Measurement and application of arc separability in plasma arc

S. J. Chen, R. Y. Zhang, F. Jiang, Z. Y. Yan, Y. M. Zhang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

The authors recently demonstrated that the arc plasma and electron flow in an arc could be separated. This separability provided the foundation to develop an ability to adjust the heat and arc pressure distribution without changing the current. To better understand this property, a novel system was developed based on the split anode. The distribution of the pressure and heat from the separated arc plasma was analyzed quantitatively. It was verified that the arc pressure mainly concentrated in the arc plasma. Also, the heat input from the arc plasma exceeded that from the eletron flow. To explore possible applications of this separability, a novel process, namely, separated plasma transferred arc weld surfacing (SPTAWS) is proposed. Grade D steel workpieces were hardfaced using this process. As the separated electron flow increased, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the deposited bead was reduced. The microstructure with SPTAWS was found to be better than with conventional plasma transferred arc weld surfacing (PTAWS), especially in the fine-grain zone. The grain is more refined and uniform.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)219s-228s
JournalWelding Journal
Volume95
Issue number6
StatePublished - Jun 2016

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work is supported financially by the National Science and Technology Major Project of China (Grant No. 2014ZX04001171) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.51375021) and the Project was supported by Beijing Postdoctoral Research Foundation (Grant No. 2015zz-15) and by the Chaoyang District Postdoctoral Research Foundation (Grant No.2014zz-02).

Keywords

  • Arc heat
  • Arc pressure
  • Arc separability
  • Plasma arc
  • SPTAWS

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Mechanics of Materials
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Metals and Alloys

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Measurement and application of arc separability in plasma arc'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this