Control of Metal Transfer at Given Arc Variables

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The objective of this research is to (1) confirm that it is possible to introduce auxiliary forces to detach the droplet of melted wire in gas metal arc welding while still maintaining the required arc stability, and (2) confirm that metal transfer variables, including droplet mass/diameter, impact speed, and trajectory, can be fully controlled by adjusting the power and application time of the auxiliary forces. The approach is to (1) aim two lasers of relatively low power to the droplet to apply auxiliary forces from opposite directions, (2) establish a model to correlate metal transfer variables with laser powers, arc variables, and droplet state, (3) apply the model to adaptively determine the power and firing timing of the lasers based on droplet state and arc variables to achieve the desired metal transfer variables, and (4) monitor the resultant metal transfer variables to improve the model. Gas metal arc welding is the most widely used process in automatic welding. The completion of the research will be of significant help in better understanding and controlling this complex but important process. Possible transfer of this technology will help our industry maintain its manufacturing technology leadership and compete with countries where the labor cost is relatively low. The multi-disciplinary nature of the proposed research and possible collaboration with national lab, industry and international institution will provide a variety of opportunities to train next generation academic and manufacturing experts/researchers in a wide range of levels in forms of hands-on design course, undergraduate research experience, thesis/dissertation research, application-oriented case study, knowledge dissemination and possible commercialization with industry partners.