NEW METHOD FOR IMPROVING THE PRODUCTIVITY OF GAS METAL ARC WELDING AND FLUX CORED ARC WELDING

CURRENTLY GAS METAL ARC WELDING AND FLUX CORED ARC WELDING HAS THE LIMITATION THAT FOR A GIVEN WIRE DIAMETER, THE PROCESS HAS A GIVEN MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM WIRE FEED SPEED RANGE TO OBTAIN A CONSISTENT STABLE ARC. DUE TO THIS RANGE LIMITATION THERE ARE LIMITATIONS ON THE DEPOSITION RATE, HEAT INPUT, AND TRAVEL SPEED. IF THE AMPERAGE AT THE ARC COULD BE MADE LESS DEPENDENT ON THE WIRE FEED SPEED, THERE WOULD BE GREATER FLEXIBILITY IN SELECTING HEAT INPUTS, DEPOSITION RATES, AND TRAVEL SPEEDS. THIS PROPOSAL WILL INVESTIGATE AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO MAKE THE ARC AMPERAGE LESS DEPENDENT ON WIRE FEED SPEED PLUS A UNIQUE DUAL SHIELD TORCH DESIGN. THE OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO CONSTRUCT THE EXPERIMENTAL EQUIPMENT, AND INVESTIGATE HOW MUCH THE HEAT INPUT, DEPOSITION RATE, AND TRAVEL SPEED CAN BE VARIED, WHILE STILL MAINTAINING GOOD WELD CHARACTERISTICS. CARBON STEEL SOLID AND TUBULAR WIRE WILL BE STUDIED. THE SUCCESS OF THIS RESEARCH WILL HAVE A TREMENDOUS EFFECT ON THE WELDING INDUSTRY. IT WOULD MEAN BEING ABLE TO SET LOWER HEAT INPUTS AT THE ARC WITH HIGHER DEPOSITION RATES AND TRAVEL SPEEDS. THIS RESEARCH WOULD HAVE A GREAT BENEFIT ON PRODUCTIVITY FOR AUTOMATIC ROBOTIC AND DEDICATED WELDING APPLICATIONS.