METHODS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF ARC STABILITY

Marjan Suban, Janez Tušek

Institut za varilstvo (Welding Institute), Ljubljana, Slovenia

ABSTRACT: The article describes several methods for the determination of arc stability in
MAG/MIG welding. The stability of the welding process is affected by numerous parameters.
The most unfavourable results of poor arc stability are spatters which are problematic in
terms of material losses, extension of production times due to cleaning, as well as unaesthetic
appearance. The methods described in the paper are based on measurement of time-varying
welding current and welding voltage. The results of the experimental part of the paper are
based on stability analyses carried out with different gas-shielding atmospheres. Also two
different welding regimes were compared. The first was short-circuit material transfer, and the
second spraying material transfer.

KEYWORDS: MIG/MAG welding process, arc stability, dynamic characteristics

1 INTRODUCTION

The introduction of automation and robotisation in industry requires real-time monitoring and
control of welding processes. At the same time a more stable welding processes are required, which
ensure a simpler monitoring and control.

A question is if a simple and rapid method can be found to assess the process stability. A literature
review indicates several methods. The majority of them are based on an analysis of the signals
provided by a monitoring system. The monitoring system is based on real-time measurement of
several physical quantities, of which the two predominating are measurement of welding current
intensity and that of welding voltage [3, 4]. The stability of the welding process can be determined
also on the basis of an analysis of noise emitted [5] or arc light [6], acoustic emission from a material
or by means of a high-speed camera recording occurrences in the arc.

In the experimental work described, a comparison of the above-mentioned methods for the analysis
of welding-process stability on the basis of measurements of welding current intensity and welding
voltage was made. The results of signal processing and their comparison will be interpreted in terms
of welding-process stability.

2 MATERIAL TRANSFER AND WELDING-PROCESS STABILITY

Depending on the forces occurring in the arc and, first of all, welding current intensity, differing
material transfer modes may occur in the welding arc. On the basis of a study of the phenomenon,
the International Institute of Welding worked out a classification of material transfer modes [7]. For
MIG/MAG welding processes the following material transfer modes are characteristic:
• short-circuit transfer,
• drop transfer,
• spray transfer,
• pulse transfer.
The stability of the welding process is a property of the welding arc. An ideal welding arc, i.e. a
stable welding process, shows the following properties:
• a uniform material transfer,
• with the short-circuit transfer, the arc burning time and the short-circuit time should be uniform,
• with the spray transfer, time between the transfer of two subsequent drops should always be the
same,
• with the pulsed transfer, the transfer of one drop per pulse is preferred,
• constant arc length,
• no spatters.

The most unwanted result of poor welding-process stability are spatters. Spatters are formed of the
drops of molten metal which are not a part of the weld but solidify at the weld surface. In addition to
producing a loss of material, spatters are unwanted because of a poorer appearance of the weld.
They are a problem not only for the quality of the weld, but they also influences the welding
equipment negatively. Adhesion of spatters to a welding nozzle will reduce shielding-gas flow, which
may become turbulent. Cleaning of the welding nozzle thus is required during the operation, which
additionally extends the production time.

The stability of a welding process can be assessed by the control and analysis of the results obtained
with measurements. The least complicated and most frequently used method of analysis of the
welding process stability is based on the measurement of the dependence of welding current intensity
and welding voltage on time, which is followed by a statistical analysis of the signals measured [8, 9,
10].

3 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

The experiments were focused on measurements of welding voltage and current in the MIG/MAG
welding process. Welding was fully automated. Surfacing was applied to a sheet with a quality of
low-alloy structural steel. A synergic inverter power source and a suitable automated system for
burner guidance were used. A filler material used was a 1.6 mm solid welding wire of quality SG 2.
Three types of the shielding atmosphere were used in the experiments, i.e., pure CO2, a two-
component 82% Ar/18%CO2 gas mixture, and a four-component T.I.M.E. (Transferred Ionized
Molten Energy) gas mixture (65% Ar/26.5% He/8%CO2/0.5% O2).

The measuring part of the system consisted of a shunt, low-pass filters, analogue-to-digital and
digital-to-analogue (A/D-D/A) converters, and a personal computer. The sampling frequency of the
measurement chain was 6 kHz.

3.1 Dynamic characteristic

Variations in arc length produce variations in welding current intensity and arc voltage, which is
indicated by the dynamic characteristic of the welding arc (see Figure 1). The following dependence
is thus obtained:

U = f 1 (t ) and I = f 2 (t ) (1).

In practice the variations in current and voltage occur very fast and under the influence of various
factors such as electric and thermal conductivity of the arc, electrode and workpiece, wire-extension
length and arc length, the type of shielding medium used, etc.
 600 120
500 110
400 100

I [A]
300 90
200 80
100 70
0 60
-100 50
-200 40

U [V]
-300 30
-400 20
-500 10
-600 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
t [ms]

Figure 1: Dependence of welding current and voltage on time in short-circuit material transfer.

3.2 Probability distribution of short-circuit periods and arc burning

In the short-circuit material transfer, the welding process in the direction of the time axis may be
evaluated in the following manner. The short-circuit transfer welding process may be divided, along
the time axis, into two characteristic phases:
• arc burning time,
• short-circuit period.
The above random variables may be statistically processed and presented in terms of probability
distributions (see Figure 2).

600 45
500
40
400
I [A]

300 35
200 30
100
p [%]

25
0
tO t KS 50 20
40 15
U [V]

30
10
20
10 5
0 0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
t [ms]
t KS [ms]

Figure 2: Analysis of arc burning time and short-circuit period.

Figure 3 shows three diagrams indicating the differences in short-circuit periods with three differing
shielding gases but with the same other welding parameters. For pure-CO2 welding the variation of
the curves during the short-circuit periods are smaller than in the two other cases. Therefore it may
be concluded that the welding process is more stable in this case than in the other two cases. Two
characteristics of the short-circuit periods in T.I.M.E. are a large dissipation and two extremes. They
both reduce the welding-process stability.
 CO2 Ar/CO2 T.I.M.E.

tKS [ms] tKS [ms] tKS [ms]

Figure 3: Probability distribution of short-circuit period with CO2, Ar/CO2, and T.I.M.E shielding
gases. I = 90 A, U = 21 V.

3.3 Probability distribution of voltage and current

Evaluation of stationary random processes, i.e. of time-varying welding current and voltage in our
case, can be performed also in the direction of ordinate x(t). In the direction of the ordinate x(t), a
mean value mx, standard deviation σx, and probability distribution p(x) can be calculated as shown in
Figure 4.

Figure 4: Evaluation of the process in the direction of ordinate x(t).

Figure 5 shows the probability distribution only for the welding current intensity but for three
differing shielding gases and with low (medium welding current intensity is 100 A) and high (medium
welding current intensity is 430 A) welding parameters. The occurrence of spatters primarily depends
on the welding current intensity. The higher the welding current intensity in the short circuit, the
stronger the pinch-effect force. Consequently, breaking of the short-circuit bridge will be more
explosive. The highest welding current intensities in the short circuit were obtained in welding with
the T.I.M.E. mixture (Figure 6 - left, below), and the lowest, however, in welding with the pure CO2
(Figure 5 - left, above). A stronger variation in the probability distribution with the high welding
parameters and pure CO2 (Figure 5 - right, above) occurs because there is no spray transfer in this
case. Consequently, spattering is stronger.

CO2

p [%]

Ar/CO2

p [%]

T.I.M.E.

p [%]

I [A] I [A]

Figure 5: Probability distribution p(I) with CO2, Ar/CO2, and T.I.M.E. shielding gases. Left: I = 90
A, U = 21 V; Right: I = 420 A, U = 34 V.

3.4 Fourier analysis

For the process evaluation in the direction of the time axis, the discrete Fourier transform [11, 13]
can be used. Signals received from digital processors are discrete time signals which are defined only
at the moment of sampling. The discrete Fourier transform F(ω) = F[f(nT)] is a sequence of
(complex) samples { F(ω)} in the frequency space defined by

N −1
F (ω ) = ∑ f ( n ⋅ T ) ⋅ e − j⋅n⋅T ⋅ω (2)
n= 0

where N is the number of samples, T sampling time, and ω sampling frequency calculated as follows:

k
ω= , k = 0, 1, 2, ... , N - 1 (3).
N ⋅T
The absolute value |F(ω)| of the complex spectrum F(ω) is the spectrum of amplitude density of the
function f(nT). The expression |F(ω)|2 is marked by a symbol S(ω),

2
S(ω ) = F ( ω ) (4)

and is called an energy spectrum of function f(nT).

Figure 6 shows a comparison of energy spectra for three different shielding gases and low and high
welding parameters. Exceptionally a uniform and stable short-circuit material transfer occurs in pure
CO2 welding (Figure 6 - left, above). For the T.I.M.E. mixture two frequencies of short-circuit
transfer are characteristic (Figure 6, right, below). As already mentioned, there is no spray transfer in
CO2 welding. Consequently, there is no characteristic frequency to be detected (Figure 6, right,
above). The diagram in the right lower corner shows that spray material transfer in the T.I.M.E. gas
mixture is the stablest transfer, the frequency of the drop transfer being approximately 410 Hz.

CO2

S(ω
ω)

Ar/CO2

S(ω
ω)

T.I.M.E.

S(ω
ω)

ω [Hz] ω [Hz]

Figure 6: Energy spectra of a signal in welding with CO2, Ar/CO2, and T.I.M.E. shielding gases. Left:
I = 90 A, U = 21 V; Right: I = 420 A, U = 34 V.
3.5 Stability analysis based on a cyclogramme
Dynamic processes in the arc may be demonstrated also in another way, i.e., by cyclogrammes
(dynamic movement of the working point) in Figure 7. A cyclogramme shows the welding voltage as
a function of the welding current intensity. Cyclogrammes are a very uncomplicated and fast
presentation as far as the welding process stability is concerned. Monitoring of the process by means
of a cyclogramme may be carried out in real time.

CO2

ARC

U [V]

SHORT-
CIRCUIT

Ar/CO2

U [V]

T.I.M.E.

U [V]

I [A] I [A]

Figure 7: Cyclogrammes for welding with CO2, Ar/CO2, and T.I.M.E. shielding gases. Left: I = 90 A,
U = 21 V; Right: I = 420 A, U = 34 V.

In short-circuit transfer, two characteristic zones of the U-I characteristic may be noticed in the
cyclogramme. The arc burning zone is characterised by a higher welding voltage and a lower welding
current intensity, and the short-circuit period by a low short-circuit voltage and a higher short-circuit
intensity (Figure 7, left, above). If the three left diagrams in Figure 7 are compared, a greater stability
is observed in welding with the pure CO2 (U-I characteristic occupies a smaller area).

With an increase in welding current intensity, the U-I characteristic will displace to the upper right
corner of the diagram, which means higher welding voltages and a higher welding current intensity.
In the case of Ar/CO2 and T.I.M.E. mixtures, the spray transfer occurs. In pure CO2 welding, a
smaller number of transfers from the arc burning zone to the short-circuit zone may be observed.
This considerably reduces arc stability and essentially increases spattering.
4 CONCLUSIONS

The methods described in the paper are based on measurement of time-varying welding current and
welding voltage. A measurement chain was composed, experiments were carried out, and a
comparison among three differing gas mixtures and two different welding regimes was made.

The welding process stability may be determined in several ways. It was established that stability
evaluation by means of cyclogrammes is extremely uncomplicated and also fast. Thanks to the
process rapidity and surveyability, a system for monitoring the welding process in real time can be
elaborated.

The comparison of the welding process stability with three different shielding gases showed that in
the case of short-circuit material transfer, the welding process is more stable when using the pure
CO2, and in the case of spray transfer, when using the T.I.M.E. mixture. The T.I.M.E. mixture is for
the short-circuit transfer less suitable since its development was based on high productivity of the
welding process, and consequently spray material transfer. As regards stability, the common Ar/CO2
mixture, which is universally applicable, represents the golden mean.

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