Profile Map of Weld Beads and Its Formation Mechanism in Gas Metal Arc Welding

In order to investigate the profile map of weld beads and its formation mechanism in gas metal arc welding (GMAW), bead-on-plate welding was carried out with different average currents, and the dimensions of a weld bead were measured. The results show that the profile of weld beads can be divided into three stages according to the volume relationship between the melted filler metal and the weld pool. During the stages, the top surface of the reinforcement consisting of the central plane and the side plane mainly goes through inversed-U, W, V, and U shapes, which are mainly attributed to the change of flow pattern. Moreover, the role played by the bottom wall in determining the flow pattern and the resultant bead profile has been investigated as well. The experiment results show that with the bottom wall changing from the solid to the totally melted state, the role of redirecting, redistributing and bearing the molten metal played by the bottom wall gradually disappears. As a result, the side reinforcement is no longer covered by the liquid flowing backward. The top reinforcement is thoroughly collapsed when the width of the bottom reinforcement exceeds that of the top one by 1.1 mm.