The MIG/MAG process operating as short-circuiting is widely used when low heat input is a demand. However, in this operating mode, excessive spattering may occur. To mitigate this problem, it is necessary to act on parameter settings. It is known that inductance governs the current increasing/decreasing rate, reflecting on the short-circuiting transfer regularity. However, little is known about the effect of arc voltage and the gas composition on this rate. Thus, in this work it was pursued the influence of the welding voltage and shielding gas composition in the correlation between inductance and metal transfer regularity in short-circuiting MIG/ MAG carbon-steel welding. Weldments were carried out scanning the voltage settings at three different inductance settings and with two differed shielding gases, using the same current level. A quantitative criterion was employed to assess the metal transfer regularity. Metal transfer conditions were visualized by means of synchronized high-speed filming shadowgraphy. The results showed that voltage and shielding gas do not interfere in the up and down current rate for a same inductance setting, but the regularity of the process is dependent of the shielding gas composition and arc voltage.
MIG/MAG; short-circuiting transfer; inductance; shielding gas
