Investigation on the Metal Transfer and Cavity Evolution during Submerged Arc Welding with X-ray Imaging Technology

Yanfei Han; Chuanbao Jia; Chen He; Maofu Zhang; Sergii Maksymov; Chuansong Wu

doi:10.3390/met13111865

Metals (Nov 2023)

Investigation on the Metal Transfer and Cavity Evolution during Submerged Arc Welding with X-ray Imaging Technology

Yanfei Han,
Chuanbao Jia,
Chen He,
Maofu Zhang,
Sergii Maksymov,
Chuansong Wu

Affiliations

Yanfei Han: MOE Key Lab for Liquid-Solid Structure Evolution and Materials Processing, Institute of Materials Joining, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Chuanbao Jia: MOE Key Lab for Liquid-Solid Structure Evolution and Materials Processing, Institute of Materials Joining, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Chen He: MOE Key Lab for Liquid-Solid Structure Evolution and Materials Processing, Institute of Materials Joining, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Maofu Zhang: MOE Key Lab for Liquid-Solid Structure Evolution and Materials Processing, Institute of Materials Joining, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Sergii Maksymov: MOE Key Lab for Liquid-Solid Structure Evolution and Materials Processing, Institute of Materials Joining, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China
Chuansong Wu: MOE Key Lab for Liquid-Solid Structure Evolution and Materials Processing, Institute of Materials Joining, Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/met13111865
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 13, no. 11
p. 1865

Abstract

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The physical phenomena of submerged arc welding (SAW) conducted with a 1.6 mm flux-cored wire were investigated using X-ray imaging technique. Three kinds of metal transfer modes were confirmed in this paper, namely the front flux wall-guided droplet transfer, back flux wall-guided droplet transfer, and repelled droplet transfer, of which the corresponding percentages were 47.65%, 45.29%, and 7.06%, respectively. Although the average sizes of the droplets for SAW and FCAW (flux-cored wire welding) were 2.0 mm and 1.9 mm with an average droplet transfer time of 90.3 ms, it required 36.4% more time for the droplet of SAW to finish one metal transfer than it did in FCAW. In addition, the volume of the cavity was not constant but repeated a cycle mode of “expansion and contraction” during the whole process. Thus, the dynamics of the cavity and viscous resistance caused by the flux collectively slowed down the velocity of the droplets from the wire to the weld pool in SAW. Compared with FCAW, a smoother weld without pits and pores was manufactured during the SAW process. Due to the compression effect of the flux, the 14.5 mm average weld width of SAW was 2.9 mm shorter than that of the FCAW. Furthermore, the thickness of slag with a porous structure in SAW was 2.7 times of that in FCAW, indicating that it could provide better protection to the weld of SAW.

Published in Metals

ISSN: 2075-4701 (Online)
Publisher: MDPI AG
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Technology: Mining engineering. Metallurgy
Website: http://www.mdpi.com/journal/metals

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