HEAT TRANSFER AND HEAT

FLOW IN ARC WELDING

Abhishek Taori
BT09MME066
Index

Introduction

Equipment

Methods of arc welding

Heat flow around weld metal

Temperature distribution around welds

Cooling of weld

Mathematical analysis of heat transfer during welding

Introduction

Arc welding is a type of welding that uses a welding power supply to create
an electric arc between an electrode and the base material to melt the metals at
the welding point. They can use either direct (DC) or alternating (AC) current,
and consumable or non-consumable electrodes. The welding region is
sometimes protected by some type of inert or semi-inert gas, known as
a shielding gas, and/or an evaporating filler material. The process of arc welding
is widely used because of its low capital and running costs. Getting the arc
started is called striking the arc. An arc may be struck by either lightly tapping the
electrode against the metal or scratching the electrode against the metal at high
speed.

fig 1 Arc of arc welding

Equipment
To supply the electrical energy necessary for arc welding processes, a number of
different power supplies can be used. The most common classification is
constant current power supplies and constant voltage power supplies. In arc
welding, the voltage is directly related to the length of the arc, and the current is
related to the amount of heat input. Typical currents are 50 to 500 amps,
depending on the size of weld required; 100 amps is typical for manual welders.
[12]
Voltage output is typically 20 to 50 volts during welding, [13] though some power
supplies also include a small high voltage source to aid in initially striking the arc.
Constant current power supplies are most often used for manual welding
processes such as gas tungsten arc welding and shielded metal arc welding,
because they maintain a relatively constant current even as the voltage varies.
This is important because in manual welding, it can be difficult to hold the
electrode perfectly steady, and as a result, the arc length and thus voltage tend
to fluctuate. Constant voltage power supplies hold the voltage constant and vary
the current, and as a result, are most often used for automated welding
processes such as gas metal arc welding, flux cored arc welding, and submerged
arc welding. In these processes, arc length is kept constant, since any fluctuation
in the distance between the wire and the base material is quickly rectified by a
large change in current. For example, if the wire and the base material get too
close, the current will rapidly increase, which in turn causes the heat to increase
and the tip of the wire to melt, returning it to its original separation distance. [14]
The direction of current used in arc welding also plays an important role in
welding. Consumable electrode processes such as shielded metal arc welding
and gas metal arc welding generally use direct current, but the electrode can be
charged either positively or negatively. In welding, the positively
charged anode will have a greater heat concentration and, as a result, changing
the polarity of the electrode has an impact on weld properties. If the electrode is
positively charged, it will melt more quickly, increasing weld penetration and
welding speed. Alternatively, a negatively charged electrode results in more
shallow welds.[15] Non-consumable electrode processes, such as gas tungsten
arc welding, can use either type of direct current (DC), as well as alternating
current (AC). With direct current however, because the electrode only creates the
arc and does not provide filler material, a positively charged electrode causes
shallow welds, while a negatively charged electrode makes deeper welds.
[16]
Alternating current rapidly moves between these two, resulting in medium-
penetration welds. One disadvantage of AC, the fact that the arc must be re-
ignited after every zero crossing, has been addressed with the invention of
special power units that produce a square wave pattern instead of the
normal sine wave, eliminating low-voltage time after the zero crossings and
minimizing the effects of the problem

Methods of arc welding

There are two methods of arc welding based upon the type of electrode used.
Namely consumable electrode and non consumable electrode. Consumable
electrode method is the most commonly used method for arc welding.

Heat flow around weld metal

Heat Flow in and Around Weld Metal - The sufficiently high temperature* of the
welding arc quickly heats up the base metal and the electrode or filler metal and
they melt to form the molten weld pool. For controlling metallurgical events in
welding, the thermal conditions in and near the weld metal must be established.
Important factors are:
(i) The distribution of maximum temperatures in the weld heat affected zone,
(ii) The length of time at temperature,
(iii) Cooling rates in the weld metal and in the heat affected zone,
(iv) The solidification rate of the weld metal.
The heat flow theory indicates the minimum heat input rate to form a weld of any
given width, and the essential variables which govern the heating rate and
cooling rate in the heat affected zone and in the weld metal.
The type of thermal cycle in the weld metal and heat affected zone has important
effects on the properties of certain alloys, particularly harden able alloy steels,
and for such materials control of the thermal cycle may be a prerequisite to
successful welding.

Temperature distribution around welds

The temperature distribution around a metallic arc butt weld Electrode (i.e., the
arc) is moving from right to left. The leading edge of the temperature pattern is
compressed, because the arc is continually moving toward cold metal and the
trailing edge becomes extended because the arc leaves preheated metal in its
wake.

Cooling of weld

The cooling rate of a particular piece increases with the increase in thickness of
the workpiece.
The thicker the workpiece more it acts as an heat sink. This heat sink effect leads
to better cooling down of the weld.
For example brass with higher melting point than that of aluminum is used as a
heat sink in aluminium welding to increase its cooling rate.

Mathematical analysis of heat flow in arc welding

The welding process involves phase change, hence the movement of the phase
front is also a determining factor for the quality of weld obtained. Apart from
conduction from the weld pool to the remaining part of the metal being joined,
radiation also plays an important role. Th solid-liquid interface movement is also
a major determining factor of the quality of the resulting weld.

Mathematical Model

Figure2 shows a schematic model of weld pool. The weld pool is usually treated
as a spherical coordinate problem approximating to a hemisphere. Using the
concept of conservation of energy relation within a domain Ω, and assuming
there is no mass transport with temperature dependent thermal properties then
the temperature distribution within the weld pool can be modeled using the
following relationships:

Fig2 Approximate representation of weld pool

The conservation of mass within volume of weld pool gives

(1)
And the conservation of momentum gives

(2)
Also, the conservation of heat yields

(3)

In equation (2) the Darcy and buoyancy source terms are included as

(4)

While the latent heat source terms are included in equation (3) as

(5)
Where ρ is density, t is time, v is velocity and p is the weld pool pressure, μ is the
viscosity, α is thermal expansion coefficient, g is gravity, f l is the liquid metal
fraction, L is the latent heat of fusion and T o is the reference temperature.

The temperature distribution obtained is plotted on the graph at various points of

the metal

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