材料期刊网

Gas tungsten arc (GTA) welding was performed both in a microgravity environment and in a terrestrial environment, and the arc shapes in both environments were compared. A microgravity condition was obtained using the free fall system at the Japan Microgravity Center. The system can maintain a 10 s microgravity of less than 10-5 g. A water-cooled Cu plate was used to simplify the arc phenomenon. The electric arc current was between 15 and 80 A, and the shielding and atmospheric gas was 99.9995% Ar and its flowing rate was 10 l/min. The polarity was a direct current electrode negative (DCEN). The arc gap was 3 mm and careful attention was also paid to the arc gap in both the terrestrial and microgravity environments being the same. As a result, it was found that no effect of gravity on the arc shape is observed under general welding conditions (over 60 A). When the electric arc current is lower than 25 A, the arc shape is determined by the initial position of the arc root and is constant with time. Accordingly, it can not be judged whether or not the arc shape is affected by gravity for this range. When the electric arc current is between 25 A and 60 A, it is estimated that the arc shape is not affected by gravity though it is occasionally affected by other minor effects.