Improve GMAW and GTAW with Alternating Shield Gases

Alternating the shield gases improves weld penetration and reduces porosity
BY YOUNG H. CHANG
Arc welding using helium (He) as a shielding gas was developed in the 1920s. Afterward, argon (Ar) and CO2 were introduced as other commonly used shielding gases. Each shielding gas has its own properties, including ionization potential, and produces unique arc characteristics (Refs. 13). Beginning in the early 1970s, researchers (Refs. 4, 5) reported benefits from using a mixture (premixed) of two gases. Since then, American welding industries have not seen significant evolution in the use of shielding gas to improve quality and productivity of gas metal arc (GMA) or gas tungsten arc (GTA) welding. The purpose of this article is to introduce to American welding professionals the technology of alternating shield gas introduced earlier in Russia and Far East Asia. According to some researchers (Refs. 2, 3), several scientists (Refs. 610) have conducted studies on the effects of the alternate supply of shield gas for GMA and GTA welding, and reported such benefits as reduced porosity, reduced cracking, increased strength, and improved ductility on aluminum. Yet, this technology is not used in North America. The technology of alternate supply of shield gas affects every aspect of the quality of arc welding. The technologys benefits are driven primarily from the dynamic action (stir motion) caused to the molten pool of welds. Alternate supply of shield gas produces three independent phenomena, each complementing the other two to create the stir in the weld pool. To illustrate the phenomena, an alternate supply of Ar and He is used. higher when Ar passes the torch. Alternately, arc pressure is lower when He passes the torch. The changes in arc pressure cause changes in the weld pool movement.

Variation of Weld Pool Fluidity

Arc Pressure Peaking (Impulse)

Many scientists and engineers, including the researchers (Refs. 13), characterize that Ar arc plasma has a very high inner core energy and lesser heat energy in outer mantle, while He arc plasma has very high energy uniformly dispersed in a wide area. Therefore, when Ar passes, the pool temperature is low and fluidity is low, whereas when He flows, the pool temperature is high and its fluidity is high. As the shield gas alternates, the pool experiences changes in temperature and fluidity. The net result is a jerking motion on the weld pool.

Fig. 1 Variation of arc pressure and current (alternating Ar and He).

Variation of Arc Pressure

Figure 1 shows arc pressure and current variation vs. time as Ar and He alternately pass through the torch. Due to its ionization characteristics, Ar draws higher current and produces higher arc pressure compared with He (Refs. 13). Arc pressure is

When shielding gas alternates from Ar to He to Ar, built-up pressure of one gas is relieved and pressure impulse occurs (Ref. 2, 3). This impulse is applied to the weld pool and causes push and stop, push and stop action, similar to the effect of the pulsed welding power source. All three phenomena are illustrated graphically in Fig. 2 (Ref. 2). When Ar flows, the arc pressure is high and the fluidity is low. High arc pressure and low fluidity for Ar, along with the impulse, produce a certain flow vector in the weld pool. When He flows, its low arc pressure and high fluidity, along with the impulse, produce a much different flow vector for the weld pool. Figure 2 shows two different weld pool behaviors graphically as the shield gas alternates. The cumulative effect of these phenomena is a dynamic action in the weld pool. Conventional use of shield gas or premixed shield gases produces a constant arc

Fig. 2 Arc pressure vs. time and weld pool behavior.

YOUNG H. CHANG, P.E. (yhchang@bushitol.com) is Vice President, Operations, at Bushitol Corp., Waltham, Mass.

Fig. 3 Comparison of porosity with type of shield gas and type of gas supply.

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Fig. 4 Comparison of weld shape with type of shield gas and gas supply (GMAW on aluminum).

Fig. 5 Variation of welding speed with the type of shielding gas and gas supply (GTAW on 304 stainless steel plate).

Fig. 6 Variations of weld bead and length with type of gas and gas supply (GTAW on 304 stainless steel plate). A Ar, conventional; B Ar + 67% He, conventional; and C Ar to He, alternating.

Fig. 7 Variations of weld heat input vs. different shield gases and gas supplies.

Fig. 8 Comparisons of angular distortion of butt-joint welds with different shield gases and gas supplies (GTAW on 304 stainless steel plate). ing frequency of 2.2 Hz. Figure 3 shows the study result showing the lowest porosity with the alternating supply of Ar and He. Porosity formation in aluminum welding comes from hydrogen drawn into the arc (Refs. 2, 1214). By arc heat, hydrogen is dissociated, absorbed into, and spread throughout the weld pool and trapped there. During solidification of the pool, hydrogen forms gas bubbles, and some gas bubbles escape by buoyancy. The dynamic action in the weld pool associated with the alternate supply of shield gas helps the gas bubbles to escape.

Fig. 9 Comparison of longitudinal distortion (GTAW 304 stainless steel plate). (Image courtesy of Korea Research Institute of Science and Technology.) He (3 to 1 ratio) with alternating frequency of 2.2 Hz produced the deepest and broadest weld. This result is not surprising considering the different arc characteristics for different shield gases. Ar arc is often characterized by a nipple-type penetration pattern, and He arc with high plasma energy produces wide and deep penetration. Compared to Ar + 67% He mix, alternating Ar and He shows a better result because it takes advantage of pure He, while Ar + 67% He is premixed.

pressure and constant pool fluidity over time. Therefore, there is no dynamic action in the weld pool. Why is the dynamic action in the weld pool good? Before addressing the question, lets review the technology that produces a form of movement in the weld pool. Pulsed power GMAW, introduced in the 1960s, and the transistor-controlled inverter welding power sources introduced in the 1970s (Ref. 11) cause impulse motion in the weld pool, and weld quality improved with these technologies. Compared to the technologies one-dimensional impact to the weld pool, alternating shield gases cause multiple impacts to the weld pool.

Welding Speed

Porosity

Weld Shape (Weld Depth and Width)

Researchers (Ref. 2) conducted a porosity study of 1420 and 1460 aluminum alloys using GMA welding. They compared the welding samples made based on three different shield gas configurations Ar only, Ar + 67% He mix, and alternating supply of pure Ar and He with a flow ratio of 3 to 1 (Ar-He) and alternat42 FEBRUARY 2006

Researchers (Ref. 2) investigated weld shape from the same samples. Figure 4 shows microscopic views of the cross section of the different samples made with three different shield gas configurations Ar only, Ar + 67% He mix, and alternating Ar and He. There is no significant difference in weld depth, but there is a difference in weld width. Alternating Ar and

Researchers (Ref. 3) conducted a study on welding speed for austenite 304 stainless steel plate using GTA welding. They compared different welding samples made with three different shield gas configurations Ar only, Ar + 67% He mix, and alternating Ar and He (3 to 1 ratio) with alternating frequency of 2.2 Hz. Figure 5 shows welding speed. Figure 6 shows bead shapes and welding length comparison within the same time frame for three different shield gas configurations. As expected, welding speed based on Ar only is low compared to the other two. Helium with higher plasma energy and higher

weld pool fluidity allows the weld pool to fill the space quicker and thus, higher speed. Although small, there is an advantage with alternating shield gases compared to the Ar + 67% He mix.

Weld Distortion

The author would like to thank K.R. Precision Co. for generously loaning its Gas Pulser, a device delivering alternate supply of shield gases, to various research organizations for study of the effects of the technology in arc welding. References 1. Marya, M., Edwards, G. R., and Liu, S. 2004. An investigation on the effects of gases in GTA welding of a wrought AZ80 magnesium alloy. Welding Journal 83(7): 203212. 2. Kang, B. Y., Yarlagadda K. D. V. Prasad, and Kim, W. G. 2004. The effects of alternate supply of shielding gases in aluminum GMA welding. International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Kuala Lumpur. 3. Kang, B. Y., Yarlagadda K. D. V. Prasad, and Kim, W. G. 2004. The effects of alternate supply of shielding gases in austenite stainless steel GTA welding. International Conference on Advanced Manufacturing Technologies, Kuala Lumpur. 4. Salter, G. R., and Dye, S. A. June 1971. Selecting gas mixtures for MIG welding. Metal Construction and British Welding Journal: 230233. 5. Kennedy, C. R. Sept. 1970. Gas mixture in welding. Australian Welding Journal: 3852. 6. Novikov, O. M. et al. 1989. Russian patent No. 1808563. 7. Novikov, O. M. et al. 1991. Russian patent No. 1816596. 8. Novikov, O. M. et al. 1992. Russian patent No. 2008153. 9. Nsbarabokhin, Bushuev, Y. U. G., Shulgina, E. V., Kazakov, V. A., Dudryashov, O. N., Novikov, O. M., and Makarov, N. V. 2000. Technological special features of welding 1460 high-strength aluminum alloy. Welding International 14(6): 468470. 10. Terumi, N., Kazuo, H., Makoto, T., and Tomaoki, S. 2002. GMA welding process with periodically controlling shield gas composition. Japanese Welding Journal 20(2): 237245. 11. Messler, Jr., R. W. 2004. Whats next for hybrid welding? Welding Journal 83(3): 3034. 12. Howden, D. G. 1971. An up-to-date look at porosity formation in aluminum weldments. Welding Journal 50(2): 112114. 13. Devletian, J. H., and Wood, W. E. 1983. Factors affecting porosity in aluminum welds. A review, WRC Bulletin No. 290, Welding Research Council, New York, N.Y. 14. Howden, D. G., and Milner, D. R. 1963. Hydrogen absorption in arc welding. British Welding Journal Vol. 10: 304316.

Conclusions

Researchers (Ref. 3) studied weld distortion. As a part of the study, they measured the amount of heat required by each shield gas configuration for a given weld length. Figure 7 shows the result. Ar requires the highest heat input. This is because Ar has low arc energy and therefore takes more heat input to complete a given length of weld. Figure 8 shows angular distortion comparison. As expected, only Ar causes high distortion due to high heat input requirement and low welding speed. Surprisingly, the Ar + 67% He mix caused equally high distortion, even though it allows a high welding speed, similar to that of alternating Ar and He. The researchers found the Ar + 67% He mix caused greater shrinkage due to the formation of a wide weld pool with high arc energy and low thermal conductivity. On the other hand, alternating Ar and He produced much lower distortion, compared to the Ar + 67% He mix, even though they both have similar speeds and require similar heat inputs. Alternate supply gases does not stay with one shield gas, either Ar or He, very long; 2.2 Hz means switching to the other gas 2.2 times per second. Therefore, the bad effect of Ar requiring high input or bad effect of He with very high heat does not stay long. The switching frequency may need to be optimized for certain processes to prevent high distortion due to the bad effect of one gas. The same explanation applies to the results of the longitudinal distortion comparison shown in Fig. 9.

1. The technology of alternating shield gases improves weld penetration and ductility, and reduces porosity and cracking for aluminum alloys. 2. It reduces welding distortion, and improves penetration and welding speed for stainless steel or similar high-alloy materials. 3. The technology may be applicable to GMA and GTA welding of different base materials or with different shield gases. 4. To take the advantages of the technology to the fullest extent for different welding processes, optimization of shield gas flow ratios and alternating frequency may be necessary.N Acknowledgment

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