Numerical investigation on the effect of process parameters on arc and metal transfer in magnetically controlled gas metal arc welding

Gas metal arc welding assisted by an external compound magnetic field was proved to effectively suppress the weld bead defects in high speed welding. A three dimensional numerical model including the interactions among the arc plasma, filler metal and the external magnetic field was developed. The distributions of some physical quantities including temperature, velocity, current density, arc plasma force and electromagnetic force were calculated. Then the influence of the process parameters on the arc and droplet behaviors was investigated. With the increase of the excitation current, the inclination angles of the arc and droplet along both x -axis and y -axis were increased and the metal transfer frequency was increased. The excitation frequency had little influence on the arc inclination, and metal transfer frequency but affected the droplet inclination angle along y -axis. The action mechanism of the external magnetic field parameters on the arc and droplet behaviors were analyzed. • A 3D model consisting arc, droplet and external magnetic field was proposed. • The excitation current and frequency had important effects on arc and droplet behaviors. • The magnetically controlled arc and droplet improved the weld pool behaviors.