Control of pulsed gas metal arc welding

This paper presents a control system for manual pulsed Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW). This system consists of a current controller, which makes it possible to shape the current during welding, and two important components, which are the key issues discussed in this paper. These components include an arc length controller and a metal transfer controller. The arc length controller is based on a non-linear SISO model of the arc length process and uses feedback linearisation for cancellation of non-linear terms. The metal transfer controller uses a melting speed model to determine when liquid drops at the tip of the electrode should be detached. Tests are carried out in a simulation environment.