Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 27, 2025

Surrogate Model Development for Digital Experiments in Welding
Published on: March 28, 2025
Study on the Decoupled Transfer of Heat and Mass in Wire Variable Polarity Plasma Arc Welding
Fan Jiang1, Cheng Li1, Bin Xu1,2,3
1Engineering Research Center of Advanced Manufacturing Technology for Automotive Components, Ministry of Education, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
Abstract:
A hybrid arc-wire welding method based on the variable polarity plasma arc (VPPA) and variable polarity pulse metal inert-gas (VP-PMIG) was proposed for manufacturing aluminum alloys. This paper aims to clarify the decoupling control process of heat and mass transfer in the hybrid welding process. To understand the arc physics and analyze the mass transfer behavior, the hybrid arc shape and droplet cross-sectional area with different parameters were obtained by high speed video photography. Further, the melting area of the base metal was analyzed by macro-metallography of the weld bead cross-section to study the heat transfer. It is found that the hybrid arc shape changes with time. The VPPA main arc is deflected to one side by the VP-PMIG, making the temperature distribution asymmetric, and during the VP-PMIG pulse necking occurs. The cross-sectional area of the droplet is more obviously affected by the VP-PMIG current than the VPPA current. Meanwhile, the VPPA current dominates the melting area of the base metal. Therefore, we conclude that heat transfer to the base metal is from the VPPA, while droplet transfer is mainly controlled by the VP-PMIG arc. These conclusions are confirmed by analyzing the decoupling degree of heat and mass transfer of the base metal by the VPPA and VP-PMIG arc.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer II
Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectroscopy: Principle
The ions and electrons produced interact with the fluctuating magnetic field created by a water-cooled...
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer I
Mechanisms of Heat Transfer
Conduction, accounting for approximately 3% of body heat loss at rest, is the process of exchanging heat between molecules of two materials in direct contact. This can result in both heat loss and gain. For instance, when the body is submerged in water, which conducts heat 20 times more effectively than air, it can either lose or gain significant...
Mechanism of heat transfer
Magnetic Force Between Two Parallel Currents
The force exerted by the magnetic field due to the first conductor over a finite length of the second conductor is given as the product of the current in the second conductor and the vector product of the length vector along the current element and the field due to the first conductor. According to the...

