were experimentally studied in this paper. The results show that the penetration depth is increased up to 300% for weld made with U-TIG welding compared with conventional TIG welding. Ultrasonic energy enhances arc push force, causes a continual high frequency oscillation in the arc plasma and increases welding penetration. These effects are thought to be responsible for enhancing the welding efficiency and improving the appearance of stainless steel weld joints.

Metallurgical and mechanical investigations of aluminium-steel butt joint made by tungsten inert gas welding-brazing

Abstract Dissimilar metals of 5A06 aluminium alloy and SUS321 stainless steel were butt joined by tungsten inert gas welding–brazing with BJ380A filler metal and modified non-corrosive flux. The interface in seam/steel is made up of two kinds of intermetallic phase layers, τ 5-Al7Fe2Si phase in the seam side and θ-FeAl3 phase in the steel side. The granular phase in welded seam is CuAl2, and the lath shaped phase is τ 6-Al5FeSi. In the fusion area, the chainlike phase is Al–Si eutectic structure, and the block-like phase is Al6(Fe,Mn). The tensile strength of the butt joint reaches 125 MPa, and fracture occurs at τ 5-layer, with highest hardness value of 950 HV. The present joint without coated layer can reach the same level to those with coated layer.

Metal transfer characteristics of rotating arc narrow gap horizontal GMAW

Abstract The metal transfer process in rotating arc narrow gap horizontal welding is successfully observed by the high speed photography system. Because of the difference of the arc length induced by the molten pool surface shape in the rotating arc horizontal welding, the metal transfer has certain change regularity. In the weld width direction, the transfer frequency in the area of near both sidewalls is larger than that in the centre of the groove. In a rotating period, the transfer frequency in the downward motion process is larger than that in the upward motion process. The rotating arc process can improve the metal transfer. The results indicated that the centrifugal force induced by the arc rotating has great effect on the globular transfer mode which has lower transfer frequency and larger droplet size. Regarding the spray transfer mode, it has limited effect.

Effect of acoustic field parameters on arc acoustic binding during ultrasonic wave-assisted arc welding

As a newly developed arc welding method, power ultrasound has been successfully introduced into arc and weld pool during ultrasonic wave-assisted arc welding process. The advanced process for molten metals can be realized by utilizing additional ultrasonic field. Under the action of the acoustic wave, the plasma arc as weld heat source is regulated and its characteristics make an obvious change. Compared with the conventional arc, the ultrasonic wave-assisted arc plasma is bound significantly and becomes brighter. To reveal the dependence of the acoustic binding force on acoustic field parameters, a two-dimensional acoustic field model for ultrasonic wave-assisted arc welding device is established. The influences of the radiator height, the central pore radius, the radiator radius, and curvature radius or depth of concave radiator surface are discussed using the boundary element method. Then the authors analyze the resonant mode by this relationship curve between acoustic radiation power and radiator height. Furthermore, the best acoustic binding ability is obtained by optimizing the geometric parameters of acoustic radiator. In addition, three concave radiator surfaces including spherical cap surface, paraboloid of revolution, and rotating single curved surface are investigated systematically. Finally, both the calculation and experiment suggest that, to obtain the best acoustic binding ability, the ultrasonic wave-assisted arc welding setup should be operated under the first resonant mode using a radiator with a spherical cap surface, a small central pore, a large section radius and an appropriate curvature radius.

Grain fragmentation in ultrasonic-assisted TIG weld of pure aluminum

Under the action of acoustic waves during an ultrasonic-assisted tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding process, a grain of a TIG weld of aluminum alloy is refined by nucleation and grain fragmentation. Herein, effects of ultrasound on grain fragmentation in the TIG weld of aluminum alloy are investigated via systematic welding experiments of pure aluminum. First, experiments involving continuous and fixed-position welding are performed, which demonstrate that ultrasound can break the grain of the TIG weld of pure aluminum. The microstructural characteristics of an ultrasonic-assisted TIG weld fabricated by fixed-position welding are analyzed. The microstructure is found to transform from plane crystal, columnar crystal, and uniform equiaxed crystal into plane crystal, deformed columnar crystal, and nonuniform equiaxed crystal after application of ultrasound. Second, factors influencing ultrasonic grain fragmentation are investigated. The ultrasonic amplitude and welding current are found to have a considerable effect on grain fragmentation. The degree of fragmentation first increases and then decreases with an increase in ultrasonic amplitude, and it increases with an increase in welding current. Measurement results of the vibration of the weld pool show that the degree of grain fragmentation is related to the intensity of acoustic nonlinearity in the weld pool. The greater the intensity of acoustic nonlinearity, the greater is the degree of grain fragmentation. Finally, the mechanism of ultrasonic grain fragmentation in the TIG weld of pure aluminum is discussed. A finite element simulation is used to simulate the acoustic pressure and flow in the weld pool. The acoustic pressure in the weld pool exceeds the cavitation threshold, and cavitation bubbles are generated. The flow velocity in the weld pool does not change noticeably after application of ultrasound. It is concluded that the high-pressure conditions induced during the occurrence of cavitation, lead to grain fragmentation in a pure aluminum TIG weld during an ultrasonic-assisted TIG welding process.

Strength Prediction of Aluminum–Stainless Steel-Pulsed TIG Welding–Brazing Joints with RSM and ANN

Pulsed TIG welding–brazing process was applied to join aluminum with stainless steel dissimilar metals. Major parameters that affect the joint property significantly were identified as pulsed peak current, base current, pulse on time, and frequency by pre-experiments. A sample was established according to central composite design. Based on the sample, response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural networks (ANN) were employed to predict the tensile strength of the joints separately. With RSM, a significant and rational mathematical model was established to predict the joint strength. With ANN, a modified back-propagation algorithm consisting of one input layer with four neurons, one hidden layer with eight neurons, and one output layer with one neuron was trained for predicting the strength. Compared with RSM, average relative prediction error of ANN was <10% and it obtained more stable and precise results.

Process Stability of Ultrasonic-Wave-Assisted Gas Metal Arc Welding

As a newly developed arc welding method, ultrasonic-wave-assisted arc welding successfully introduced power ultrasound into the arc and weld pool, during which the ultrasonic acts on the top of the arc in the coaxial alignment direction. The advanced process for molten metals can be realized by using an additional ultrasonic field. Compared with the conventional gas metal arc welding (GMAW), the welding arc is compressed, the droplet size is decreased, and the droplet transfer frequency is increased significantly in ultrasonic-wave-assisted GMAW (U-GMAW). However, the stability of the metal transfer has deep influence on the welding quality equally, and the ultrasonic wave effect on the stability of the metal transfer is a phenomenon that is not completely understood. In this article, the stabilities of the short-circuiting transfer process and globular transfer process are studied systematically, and the effect of ultrasonic wave on the metal transfer is analyzed further. The transfer frequency and process stability of the U-GMAW process are much higher than those of the conventional GMAW. Analytical results show that the additional ultrasonic wave is helpful for improving welding stability.

Effect of Ultrasonic Impact on the Microstructure of Welded Joint of 2195 Al–Li Alloy

Abstract It is known that an ultrasonic impact during tungsten inert gas welding can refine the grains and improve the mechanical properties of the welded joints of aluminum alloys. However, the influence mechanism of the ultrasonic impact on the microstructures is still unclear. In this research, the effects of the mechanical and ultrasonic impact on the microstructures of the welded joint of 2195 Al–Li alloy are analyzed. It is found that the mechanical impact could not refine the grains, but the ultrasonic impact could refine the grains. The grains become smaller in the weld center with an increase in the ultrasonic amplitude. Possible mechanisms for the grain refinement are discussed. The results show that the small temperature gradient promotes formation of the equiaxed grain and the cavitation promotes heterogeneous nucleation.

Effects of shielding gas composition on arc characteristics and droplet transfer in tandem narrow gap GMA welding

ABSTRACT The effects of shielding gas composition in tandem narrow gap gas metal arc welding were studied. The shielding gas included argon, carbon dioxide and helium. The arc characteristics and droplet transfer process were analysed. The results show that in the same welding parameters, the trail wire welding current is higher than the lead wire welding current. With the increase of carbon dioxide content, the welding currents of two wires decrease, and the trail wire droplet transfer mode transforms from spray transfer to projected transfer. With the increase of helium content, the welding currents increase and the lead wire droplet transfer mode transforms from projected transfer to spray transfer. The weld width is the largest when the shielding gas mixture is 80%Ar10%CO210%He.

Effect of Ultrasound on Heterogeneous Nucleation in TIG Welding of Al–Li Alloy

The effect of ultrasound on heterogeneous nucleation in a tungsten inert gas (TIG) weld pool of 2195 Al–Li alloy has been investigated by a series of experiments. An ultrasonic vibration was imposed on the surface of base material before turning off the welding arc during the TIG welding implemented at a fixed point. The results suggest that ultrasound could promote heterogeneous nucleation in the TIG weld pool of 2195 Al–Li alloy. The grain around the fusion zone is changed from a column grain to an equiaxed grain after applying the ultrasonic treatment. To study the influencing mechanism of ultrasound on heterogeneous nucleation, further investigations were implemented where the welding arc was turned off after turning off the ultrasonic power. The results show that the equiaxed grain around the fusion zone disappeared gradually with an increase in heat input after turning off the ultrasonic power. It suggests that ultrasound could promote the heterogeneous nucleation particle to nucleate in advance before turning off the welding arc and the crystal nucleus could again be melted with an increase in heat input after turning off the ultrasonic power. Moreover, the effects of the welding current and ultrasonic amplitude on heterogeneous nucleation in the weld pool of 2195 Al–Li alloy were also investigated. Possible influencing mechanism of the welding current and ultrasonic amplitude on heterogeneous nucleation was discussed.