APPENDIX A

Electrode Wire Heating in Terms

of Welding Parameters
By E. Halmoy

The power necessary to melt and detach the droplets is

H Av = Ύφ ΐ + H T Av
m m L m
(1)
Hv = Yφή
J + HTv
mm L m

where v is the melting or burnoff rate expressed as a velocity,

A the cross-sectional area of the wire and j = I/A the current
density in the wire. In the steady state the burnoff rate equals
the wire feed rate v. which is then a constant vn - v .
' 0 m
The only energy term which can be estimated accurately without
knowing a lot about arc physics is the resistive input energy H .
When this term is known, it can be used to gauge the other two
terms, and hence determine H and φ. The calculation is somewhat
complicated because the resistivity p of the steel wire is
strongly dependent upon the temperature. By consequence, however,
it is also a function of the heat content H(x) of a unit volume
element at the position x along the wire. It turns our that it
is easier to work in terms of energy rather than temperature,
i.e. p = p(H).

When the wire feed rate is constant, the time rate of change of
the heat content in a volume element travelling with the wire in
the x-direction, measured from the contact tube, is [1]
H
V
dH 0 r dH ,{Z)
9,
j
dt " Y Q p(H)

This assumes that heat losses are negligible, which is confirmed

by experiments and numerical estimates. Rearranging and inte­
grating from x = 0 and H = 0 to the wire tip at x = L and H =
H yields

330
 Appendix A 331

Lj dH
f(HL) (3)
P(H)

The function f(H ) can easily be evaluated experimentally for

L·
any wire [1]. The method involves passing a current through a
short piece of the wire while recording the voltage V and the
current I as functions of time. The energy H is proportional
to the time integral /VI dt and the resistivity proportional to
V/I.

Figure A1 shows the resistivities of three different wires as

functions of the heat content. The Si-Mn wire is a typical
GMAW electrode.

3 4 5 6
H(J/mm3)

Fig. A1. The resistivity of some steel wires as functions

of the specific heat content.

Figure A2 shows the function f = /dH/p as a function of H for

the same three wires. In the steady state f(x) = xj 2 /v~. For
all three wires there is a straight section with the same slope,
which is equal to the nearly constant resistivity pT at the hot
end of the wire (i.e. above 800°C).

Fortunately GMA welding is normally operating in the linear

region. One can therefore use a linear equation

3 Ü - b (4)
L vn
332 P h y s i c s of Welding

L]<
HL=PL

I5
\
~ 4
X

2 ^ 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
3 2 4
/ f(l0 A s/mm )

^L

-b

Fig. A2. The resistive heat content as a function of

f = /dH/p .

The constant b depends on the wire material: steel alloys with

low resistivity at room temperature have large values of b. For
the Si-Mn wire b 4.0 j/mm3 . For all three wires p = 1.2.10"
Ω mm.
Substitution of (4) into (1) gives an equation relating the wire
feed rate, the current density and the stick-out
 Appendix A 333

v(Φί
yj + Hp T L j ) (5)
Η + b L"
m
Note that the resistivity p is that of the hot end of the wire.

The quantities of H and φ are determined by doing a series of

welding experiments with electrode positive while carefully
measuring v Q , j and L [1]. It turns our that both H and φ are
constants. For the Si-Mn wire H =11.1 J/mm3 , which implies that
r
m
the wire tip is heated only slightly above the melting point of
the steel. The value of φ = 3.5 V, which is not more than the
work function of hot Mn-alloyed steel. Since the work function
must be part of the total anode melting potential, this numerical
value implies that the arc voltage, including the anode fall,
does not contribute to the melting of the wire.
The independence of the arc column voltage can be observed
directly.

The fact that the value of H is only slightly above the melting
point makes it understandable that it is also a constant. Several
measurements of the temperature of the droplets after passing
through the arc give a much higher temperature. The experimental
value of H may therefore be interpreted as the energy required
to melt and detach the droplet, which may be less than the final
energy reaching the weld pool.

Figure A3 shows the wire feed rate v as a function of the current

density j for various lengths of the stick-out. The straight
line H = 4 . 0 J/mm3 is indicated. Above this line the linear
J_l
equation (5) is valid. Below the curves are plotted using Fig.
A2 directly.

Above the line H L = 8.0 J/mm 3 the wire will reach solidus and
start melting before reaching the arc. It has been verified
that this corresponds to the onset of the rotating arc [2],

Stick-out voltage and resistance

The voltage drop across the stick-out is

L
V_ = j / p dx (6)
L
0
Substitution of (2) and (1) yields two useful expressions for
the stick-out voltage
V
0
V = H (7)
L T L
334 P h y s i c s of Welding

300

^ 200
E
E
100

100 200 300 400 500

J(A/mm 2

Fig. A3. The electrode feed rate as a function of current

density and stick-out (in mm). Lines of constant
heat (J/mm3) and voltage (V) .
2
I .
H0 + b >D + P
J T Li
L^

VT = H - ^ - φ (8)
Ύ
L m j
When the wire feed rate is kept constant, the voltage change dV
due to a change dl in the current is

dVT H A -=i2 dl
m I

This means that the incremental resistance dV/dl of the wire

stick-out is negative. The physical reason is simply that the
implicit reduction of the stick-out L dominates over the current
increase.

Using (5) to eliminate v n in (8) V can be expressed in terms of

u I_I
L and j rather than v and j , in the linear region.

Έ PL L j
 Appendix A 335

For t h e s t a n d a r d Si-Mn w i r e :

V_ = 8 . 9 . 1 0 " 4 Lj - 0.93 (volt)(L i n mm, j in A/mm3)

The resistance of the stick-out is then

RL = 8.9.10"4 | - ^Up- (ohm)

The second right hand term is much smaller than the first for
normal welding parameters. Hence the resistance of the stick-out
is nearly independent of the current and proportional to L in the
linear range. This calculated value of R [1] is in excellent
agreement with direct measurements by Waszink et al. [3], It may
be surprising that the resistance per unit length of the wire
appears to be a constant, when it is obvious that the resistivity
increases strongly along the stick-out. Indeed, it is due to the
nearly constant resistivity at the hot end of the wire. For low
currents the resistance is not independent of I.

For flux cored wires the resistive heating can be estimated

approximately by the same methods as described above. In most
flux cored wires, even some that are partly filled with iron
powder, the current flows only in the outer tube, which is usually
of mild steel similar to that of Figs. A1 and A2. For high
currents and wire feed rates the heat absorbed by the core is
also negligible for practical purposes. A recent study by Ushio
et al. [4], however, shows that in some cases there is a finite
conduction in the core and, for low currents, also a non-negligible
heat absorption by the core. The physics is then more complicated
than in the case of the solid wire.

Time dependent melting rate

When the current and/or the wire feed rate are changing, equation
(2) is still valid. However, the change in H is then dependent
on time as well as on the position along the wire, i.e.
dH dE <m
V
dt 9t 3x
The wire feed rate v and the burnoff rate v are no longer equal.
The resistivity p, however, is the same function of H as in the
steady state case. One can then derive an integral equation, or
the corresponding differential equation, which relates j and v
but is independent of v. The initial state is steady with j = j0 '
v = v = vn a t t h e time t = 0 [5].
m U
t t j
V cb i 0
/ j2dt - ^ - / vmdt + JL ( J - - -0) = o (9)
v m P V
0 0 0 L m 0
336 Physics of Welding
The two integral terms in (9) represent a certain inertia in the
heating. For a short time after t = 0, however, the integral
terms are negligible and

J--20
v v
- 0
m 0
This means that initially the melting rate is proportional to the
current even for large sudden changes in the current.

Equations (9) and (10) can exhibit resonances. Physically this

means that a wire element which is heated by a strong current
when it leaves the contact tube, needs less current to melt when
it reaches the arc.

The observed phenomenon of self pulsating gas-metal arcs, [6]

and [7] can qualitatively be explained by such a resonance. It
has, indeed, been observed that pulsations of current and burnoff
rate are of opposite phase, i.e. the burnoff rate is high when
the current is low and vice-versa. Deliberate pulsing of the
current with a period close to the transit time across the stick-
out should therefore be avoided.

Pulsed arcs
The integral terms in (9) indicate that the response of the
stick-out due to a current pulse is rather slow. With the rapid
pulses employed in pulsed arc welding, the stick-out therefore
is kept constant and no dynamic effects are observed.

In pulsed arc welding the steady state equation (5) is still

valid provided current terms are used properly. In the first
term <j>j the mean value of j must be used. In the second term
p T Lj 2 the mean value of j 2 or the square of the r.m.s. value
L·
must be used. This has been verified by Allum.

References
1. Halmoy, E., "Wire melting rate, droplet temperature, and
effective anode melting potential". The Welding Institute,
Int. Conf. Arc Physics and Weld Pool Behaviour, London, May
1979, p. 49-59.
2. Halmoy, E. and Fostervoll, H., "Rotating welding arcs". IIW
Document 212-558-83.
3. Waszink, J. H. and van den Heuvel, G. P. M., "Measurements
and calculations of the resistance of the wire extension in
arc welding". The Welding Institute, Int. Conf. Arc Physics
and Weld Pool Behaviour, London, May 1979, p. 227-239.
4. Ushio, M., Raja, A. and Matsuda, F., "Melting characteristics
of flux cored wire". Transactions of JWRI, Vol. 13, No. 1,
p. 1-6, 1984.
5. Halmoy, E. and Brotan, H., "Dynamic response of the wire
melting rate", IIW Public Session Bratislava, Aug. 1979,
p. 54-61.
6. Lebedev, A. V., Avtomat. Svarka, No. 7, p. 10, 19 78.
7. Halmoy, E., "Pulsating welding arcs". IIW Document 212-457-79.