International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 555–561

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Feasibility study of acoustic signals for on-line monitoring in short

circuit gas metal arc welding
Ladislav Grad a, Janez Grum b,
, Ivan Polajnar b, Janez Marko Slabe b
a
Fotona d.d., Stegne 7, Ljubljana, Slovenia
b
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 6, P.O.B. 394, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Received 4 August 2003; received in revised form 6 October 2003; accepted 15 October 2003

Abstract

The acoustic waves produced by the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) contain information about the behaviour of the arc col-
umn, the molten pool and droplet transfer. In this study measurements of acoustic waves generated during GMAW process were
performed. Acoustic waves were measured in the surrounding air and in the parts being welded by employing a microphone and
PZT sensor. To evaluate influences on sound generation extensive experiments were performed with two different unalloyed car-
bon steels: DIN RSt13 with 0.1% C and DIN Ck45 with 0.46% C, using two types of shielding gas: CO2 and gas mixture by its
brand name Crystal (90% Ar, 10% CO2) and welding on a slope to vary the distance between welding nozzle and welding part.
Acoustic signals were processed to obtain time domain and frequency domain descriptors. Some relationships between descriptors
and the weld process characteristics were investigated. Results indicate that the arc sound exhibits distinct characteristics for each
welding situation and that the main source of acoustic waves in short circuit metal transfer mode is arc reignition. From acoustic
signals one can easily assess process stability and detect welding conditions resulting in weld defects.
# 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Arc welding; Metal transfer mode; Airborne sound; Acoustic emission

1. Introduction posed methods are often either too complicated for

On-line quality control in automated welding opera-
tions is an important factor contributing to higher pro-
ductivity, lower costs and greater reliability of the
welded components. However, on-line inspection tech-
niques and feedback control are not yet broadly imple-
mented in industry. Much scientific work has been
performed to verify the suitability of different arc sig-
nals for on-line monitoring. As researchers continue to
refine these systems there has been increasing interest
in the mechanisms by which the signals are produced
and their relationship to the various physical processes
occurring in the welding process. Furthermore different
algorithms of signal analysis have been checked to
assure desired sensitivity and precision [1–10]. Pro-

presents a non-contact automated data acquisition sys-
Corresponding author. Tel.: +386-1-4771-203; fax: +386-61-218-
567.
E-mail address: janez.grum@fs.uni-lj.si (J. Grum).
0890-6955/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijmachtools.2003.10.016
implementation in industry or not sufficiently accurate.
Three levels of on-line quality control have been
articulated by the industry. In the first level one should
be able to automatically on line detect production of
bad welds. In the second level one should be able to
locate type of fault and reasons for faulty weld pro-
duction like changes in welding process induced by dis-
turbances in shielding gas delivery, changes in wire feed
rate and welding geometry, etc. In the third level one
should be able to correct welding parameters during
the welding process to assure proper weld quality.
The lack of reliable non-contact, non-destructive, on-
line sensors with the ability to detect defects as they
form and with the capacity to operate at high tempera-
tures and in harsh environments is a considerable
obstacle to fully automated robotic welding. This paper
tem for monitoring a gas metal arc welding (GMAW)
process based on arc acoustics.
556 L. Grad et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 555–561
An experienced welder can evaluate an arc welding
process by listening to the sound emitted during weld-
ing [1]. The acoustic signal produced by the GMAW
contains information about the behaviour of the arc
column, the molten pool and droplet transfer. Taking
into account that today industry has high demands on
the welding process reliability and controllability and
that much effort is used to on line predict and control
the quality of welds, it is surprisingly only a few pub-
lished studies in which acoustic waves are regarded as a
source of information for process monitoring.
In 1967, Erdmann-Jesnitzer et al. [2] published the
first study of acoustic waves generated during GMAW.
They found out that the pressure of produced sound
increases with the arc length and welding current. In
late 1970s and early 1980s Arata et al. [3,4] performed
important measurements on which base it was found
out that the sound travelling into the specimen and
into the surrounding air influence the welding process
by affecting the behaviour of molten pool. Some
attempts to use acoustic signals for on-line monitoring
of submerged arc welding process were presented by
Mayer [5] in 1987. Rostek [6] in 1990 used computer-
aided acoustic pattern recognition to prove monitoring
capabilities of acoustic signals. Grad et al. [7] in 1996
developed a monitoring method using different statisti-
cal parameters to assess process stability. In 2001,
Wang et al. [8] developed an acoustic method for
detecting the behaviour of the keyhole effect of plasma-
arc welding. In 2002, Miller et al. [9] presented a non-
contact automated data acquisition system for moni-
toring a robotic GMAW process based on laser ultra-
sonic technology. However, the usefulness of their
method is mainly in capturing geometry of the weld.
Fig. 1. Experimental set-up.
Despite the gaining of knowledge through research
industry does not show much interest in employing
acoustic monitoring techniques. One of reasons is that
acoustic phenomena for different welding conditions, as
well as the correlation with final weld properties is not
well understood. It is evident that the complexity of the
relation between acoustic signal and weld quality repels
broader investigation on this topic. To bridge some of
the existing gap in scientific knowledge and industrial
need, measurements of acoustic signals during GMAW
process, which included two different shielding gases,
two different specimen materials and welding on a
slope, have been performed. GMAW process was cho-
sen due to its widespread use in automatic welding
systems.
2. Experiments
Experiments were performed with the experimental
set-up shown in Fig. 1. A power source ISKRA E-450
was used with control unit UNIMAG E-6 and welding
trolley E-11 on which the welding head was fixed. The
consumable electrode was VAC 60, U ¼ 1:2 mm. A
CO2 and gas mixture (90% Ar and 10% CO2) under its
commercial name of Crystal was used as the shielding
gas. Welding was performed using two different voltage
settings: (a) voltage setting 6 with U w ¼ 19 V; and (b)
voltage setting 8 with U w ¼ 21 V. Other welding para-
meters were chosen to assure short circuit metal trans-
fer and varied in the following ranges: wire speed
vwire ¼ 3 4:5 m=min, trolley speed vtrolley ¼ 35 40 mm=s,
welding current I w ¼ 110 130 A, gas flux Qgas ¼ 9 l=min.
For welding flat specimens with length l = 270 mm,
width b = 25 mm and thickness d = 3 mm were pre-
pared. They were made of two different steels:
 L. Grad et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 555–561 557

(a) Low-carbon steel DIN RSt13 (0.1% C, 0.45% Mn,

up to 0.030% P and up to 0.03% S) having good
weldability; and
(b) Medium-carbon steel DIN Ck45 (0.46% C, 0.65%
Mn, up to 0.2% Si, up to 0.045% S and up to
0.045% P) having poorer weldability.

By placing the flat specimen under angle a with regard

to horizontal base (Fig. 1) conditions that wire exten-
sion length varied from 2 to 16 mm were ensured and
thus industrial practice which often incurs changes in
wire extension length was followed.
The welding process was on line monitored by
measuring welding current and acoustic waveforms.
Welding current was measured by employing a shunt
resistor with characteristic 60 mV/250 A. Acoustic
waveforms were detected in the surrounding air by a
microphone B&K 4134 (Brüel & Kjær) with reson-
ance frequency at 23 kHz and negative polarization.
Microphone was fixed on welding trolley E-11 in a
way that constant distance L between microphone
and welding arc was maintained. The microphone sig-
nal was amplified by an preamplifier B&K 2636 and
transferred to PC by employing PCI analogue to
digital converter card with acquisition sampling rate
48 kHz.
Acoustic emission in the welding part was measured
by a piezoelectric sensor (PZT) with resonance fre-
quency at 2.8 MHz. The sensor was fixed to the weld-
ing specimen using a wave guide. Signals were first
transferred to the oscilloscope HP 54111 and then to
PC. Fig. 2. Typical measured signals (base material Ck45: (a) U w ¼ 19 V
Using a PC, all signals were processed and compared and (b) U w ¼ 21 V; vwire ¼ 3 m=min, vtrolley ¼ 35 mm=s, Qgas ¼
with welding process and weld characteristics. To char- 9 l=min).
acterize welding current signals maximum welding cur-
rent Iw,peak and frequency of short circuit metal transfer 3.2. Generation of acoustic waves in the air
mMT all calculated in a 2-s time interval were used. To
characterize microphone signals an average of arc In gas-shielded arc welding, sources of the sound
reignition sound peak amplitudes YM,peak was used. To spreading in the surrounding air are:
analyse acoustic signals in frequency domain FFT(Y(t))
was calculated. The stability of the process was char- . Changes in arc dimensions and geometry (from
acterized by statistical parameter of acoustic signals short circuiting to arc oscillation);
called kurtosis. . Changes in arc intensity;
. Metal transfer; and
. Oscillations of the molten pool.
3. Results
A closer look at one of the short circuits (Fig. 3)
3.1. Shape of acoustic signal reveals that two significant sound packages were travel-
ling in the air. The first one was generated when a
Typical acoustic signals measured in the air and in
short circuit occurred, while the other was generated at
the welding part and also corresponding welding cur-
rent are shown in Fig. 2. It can easily be observed that reignition of the arc. Due to the distance L of 35 cm
microphone acoustic signals peaks are well synchro- between microphone and welding arc, a time delay td
nized with short circuits. Signals measured with PZT of 1.1 ms exists for each package. Regarding polariza-
sensor are more complex and no direct correlation with tion of the microphone, it means that in the case of arc
the welding current was observed in the time domain. extinction implosion occurs and in the case of arc
558 L. Grad et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 555–561
Fig. 3. Typical microphone signal measured during one short circuit
with corresponding welding current signal (base material Ck45,
U w ¼ 21 V; vwire ¼ 3 m=min; vtrolley ¼ 35 mm=s; Qgas ¼ 9 l=min).
reignition explosion occurs. Substantial differences in
amplitudes between both packages exist. Absolute
value of reignition peak can be more than 10 times lar-
ger than the corresponding sound of arc extinction.
Thus the sound of the metal droplet transfer with arc
reignition is much louder than the short circuiting
sound. At the beginning of short circuiting, the arc
length is reduced approximately simultaneously with
the feeding of welding wire and arc simply diminishes
until it goes out without inducing significant changes in
the surrounding air. On the contrary reignition of arc
occurs in a more dramatic way, because the initial length
of the arc is relatively high and the process itself is
similar to explosion which produces strong shock waves.
3.3. Generation of acoustic waves in the welding parts
Many studies have been published in the past in
which acoustic emission was measured in the welding
parts during welding and just after welding. With such
measurements valuable information was obtained on
the formation and growth of cracks [10], liberation of
internal tension, microstructure changes [11], etc. How-
ever, if acoustic waves are measured during welding
process considerable noise is superposed [5]. Acoustic
waves in welding parts during the welding process are a
result of different processes such as:
. Metal droplet transfer;
. Flow of the molten pool;
. Microstructure phase changes;
. Liberation of internal tension;
. Dilatations; and
. Plastic deformation.
Acoustic waves produced after welding are the result
of reverse processes, i.e. microstructure phase changes,
liberation of internal tension, dilatations and plastic
deformations. Acoustic emission produced by metal
droplet transfer seems to be much stronger in compari-
son to acoustic emission from other sources mentioned
above. In this paper the cumulative effect of all cited
contributions was measured.
3.4. Influence of the shielding gas type
If welding with higher welding current, reignition
will produce louder sound due to greater energy
released in the arc column. Furthermore intensity of
arc reignition sound depends on the length of the arc
column, which is closely connected with the ionisation
energy of the shielding gas. In our experiments, when
gas mixture Crystal was used, higher welding current
was achieved and consequently higher amplitudes of
microphone signals were observed as well (Fig. 4).
Considering these results it can be concluded that any
monitoring algorithm should take into account the dif-
ferences in microphone signal amplitudes that are the
result of shielding gas type.
3.5. Influence of the wire extension length (WEL)
When different WELs were used a substantial differ-
ence in acoustic signal amplitudes measured by micro-
phone was observed (Fig. 5). For example in the case
of welding Ck45 at 16 mm WEL, the average peak
 M; peak ¼
amplitude of arc reignition sound was Y
0:109 V. By using a 13 mm WEL the welding current
remained practically unchanged. However, the average
peak amplitude of arc reignition sound dropped to
 M; peak ¼ 0:063 V. Below 12 mm WEL there is a very
Y
small difference in average sound peak amplitudes.
However, in Fig. 5 differences in cross-section can be
Fig. 4. Influence of shielding gas type (CO2 and gas mixture Crys-
tal) on average peak amplitude of arc reignition sound measured by
microphone (base material (a) RSt13 and (b) Ck45).
 L. Grad et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 555–561
Fig. 5. Influence of WEL on average arc reignition sound peak
amplitude and on metalographic structure of weld cross-section (base
material Ck45; shielding gas CO2).
observed. The amount of melted material in the case of
the longer WEL is larger.
3.6. Influence of the material of the welding parts
Results obtained with welding parts made of RSt13
(0.1% C, 0.45% Mn) and Ck45 (0.46% C, 0.65% Mn)
show very similar peak amplitudes of measured acous-
tic signals:
 M; peak ¼ 0:44 V ðRSt13Þ and
Y through happens without a previous announcement in
 M; peak ¼ 0:32 V ðCk45Þ:
Y microphone signal.
Differences in peak amplitudes are too small compar-
ing to random distribution of signals peak amplitudes
to be directly used for on-line monitoring. Thus the
peak amplitudes of acoustic signal which are generated
by the arc reignition process does not depend strongly
on the type of welding part material and consequently
relatively small differences in chemical compositions
between RSt13 and Ck45 cannot be detected using this
method. Furthermore, despite similar acoustic signals
differences in cross-sections between these two materi-
als might be substantial (Fig. 6).
Fig. 6. Influence of different chemical compositions of welding parts on weld cross-section (base material, (a) RSt13 and (b) Ck45; filler material
VAC 60, shielding gas Crystal, WEL ¼ 16 mm).
559
3.7. Influence of longer arc extinguished time
and burn-through
The most severe faults in welding are extinguishment
of the arc for a longer period and burn-through. Their
influence on weld and on acoustic signal is clearly seen
from the Figs. 7 and 8. Photography of weld in Fig. 7
shows that extinguishment of arc for a longer period
results in non-uniform and discontinuous weld and
thus in dramatically reduced quality of the weld. In the
microphone signal shown in the diagram above the
photography this irregularity is observed as a long
silence between two successive arc reignitions. We also
observed that longer extinguishment of the arc is often
preceded by non-regular arc reignitions as seen in the
diagram as well. Acoustic signal is very accurate in the
monitoring of the arc extinguishment. Larger irregula-
rities in acoustic signal which are connected with
defects in the weld are previously announced by smal-
ler irregularities in acoustic signal. This phenomenon
can be used as a base to develop a method to act on
time and prevent occurrence of substantial faults in the
weld.
Burn-through events as shown in Fig. 8 are severe
cases of weld irregularities resulting in bad welds. In
microphone signals burn-through events are demon-
strated as longer extinguishment of the arc followed by
high peak of arc reignition. Unfortunately burn-
3.8. Analysis in frequency domain
PZT and microphone signals were analysed in the
frequency domain. A typical power spectral density
(PSD) of PZT signals in frequency domain is shown in
Fig. 9. To find out the frequency of short circuit metal
transfer mPZT,MT a closer look was given to the low fre-
quency range. A PSD peak can be observed at the fre-
quency near the average frequency of metal droplet
transfer mMT calculated from measured welding current
signal. Taking into account that there is a random
560 L. Grad et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 555–561
Fig. 7. Influence of long arc extinguishment on microphone signal
waveform and weld appearance.
distribution of metal droplet transfer frequency around
average frequency, it is inferred that a peak in PSD
presents a frequency of metal droplet transfer as well.
A shape of PSD around the peak might be taken as
a measure of process stability. Sometimes the peak is
clear and very narrow distribution is shown, but some-
times broad distribution with one or two local peaks
appears. The latter indicates that the process of metal
droplet transfer is not stable, i.e. frequency of metal
droplet transfer varies a lot, which is in generally not
Fig. 8. Influence of burn-through occurrence on microphone signal
waveform and weld appearance.
desired. Similar but less accurate correlation can be
observed with microphone signals.
3.9. Characterisation of the process stability
Microphone and PZT signals might be characterised
in the time domain by different statistical measures. It
has been shown [7] that signal kurtosis a4, which quan-
tifies the sharpness of the peak of a signal distribution
might be used to monitor the stability of the welding
process. It is a dimensionless parameter defined as the
fourth moment of the signal [12]:
m4
a4 ¼ 2 ð1Þ
m2
where mr is rth statistical moment of signal Y (YM or
YPZT) with N discrete values Yj around the mean value
:
of the signal Y
P
N
ðYj  Y Þr
j¼1
mr ¼ : ð2Þ
N
With the increase of the metal droplet transfer frequency,
the signal kurtosis increases (Fig. 10), which means that
at higher frequencies the process becomes more stable
and consequently the quality of weld more uniform.
4. Conclusions
All manual welders use the welding arc sound as a
criterion to exhibit the stability of arc welding process.
By employing sound in the control of the welding pro-
cess small changes in the process can be detected.
Nevertheless, according to our knowledge, acoustic
waves have not been used to monitor the welding pro-
cess in an industrial environment. To better understand
this paradox, extensive experiments were performed by
measuring acoustic waves in the surrounding air and in
the parts being welded by employing a microphone and
PZT sensor.
The results indicate that the arc sound produced
during the GMAW process are mainly produced by
short circuiting and arc reignition. The type of shield-
ing gas substantially influences acoustic parameters.
Wire extension length has substantial influence only at
lengths larger than 12 mm. On the contrary, significant
influence on acoustic signals by the amount of carbon
content in the test-pieces, was not observed. Further-
more, acoustic emission produced by metal droplet
transfer seems to be much stronger than the acoustic
emission generated by microstructure changes.
All discrepancies that resulted from arc non-
regularity or produced nonregularities in arc behaviour
such as extinguishing of the arc and burn-through
events, which have a dramatic influence on weld qual-
 L. Grad et al. / International Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 555–561 561

Fig. 9. Typical PSD of PZT signal: (a) captured frequency range; and (b) low frequency range with denoted measured average frequency of
metal droplet transfer.

Fig. 10. Typical dependence of kurtosis on metal transfer frequency (a) microphone signals; (b) PZT signals.

ity, are clearly monitored by acoustic signals. Thus the
acoustic method is mainly useful to assess welding pro-
cess stability and to detect mentioned severe dis-
crepancies in arc behaviour.
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