High deposition rate pulse gas metal arc welding for Al 5083 thick plate

The recent rapid advances in digital inverter-based welding power sources have allowed the realization of pulse gas metal arc welding, which can achieve stable metal transfer even at low welding current and thus reduce heat input to the base material. Moreover, a tandem-wire process using two electrodes can dramatically increase welding productivity. In such a process, two pulse power sources are synchronized and the interference between the adjacent welding arcs is minimized. In this study, high deposition rate pulse welding for Al 5083 alloy was implemented by using Al 5183 wire of three different diameters1.6, 2.4, and 3.2mm. Unlike the single-wire process, tandem-wire welding was only implemented using 1.6-mm-diameter wire. The bead shape, deposition rate, process windows, and stability were evaluated for each process. The results indicate that large wire diameters and the tandem process are preferable for high deposition rates, and the penetration depth is dependent on the welding current and speed. The tandem process achieves a remarkably high deposition rate, but spatter generation at high-current levels needs to be addressed.