Laser enhanced short-circuiting metal transfer in GMAW

The high energy density of the laser beam irradiated the droplet to make it be subjected to local strong evaporation, and the laser recoil force was used to drive the droplet to be forced short circuit, which promoted the droplet to be detached from the wire. Taking the mild steel as the research object and using the high speed camera equipment, the laser enhanced GMAW short circuiting transfer welding test system was built. The influence of laser incident position and arc height on the transfer behavior of droplet short circuit in GMAW short circuiting transfer welding process were studied. The results show that the laser has a significant effect on the short circuiting transfer behavior of the droplet during the welding process. The force state of the droplet can be changed, which can control the size of the droplet. The droplet short circuiting time decreases, while the arcing time and transfer frequency increase, which improves the stability of the welding process. After the laser is applied, the metal transfer is much more frequent and robust. The bead formation looks fine and uniform.