Accepted Manuscript

Title: A comparison of TIG-MIG hybrid welding with

conventional MIG welding in the behaviors of arc, droplet and
weld pool

Authors: Ran Zong, Ji Chen, Chuansong Wu

PII: S0924-0136(19)30091-3
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2019.03.003
Reference: PROTEC 16143

To appear in: Journal of Materials Processing Technology

Received date: 27 October 2018

Revised date: 21 February 2019
Accepted date: 3 March 2019

Please cite this article as: Zong R, Chen J, Wu C, A comparison of TIG-

MIG hybrid welding with conventional MIG welding in the behaviors of
arc, droplet and weld pool, Journal of Materials Processing Tech. (2019),
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2019.03.003

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A comparison of TIG-MIG hybrid welding with conventional MIG welding

in the behaviors of arc, droplet and weld pool

Ran Zong a,* , Ji Chen b, Chuansong Wu b

a
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255000, China
b
Key Laboratory for Liquid-Solid Structural Evolution & Processing of Materials, Ministry of Education,

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Shandong University, Jinan 250061, China

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
Corresponding author at: School of Mechanical Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, 266 Xincun

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Road, Zibo 255000, PR China. Tel.: +86 15966306968;
E-mail address: zongran@sdut.edu.cn

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Graphical Abstract

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Abstract: The influence of electrode relative position and TIG current variation on arc stability and weld
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formation of TIG-MIG hybrid welding were studied comparing with that of conventional MIG welding.
The welding current-voltage waveform was analyzed to characterize the arc stability. When TIG arc was
leading, the hybrid arc was more stable than conventional MIG welding even when the TIG current was as
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low as 50 A, while the TIG current should be higher than 100 A to avoid spatters when TIG arc was trailing.
The arc shape and droplet transfer were investigated to describe the heat and force distribution in weld
pool. When TIG arc was leading, the backward arc force and droplet impingement could not decrease the
backward flow of molten metal. The increment of MIG arc length dispersed MIG arc heat and resulted in
narrower weld width, compared with conventional MIG welding, which was the main factor to suppress
undercut defect. When TIG arc was trailing, the forward arc force and droplet impingement significantly

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decreased the backward flow velocity and gave molten metal more time to spread transversely to suppress
undercut defect. Regardless the relative position of TIG and MIG arcs, the hybrid welding speed could
reach up to at least 1.5 m/min.

Keywords: TIG; MIG; Hybrid welding; Temperature field; Fluid flow

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1. Introduction

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Hybrid arc welding have been proved to be effective in increasing welding speed and improving weld
quality with relatively low equipment cost. Qin et al. (2015) developed a tandem TIG welding process,

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which achieved satisfactory weld quality with few spatters for the welding of thin stainless-steel plates.

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But its low weld productivity due to low heat input and deposition rate remained to be an issue in thick
plates welding process. Chen et al. (2015) suggested a pulsed tandem GMAW process with high deposition
rate of filler metal. As oxidizing atmosphere was required as shielding gas for stability, it was not suitable

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for the welding of high strength steels, where a strict control of oxygen content was mandatory. The
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tandem TIG and tandem GMAW hybrid welding still had the inherent characteristics of conventional
single arc in terms of heat and mass transfer, and the regulation of molten pool behavior and weld
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formation was not accurate enough.
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Using the complementary advantages of TIG and MIG was an effective way to solve the above
problems. Zhang et al. (2004) developed double-electrode GMAW process which decoupled the base metal
current and bypass current by adding a bypass TIG arc to a conventional GMAW system. This made it
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possible to increase the deposition rate without increasing heat input. Chen et al. (2012) proposed
arcing-wire TIG process which completely melted the wire without heat transferred from weld pool. It
eliminated the undesirable dependence of deposition rate on weld pool mass. Chen et al. (2015) introduced
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cross-arc process where two wires were charged by a second power supply and fed into a conventional TIG
arc, which heated the workpiece. An inter-wire arc was established between the two wires to directly heat
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both wires, by which the heat and mass inputs were decoupled. Kanemaru et al. (2012) developed
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TIG-MIG hybrid welding process, in which the TIG and MIG arcs were established respectively between
electrode and steel plate by employing two independent power sources. Although the first 3 multi-heat
hybrid welding systems were similar to TIG-MIG hybrid welding, there were differences. For arc stability,
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TIG-MIG hybrid welding only needed a simple adjustment of basic currents and a suitable electrode
configuration, without the need for special properties of power source or special circuits of apparatus.
The effects of process parameters, such as torch angle, current balance and interelectrode distance, on
arc stability have been investigated to optimize TIG-MIG hybrid welding. Mishima et al. (2013) found that
the high temperature plasma between the two electrodes expanded, changing the hybrid arc heat and force
distribution, as the angle between the welding torches increased. Kanemaru et al. (2014) reported that the
TIG current (150-500 A) should be higher than the MIG current (270 A) to maintain the hybrid arc in
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stable when the interelectrode distance was 4 mm and the TIG arc was leading arc. It increased the heat
input, which aggravated the burn-off of tungsten electrode and alloy elements. Lou et al. (2014) found that
the range of interelectrode distance was affected by the basic currents, in the case of suppressing undercut
defects. When TIG current was lower than MIG current, the range was 3-5 mm, while it expanded to 3-10
mm when MIG current was higher than TIG current. The recent studies focused on the use of high TIG
current and leading TIG arc. Only a few studies, using low TIG current or trailing TIG arc, have been
conducted to analyze the behaviors of arc, droplet and weld pool by quantitative experiments.
Chen et al. (2017) investigated the influence of electrode relative position on arc stability and weld

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formation when TIG current was 50 A. The leading TIG arc was more effective in improving arc stability,
while the trailing TIG arc was more effective in suppressing undercut defects. It needed a further research

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on the effect of TIG current variations on arc stability and weld formation. In this study, the TIG arc was
set as leading and trailing arc separately, and the TIG current varied from 50 A to 250 A with a MIG

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current keeping at 250 A. The welding current-voltage waveform was analyzed, comparing with that of

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conventional MIG welding, to characterize the arc stability. The arc shape and droplet transfer were
investigated to describe the heat and force distribution in weld pool. The molten metal flow and
temperature field on weld pool surface were experimentally observed, using an innovative visual
inspection system, to reveal the mechanism of weld formation.
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2. Experimental set up
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2.1 Welding parameters and materials
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TIG-MIG hybrid welding process was classified into TIG+MIG and MIG+TIG hybrid welding
processes according to electrode relative position (the relative position between wire and tungsten
electrode with respect to welding direction), as shown in Fig.1. When the TIG arc was leading and MIG
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arc was trailing, this kind of welding process was referred to as TIG+MIG hybrid welding, while the
process with a reverse order of the two arcs was referred to as MIG+TIG hybrid welding. Based on the
previous experiments conducted by Chen et al. (2017), the welding parameters were set as follows:
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The MIG torch’s axis was perpendicular to the steel plate. The TIG torch’s axis had a 60 degrees
angle with the steel plate, and the tungsten electrode tip was kept towards welding wire both in TIG+MIG
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and MIG+TIG hybrid welding. The horizontal distance from tungsten electrode tip to welding wire
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(interelectrode distance) was 5 mm, and the vertical distance from tungsten electrode tip to steel plate top
surface was 5 mm. The wire extension was 18 mm. The MIG current kept at 250 A, and the TIG current
was set at 50 A, 80 A, 100 A, 120 A, 180 A and 250 A separately. The voltage of TIG arc depended on the
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welding current, arc length and welding processes. Weld joints were carried out by using conventional
MIG, TIG+MIG and MIG+TIG hybrid welding processes respectively at the same welding speed of 1.0
m/min. More details of the welding parameters were listed in Table 1.
Mild steel plate with composition of Fe-0.17C-0.15Si-0.30Mn-0.015P-0.035S (wt.%) was employed
for bead-on-plate welding. The dimension of the steel plate was 250×70×5 mm3. Carbon steel welding
wire with composition of Fe-0.11C-0.65Si-1.80Mn-0.030P-0.030S (wt.%) and diameter of 1.2 mm was
used as filler metal.
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2.2 Visual inspection system
An infrared camera with an image acquisition frequency of 80 Hz was used to inspect the temperature
field on weld pool surface. As illustrated in Fig.2, an optical filter was placed in front of the camera lens to
filter out the optical wave, whose wavelength (λ) was out the range of 920-1100 nm. According to Planck
radiation law, the emissivity (ε) of weld bead (gray-body) should be calibrated before calculating its actual
temperature. In this study, the ε can be calibrated according to Eq. (1) and (2),

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 1100 nm  1100 nm
hc hc
 =E / Eb  {  )  1]d }/{  [exp( )  1]d } (1)

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[exp(
 920 nm kb Tpic  920 nm kb T

1 9
Tpic  a   Gi  b (2)

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9 i 1

where E is the actual radiation intensity of weld bead (gray-body) recorded by the infrared camera, Eb is

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the theory radiation intensity of black-body whose temperature is equal to that of weld bead, h is Planck’s
constant, c is the speed of light, kb is Boltzmann’s constant. The T is the actual temperature of the contact

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point measured by thermocouples (941-1850 K) as shown in Fig. 2(a) and (b). The Tpic is the average
temperature of the contact point measured by infrared camera. The Gi is the grey level (0-255) of one pixel
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on the contact point as shown in Fig. 2(c). The a and b are two parameters depending on the settings of
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infrared camera.
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Figure 3 illustrates the variations of ε as the temperature ranges from 941K to 1850 K. When the
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temperature was lower than the melting point of steel plate (1790 K), the ε of solid steel decreased when
the temperature increased and tended to be 0.66 at 1790 K. When the steel plate was melted (1790-1850 K),
the ε of liquid steel decreased sharply to 0.36. Experiments, conducted by Peacock et al. (2010), had
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proved that the ε of liquid steel could be assumed as a constant. In this study, the ε of liquid steel was
assumed to be 0.36 when the temperature in the range of 1790-2776 K. In this way, the relationship
between gray levels of infrared image and actual temperature of steel plate was calibrated in the range
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from 941 K to 2776 K as shown in Fig. 3. Figure 4 presents the temperature field on weld pool surface
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calibrated by this method.

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As illustrated in Fig. 1, a DS-UN1401-USB3.0 color camera with an image acquisition frequency of

100 Hz was applied to detect the molten metal flow on weld pool surface. The image coordinates of tracer
particle were transferred into its world coordinates aided by the laser point focusing and scanning system.
Then the flow trajectories of tracer particles could be drawn in Fig. 4(b) using arrows, whose length and
direction could describe the flow velocities and directions of molten metal on weld pool surface
quantitatively. More details of the above method can be found in our previous study conducted by Zong et

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al. (2016).

3. Results and discussion

Figure 3 compares current-voltage waveform, arc shape and droplet transfer of TIG-MIG hybrid
welding with results of conventional MIG and TIG welding. When the set value of MIG current (IM-set) was
250 A and TIG current (IT-set) varied from 50 to 250 A, the measured actual value of TIG current (IT-actual),
MIG current (IM-actual), TIG voltage (VT-actual) and MIG voltage (VM-actual) were measured by current and

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voltage sensors at 25000 Hz as shown in Fig. 5(a). A high-speed CCD camera with an image acquisition
frequency of 2500 Hz was applied to acquire the images of arc shape and droplet transfer as illustrated in

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Fig.5 (b) and (c).

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3.1 Welding current and arc voltage
In conventional MIG welding, IM-actual (258 A) was a little higher than IM-set (250 A), and its standard
deviation (σM-I) was 15.8 A. The voltage of conventional MIG welding was 29.8 V, and its standard

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deviation (σM-V) was about 0.69 V. In conventional TIG welding, IT-actual was almost equal to IT-set when IT-set
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was in the range of 50-250 A. The standard deviation (σT-I) of IT-actual was about 5.0 A. The voltage of
conventional TIG welding was equal to (10+0.04IT-set) V, and its standard deviation (σT-V) was about 1.5 V.
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Table 2 shows the influence of electrode relative position and TIG current variation on measured welding
current (IT-actual and IM-actual), arc voltage (VT-actual and VM-actual) and standard deviation (σT-I, σM-I, σT-V and
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σM-V). IT-actual was consisted of TIG arc current, flowing into tungsten from steel plate, and interelectrode
current, flowing into tungsten from wire.
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The values of welding current and arc voltage were mainly depended on IT-set and were hardly affected
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by electrode relative position. When IT-set was in the range of 50-120 A, IT-actual kept around 165 A, IM-actual
kept around 284 A, VT-actual kept around -0.5 V and VM-actual kept around 29.9 V. The negative value of
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VT-actual confirmed the existence of the equivalent circuit as illustrated in Fig.6 (a), reported by Kanemaru et
al. (2015). In this circuit, the voltage of TIG machine (ES) decreased to zero, the MIG current was treated
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as a current source, the tungsten electrode changed from foregoing cathode to positive pole, and the cable
and internal-resistance of TIG machine (RIN) was treated as a resistive load. As the increment of IT-set, RIN
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decreased due to the constant-current output characteristic of TIG power source as shown in Fig. 6(b).
Meanwhile, the current source in the circuit had little change as IM-actual kept around 284 A. Thus, the TIG
arc current increased, and the electromagnetic repulsion force between TIG and MIG arcs was enhanced.
The high temperature plasma with high conductivity between the tungsten and wire was suppressed, which
decreased the interelectrode current. In the case of nearly constant IT-actual, the decrement of interelectrode
current confirmed the increment of the TIG arc current, when IT-set increased from 50 A to 120 A.
When IT-set was in the range of 120-250 A, there was no significant change in IM-actual and VM-actual.
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While, IT-actual and VT-actual presented a positive correlation with IT-set. The IT-actual increased from 166 A to
263 A, and VT-actual increased from -0.6 V to 3.2 V. It suggested that the high-temperature plasma generated
by MIG arc was not enough to maintain the TIG arc, and the voltage-drop of TIG cathode was required for
electrons to escape from tungsten electrode. So, VT-actual increased to a positive value when ITS was higher
than 180 A. Expansion of arc plasma and increment of metal vapor generated by TIG-MIG hybridization
caused the change of arc characteristic curve despite of the same condition of TIG arc length and TIG arc
current. As shown in Fig. 6(b), the value of VT-actual and its inclination were smaller than that of
conventional TIG arc. The electromagnetic repulsion force between TIG and MIG arcs was enhanced

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further as the increment of IT-set. So, the interelectrode current was suppressed, while the TIG arc current
increased rapidly.

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The values of standard deviation were not only affected by IT-set, but also electrode relative position as

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shown in Table 2. When IT-set was 50-80 A in MIG+TIG hybrid welding, the values of standard deviation
were 2 to 6 times as larger as that in conventional MIG welding, which indicated a deterioration of arc
stability. When the electrode relative position was reversed or IT-set increased to 100 A, the values of
standard deviation decreased and the arc stability was improved.
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In terms of electrode relative position, the trailing TIG arc acted directly on the middle of weld pool,
where the liquid surface was fluctuant under the impingement of droplet as shown in Fig. 5(b). While, the
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leading TIG arc applied on the solid steel plate at front of weld pool without fluctuation. The values of
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standard deviation in TIG+MIG hybrid welding were smaller than that in conventional MIG welding,
which indicated TIG arc could enhance the stability of TIG+MIG hybrid welding when IT-set was as low as
50 A.
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In terms of TIG current, the high-temperature plasma generated by MIG arc was enough to maintain
the TIG arc when IT-set was 50-80 A. The TIG arc current was very low and the interelectrode current was
high, because of the high internal-resistance of TIG machine. The stiffness of trailing TIG arc was not
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strong enough to withstand the fluctuation of liquid metal. As the increment of IT-set, the TIG arc current
increased and the stiffness of TIG arc become strong, in the case of nearly constant IT-actual. When IT-set was
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higher than 100 A, the values of standard deviation were smaller than that in conventional MIG welding.
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The TIG arc could enhance both the MIG+TIG and TIG+MIG hybrid welding stability when IT-set was in
range of 100-250 A.
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3.2 Arc heat and force distribution

The arc heat and force distribution in TIG-MIG hybrid welding was difficult to be measured directly.
While, the arc shape, which changed with the current density distribution, provided an indirect method.
Figure 7 only illustrates the typical arc shapes in conventional MIG and TIG+MIG hybrid welding, as the
arc shape in MIG+TIG hybrid welding was similar to that in TIG+MIG hybrid welding. The conventional
MIG arc was perpendicular to steel plate and seemed to be bell-shaped. When the TIG arc was applied to
MIG arc, the electromagnetic repulsion force generated by the reverse-phase TIG current pushed the MIG
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arc to be deflected to the opposite side of TIG arc. The MIG arc seemed to be broom-shaped from the view
of perpendicular to welding direction. The above variations significantly changed the arc heat and force
distribution.

In this study, the output of TIG power source was no more than 10 percent of MIG power source,
according to the welding current and arc voltage shown in Table 2. Hence, the arc heat distribution in
hybrid welding was mainly determined by the MIG arc. It was assumed that the MIG arc heat was

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Gaussian distribution both in conventional MIG welding and TIG-MIG hybrid welding. The distribution
radius (rH) can be calculated by Eq. (3), reported by Mendez and Eager (1999),

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rH  6  3.77 103 I M0.2645 0.3214
 actual LM  arc (3)

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where LM-arc is the length of the arc center line, which connects wire tip and midpoint of distribution area

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of MIG arc as illustrated in Fig. 7(c) and (d). The LM-arc of conventional MIG welding was 4.5 mm, while
the LM-arc of TIG-MIG hybrid welding increased more than 40% to 6.4 mm when IT-set was 50 A as shown
in Fig. 8(a). The LM-arc exhibited positive relationship with IT-set and it increased continuously to 7.5 mm as

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IT-set increased to 250 A. The above phenomena could be explained by the principle of minimum voltage. In
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hybrid welding, part of the MIG arc was surrounded by TIG arc and the heat loss of MIG arc declined.
Accordingly, the electric field strength of MIG arc should decrease to reduce the heat generation of MIG
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arc. As VM-actual kept at 30 V, the LM-arc should increase to decrease the electric field strength.
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The increment of LM-arc expanded the distribution area of MIG arc heat by enlarging the rH.
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Meanwhile, the actual MIG arc heat input (Earc) kept around 3600 W, as IM-actual in hybrid welding
increased 10% compared with that in conventional MIG welding but heat efficiency decreased 10%
simultaneously, reported by Kanemaru et al. (2015). Taking this point into consideration, the MIG arc heat
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flux density (qarc) in radial direction can be calculated by Eq. (4),

3Earc 3r 2
qarc (r )  exp(  ) (4)
 rH2 rH2
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where r is the distance to the MIG arc center. As shown in Fig. 8(b), the peak value of heat flux in
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conventional MIG welding was 6.9×107 W/m2, and it decreased 25% to 5.2×107 W/m2 in TIG-MIG
hybrid welding when IT-set was 50 A. As IT-set increased to 250 A, the peak value of heat flux decreased
further to 4.7×107 W/m2. Due to the dispersion of MIG arc heat in TIG-MIG hybrid welding, both the
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temperature of molten metal and the width of weld pool were reduced. These will be discussed further in
section 3.5 and 3.6.
The arc force was composed of static pressure and plasma jet pressure. The static pressure pushed
high-temperature particles to flow from electrode to steel plate and caused the dynamic pressure. As shown
in Fig. 7, both in conventional MIG and hybrid welding, the diameter of arc near the electrode was smaller
than that near the steel plate. As a result, the electromagnetic force, which showed positive relationship

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with current density, near the electrode was higher than that near the steel plate. This pressure difference
towards the steel plate was the static pressure (FP), and it can be calculated by Eq. (5) and (6), reported by
Xu et al. (2014),

Fp = K  I 2  lg(d2 / d1 ) (5)

I =  IT actual  IT  M    I M actual  IT  M  (6)

Where K is a constant coefficient, d1 and d2 are the diameters of arc near the electrode and steel plate
respectively as shown in Fig. 7. I is the sum of current flowing from the steel plate to tungsten and from

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the welding wire to steel plate. IT-M is the current flowing from welding wire to tungsten, which was about

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30 A when IT-set was 50-250 A, reported by Kanemaru et al. (2012).
Figure 9 illustrates the influence of IT-set on arc static pressure, in which the FP of conventional MIG

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welding was considered as the reference value (100%) to evaluate the relative magnitudes of FP in hybrid
welding. In conventional MIG welding, d1 was 1.2 mm and d2 was 8.4 mm. When the TIG arc was applied

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to MIG arc, d1 increased to about 6 mm and d2 increased to about 10 mm. So the lg(d2/ d1) in Eq. (5) of
hybrid welding was no more than 25% of that in conventional MIG welding as shown in Fig. 9(a).

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Meanwhile, the I increased from 258 A to 480 A as IT-set increased from 0 A to 250 A. According to Eq. (5),
the Fp, when IT-set was 50 A, was 43% of that in conventional MIG welding as shown in Fig. 9(b). When
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IT-set increased to 250 A, the Fp increased to 93% of that in conventional MIG welding. The smaller static
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pressure would also induce smaller plasma jet pressure. So, the arc force in TIG-MIG hybrid welding
would be weaker than that in conventional MIG welding. The influence of the variations of Fp on the
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molten metal flow will be discussed further in section 3.4.

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3.3 Droplet transfer

Figure 10 illustrates typical droplet transfer modes in different welding processes. In conventional
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MIG welding, the droplet detached from the wire tip and shifted toward the weld pool along the axis of
wire under the effect of electromagnetic pinch force, plasma flow force and gravity as shown in Fig. 10(a).
In TIG-MIG hybrid welding, the additional electromagnetic repulsion force generated by TIG arc made
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droplet transfer much easier as it pushed the droplet to be broken away from the wire tip as shown in Fig.
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10(b) and (c). Meanwhile, the droplet deviated from the axis of wire and got a horizontal velocity when it
impinged on the weld pool surface. The horizontal velocity was backward in TIG+MIG hybrid welding
and forward in MIG+TIG hybrid welding.
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Figure 11 illustrates the influence of IT-set on droplet size, transfer frequency and velocity. In
conventional MIG welding, droplet radius was 0.44 mm, and transfer frequency was 412 Hz as shown in
Fig. 11(a) and (b). When the TIG arc was applied to MIG arc, the droplet radius decreased and the
frequency increased. When IT-set was 250 A, the droplet radius decreased 7% to 0.41 mm and transfer

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frequency increased 28% to 528 Hz compared with that in conventional MIG welding. The droplet velocity
in vertical direction decreased from 1.4 m/s (conventional MIG welding) to 1.2 m/s (hybrid welding) as
shown in Fig. 11(c). The droplet velocity in horizontal direction increased from 0 m/s (conventional MIG
welding) to 0.5-0.8 m/s (hybrid welding). The influence of the above variations of droplet transfer on the
molten metal flow will be discussed further in section 3.4.

3.4 Molten metal flow

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Figure 12 illustrates the flow patterns on weld pool surface characterized by flow trajectories of tracer
particles. The flow patterns could be divided into backward flow in the front and middle of weld pool, and

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forward flow in the tail of weld pool as shown in Fig. 12(a). As the forward flow velocity was very slow
and had little influence on the weld bead formation, so it was neglected in the following analyses.

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In conventional MIG welding, the arc force was very strong as mentioned in section 3.2. The strong

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arc force pushed molten metal away from the arc center, and created an inclined surface with thin metal
film at the leading edge of weld pool. Then the droplet impinged on the inclined surface, and its
vertical-downward momentum transformed into horizontal-backward momentum. It further pushed molten

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metal to ricochet off the leading edge and flow towards the tail of weld pool. As shown in Fig. 12(a), the
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peak velocity of backward flow (vpeak) could reach up to 0.40 m/s and the average velocity (vavg) was about
0.18 m/s. Meanwhile, the initial position of flow trajectories was under the welding wire. Thus, molten
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metal had no sufficient time to transverse spread before it accumulated in the tail of weld pool, where the
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solidified metal obstructed its transverse spread. So, the weld toe was hard to be filled up by molten metal,
which would induce serious undercut defect.
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When IT-set was 50 A in TIG+MIG hybrid welding, the hybrid arc force was only 43% of that in
conventional MIG welding as illustrated in Fig. 9(b). So, the metal film under the arc center became
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thicker and more efficient to absorb the vertical-downward droplet impingement. It indicated that the
fraction of momentum transferred from vertical-downward droplet momentum to backward fluid flow
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momentum decreased. While, there was more momentum transferred from horizontal-backward droplet
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momentum to backward fluid flow momentum because the droplet velocity in horizontal direction
increased to 0.5 m/s as shown in Fig. 11(d). As the droplet velocity in horizontal direction was relatively
low compared with that in vertical direction, the decrease of vertical-downward droplet impingement
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played a major role in the variations of backward fluid flow. As a result, vpeak decreased from 0.4 m/s
(conventional MIG welding) to 0.25 m/s and vavg decreased from 0.18 m/s (conventional MIG welding) to
0.15 m/s as shown in Fig. 12(b).
As the increase of IT-set in TIG+MIG hybrid welding, both the hybrid arc force and droplet velocity in
horizontal direction increased, which could promote the backward fluid flow. While, the droplet radius
decreased and the transfer frequency increased, which could facilitate the absorption of downward droplet
momentum. But its influence was relatively weak and could not reversed the increase tendency of
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backward fluid flow. Both the peak and average backward flow velocity presented a positive correlation
with IT-set as shown in Fig. 12(b-d) and Fig. 13. When IT-set increased to 250 A, vpeak was 0.38 m/s and vavg
was 0.18 m/s, which was almost equal to that in conventional MIG welding. But unlike the conventional
MIG welding, the initial position of flow trajectories in TIG+MIG hybrid welding moved forward from the
wire center to the front boundary of weld pool as illustrated in Fig. 12(b-d). It allowed more time for
molten metal to spread transversely and fill up weld toe. The undercut defect would be suppressed.
In MIG+TIG hybrid welding, both the TIG arc force and horizontal droplet momentum were forward,
which could suppress the backward fluid flow. As the increase of IT-set, this suppression effect became

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stronger. vpeak and vavg of backward flow presented a negative correlation with IT-set as shown in Fig. 12(e-g)
and Fig. 13. Meanwhile, the initial position of flow trajectories moved forward to the front boundary of

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weld pool. The above changes would suppress undercut defect effectively.

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3.5 Temperature field
Figure 14 illustrates the typical temperature fields on weld pool surface in different welding processes.
In order to avoid arc interference, temperature fields at the arc extinguishing moment (within 0.0125 s)

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were captured to characterize the quasi-steady-state temperature distribution during welding processes.
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As shown in Fig. 14(a), the temperature of the leading edge in conventional MIG welding was lower
than the melting point (1790 K). It suggested that the liquid metal film at the leading edge was very thin.
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The cooling rate of this thin liquid metal film was so high that solidification occurred in a very short time
M

(within 0.0125 s). At the weld toe, the solidified metal obstructed liquid metal to spread transversely and
induced undercut defect. In contrast, the temperature of the leading edge in TIG-MIG hybrid welding was
higher than the melting point as shown in Fig. 14(b) and (c) when IT-set was 100 A. It indicated that the
ED

cooling rate of the liquid metal at the leading edge was relatively low. The molten metal had enough time
to spread transversely and fill up weld toe. The undercut defect would be suppressed.
In the middle and rear of weld pool, the liquid metal was thick and had a relatively low cooling rate.
PT

The changes of temperature field within 0.0125 s could be neglected. The temperature distributions along
the lines A-A, B-B, C-C and D-D were shown in Fig.14(d-g). Multi-measurement average method was
E

adopted to exclude the influence of slag, whose thermal emissivity was higher than that of molten metal.
CC

Figure 14(d-g) shows the similar temperature characteristics that the maximum temperature in hybrid
welding was lower than that in conventional MIG welding and the high temperature area (higher than 1790
K) in hybrid welding was always narrower. It was mainly caused by the increment of arc length, which
A

expanded the distribution area of MIG arc heat as shown in Fig. 8. Even when IT-set increased to 180 A, the
maximum temperature and high temperature area of weld pool in TIG-MIG hybrid welding were not larger
than that in conventional MIG welding as shown in Fig. 12. It could be predicted that the lower
maximum-temperature and smaller high-temperature area would reduce the width of heat-affected zone,
which was generally the weakest region of weld bead, reported by Chen et al. (2017).

10
3.6 Weld formation
Figure 15 illustrates the typical cross sections of weld bead in different welding processes. In
conventional MIG welding, the weld width was 6.7 mm, the weld penetration was 2.1 mm, and there were
serious undercut defects in both sides of the weld bead as shown in Fig.15 (a) and (b).

In conventional MIG welding, the digging action of arc force produced a thin molten metal layer,
where the droplet impinged on, and resulted in a finger penetration. In TIG+MIG hybrid welding, the

T
downward momentum of droplet was dissipated, as the backward droplet impinged into weld pool at the
point where covered by thick molten metal as illustrated in Fig. 5(c). A shallow parabolic penetration was

IP
formed instead of finger penetration as illustrated in Fig. 15(c-e). As the increase of IT-set, the droplet
velocity in horizontal direction increased and further weakened the droplet impingement, as shown in Fig.

R
11(d). The weld penetration decreased from 1.8 mm to 1.4 mm in TIG+MIG hybrid welding when IT-set

SC
increased from 50 A to 250 A as shown in Fig. 16(a). In MIG+TIG hybrid welding, the droplet impinged
on the leading edge with smaller impact angle and resulted in shallower finger penetration compared with
that of conventional MIG welding as illustrated in Fig. 15(f-h). The weld penetration maintained at around

U
1.8 mm when IT-set increased from 50 A to 250 A as shown in Fig.16(a).
N
A
Zong et al. (2016) explained the occurrence of undercut in conventional MIG welding. The high heat
M

flux density made a wide weld width and deep weld toe. Meanwhile, the concentrate MIG arc force and
high-speed droplet impingement pushed molten metal to flow backward in high velocity. So, the weld toe
was hard to be filled up by molten metal and serious undercut defect occurred. The formation tendency of
ED

undercut was positively correlated with the backward flow velocity of molten metal (vpeak and vavg, in Fig.
13) and the weld width (wwidth, in Fig. 16(b)). The values of vpeak, vavg and wwidth in conventional MIG
welding was considered as the reference value (100%) to evaluate the relative magnitudes (ηpeak, ηavg and
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ηweld) of that in hybrid welding. The nondimensional number η (η=ηpeak×ηavg×ηweld) was proposed to
evaluate the formation tendency of undercut, which was equal to 100% in conventional MIG welding. The
E

larger the value, the stronger the tendency.

CC

In TIG+MIG hybrid welding, the values of ηpeak, ηavg and ηweld were 63%, 83% and 85% separately
and η was equaled to 44% when IT-set was 50 A, as shown in Fig. 17(a). It suggested that the decrement of
backward flow velocity and weld width together reduced the formation tendency of undercut. As the IT-set
A

increased from 50 A to 250 A, wwidth decreased from 5.7 mm to 3.9 mm and ηweld decreased from 85% to
58%, which was mainly caused by the decrement of heat flux density as illustrated in Fig. 8. While, the
ηpeak increased from 63% to 95% and ηavg increased from 83% to 100% as the increment of backward arc
force and droplet impingement. When IT-set increased to 250 A, η was equaled to 55%, although the
backward flow velocity in TIG+MIG hybrid welding was almost as quick as that in conventional MIG
welding. It indicated that the main cause of undercut suppression was the decrement of wwidth. There was
no undercut defect as shown in Fig. 15(c-e).
11
 In MIG+TIG hybrid welding, the low heat flux density tended to shrink wwidth, while the forward TIG
arc force, which suppressed the backward fluid flow and promoted molten metal to spread transversely,
tended to expand wwidth as the increase of IT-set. As a result, wwidth maintained at around 6.0 mm as shown in
Fig. 16(b). When IT-set increased from 50 A to 250 A, ηweld maintained at 90%, ηpeak decreased from 53% to
35%, and ηavg decreased 67% to 52% as shown in Fig. 17(b). η decreased 31% to 16%. It indicated that the
main cause of undercut suppression was the decrement of backward flow velocity (vpeak and vavg). There
was no undercut defect as shown in Fig. 15(f-h).

T
4. Conclusions

IP
(1) When TIG arc was leading, the MIG arc was stable without spatters even when the TIG current
was as low as 50 A. In the view of reducing heat input, it was more attractive and suitable for

R
heat-sensitive steel.

SC
(2) When TIG arc was trailing, the TIG current should be higher than 100 A to realize stable welding
process. In the view of suppressing undercut defect, it could reach a much higher welding speed, as the
forward TIG arc force could decrease the backward fluid flow effectively.

U
(3) In TIG-MIG hybrid welding, the length of MIG arc increased continually with TIG current. So,
N
the arc heat flux became lower compared with that in conventional MIG welding, which resulted in lower
temperature field and narrower weld width.
A
(4) In TIG-MIG hybrid welding, the welding speed could increase to at least 1.5 m/min without
M

undercut defect. When TIG arc was leading, the decrease of weld width was the main factor to suppress
undercut defect. When TIG arc was trailing, the main factor to suppress undercut defect was the decrease
of backward flow velocity, which caused by the forward TIG arc force.
ED

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number
PT

51775313]; and State Key Lab of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology [grant
number AWJ-M15-09].
E
CC

References
Chen, D., Chen, M., Wu, C., 2015. Effects of phase difference on the behavior of arc and weld pool in
A

tandem P-GMAW. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 225, 45-55.

Chen, J., Zong, R., Wu, C., et al., 2017. Influence of low current auxiliary TIG arc on high speed TIG-MIG
hybrid welding. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 243, 131-142.
Chen, J.S., Lu,Y., Li,X.R., et al., 2012. Gas tungsten arc welding using an arcing wire. Weld. J. 91(10),
261-269.
Chen, S.J., Zhang, L., Wang, X.P., et al., 2015. Stability of cross arc process-a preliminary study. Weld. J.,

12
 94(4), 158-168.
Kanemaru, S., Sasaki, T., Sato, T., et al., 2012. Study for the Arc Phenomena of TIG-MIG Hybrid Welding
Process by 3D Numerical Analysis Model. Q. J. Jpn. Weld. Soc. 30(4), 323-330.
Kanemaru, S., Sasaki, T., Sato, T., et al., 2014. Study for TIG–MIG hybrid welding process. Weld. World.
58(1), 11-18.
Kanemaru, S., Sasaki, T., Sato, T., et al., 2015. Study for the mechanism of TIG-MIG hybrid welding
process. Weld. World 59(2), 261-268.
Lou, X.F., Chen, M.A., Wu, C.S., et al., 2014. Humping and undercutting suppression mechanism for high

T
speed TIG-MIG hybrid welding. Trans. China Weld. Inst. 35(8), 87-90.

IP
Mendez, P.F., Eagar, T.W., 1999. Estimation of the characteristic properties of the weld pool during high
productivity arc welding. In Fifth International Seminar on the Numerical Analysis of Weldability,

R
67-94.
Mishima, H., Tashiro, S., Kanemaru, S., et al., 2013. Numerical simulation on plasma property in

SC
TIG-MIG hybrid welding process. Q. J. Jpn. Weld. Soc. 31(4), 22-25.
Peacock, G.R., 2000. Thermal imaging of liquid steel and slag in a pouring stream. AeroSense 2000, Int.
Soc. Opt. Photon., 50-60.
U
Qin, G.L., Meng, X.M., Fu, B.L., 2015. High speed tandem gas tungsten arc welding process of thin
N
stainless steel plate. J. Mater. Process. Technol. 220, 58-64.
A
Xu, X., Miao, Y., Han, D., et al., 2014. Couplingarc shape and pressure of bypass-current double-sided arc
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welding. Trans. China Weld. Inst. 35(7), 101-105.

Zhang, Y.M., Jiang, M., Lu, W., 2004. Double electrodes improve GMAW heat input control. Weld. J. 83,
39-41.
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Zong, R., Chen, J., Wu, C.S., et al., 2016. Undercutting formation mechanism in gas metal arc welding.
Weld. J. 95(5), 174-184.
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CC

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of experimental set up.

Fig. 2 Calibration of temperature (941-1850 K) using thermocouples.
Fig. 3 Relationship between gray level of infrared image and actual temperature of steel plate.
A

Fig. 4 Observation of temperature field and molten metal flow: (a) Grayscale image captured by infrared
camera and (b) calibrated temperature field and flow trajectory of tracer particle on weld pool surface.
Fig. 5 Comparation among conventional MIG, conventional TIG, TIG+MIG hybrid welding and
MIG+TIG hybrid welding: (a) Current-voltage waveform, (b) arc shape and (c) droplet transfer.
Fig. 6 (a) Equivalent circuit of TIG power source and (b) TIG power source output characteristic and arc
characteristic curve.
Fig. 7 Influence of TIG current on arc shape: (a) Conventional MIG arc, (b)TIG+MIG hybrid arc when
13
IT-set=50 A, (c) TIG+MIG hybrid arc when IT-set=120 A and (d) TIG+MIG hybrid arc when IT-set=250 A.
Fig. 8 (a) MIG arc length and (b) MIG arc heat flux density.
Fig. 9 (a) Characteristics of arc shape and (b) arc static pressure.
Fig. 10 Droplet transfer in different welding processes: (a) Conventional MIG welding, (b) TIG+MIG:
IT-set=50 A and (c) MIG+TIG: IT-set=50 A.
Fig. 11 Influence of TIG current on droplet transfer: (a) Droplet radius, (b) droplet transfer frequency, (c)
droplet velocity in vertical direction and (d) droplet velocity in horizontal direction.
Fig. 12 Flow patterns on weld pool surface. (a) Conventional MIG, (b) TIG+MIG: IT-set=50 A, (c)

T
TIG+MIG: IT-set=100 A, (d) TIG+MIG: IT-set=180 A, (e) MIG+TIG: IT-set=50 A, (f) MIG+TIG: IT-set=100 A
and (g) MIG+TIG: IT-set=180 A.

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Fig. 13 Influence of IT-set on backward flow velocity: (a) Average velocity and (b) peak velocity.
Fig. 14 Temperature field of weld pool: (a) Conventional MIG welding, (b) TIG+MIG hybrid welding, (c)

R
MIG+TIG hybrid welding, (d) temperature on line A-A, (e) temperature on line B-B, (f) temperature on

SC
line C-C and (g) temperature on line D-D when IT-set=100 A.
Fig. 15 Cross section of weld bead. (a) and (b) Conventional MIG welding, (c) TIG+MIG: IT-set=50 A, (d)
TIG+MIG: IT-set=100 A, (e) TIG+MIG: IT-set=180 A, (f) MIG+TIG: IT-set=50 A, (g) MIG+TIG: IT-set=100 A
and (h) MIG+TIG: IT-set=180 A.
U
N
Fig. 16 Influence of IT-set on weld formation: (a) Weld width and (b) weld penetration.
Fig. 17 Factors for formation tendency of undercut: (a) TIG+MIG hybrid welding and (b) MIG+TIG
A
hybrid welding.
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

14
 Camera
Filters MIG torch

TIG torch

T
Laser point focusing

IP
and scanning system
Feeding device for
tracer particle Steel plate

R
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of experimental set up.

SC
(a) (b) Contact point (c) Contact point

Steel plate G1 G2 G3
45°
Ceramic
tube U
Thermocouples
G4 G5 G6
N
TIG
arc Thermocouples
G7 G8 G9
Shielding gas:Ar
A
Fig. 2 Calibration of temperature (941-1850 K) using thermocouples.
M

250 0.9

Gray level
0.8
ε (λ=920-1100 nm)
ED

200
0.7
ε≈0.66
150 0.6
Gray level

Emissivity
PT

0.5
100
Melting point:

0.4
ε≈0.36
1790 K
E

50
0.3
CC

0 0.2
900 1200 1500 1800 2100 2400 2700
Actual temperature (K)

Fig. 3 Relationship between gray level of infrared image and actual temperature of steel plate.
A

15
 T (K)

1420 1545 1790 1954 2118 2282 2447 2611 2776

(a) (b)

Flow trajectory
of tracer particle

TIG+MIG
hybrid arc
5 mm 5 mm 0.5 m/s

T
Fig. 4 Observation of temperature field and molten metal flow: (a) Grayscale image captured by infrared camera and (b)

IP
calibrated temperature field and flow trajectory of tracer particle on weld pool surface.

R
SC
U
N
A
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

16
 (a) Current-voltage waveform (b) Arc shape (c) Droplet transfer
Welding IT-actual 2 mm 2 mm
VT-actual
parameters
IM-actual VM-actual Welding direction Welding direction

400

Welding current (A)

30

Arc voltage (V)

300
Conventional 20
MIG or TIG 200 Droplet
10
IM-set =250 A
100
IT-set =50 A 0
0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 MIG arc TIG arc

T
Time (s)
400

IP
Welding current (A)

30

Arc voltage (V)

300

TIG+MIG

R
200 15
IM-set =250 A Droplet
IT-set =50 A 100

SC
0
TIG MIG
0
arc arc
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20
Time (s)
400

U
Welding current (A)

30 Spatters
Arc voltage (V)

300
N
MIG+TIG 200 15
Spatters
IM-set =250 A
A
100
IT-set =50 A
0
0
M

0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20

Time (s)
400
Welding current (A)

30
Arc voltage (V)
ED

300
20
Droplet
TIG+MIG 200
IM-set =250 A 10
100 TIG
IT-set =100 A
PT

0 arc
0 Tilt angle
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20
Time (s)
400
E Welding current (A)

30
Arc voltage (V)

300
CC

20
MIG+TIG 200
Current
IM-actual lines
IM-set =250 A 10 Droplet
IT-set =100 A 100 IT-actual
0
A

0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 Electromagnetic
Time (s) repulsion force

Fig. 5 Comparation among conventional MIG, conventional TIG, TIG+MIG hybrid welding and MIG+TIG hybrid welding:
(a) Current-voltage waveform, (b) arc shape and (c) droplet transfer.

17
 Output characteristic
of TIG power source
50
ES

Voltage (V)
VT-actual
Conventional
Hybrrd arc
TIG arc
RIN TIG arc characteristic
MIG current characteristic
current 0
50 100 150 200 250
Current (A)
(a) (b)
Fig. 6 (a) Equivalent circuit of TIG power source and (b) TIG power source output characteristic and arc characteristic

T
curve.

IP
(a) 2 mm (b) Welding
d1 direction

R
d1

SC
d2
d2

(c) Welding (d) Welding

direction
U direction
N
TIG
A
arc
Tilt angle
M

Fig. 7 Influence of TIG current on arc shape: (a) Conventional MIG arc, (b)TIG+MIG hybrid arc when IT-set=50 A,
(c) TIG+MIG hybrid arc when IT-set=120 A and (d) TIG+MIG hybrid arc when IT-set=250 A.
ED
MIG arc heat flux density (x10 W/m )

8 8
2

TIG+MIG hybrid welding Conventional MIG welding

MIG+TIG hybrid welding
7

TIG+MIG
MIG arc length (mm)

7 6
MIG+TIG
IT-set=50 A IT-set=50 A
PT

6 4

2
E

Conventional MIG welding TIG+MIG MIG+TIG

IT-set =250 A IT-set =250 A
CC

4 0
0 50 100 150 (a) 200 250 -10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
Set values of TIG current (A) Distance to arc center (mm)
(a) (b)
A

Fig. 8 (a) MIG arc length and (b) MIG arc heat flux density.

18
 1.0
TIG+MIG hybrid welding TIG+MIG hybrid welding

Relative arc static pressure (%)

MIG+TIG hybrid welding 100 MIG+TIG hybrid welding
0.8 Conventional MIG welding
Conventional MIG welding
80
0.6
lg(d2/d1)

60
0.4

0.2 40

0.0 20
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Set values of TIG current (A) Set values of TIG current (A)

T
(a) (b)

IP
Fig. 9 (a) Characteristics of arc shape and (b) arc static pressure.

Welding direction Welding direction Welding direction

R
(a) (b) (c)
1 mm 1 mm 1 mm

SC
Electromagnetic
repulsion force Electromagnetic
repulsion force

droplet U droplet
N
droplet
A
M

Fig. 10 Droplet transfer in different welding processes:

(a) Conventional MIG welding, (b) TIG+MIG: IT-set=50 A and (c) MIG+TIG: IT-set=50 A.
ED
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CC
A

19
 0.45 550

Frequency of droplet transfer (Hz)

TIG+MIG
0.44
Droplet radius in MIG+TIG
Droplet radius (mm) conventional MIG welding
500
0.43
TIG+MIG
MIG+TIG
0.42
450

0.41
Droplet transfer Frequency in
conventional MIG welding
0.40 400
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250

T
Set values of TIG current (A) Set values of TIG current (A)

Droplet velocity in horizontal direction (m/s)

(a) (b)
Droplet velocity in vertical direction (m/s)

IP
1.5 1.0
TIG+MIG hybrid welding TIG+MIG hybrid welding
MIG+TIG hybrid welding MIG+TIG hybrid welding
1.4 0.8

R
Conventional MIG welding
0.6
1.3

SC
0.4
1.2

0.2
1.1

1.0
0 50 100 150 200 250
0.0

0 U
Conventional MIG welding
50 100 150 200 250
N
Set values of TIG current (A) Set values of TIG current (A)
(c) (d)
A
Fig. 11 Influence of TIG current on droplet transfer: (a) Droplet radius, (b) droplet transfer frequency, (c) droplet velocity in
M

vertical direction and (d) droplet velocity in horizontal direction.

ED
E PT
CC
A

20
 Backward flow T (K)
Weld Forward flow 1420 1545 1790 1954 2118 2282 2447 2611 2776
wire

5 mm 1.0 m/s
Tail
Front Middle (a) MIG
(e)

T
(b) TIG+MIG: IT=50 A (e) MIG+TIG: IT=50 A
(f)

R IP
SC
(c) TIG+MIG: IT=100 A (f) MIG+TIG: IT=100 A
(g)

U
N
(d) TIG+MIG: IT=180 A (g) MIG+TIG: IT=180 A
A
Fig. 12 Flow patterns on weld pool surface. (a) Conventional MIG, (b) TIG+MIG: IT-set=50 A, (c) TIG+MIG: IT-set=100 A, (d)
TIG+MIG: IT-set=180 A, (e) MIG+TIG: IT-set=50 A, (f) MIG+TIG: IT-set=100 A and (g) MIG+TIG: IT-set=180 A.
M
Average velocity of backward flow (m/s)

Peak velocity of backward flow (m/s)

0.20
TIG+MIG 0.40 TIG+MIG
0.18
Conventional MIG+TIG Conventional MIG+TIG
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MIG welding 0.35 MIG welding

0.16
0.30
0.14
0.25
PT

0.12
0.20
0.10
0.15
E

0.08
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Set values of TIG current (A) Set values of TIG current (A)
CC

(a) (b)

Fig. 13 Influence of IT-set on backward flow velocity: (a) Average velocity and (b) peak velocity.
A

21
 T (K)
1420 1545 1790 1954 2118 2282 2447 2611 2776
Weld toe B-B B-B
D-D D-D

A-A C-C A-A C-C

Leading edge 5 mm 5 mm 5 mm
(a) (b) (c)
2200 2200

2000 2000
Temperature (K)

Temperature (K)
1800 1790 K 1800 1790 K

T
1600 1600

MIG MIG

IP
1400 1400
TIG+MIG TIG+MIG
1200 MIG+TIG 1200 MIG+TIG

R
1000 1000
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6
Distance from weld center line (mm) Distance from weld center line (mm)

SC
(d) (e)
2200 2200

2000
2000
Temperature (K)

Temperature (K)

1790 K
1800

1600 1800
U1790 K
N
MIG
1400 MIG
1600 TIG+MIG
TIG+MIG MIG+TIG
1200
A
MIG+TIG
1000 1400
-6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 0 5 10 15 20 25 30
M

Distance from weld center line (mm) Distance from leading edge of weld pool (mm)
(f) (g)
Fig. 14 Temperature field of weld pool: (a) Conventional MIG welding, (b) TIG+MIG hybrid welding, (c) MIG+TIG hybrid
ED

welding, (d) temperature on line A-A, (e) temperature on line B-B, (f) temperature on line C-C and (g) temperature on line

D-D when IT-set=100 A.

(a) 2 mm (b) 1 mm
PT

Undercut Weld Undercut Undercut

bead

Base metal
E

(c) 2 mm (d) 2 mm (e) 2 mm

CC

Parabolic penetration
(f) 2 mm (g) 2 mm (h) 2 mm
A

Figure penetration

Fig. 15 Cross section of weld bead. (a) and (b) Conventional MIG welding, (c) TIG+MIG: IT-set=50 A, (d) TIG+MIG:
IT-set=100 A, (e) TIG+MIG: IT-set=180 A, (f) MIG+TIG: IT-set=50 A, (g) MIG+TIG: IT-set=100 A and (h) MIG+TIG: IT-set=180
A.

22
 2.2 7.0
TIG+MIG TIG+MIG
MIG+TIG 6.5 Conventional MIG+TIG
Conventional
MIG welding
Weld penetration (mm)
2.0 MIG welding
6.0

Weld width (mm)

1.8 5.5

5.0
1.6
4.5

4.0
1.4
3.5
0 50 100 150 200 250 0 50 100 150 200 250
Set values of TIG current (A) Set values of TIG current (A)

T
(a) (b)

IP
Fig. 16 Influence of IT-set on weld formation: (a) Weld penetration and (b) weld width.

100 100
Relative magnitude (%)

Relative magnitude (%)

R
80 80 η ηavg
ηpeak ηwidth

SC
60 60

40 40
η ηavg
20 20
ηpeak ηwidth
0
50 100 150 200 250
0
50
U 100 150 200 250
N
Set values of TIG current (A) Set values of TIG current (A)
(a) (b)
A
Fig. 17 Factors for formation tendency of undercut: (a) TIG+MIG hybrid welding and (b) MIG+TIG hybrid welding.
M
ED
E PT
CC
A

23
Table captions

Table 1 Welding parameters implemented in conventional MIG and TIG-MIG hybrid welding processes.
Table 2 Welding current and arc voltage in TIG-MIG hybrid welding.

Table 1 Welding parameters implemented in conventional MIG and TIG-MIG hybrid welding processes.

Electrode Shielding Gas Welding Arc Wire feeding rate Welding speed
Connection Ar (L/min) Current (A) Voltage (V) (m/min) (m/min)

T
MIG DCEP 20 250 30 7.8 1.0
TIG DCEN 10 50-250 --- --- 1.0

IP
Table 2 Welding current and arc voltage in TIG-MIG hybrid welding.

R
IT-set (A) IT-actual (A) IM-actual (A) VT-actual (V) VM-actual (V)

SC
Set value of Actual value of Actual value of Actual value of Actual value of
TIG current TIG current MIG current TIG voltage MIG voltage
MIG 0 --- 258 (σM-I=15.8) --- 29.8 (σM-V=0.69)
50 162 (σT-I=9.1) 284 (σM-I=12.6)
U -0.5 (σT-V=0.42) 29.9 (σM-V=0.54)
N
80 166 (σT-I=5.0) 284 (σM-I=13.0) -0.5 (σT-V=0.40) 30.0 (σM-V=0.53)
100 164 (σT-I=5.3) 284 (σM-I=12.8) -0.6 (σT-V=0.41) 29.9 (σM-V=0.56)
A
TIG+MIG
120 166 (σT-I=5.7) 282 (σM-I=12.7) -0.6 (σT-V=0.42) 29.8 (σM-V=0.54)
M

180 191 (σT-I=5.6) 286 (σM-I=13.0) 2.0 (σT-V=0.64) 29.9 (σM-V=0.55)

250 263 (σT-I=5.4) 279 (σM-I=13.2) 3.2 (σT-V=0.87) 29.9 (σM-V=0.51)
ED

50 165 (σT-I=35.2) 274 (σM-I=26.0) -0.5 (σT-V=1.86) 29.9 (σM-V=1.74)

80 158 (σT-I=27.7) 281 (σM-I=23.1) -0.5 (σT-V=1.81) 29.9 (σM-V=1.67)
100 162 (σT-I=6.1) 280 (σM-I=12.9) -0.6 (σT-V=0.47) 29.9 (σM-V=0.57)
MIG+TIG
PT

120 163 (σT-I=6.1) 278 (σM-I=13.3) -0.6 (σT-V=0.45) 29.9 (σM-V=0.53)

180 189 (σT-I=6.4) 281 (σM-I=13.0) 2.1 (σT-V=0.66) 29.8 (σM-V=0.55)
250 262 (σT-I=6.3) 277 (σM-I=13.1) 3.1 (σT-V=0.81) 29.9 (σM-V=0.57)
E
CC
A

24