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Article 1 Characteristics of Welding and Arc Pressure in the 2 Plasma–TIG Hybrid Welding Process 3 Bo Wang 1,2 , Xunming Zhu 3 , Hongchang Zhang 4, *, Hongtao Zhang 1,2, * and Jicai Feng 1 4 1 State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, 5 China; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] 6 2 Shandong Institute of Shipbuilding Technology, Weihai 264209, China; [email protected]; 7 [email protected] 8 3 Weihai Wanfeng Magnesium Sciecne and Technology Development Co.Ltd, Weihai 264209, China; 9 [email protected] 10 4 Harbin University of Science and Technology Rongcheng Campus, Rongcheng, 264300, China; 11 [email protected] 12 * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +86-187-6910-2227; [email protected]; Tel: +86-17863082611 13 14 Abstract: In this article, a novel hybrid welding process called plasma-TIG coupled arc welding 15 was proposed to improve the efficiency and quality of welding by utilizing the full advantage of 16 plasma and TIG welding processes. The two arcs of plasma and TIG were pulled into each other 17 into one coupled arc under the effect of Lorentz force and plasma flow force during welding 18 experiments. The arc behavior of coupled arc was studied by means of it’s arc profile, arc pressure 19 and arc force conditions. The coupled arc pressure distribution measurements were performed. 20 The effects of welding conditions on coupled arc pressure were evaluated and the maximum 21 coupled arc pressure was improved compared with single-plasma arc and single-TIG arc. It was 22 found that the maximum arc pressure was mainly determined by plasma arc current and plasma 23 gas flow. According to the results, the proposed coupled arc welding process have both advantages 24 of plasma arc and TIG method, and it has a broad application prospect. 25 Keywords: plasma-TIG; coupled arc; arc profile; pressure distribution 26 27 1. Introduction 28 Given the continuous development of processing and manufacturing technologies, traditional 29 arc welding techniques, such as plasma arc welding (PAW)[1] and tungsten inert gas (TIG)[2,3] 30 welding process, have been improved to meet the requirements of enterprises for high-quality and 31 low-consumption welding technology[4]. In recent years, hybrid welding methods are proposed to 32 overcome these disadvantages and deficiencies. Hybrid welding methods have also been 33 successfully applied in shipbuilding and spacecraft. Certain hybrid welding processes, including 34 plasma–MIG[5,6], plasma–TIG[7,8], laser–GMAW[9], laser–TIG[10] and TIG–MIG[11], have been 35 successfully used in the manufacturing industry. In comparison with ordinary single-arc welding, 36 hybrid welding technology can significantly improve welding efficiency and joint quality because it 37 is simultaneously provided with multiple heat sources that complement one another[5]. 38 PAW produces arc plasma with high energy density and high arc pressure under the thermal 39 pinch effect of the water-cooled copper nozzle; thus, PAW has strong fusion and penetration 40 Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 30 May 2018 doi:10.20944/preprints201805.0446.v1 © 2018 by the author(s). Distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY license. Peer-reviewed version available at Metals 2018, 8, 512; doi:10.3390/met8070512
Transcript

Article 1

Characteristics of Welding and Arc Pressure in the 2

Plasma–TIG Hybrid Welding Process 3

Bo Wang 1,2, Xunming Zhu 3, Hongchang Zhang 4,*, Hongtao Zhang 1,2,* and Jicai Feng 1 4 1 State Key Laboratory of Advanced Welding and Joining, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, 5

China; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] 6 2 Shandong Institute of Shipbuilding Technology, Weihai 264209, China; [email protected]; 7

[email protected] 8 3 Weihai Wanfeng Magnesium Sciecne and Technology Development Co.Ltd, Weihai 264209, China; 9

[email protected] 10 4 Harbin University of Science and Technology Rongcheng Campus, Rongcheng, 264300, China; 11

[email protected] 12 * Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +86-187-6910-2227; [email protected]; Tel: +86-17863082611 13

14

Abstract: In this article, a novel hybrid welding process called plasma-TIG coupled arc welding 15 was proposed to improve the efficiency and quality of welding by utilizing the full advantage of 16 plasma and TIG welding processes. The two arcs of plasma and TIG were pulled into each other 17 into one coupled arc under the effect of Lorentz force and plasma flow force during welding 18 experiments. The arc behavior of coupled arc was studied by means of it’s arc profile, arc pressure 19 and arc force conditions. The coupled arc pressure distribution measurements were performed. 20 The effects of welding conditions on coupled arc pressure were evaluated and the maximum 21 coupled arc pressure was improved compared with single-plasma arc and single-TIG arc. It was 22 found that the maximum arc pressure was mainly determined by plasma arc current and plasma 23 gas flow. According to the results, the proposed coupled arc welding process have both advantages 24 of plasma arc and TIG method, and it has a broad application prospect. 25

Keywords: plasma-TIG; coupled arc; arc profile; pressure distribution 26

27

1. Introduction 28 Given the continuous development of processing and manufacturing technologies, traditional 29

arc welding techniques, such as plasma arc welding (PAW)[1] and tungsten inert gas (TIG)[2,3] 30 welding process, have been improved to meet the requirements of enterprises for high-quality and 31 low-consumption welding technology[4]. In recent years, hybrid welding methods are proposed to 32 overcome these disadvantages and deficiencies. Hybrid welding methods have also been 33 successfully applied in shipbuilding and spacecraft. Certain hybrid welding processes, including 34 plasma–MIG[5,6], plasma–TIG[7,8], laser–GMAW[9], laser–TIG[10] and TIG–MIG[11], have been 35 successfully used in the manufacturing industry. In comparison with ordinary single-arc welding, 36 hybrid welding technology can significantly improve welding efficiency and joint quality because it 37 is simultaneously provided with multiple heat sources that complement one another[5]. 38

PAW produces arc plasma with high energy density and high arc pressure under the thermal 39 pinch effect of the water-cooled copper nozzle; thus, PAW has strong fusion and penetration 40

Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 30 May 2018 doi:10.20944/preprints201805.0446.v1

© 2018 by the author(s). Distributed under a Creative Commons CC BY license.

Peer-reviewed version available at Metals 2018, 8, 512; doi:10.3390/met8070512

abilities[12,13]. However, identifying the appropriate parameters in PAW welding process is 41 difficult and the process is prone to undercutting[14]. The gas tungsten arc welding with DCEN ( 42 Direct Current Electrode Negative Epolarity) is an high efficiency welding process[15,16], and has a 43 good surface forming ability and remarkably stable welding process, but it’s penetration capacity is 44 poor. Therefore, researchers also proposed several hybrid welding processes that utilize the PAW 45 and TIG arcs, which mainly include the double-sided arc welding (DSAW) and PAW–TIG welding 46 processes[8]. The DSAW process can increase penetration and significantly improve welding 47 productivity[17], in this process, a TIG torch is placed on the opposite side of welds to guide the 48 PAW arc into the keyhole, thereby permitting the current to flow from the PAW torch through the 49 welds to the TIG torch directly instead of the conventional welding current loop[7,18]. However, the 50 welding accessibility of DSAW is poor compared with PAW welding process. The PAW–TIG 51 welding method is realized by the PAW and the subsequent TIG on the movable slide rail, no 52 correlation exists between the plasma and TIG arcs. This process can also enhance the welding 53 productivity. However, the heat-affected zone is large and the grain is coarse because the weld is 54 reheated by the TIG arc. The plasma–TIG coupled arc welding (PTCAW) process is a novel hybrid 55 welding method for overcoming the above deficiencies in order to achieve efficient welding process 56 and high-quality welds. 57

In this study, the PTCAW process was initially constructed and the coupled arc profile was then 58 analyzed by a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera. The effects of welding conditions on the 59 coupled arc pressure distribution was also studied to reveal the characteristics of the coupled arc 60 welding process The results provided the basis to recognize the PTCAW process and expanded the 61 application range of PAW and TIG welding processes. 62

2. Materials and Methods 63 The schematic diagram of our experimental set-up is shown in Fig. 1. The PAW and TIG torches 64

were fixed on one fixture to realize the interaction between the two processes (i.e., PTCAW process). 65 An experimental system was established according to the above designed principle. In the present 66 system, the TIG arc was established by using a direct current–constant current (DC–CC) power 67 supply (REHM InverTIG.Pro digital 240 AC/DC) under the direct current electrode negative(DCEN) 68 condition. The PAW arcs were established by using an alternating current–direct current AC/DC 69 (LORCH V50 AC/DV) and DC–CC (LORCH Handy TIG 180 DC) power supplies. The Xiris 70 XVC-1000 weld camera (55 frames/s) was applied to observe and capture the arc profile and 71 behavior under the different welding condition in real time[19]. The anode constricting nozzle of 72 PAW made of red cooper with excellent thermal conductivity is cooled by forced recirculation 73 cooling water to prevent the nozzle from being burned. 74

Plasma gas

Shielding Gas Ar(99.99%)

PAW Torch

TIG Torch

Gas hood

Camera

Wire Feeder

5

5

150

Welding direction

67°

xy

75 Fig. 1. Proposed PTCAW process system. 76

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Peer-reviewed version available at Metals 2018, 8, 512; doi:10.3390/met8070512

Differential pressure sensor (DPS: HSTL-FY01) was used to detect the arc pressure and pressure 77 distribution[20-22]. A 0.8-mm-diameter hole was drilled on a copperplate, which was fixed on 78 another water-cooled copperplate[23]. The details of the measurement system are shown in Fig. 2. 79

Pressure Sensor

Measurement OrificeCoupling Arc

Coupling Arc

PAW TorchTIG Torch

Water cooled Copper Block

+

+

——

80 81

Fig. 2. Measurement system of the arc pressure. 82

In all experiments, the PAW torch nozzle has a 3-mm orifice diameter, 3.2-mm tungsten 83 diameter, and 3-mm tungsten setback. Pure argon (99.99%) was used as the plasma gas and 84 shielding gas. The platform diameter of the TIG terminal electrode is 1.25 mm, and the shielding gas 85 flow rate is 15 L/min. The electrode spacing is 7 mm, that is the distance from the plasma nozzle axis 86 to the electrode tip of TIG. The nozzle height is the distance from the end of PAW nozzle to the 87 workpiece surface. The detailed parameters for the designed experiments are shown in Table 2. 88

Table 2 Welding parameters for designed experiments. 89

3. Results and discussion 90

3. Results and Discussions 91

3.1. TPTCAW coupled arc profile 92 A notable characteristic of the plasma-TIG welding method is the physical coupling effect 93

between the two arcs, which results in penetration increased and splash rate descended. The 94 detailed images of the plasma, TIG, and coupled arcs were acquired as shown in Figs.4. The RGB 95 images in the figure were transformed from gray images through pseudo-color processing in order 96 to acquire more detailed information of the arc profile. The base plate is made of red copper with 97 forced recirculation cooling water and the welding experiment was carried out under the following 98 conditions: a plasma welding current of 60A while TIG current of 100A, nozzle height of 5 mm and 99 plasma gas flow of 15 L/min. 100

Figure 3 illustrates typical arc profile under different welding methods. Welding arcs is steady 101 and plasma arc seems to be trumpet-shaped while TIG arc is similar to broom-shaped during single 102 arc welding because of the tungsten axis and the base plate have a 67 degrees angle, as shown in 103

Group Plasma arc current (A)

TIG arc current (A) Nozzle height (mm) Plasma gas flow (L/min)

#1 60, 80, 100, 120 100 5 4 #2 60 60, 90, 120, 150 5 4 #3 120 140, 160, 180, 200 5 4 #4 60 100 3, 4, 5, 6 4 #5 60 100 5 3, 4, 5, 6

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Fig.3a & b. When the TIG arc is applied to plasma welding arc, it is observed that a novel coupled arc 104 is produced between the two arcs and the arc profile has a significant change from the previous. TIG 105 arc can be deflected to plasma arc from the view of perpendicular to welding direction, and part of 106 TIG arc is pushed to the side of plasma arc root, as shown in Fig.3c. At the same time, the coupled arc 107 profile seems to be bell-shaped similar to the conventional TIG arc from the view of parallel to the 108 welding direction, as shown in Fig.3d.The reason for this behavior can be explained as follows. 109

110 Fig. 3. Arc profile under different welding methods. a single plasma arc. b single TIG arc. c coupled arc 111

perpendicular to the welding direction. d coupled arc parallel to the welding direction. 112

Previous studies have suggested the forces play a major role in determining the arc profile[24]. 113 Therefore, it is necessary to analyze coupled arc force condition in order to explore the interaction 114 mechanism on coupled arc profile. It should be noted that the electromagnetic axial pressure and 115 plasma gas flow axial pressure are recognized as the key factor of PAW arc pressure[25]. The plasma 116 arc radius of arc column is r1, and the arc radius constricts to the minimum at the place of the arc 117 root, here is r2. The electromagnetic axial pressure on the arc axis can be expressed as the following 118 Eq. (1), 119

20

e 2 2 22 1

1 14

Ipr r

μπ

= −

(1)

Where µ0 = permeability of free space, I = plasma arc welding current. The plasma gas flow axis 120 pressure towards to the molten pool surface can be expressed as the following Eq. (2). 121

2g 1

12

p ρμ= (2)

Where ρ = plasma gas density, µ1 = axial component of the plasma velocity. The plasma arc total pressure Pt 122 on the arc axis can be expressed as the following Eq. (3). 123

220

t e g 12 2 22 1

1 1 14 2

Ip p pr r

μ ρμπ

= + = − +

(3)

Where Pe = electromagnetic axial pressure, and it is the function of I2. Pg = plasma gas flow axial 124 pressure, and it is the function of ρ and µ1, simultaneously µ1 is the function of temperature. Hence, 125 the resultant force on the arc axis from electrode tip to the surface of base plate can be expressed as 126 the following Eq. (4). 127

2 22 20 1

r t 1 122

114 2

I rF p S rr

μ πρμπ

= ⋅ = − +

(4)

Where Fr = the plasma arc axis resultant force, S = the arc sectional area at the place of base 128 plate on the arc radial and S = πr12. Compared with the arc force condition during the single TIG 129

Preprints (www.preprints.org) | NOT PEER-REVIEWED | Posted: 30 May 2018 doi:10.20944/preprints201805.0446.v1

Peer-reviewed version available at Metals 2018, 8, 512; doi:10.3390/met8070512

welding, the Lorentz force (FL) has a significant effect on TIG arc owing to plasma arc generates 130 additional magnetic field acts on the welding arc, and FL can be expressed as the following Eq. (5). 131

LF BIL= (5)

Where B = magnetic induction of magnetic field generated by plasma arc, L = displacement of 132 particle per unit. The schematic of the arc force condition as shown in Fig. 4. Considering the 133 difference of arc force conditions on either side of TIG arc axis, it is necessary to specify four particles 134 (location A, B, C and D) as the research objects. On the side of the TIG arc, the plasma flow force is 135 considered as the main arc force of TIG welding arc, the plasma flow force can be expressed as the 136 following Eq. (6). 137

2 log( )bP

a

RF KIR

= (6)

Where Ft = the plasma flow force of TIG arc at location B, C and D. K is a constant and K = µ/4π, µ = 138 medium magnetic conductivity, Ra and Rb are the radius of arc root surface and undersurface 139 respectively as shown in Fig. 5c. 140

As seen in Fig. 4 and Fig. 3c, the direction of plasma flow force (Fp2) on the arc axis can be 141 deflected to plasma arc at the location B, as shown in Fig. 5a. Furthermore, the plasma flow force acts 142 as the major driver force of the arc shift and has important influence on the weld surface forming. 143 According to right-hand grip rule at the location A, the direction of magnetic field generated by 144 plasma arc current is perpendicular to the paper inward on the side of TIG arc. Hence the particles 145 on the right side of plasma arc axis move towards plasma arc along the base plate under Lorentz 146 force (FL1 and FL2), the motion of TIG arc can be seen in Fig. 5a & c. At the same time, the plasma arc 147 is also deflected slightly towards the location B owing to the Lorentz force (FL3), as shown in Fig. 5 a 148 & b. In addition, part of particles of TIG arc have a potential of coupling with that of plasma arc root, 149 which result in transformation of TIG arc trajectory. These results indicate that the above analysis of 150 the coupled arc force conditions is consistent with the acquired experimental results in Fig. 3. It can 151 be concluded that the TIG arc is deflected under the combination effect of plasma flow force and 152 Lorentz force generated by the magnetic field of plasma arc column. 153

Plasma jet force

IP IT

FL3

IT FL2

FP2

IT

Fr FP2

FL1

Welding current streamline

FP1

FL1

Workpiece

A B

C

D

154 Fig. 4. Schematic of the forces acting on the coupled arcs 155

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Peer-reviewed version available at Metals 2018, 8, 512; doi:10.3390/met8070512

FL FL

PAW Arc TIG Arc

54.2°

63.6°

92.7°

90.0°

PAW Nozzle TIG Electrode

Ft

Ra

Rb

(a) (b) (c) 156 Fig. 5. Schematic of the behavior on the plasma arc Images of arc profile of different welding method. a 157

coupled arc welding. b plasma arc welding. c TIG arc. 158

Therefore, according to the aforementioned analysis, another interesting finding has caught our 159 attention. It is important to highlight that the coupling of two arcs and plasma flow force of arc are 160 proportional to the welding current, this phenomenon is in good consistent with Eq. (4) and Eq. (6). As can 161 be seen from Fig. 6, the coupled arc is generated only when the plasma arc current is bigger than 60A, at 162 the same time, the arc climbing height on plasma arc column increases with welding current (IP) when the 163 TIG welding current (IT) is constant at 100 amperes. However, as plasma arc current is constant at 164 60amperes, the plasma flow force (FP2) has a marked effect on welding arc profile acting on the base plate, 165 the heat transfer area of coupled arc acting on the workpiece is apparently increased with increase of 166 welding current (IT), as shown in Fig. 7. 167

(a) (b) (d)(c)

(e) (f) (h)(g) 168

Fig. 6. Acquired images of coupled arc profile with different TIG welding current. a 30A. b 40 A. c 50A. d 169 60 A. e 70 A. f 80 A. g 90 A. h 100A. 170

(a) (b) (d)(c)

(e) (f) (h)(g) 171

Fig. 7. Acquired images of coupled arc profile with different plasma welding current. a 40A. b 60 A. c 80A. 172 d 100 A. e 120 A. f 140 A. g 160 A. h 180A. 173

3.2 Arc pressure distribution of the coupled arc 174 The two-dimensional pressure distribution and pressure variation along with the welding 175

direction for each welding arc are shown in Fig. 8. The surface charts for individual stagnation 176 pressure of three welding method are drawn using Matlab® software in order to illustrate the 177 difference in magnitude between the values of arc pressure. According to the following 178 experimental results, there is another interesting finding that catches our attention. It is worthwhile 179 mentioning that the coupled arc pressure is mainly determined by plasma arc and proportion to the 180 welding current, and the welding conditions are listed in Table 3. The contour cloud image of the 181

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coupled arc pressure distribution is shown in Fig. 8e, notably, it is similar to a gourd shape and the 182 maximum arc pressure appears between the two arcs near the side of plasma arc compared with 183 conventional plasma arc welding method. It can be seen that the maximum value of the coupled arc 184 is approximately 650 Pa and the maximum arc pressure decreased gradually with the increasing 185 electrode spacing, as shown in Fig. 9f. This result is significantly higher than that of plasma arc and 186 TIG arc under the same conditions, as shown in Fig. 9b & d. Therefore, it is indicated that the total 187 arc pressure of coupled arc depends on combination effect of these arcs, and it is consistent with the 188 above analysis of coupled arc profile. 189

Table 3 Experimental conditions for arc pressure measurement 190

191

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 30.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30

0.35

Arc

pre

ssur

e of

TIG

arc

(KPa

)

The distance to nozzle axis along with welding direction (mm)

0mm 0.5mm 1mm 1.5mm 2mm 2.5mm 3mm

X-axis (mm)

Y-a

xis (

mm

)

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3-3

-2

-1

0

1

2

3

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

(c) (d)

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 40.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

A

rc p

ress

ure

of p

lasm

a ar

c (K

Pa)

The distance to nozzle center axis along welding direction (mm)

0mm 0.5mm 1mm 1.5mm 2mm 2.5mm 3mm 3.5mm

(a) (b)X-axis (mm)

Y-a

xis (

mm

)

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4-3.5

-2.5

-1.5

-0.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 80.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

Arc

pre

ssur

e of

the

coup

led

arc

(KPa

)

The distance to nozzle axis along with welding direction (mm)

7mm 8mm 9mm 10mm

X-axis(mm)

Y-a

xis(

mm

)

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5-3.5

-2.5

-1.5

-0.5

0.5

1.5

2.5

3.5

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

(e) (f)

0

3.5

0- 4 4

orifice

0

3

0- 3 3

orifice

0.54

0.24

0.65

192

Fig. 8 Stagnation pressure distribution of welding arc with the different method. a top view of 193 two-dimensional distribution of the plasma arc. b the plasma arc pressure along with welding direction 194

with different distance to measurement orifice axis. c top view of two-dimensional distribution of the TIG 195 arc. d the TIG arc pressure along with welding direction with different distance to measurement orifice 196

axis. e top view of two-dimensional distribution of the coupled arc. f the coupled arc pressure along with 197 welding direction with different electrode spacing. 198

199

IP (A) IT (A) DPT (mm) L (mm) D (mm) Qp (L/min) Qs (L/min)

60 100 7 5 1.25 4 15

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3.3 The influence factor of coupled arc pressure 200 Group #1 is the single-factor experiment to examine the effects of plasma current on the coupled 201

arc pressure distribution. The plasma arc as an important part of the coupled arc[26], the variation in 202 the current value has a significant influence on plasma flow force and mainly determines the 203 maximum arc pressure of the coupled arc. The histogram of the coupled arc pressure is acquired by 204 means of extracting the maximum value of distributed line type, as shown in Fig.9b.As can be seen 205 from part a and b of Fig. 9, the maximum arc pressure increases gradually with the rise in plasma 206 current and reaches 1600 Pa as plasma current is 120 amperes. In addition, according to the changes 207 of arc pressure curves at point a, it can be illustrated that the TIG arc pressure peak is overlapped 208 with that of plasma gradually with increase of plasma current, that is due to increase in Lorentz 209 force during the process. This result suggest that the coupling effect is strengthened between the two 210 arcs with the increase of plasma current. 211

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 50.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

Arc

pre

ssur

e of

cou

pled

arc

(KPa

)

Distance to nozzle axis along with welding direction (mm)

60A 80A 100A 120A

60 80 100 1200.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

The mixiumum value of arc

pressure (KPa)

Different current of plasma arc (A)(a) (b)

Point a

212

Fig. 9. Coupled arc pressure with different plasma current. a coupled arc pressure along with welding direction. b Max 213 value of coupled arc pressure. 214

Groups #2 and #3 are the single-factor experiments to examine the effect of TIG current on the 215 coupled arc pressure distribution. As previously mentioned, the change in TIG arc would has 216 different effects on the coupled arc pressure. It is necessary to analysis the arc pressure in two 217 situation, when the plasma arc current is 60 amperes, as shown in Fig. 10a, as the TIG current 218 increases, the maximum arc pressure of the coupled arc gets deviated to the side of TIG arc within a 219 small scale. This condition was mainly attributed to plasma flow force increases with welding 220 current, it results in an good TIG arc stiffness. On the contrary, when the plasma current increases to 221 120 amperes, as shown in Fig. 10b, the maximum arc pressure of the coupled arc gets deviated to 222 TIG arc by a large margin, the results indicate that the Lorentz force acting on plasma arc increases 223 enough to deflect the plasma as the TIG current increases. This is consistent with the observation 224 from the coupled arc profile. 225

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 50.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Coup

led

arc

pres

sure

(KPa

)

Distance to nozzle axis along with welding direction (mm)

60A 90A 120A 150A

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 60.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

Coup

led

arc

pres

sure

(KPa

)

Distance to nozzle axis along with welding direction (mm)

140A 160A 180A 200A

(a) (b) 226

Fig. 10. Coupled arc pressure along with welding direction with different current 227

Group #4 is the single-factor experiment to examine the effect of the coupled arc length on the 228 coupled arc pressure distribution. The histogram of coupled arc along with the welding direction is 229

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acquired by means of extracting the maximum value of distributed line type, as shown in Fig. 11b. 230 The maximum arc pressure initially decreased rapidly with the increase of nozzle height and then 231 plateaued; meanwhile, another interesting finding is that the coupled arc no longer decreases as the 232 nozzle height exceeds 5 mm. The results suggest that the horizontal component of the Lorentz force 233 and plasma flow force cancels each other and reach equilibrium state along with welding direction, 234 as shown in Eq. (5). 235

(a) (b)-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

Arc

pre

ssur

e of

cou

pled

arc

(KPa

)

Distance to the nozzle axis along with welding direction (mm)

3mm 4mm 5mm 6mm

3 4 5 60.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

The maxiumum value of arc

pressure (KPa)

Different nozzle height (mm) 236

Fig. 11. Coupled arc pressure with different nozzle height. a coupled arc pressure along with welding direction. b Max 237 value of coupled arc pressure. 238

Group #5 is the single-factor experiment to examine the effect of plasma gas flow rates on the 239 coupled arc pressure distribution. Plasma gas flow rates (QP) has a significant effect on plasma 240 movement during welding process[27]. As shown in Fig. 12, the maximum arc pressure of the 241 coupled arc evidently increased with the increase of the plasma gas flow, it can be inferred that due 242 to increased plasma gas flow lead to the increase in axial component of plasma velocity and plasma 243 gas density, as shown in Eq. (2). 244

3 4 5 60.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

1.8

The maxiumum value of the arc

pressure (KPa)

Diferent plasma gas flow (L/min)

-4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 50.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

Arc

pre

ssur

e of

the

coup

led

arc

(KPa

)

Distance to nozzle axis along with welding direction (mm)

3L/min 4L/min 5L/min 6L/min

(a) (b) 245

Fig. 12. Coupled arc pressure with different plasma gas flow. a coupled arc pressure along with welding direction. b Max 246 value of coupled arc pressure. 247

4. Conclusions 248 From the current study, a novel hybrid welding method has been proposed, and the coupled 249

arc behavior has been explored. The coupled arc profile and coupled arc pressure have been 250 considered as ascertaining the mechanics circumstance of coupled arc behavior. The following 251 conclusions could be obtained: 252

1. Under the function of Lorentz force and plasma flow force, TIG arc is deflected and couples 253 with plasma arc, a coupled arc is generated and involves at once the arc characteristics of 254 plasma and TIG. 255

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2. The coupled arc profile is mainly determined by the combination effect of plasma flow force 256 and Lorentz force generated by the magnetic field of plasma arc column, which is affected 257 by the welding current from plasma and TIG. 258

3. The coupled arc pressure distribution in two-dimensional surface is similar to gourd shape, 259 the maximum arc pressure appears between plasma arc and TIG arc and it is mainly 260 determined by the plasma current. The welding conditions that affect the coupled arc 261 distribution and the maximum pressure could be ranked according to their effects on the 262 experimental results, namely, plasma current, plasma gas flow, TIG current and electrode 263 spacing. 264

Author Contributions: Hongtao Zhang and Bo Wang conceived and designed the experiment; Hongchang 265 Zhang perform the experiments; Bo Wang analysed the data and wrote the article; Xunming zhu and Jicai Feng 266 contributed to the data analysis and discussion. 267

Acknowledgments: The research was sponsored by Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation 268 (ZR201709200029), Shandong Key research and development plan (2017GGX30132), Shandong Key research 269 and development plan (GG201709250277), Natural Scientific Reasearch Foundation in Harbin Institute of 270 Technology (HIT.NSRIF.201707) and Young Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province (tsqn20161062) . 271 Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. 272

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