Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is widely used for numerous industrial applications and is hence one of the most important joining processes. Despite significant improvements by using pulsed current (pulsed gas metal arc welding), there are still unsolved problems like emission and spatter, a low process stability as well as a strong coupling of melting rate and heat transfer into the workpiece. Therefore the metal transfer has a fundamental function, because it substantially determines the energy flow into the workpiece, the fume formation rate and strongly influences arc formation and stability. In this thesis the material transfer of a precisely defined pulsed gas metal arc welding (PGMAW) process is analyzed experimentally with high accuracy from the wire electrode (anode) to the workpiece (cathode) using various diagnostic techniques. For this purpose a high speed two-color pyrometer, a calorimeter, a thermocouple arrangement, a high speed stereo optical setup and a drop oscillation technique have been developed. Thus, results obtained can be verified by different measurement techniques and enable a comprehensive description of the material transfer. The surface temperature of both electrodes as well as the droplet bulk and surface temperature, enthalpy and surface tension were determined. Furthermore, in order to describe the interaction between the material transfer and the formation of the weld seam, the geometry of the arc, wire, droplets and weld seam are measured in three dimensions. Most experiments are performed using pure argon as shielding gas and pure iron as filler and base material in order to reduce the complexity of the process to a minimum and thus to increase the usability for scientific description by means of simulation. It is shown, that the surface tension of the wire electrode is the most important property for the material transfer in PGMAW. It is reduced by an increasing temperature resulting in a current independent spray like material transfer of the molten electrode tip for temperature above 3,000 K. The unwanted transition from a pulsed to a spray arc at higher currents can consequently be explained by the high temperature of the wire and the low surface tension. Also for mixed gases changes in the material transfer can be explained by surface tension variation. Studies on the Stickout show a large, previously unused potential of the Joule-preheating of the wire that makes it possible to heat the droplets more uniformly and to control the heat transfer into the workpiece more flexibly.
«Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is widely used for numerous industrial applications and is hence one of the most important joining processes. Despite significant improvements by using pulsed current (pulsed gas metal arc welding), there are still unsolved problems like emission and spatter, a low process stability as well as a strong coupling of melting rate and heat transfer into the workpiece. Therefore the metal transfer has a fundamental function, because it substantially determines the energy...
»