Development of Arc Welding Technology with Support of Stability of Electrode Melting Process

Mechanized arc welding is divided into two main varieties: with self-regulation of the electrode melting process and with automatic process control. The common thing between self-regulating mechanized arc welding and manual arc welding is that in the welding equipment there are no means for automatic control with feedback from the arc. The difference between them is that stabilization of the electrode melting process in mechanized welding is carried out by the source itself, which has a particular volt-ampere characteristic (CVC), by a corresponding spontaneous reaction to a change in the situation in the arc. This method is significantly inferior to the method with automatic process control in precisely maintaining the specified parameters and has a limitation on the minimum current density on the electrode. The method of pulse self-regulation of the electrode melting process proposed in the E.O.Paton EWI removes this problem. However, it requires the use of power sources with a complicated, multi-link CVC curve. Further improvement is revealed through the use of digital controlled, programmable power supplies that have an automatically generated CVC. The combination of automatic source control and self-regulation by the spontaneous reaction to the situation in the arc creates a new hybrid way to stabilize the process of arc welding with a consumable electrode and other related arc processes (surfacing, soldering, re-melting).