• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.33-39
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• 2001

The welding quality by Gas Tungsten Arc Welding shows very high level, but the welding speed is lower than that of gas metal arc welding. Also, the welding quality by automatic GTAW is variable as the arc characteristics is changed by the consumption of electrode tip. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relation between the properties of tungsten electrode tip and the various arc characteristics at high current region. In this study, the high welding current 200A was applied to the repeated arc start test and long term arcing test using the $\phi$3.2 tungsten electrodes with cone angle 30$^{\circ}$, 45$^{\circ}$, 60$^{\circ}$sharp tip, and 60$^{\circ}$surface polished (S.P.) sharp tip. It was confirmed that the maximum arc pressure by the initial electrode condition was highest in 45$^{\circ}$sharp tip, and the next in 60$^{\circ}$sharp tip, the last was in 30$^{\circ}$sharp tip and 60$^{\circ}$S.P.. But, the maximum arc pressure after the repeated arc start test and long term arcing test was decreased considerably. But, the maximum arc pressure was highest also in 45$^{\circ}$ sharp tip after the tests, the next was in 30$^{\circ}$sharp tip, and the last was in 60$^{\circ}$sharp tip and 60$^{\circ}$S.P.. The arc start characteristics was the most excellent in 60$^{\circ}$S.P., By long term arcing test, the lanthania included in tungsten electrode was extinguished at tip surface preferentially, therefore the arc characteristics of electrode tip got worse.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.20-25
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• 2003

Various welding methods such as Gas Tungsten Arc Welding(GTAW), magnetic force electrical resistance welding and Laser Beam Welding(LBW) are now available for end cap closure of nuclear fuel rods. Even though the resistance and GTA welding processes are widely used in manufacturing commercial fuel rods, they can not be recommended for the remote seal welding of fuel rods in the hot cell Facility due to the complexity of the electrode alignment, the difficulty in replacing parts in a remote manner and the large heat input for the thin sheath. Therefore, the Nd:YAG laser system using optical fiber transmission was selected for the end cap welding of irradiation fuel rods in the hot cell. The remote laser welding apparatus in the hot cell Facility was developed using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser of 500 watt average power with an optical fiber transmission. The weldment quality such as microstructure and mechanical strength was satisfactory. The optimum conditions of laser welding for encapsulating irradiation fuel rods in the hot cell were obtained.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.62-68
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• 2008

Effects of gravitational orientation on gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) for 304 stainless steel were studied to determine the critical factors for weld pool formation, such as weld surface deformation and weld pool shape. This study was accomplished through an analytical study of weld pool stability as a function of primary welding parameters (arc current and arc holding time), material properties (surface tension and density), and melting efficiency (cross-sectional area). The stability of weld pool shape and weld surface deformation was confirmed experimentally by changing the welding position. The arc current and translational velocity were the major factors in determining the weld pool stability as a function of the gravitational orientation. A 200A spot GTAW showed a significant variation of the weld pool formation as the arc held longer than 3 seconds, however the weld pool shape and surface morphology for a 165A spot GTAW were 'stable', i.e., constant regardless of the gravitational orientation. The cross-sectional area of the weld (CSA) was one of the critical factors in determining the weld pool stability. The measured CSA ($13.5mm^2$) for the 200A spot GTAW showed a good agreement with the calculated CSA ($14.9mm^2$).

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.48-57
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• 1996

The weldability of high purity aluminum-lithium binary alloys has been investigated using the Varestraint test. Autogenous GTAW (gas-tungsten-arc-welds) were run along specimens of different lithium concentration using three sets of welding parameters. Welding voltage was held constant at 10 volts. Welding current (70∼100 amps) and travel speed (23∼33 cm/min) were the parameter varied. Hot-tearing susceptibility varied with lithium content and exhibited a steep peak at 2.6 weight percent lithium. Depth of penetration increased with increasing heat input and lithium concentration. The susceptibility is influenced by the wettability of dendrites by the interdendritic eutectic liquid as well as the time available for back-Siting by eutectic liquid. The welding condition of welding current 70A and travel speed 23 cm/min was showed good resistance to cracking in aluminum-lithium alloys. Suggestions for improving weld cracking resistance are also provided.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.107-112
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• 2002

Ferritic stainless steels would be the most important alloys under the chloride environment. They are a cheaper alternative to austenitic stainless steels [1]. The present study is related to gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) characteristics of Type 444 stainless steels. The heat of welding leads to grain coarsening in the HAZ and in the weld metal of ferritic stainless steels because they solidify directly from the liquid to the ferritc phase without any intermediate phase transformation. It is therefore recommended that these alloys be welded with a low heat input and at high welding speeds. Attempts to improve weldability were made by using of direct current straight polarity (DCSP) and pulsed current GTAW processes in this study. Measuring weld bead, grain size and Erichsen test were performed and the effects of heat input, pulse frequency on the weld metal and HAZ were studied. The main results were obtained as followings: decreasing heat input was effective to control the width of weld both in DCSP welding and in pulsed current welding; pulsed current welding was found to refine the grain size effectively and the finest grain size was found at the frequency of 150Hz in pulsed current welding; it was found that decreasing heat input also refine the HAZs effectively and the frequency had no different effect on HAZ at the same heat input; the ductility could be improved effectively in pulsed current welding.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.50-56
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• 2015

In general, discontinuity of metallurgical and structural points of weld zone could decline the fatigue strength. For the lightweight trend, the AHSS application in automotive chassis is in-progress. However, there are few research reports on AHSS welds fatigue strength in especially automotive chassis parts. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the effects of the factors affecting the AHSS welding fatigue strength. As the result, the stress concentration of weld bead is the most important factor for welding fatigue strength. For the enhancement of welding fatigue strength, we focused on reducing the stress concentration of the welding beads. So, we applied and proved the plasma welding process and GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding) dressing method. It was verified by uniaxial fatigue specimen, fatigue performance increased from 40 to 60% by applying TIG dressing method compared to the conventional GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding). These results could be recommended the enhancement of fatigue performance of AHSS.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.181-186
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• 2015

In this study, the effect of the friction stir welding (FSW) was compared with that of the gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) on the microstructure and microhardness of Cu-Ni alloy weldment. The weldment of 10 mm thickness was fabricated by FSW and GTAW, respectively. Both weldments were compared with each other by optical microstructure, microhardness test and grain size measurement. Results of this study suggest that the microhardness decreased from the base metal (BM) to the heat affected zone (HAZ) and increased at fusion zone (FZ) of GTAW and stir zone (SZ) of FSW. the minimum Hv value of both weldment was obtained at HAZ, respectively, which represents the softening zone, whereas Hv value of FSW weldment was little higher than that of GTAW weldment. These phenomena can be explained by the grain size difference between HAZs of each weldment. Grain size was increased at the HAZ during FSW and GTAW. Because FSW is a solid-state joining process obtaining the lower heat-input generated by rotating shoulder than heat generated in the arc of GTAW.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.113-125
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• 2017

This paper proposes the idea to enhance the heat transfer in Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) by using the azimuthal magnetic field. The azimuthal magnetic field generated by the external currents makes the Lorentz force stronger, and consequently improves the heat transfer by the faster flow movement. The enhanced heat transfer might improve the welding performance by increasing the temperature at the workpiece. To validate the proposed idea, a two-dimensional axi-symmetric model of GTAW is built, and the multiphysics simulation of GTAW is carried out. As the analysis result, the distributions of electric current, electromagnetic fields, arc flow velocity, and temperature are investigated. Then, the proposed idea for heat transfer enhancement is validated by comparing the Lorentz force, flow velocity, and temperature distribution with and without azimuthal magnetic fields.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.144-145
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• 2007

Magnesium alloys are the lightest in commercial alloys. Also, they have high damping capacity and the shielding effect of electromagnetic waves. Recently, magnesium alloys have received considerable attention from the transportation industry. Many manufacturers of cars try to increase the use of magnesium alloys in their product. In order to evaluate the weldability of magnesium alloy, gas-tungsten arc welding(GTAW) have been applied to the AZ31, AZ61 and AZ91 alloys and established the optimum welding conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.89-93
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• 2014

Variable polarity (VP) arc welding is known as an effective solution for aluminum thanks to the cleaning effect, which means oxide removal, during the DCEP (direct current electrode positive) period. In this research, VP GTAW (gas tungsten arc welding) is adopted for lap joint fillet welding of 3mm thickness 5052 aluminum alloy. Various welding currents and DCEP duty cycles are applied as welding conditions with a fixed welding speed to investigate the influence of DCEP characteristics on weld bead formation. Results show a tendency of higher heat input for higher DCEP duty cycle, which result does not follow conventional arc theory because it is known that DCEN (DC electrode negative) polarity is more efficient for heat input than is DCEP. This phenomenonhas recently been reported by several VP-GTA researchers and is still controversial because the mechanism of oxide removal is not yet clear except for the previous, well-known idea of "ion bombardment", which cannot explain the situation. Finally, proper usage conditions for VP-GTAW are suggested; then, further, related theoretical topics in the field of cathode physics are brieflyintroduced.