Development of New Weld Heat Input and Dilution Equations for Gas Tungsten Arc Welding: Part 1

Abstract

Predicting weld dilution for machine gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is a challenge due to the number of variables associated with the welding process. Proper heat input and power ratio controls are critical in many welding applications to control weld dilution, such as for dissimilar metal welds where low weld dilution is necessary to prevent solidification cracking or for cladding where weld dilution is minimized to maintain corrosion resistance of the clad material. This paper discusses the preliminary development and validation of improved weld dilution, heat input, and power ratio equations for the GTAW process. The new equations incorporate power added for the hot wire GTAW process, filler metal material properties, and the heat used to melt the filler metal when added to the GTAW process. The weld dilution equation was validated by comparing calculated dilution values to measured values from bead-on-plate weld trials performed on a variety of filler metals and substrates. Results of the testing and validation along with limitations of the new equations are discussed.