Distribution of the heat and current fluxes in gas tungsten arcs

Abstract

The distribution of heat flux on a water-cooled copper anode as a function of welding process parameters has been determined experimentally following an experimental technique developed previously. The results indicate that arc length is the primary variable governing heat distribution and that the distribution is closely approximated by a gaussian function. The half width of the heat flux is defined by a distribution parameter, σ, which was determined from the experimental data and is expressed as a function of arc length, current, and electrode tip angle. The distribution parameter, σ, increases from 1.5 mm to 3.6 mm as the arc length increases from 2 mm to 9 mm for a 100 A arc. The experimental data also show that arc energy transfer efficiency is greater than 80 pct on the water-cooled anode which is much higher than has been measured in the presence of a molten metal pool. For this reason, it is believed that the distribution of the heat flux and not the magnitude is the most useful information obtained in this study. The effect of helium additions to the argon on the heat distribution is also reported.