Abstract
Pulsed gas metal arc weld (GMAW) was widely used for the advantages of controllable heat input, all-position welding, and no spatter. In order to obtain an ideal welding process, the stability of the arc length was studied in many researches, but the influence of arc length on the properties of weld metal was ignored. In this paper, the effect of arc length on oxygen content and mechanical properties of weld metal during pulsed GMAW was studied. Q690 high strength steel was selected as the base metal, and ER69-G solid wire, with a diameter of 1.2 mm, was used as the electrode wire. Additionally, the shielding gas and the wire feed rate were 82% Ar + 18% CO2 and 4 m/min, respectively. The results showed that as the arc length raised from 2.9 mm to 9.2 mm, the oxidation reacted more completely in the droplet transfer zone, and the oxygen content of the weld metal increased significantly. The tensile strength of the weld metal reduced but the −40 °C impact energy heightened. Due to the longer arc, the proportion of acicular ferrite (AF) in the microstructure decreased, but the proportion of lath bainite (LB) and granular bainite (GB) decreased. The higher oxygen content of weld metal was useful for the formation of inclusions, which promoted the nucleation of acicular ferrite and dimples, contributing to the growth of plasticity and toughness of weld metal.
Highlights
With the development of industrial automation and robot welding, pulsed gas metal arc weld (GMAW) was widely used for the advantages of controllable heat input, allposition welding, and no spatter [1,2,3]
The higher oxygen content of weld metal was useful for the formation of inclusions, which promoted the nucleation of acicular ferrite and dimples, contributing to the growth of plasticity and toughness of weld metal
GMAW, “one droplet per pulse” (ODPP) was regarded as the most ideal mode [4,5,6], which was mainly affected by the pulse peak current (Ip ) and pulse peak current time [7,8,9]
Summary
With the development of industrial automation and robot welding, pulsed gas metal arc weld (GMAW) was widely used for the advantages of controllable heat input, allposition welding, and no spatter [1,2,3]. GMAW, “one droplet per pulse” (ODPP) was regarded as the most ideal mode [4,5,6], which was mainly affected by the pulse peak current (Ip ) and pulse peak current time (tp ) [7,8,9]. In order to obtain a stable ODPP process, the pulse base current time (tb ) was generally adjusted to change the arc length. If the arc length were too long, the stability of the arc would decline and the oxidation reaction of liquid metal during the metal transfer process would be affected. The stability of the arc length was studied in many researches, while the effect of arc length on oxygen content and mechanical properties of weld metal was ignored [13,14].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
