Influence of process parameters on joining strength in microplasma arc welding

The objectives of this research are to investigate the effect of welding parameters on the weld quality and to develop guidelines for a selection of suitable parameter ranges for microplasma welding. A series of experiments was conducted to explore how changes of welding parameters affect the strength of the weld for the thin stainless steel most often used in the industry. The experiment results show that workpiece exposure height must be above a minimum limit in order to prevent undesired joining. The strength increases as the current increases, with fluctuations, but still in the sufficient range. The minimum sufficient current for quality welds increases, while the minimum sufficient heat input decreases, as the travel speed increases. 266 K-H. Tseng et al.