Influence of Pulse Parameters on Characteristics of Bead-on-Plate Weld Deposits of Aluminum and Its Alloy in the Pulsed Gas Metal Arc Welding Process

A summarized influence of pulse parameters have been studied; these parameters are defined by a hypothetically derived factor ϕ = [(I _b /I _p )ft _b ] on the characteristics of bead-on-plate weld deposits of aluminum and Al-Mg alloy, with respect to their geometry and microstructure. The weld geometry has been studied in reference to the depth, width, and area of fusion of the base plate, and the bead height, bead width, toe angle, form factor, area of weld deposit, fraction of base metal fusion per unit mass of weld deposition, and dilution. It is found that these aspects of geometry and the microstructure of the weld metal and heat-affected zone (HAZ) vary significantly with a change in the factor ϕ. The value of the factor ϕ at approximately 0.1 has been seen as critical to the change in the different aspects of the pulsed–gas metal arc (P-GMA) weld. It is also found that, at a given ϕ, the variation in mean current and heat input significantly affects the geometry and microstructure of the weld deposit.