Magnetic-enhanced common conductive channel characteristics of two-electrode TIG

• Published in: International journal of advanced manufacturing technology Vol. 116; no. 9-10; pp. 3217 - 3229
• Main Authors: Zhu, Yanli, Xu, Xinkun, Liu, Runtao, Liu, Liming
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Springer London 01.10.2021; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: CAE) and Design; Computer-Aided Engineering (CAD; Cusps; Electron density; Electron energy; Electrons; Energy distribution; Engineering; High speed cameras; Industrial and Production Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Media Management; Morphology; Original Article; Pressure sensors; Stiffness; Welding current; Common conductive channel; T-TIG; Electron density; External magnetic field; Energy distribution
• ISSN: 0268-3768; 1433-3015
• DOI: 10.1007/s00170-021-07674-3

In this paper, a self-designed cusp external magnetic field (EMF) was employed to assist the two-electrode TIG (T-TIG), and its common conductive channel characteristics were aimed to optimize the energy distribution of T-TIG. The influences of the cusp EMF on arc morphology, arc plasma information, and arc pressure of T-TIG were respectively analyzed based on a high-speed camera, spectrograph, and pressure sensor. The results showed that the cusp EMF could compress T-TIG in the direction parallel to the array of two electrodes of T-TIG, and thus, a common conductive channel with stronger brightness and higher stiffness was obtained. Besides, by applied cusp EMF, the electron temperature and electron density of the common conductive channel of T-TIG were increased, and in the radial, the distributions of electron temperature and electron density of T-TIG were more concentrated. Under the condition of welding current of 40 A + 40 A, the electron density on the central axis of T-TIG could be increased by 16% by applied cusp EMF with a 30 A excitation current. In addition, the enhanced common conductive channel characteristics of T-TIG by the cusp EMF caused the arc pressure on the central axis of T-TIG to be increased by 14%, which was beneficial to improve the weld penetration.