Determination of Parameters of Electrode Metal Transported Drops by Simulation and Visualization

Abstract

The nature of the molten electrode metal melting and transfer is the main process parameter of manual metal arc welding (MMA) with coated electrodes. It significantly affects the efficiency of the welding process. For this reason the relevant task is to identify the parameters of the transferred molten electrode metal drops and their further transfer into the weld pool with maximum accuracy. The aim of the given paper is to develop a method and visual representation of the form and the geometrics (volume, area, mass) of a molten electrode metal drop. We have developed the method of simulation modeling and visualization for molten electrode metal drops transfer and their parameters. It allows obtaining highly reliable input data to be used for developing and verification of mathematical models for the thermal fields distribution along the welded item surface. The algorithm is realized as the calculation programs for specifying the molten metal drop parameters and means of its geometrics and space form visualization. We used this method to specify a number of molten electrode metal drop parameters: volume, mass, center-of-gravity position, surface area. We have established that it is possible to conduct the measurements with maximum The suggested method significantly decreases the labor intensity of experimental studies aimed at specifying the size of electrode metal drops in comparison to the standard methods. When we know the size of the drops under certain welding conditions we can control the drop transfer process, i. e. reduce the heat input into the welded item and produce weld joints with the tailored performance characteristics.