Numerical analysis of arc-droplet behavior in thin wire high current MAG welding with magnetic control

High efficiency welding has always been one of the hot research subjects at home and overseas. Aiming at the problem of unstable droplet rotating spray transfer process in 450 A thin wire metal active gas arc (MAG) welding, a three-dimensional arc-droplet coupled model is established in this paper on the base of fluid dynamics to conduct numerical analysis for droplet transfer behavior with external magnetic controlled MAG welding, and used high-speed camera system to verify the simulation results. The results indicate that without external magnetic field, the droplet is transferred by the way of rotating spray, the arc is changeable and the spatter is serious. The electromagnetic force accelerates the radial liquid beam rotation under direct current (DC) magnetic field, and increases the angle between liquid beam and welding wire axis. Meanwhile, the rotation frequency of the liquid beam reaches 400 Hz, the area of arc column and heat loss increase under DC magnetic field. Based on the alternating magnetic field, the arc is the “bell shaped”, the arc stiffness raises, its temperature achieves 26000 K, and the maximum speed of the liquid stream beam can reach 500 m/s. And the droplet transfer is more stable, the spatter significantly reduces, and welding quality is effectively improved.