Experimental Investigation of Dilution Control Using Advanced Gas Metal Arc Welding Process

Abstract

This work investigates the amount of reduction in dilution by using Advanced Gas Metal Arc Welding (AGMAW) process. Dilution is the ratio of area of the base metal melted to the total area of weld bead measured across a given weld bead cross section. Dilution is one of the most important factors governing the success of any surfacing operation and is expressed in percentage. The AGMAW is a self-coined word representing Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) process having a controllable pre-heating arrangement. The AGMAW process is used to break the fixed relationship between welding current and wire feed rate by using a separate power source, which preheats a certain section of wire (by I2R heating) before it emerges out of the welding torch. Mathematical Model is developed using fractional factorial technique to predict the % dilution. The response factor % dilution as affected by wire feed rate, arc voltage, nozzle to plate distance, preheat current and welding speed have been investigated and analyzed.