The physical mechanisms of plasma directional deflection in cross-coupled arc

Cross-coupled arcs (CCAs), as a novel heat source, enable decoupled control of heat and mass transfer, offering significant potential in metal processing applications such as additive manufacturing, welding, and surface treatment. To ascertain the primary cause of the main-arc deflection in the CCA, numerical models of the double-wire plasma arc (DW-PA), CCA, and without magnetic coupling for plasma cross-coupled arc (WMC-CCA) were constructed. Through the comparative analysis of the temperature, electromagnetic field, and force field following the calculation of the models, the coupled magnetic field in the CCA is the fundamental cause of the influence of the main-arc deflection. Additionally, the welding parameters in the CCA numerical model are modified to analyze its effect on the extent of main-arc deflection. As the main-arc current and inter-wire current increase, the degree of main-arc deflection concomitantly increases. The center area of the main-arc deflects relatively small because high plasma flow velocity increases the arc stiffness, hindering its deflection to the sides. In addition, the spatial position of the welding wire is another key factor affecting arc deflection.