Materials Transactions, Vol. 50, No. 8 (2009) pp.

1909 to 1914
#2009 The Japan Institute of Metals

Spectral Analysis of Welding Plasma of Magnesium Alloy

Using Flux Coated Wire
Zhaodong Zhang* and Fan Zhang
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, P. R. China

The activated flux coated wires are used to examine the effect of the fluxes on the weld penetration of the magnesium alloy. A series of
emission spectroscopy of arc plasma for TIG welding for magnesium with normal wire and activated flux coated wire are developed. It is found
that intensities of emission spectra of Mg I increase significantly when the flux wires are used. All the flux coated wire can increase the weld
penetration of the TIG welding. The electron temperature and electron density of welding plasma are estimated. The result indicated that the
electron temperature of arc plasma decrease when the flux coated wires are used; on the contrary, the electron density of the plasma got
enhanced. It is believed that the current density increases with the electron density increase, which is one of the reasons that the penetration depth
increase when the flux wires are used. [doi:10.2320/matertrans.M2009023]

(Received January 19, 2009; Accepted May 14, 2009; Published July 25, 2009)
Keywords: emission spectrum, activated flux tungsten inert gas (A-TIG) welding, magnesium alloy, electron temperature, electron density

1. Introduction the arc by capturing electrons in the outer regions of the

arc. Thus, it restricts current flow to the central region of
Having densities 36% less than Al and 78% less than steel, the arc. This will increase the current density in the plasma
Mg alloys had excellent strength/weight ratios.1,2) However, and at the anode, resulting in a narrower arc and a deeper
due to high heat conductivity and low melting point, the weld pool.
weld bead penetration of magnesium alloy is too shallow in The spectral diagnostic technique is an effective way to
TIG welding. Laser welding, laser-TIG hybrid, have been study the physical phenomenon in welding process by
invented to resolve the problem, but all those methods investigating the emission spectra of plasma. A great deal
increase the cost of production.3,4) of research on spectra of welding plasma, including the
A number of studies regarding flux-assisted gas tungsten acquisition of spectrum signal,12) calculation of electron
arc welding (A-TIG) have been published. Activated flux temperature and density of the plasma13,14) and practical
tungsten inert gas (A-TIG) welding was developed by the applications in monitoring the welding quality,15) has been
Paton Welding Institute in Kiev.5,6) Before welding, a fine undertaken in recent years.
layer of an inorganic powder, known as activating flux, is In this paper, the weld bead penetration of magnesium
deposited on the surfaces to be welded. The resulting depth alloy is studied, and the welding plasma of magnesium
of penetration could be augmented as much as three times. alloy is studied by emission spectrum diagnostic technique.
In recent years, the A-TIG welding process has attracted new Acquisition system of plasma spectrum is introduced and
attention, particularly for joining stainless steels and titanium the effect of flux on arc plasma is analyzed through the
alloys. Although the activating flux effect is well known, the comparison of the plasma spectra TIG welding with normal
mechanisms controlling it are not well understood.7–9) wire and flux coated wire. The mechanism that leads to an
In previous research in A-TIG, flux was pasted on the increased penetration of the weld bead in flux coated wire
surface of the base material, and no filler wire was used. A weld is analyzed. The increase of the weld bead penetration
new flux coated wire feeding weld was developed in which favors the arc constriction mechanism since the activated
the activated flux was coated on the surface of the filler wire. flux is imported into the welding arc directly by filler
The activated flux on the filler can increase the weld bead wire.
penetration. The activated flux coated wires expand the
applying of A-TIG. 2. Experiment
It seems that two mechanisms play an important role in
the activating effect of the fluxes, namely, the Marangoni In the present study, 5.0 mm thick AZ31B alloy plates are
convection refers to the convection movements due to the used as the base material. The diameter of the filler wire is
surface tension gradient on the weld pool surface and the 2.0 mm, which has the same composition with the base
electrical arc constriction generated by the dissociation and metal. The chemical composition of base metal and filler are
ionization of the constituent elements of the fluxes.10,11) shown in Table 1. Two fluxes, TiO2 and the composite flux
When the flux coated on the surface of the filler wire, the AFM01 are used to examine the effect of the fluxes on weld
effect of fluxes on the electrical arc should be inevitable. penetration of magnesium alloy. The composite flux AFM01
The electrical arc constriction is generated by the dissoci- is self-made, which consists of various metal oxides and
ation and ionization of the constituent elements of the chlorides. The flux is supplied in powder form. Before
fluxes. It is considered that the vaporized flux well constricts welding, the flux powder is mixed with acetone to produce a
paint-like consistency. A brush is used to apply the mixture
*Corresponding author, E-mail: [email protected] on the surface of the filler wires. The mean quantity of flux is
1910 Z. Zhang and F. Zhang

Table 1 Chemical Compositions [mass%] of the Mg alloy (balance Mg).

Alloy Al Zn Mn Si Cu Ni Fe Others each

AZ31B 2.5–3.5 0.7–1.3 0.2–1.0 <0:05 <0:01 <0:001 <0:002 <0:01

Table 2 Welding parameters in TIG welding of magnesium alloy.

Parameters Values units

Welding current 80 A
Arc length 1.5 mm
Welding speed 400 mm
min1
Flow rate of argon 10 L
min1
Electrode diameter 2.4 mm
Diameter of filler wire 2.5 mm
Wire feeding rate 360 mm
min1

Tip angle 80
Fig. 1 The schematic diagram of spectra acquiring system.
Frequency of AC-TIG 50 Hz
Duration of EN cycle 10 ms
Peak value of current 115 A
D
8 W 0.8
D/W

constant and is about 50 mg
mm2 . The alternating current Distance (mm) 6 0.6
source like a sine wave is used in welding. AC-TIG bead-
on-plate welds with filler wire are made with an automatic

D/W
4 0.4
control system in which the test piece is moved at a constant
speed. The filler wire feed ahead of the weld pool, at the
edge of the weld pool, the filler wire and the base metal 2 0.2

make the wire feed angle of about 25 , and the rate of wire
feeding is 360 mm
min1 . The welding parameters are listed 0 0.0
in Table 2; 99.9% argon is used as shielding gas. Normal TiO2 AFM01

The optical emission spectroscopy is carried out to

Fig. 2 The weld depth, width and D=W of with flux coated wires and with
characterize the plasma during welding, the system sche- normal wire.
matically described in Fig. 1. The observed spectral range
is from 200 to 1000 nm. The SP-2556 spectrograph with
500 mm focus is used in this experiment, which is produced 3. Result and Discussion
by Acton Company. The spectral signals are detected by
the fiber head, transmitted to the grating through the fiber 3.1 Weld bead morphology
and the reflecting mirrors and acquired by the CCD camera. The weld depth penetrations (D), weld width (W), and D/
The diameter of fiber head is 0.3 mm. Then the signals are W with the normal wires and the activating flux coated wires
transmitted to the controller where they are processed, are shown in Fig. 2. It can be seen that the composite flux
transmitted to the computer and displayed by the software. coated wire caused an obvious increase in penetration
In the experiment, the image of arc plasma is minified by a compared to the normal wire. It can increase the welding
convex glass into the fiber and the arc plasma is treated as a penetration up to 200%. At the same time, the composite flux
point light. The fiber head is mounted in a bracket, which coated wire cause an increase in weld width. The TiO2 flux
can move horizontally and vertically and rotate around coated wire has a little effect in increase depth penetration
plumb line, to adjust the relative position between the and width. It can be seen from Fig. 1, the D/W of the weld
fiber head and the minified plasma image. In this work, the pool increases when the flux wires are used.
300 g/mm grating with the spectral resolution of 0.1305 nm
is used to acquire the whole spectrum from 200 to 600 nm 3.2 Acquisition of the welding plasma spectra
and 1200 g
mm1 grating with the spectral resolution of The plasma spectra from 200 nm to 600 nm in the stable
0.0319 nm is used to acquire the single spectral line. The processes of TIG welding with the AFM01 flux wires are
exposure time of the CCD camera is 3 ms and the readout acquired by 300 g
mm1 grating, as is shown in Fig. 3. It
time of spectrum is 13.44 ms. The intensity of spectrum is is found that the plasma spectrum includes of continuous
the cumulative result of an acquiring cycle. The images of and line spectra. The continuous spectrum is generated by
the arc plasma are obtained with a high speed camera and bremsstrahlung of thermoelectrons (free to free transitions)
stored in a computer with a frame grabber. After welding, and recombination radiation of electrons and ions (free to
weld cross-sections are prepared using standard procedures, bounded transitions). Line spectrum consists of the atomic
including grinding, polishing and etching. The cross- spectra and ionic spectra. Referring to 16), it is confirmed
sectional macrographs are observed, and the weld depth that there are emission lines of Mg I, Mg II, Ar II, Ca I, Mn
penetration and weld width are measured. I, Ti I and Zn I in the welding plasma. Three kinds of wires
 Spectral Analysis of Welding Plasma of Magnesium Alloy Using Flux Coated Wire 1911

12000 25000

Mg I 516. 732nm
Mg I 518. 362nm

Mg I 552. 840nm
Ca I 585. 745nm
(a)

Ca I 526. 424nm
10000
20000

Mg I 518. 362nm
Intensity (a.u.)

Mg I 516. 732nm
8000
15000
Intensity (a.u.)

Ca I 487. 813nm
Zn I 481. 053nm
Mn I 478. 342nm

Ca I 534. 947nm

Mg I 383. 826nm
Mg II 279. 553nm

6000
Mg I 293. 673nm

Mg I 552. 846nm
Mg I 448. 133nm
Mg I 293. 673nm

Ca I 504. 162nm

Mg I 470. 299nm
10000
Ti I 393. 424nm

Ar II 434. 811nm
4000

5000
2000

0 380 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560
200 300 400 500 600
Wavelength, λ/nm
Wavelength, λ/nm 25000

Mg I 516. 732nm

Mg I 518. 362nm
(b)
Fig. 3 The spectra of welding plasma with the AFM01 flux coated wire.
20000

Intensity (a.u.)
emission spectra are compared, the plasma spectra from
383 nm to 555 nm in the stable processes of TIG welding are 15000

Mg I 552. 846nm
Mg I 383. 826nm

Mn I 478. 342nm

Mn I 482. 352nm
shown in Fig. 4. The spectra of plasmas in TIG welding

Zn I 481. 053nm
Mg I 448. 133nm
with three kinds of wires are acquired under the same

Mg I 470. 299nm
10000

Ti I 393. 424nm
acquiring parameters of the spectrograph, so the influence of

Ar II 434. 811nm
the spectrograph on the intensity of the spectral line is
neglected. Through the comparison of plasma spectra of 5000
three kinds of wires, it is found that the intensities of
emission spectra of Mg I when flux coated wires are used
are much stronger than that in TIG welding with normal 380 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560
wires. In TIG welding with the AFM01 flux coated wires, Wavelength, λ/nm
25000
the intensity of Mg I 518.362 nm (4s3 S1  3p3 P02 ) is two (c)
times of that of normal wire. With flux TiO2 coated wires,
the intensity of Mg I 518.362 nm increases about 10% of 20000

Mg I 518. 362nm
that of normal wires.
Intensity (a.u.)

Mg I 516. 732nm
15000
3.3 Electron temperature
Mg I 383. 826nm

In the experiment, the changes of Mg I spectral lines are

Mg I 448. 133nm

Mg I 552. 846nm
the most obvious and the spectral lines have the best noise
Mg I 470. 299nm

10000
Ti I 453. 558nm
Ti I 393. 424nm

Ti I 430. 056nm

immunity. Therefore, emission lines of Mg I in Table 3 are

used to estimate to the electron temperature in this paper.
The electron temperature is estimated by Boltzmann plot 5000

method. If we consider the weld plasma to be in local

thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE), the electron temperature
380 400 420 440 460 480 500 520 540 560
is approximate to the excitation temperature. The excitation
levels within the plasma are populated according to Wavelength, λ/nm
Boltzmann distribution and the ratio of the line intensities
Fig. 4 The spectra of welding plasma. (a) The spectra of welding plasma
can be described by: with normal wire; (b) The spectra of welding plasma with the AFM01 flux
I1 =I2 ¼ A1 g1
2 =ðA2 g2
1 Þ expððE1  E2 Þ=kTe Þ ð1Þ coated wire; (c) The spectra of welding plasma with the TiO2 flux coated
wire.

Table 3 Atomic data of Mg I spectral lines.17Þ

Transition Statistical weight upper lever

Wavelength
Transition probability of the upper level energy

/nm
A/108 S1 g E/eV
383.829 3d 3 D3  3p3 P02 1.61 7 5.946
470.299 5d 1 D2  3p1 P01 0.219 5 6.981
516.732 4s3 S1  3p3 P00 0.113 3 5.108
517.268 4s3 S1  3p3 P01 0.337 3 5.108
552.840 4d 1 D2  3p1 P01 0.139 5 6.588
1912 Z. Zhang and F. Zhang

17.5 where Te is the electron temperature of plasma, M is the

atomic mass of the emitter and
is the wavelength of spectral
17.0
y = -1.4678x + 24.475 line.
16.5 R2 = 0.9224 The emission line interested in the welding experiments is
Ln (l λ /gA)

Mg I 516.732 nm. According to eq. (2), when the electron

16.0
temperature is 10,000 K, the Doppler line width of Mg I
15.5 516.732 nm is about 7:5  103 nm. In the present experi-
ment, the line width of Mg I 516.732 nm is larger than
15.0
1  101 nm, so Doppler broadening of spectral line profile
T=7900K±400K
14.5 is also negligible and Stark broadening is the main factor
to influence the profile of the spectral line. The electron
14.0
density of welding arc plasma can be estimated from Stark
5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 broadening effect.
S
Energy, E/eV Ne 

1=2 =2w  1016 (cm3 ) ð4Þ
Fig. 6 Boltzmann plot for mg atom and electron temperature with the S
where Ne is the electron density,

1=2 is the full width at
AFM01 flux wire. half-maximum intensity of spectral lines and w is the electron
collision broadening parameter, which can be acquired in
Ref. 19). The electron density of welding plasma is estimated
Table 4 The local electron temperature and density of TIG welding plasma
with the normal wires and the activating flux coated wires. by Stark broadening of the spectral line Mg I 516.732 nm.
The broadening parameter w under different temperatures
Electron temperature Electron density
Flux is obtained from reference (0.0256 at 5000 K, 0.0326 at
Te /K Ne =1016 cm3
10000 K and 0.0424 at 20000 K).16) The electron densities of
Normal 9000  500 K 2.49
TIG welding plasma with the normal wires and the activating
TiO2 8700  400 K 3.17
flux coated wires are listed in Table 4.
AFM01 7900  400 K 4.68
The electron density of flux coated wire welding plasma is
much higher than TIG welding. When the flux coated wires
of the composite flux AFM01 is added, the electron density
where
and I are the wavelength and intensity of the increases from 2:49  1016 cm3 to 4:68  1016 cm3 ; with
spectral line, E and g are the excitation energy and statis- the TiO2 activating flux coated wire, the electron density
tical weight of the upper transition level, A is transition increase to 3:17  1016 cm3 .
probability of the electron from the upper level to the lower
level, k is the Boltzmann constant and Te is the electron 3.5 Local thermal equilibrium (LTE) analyses
temperature. In spectral diagnosis of welding plasma by Boltmann plot
In Boltzmann-plot method to calculate the electron method, the most important is that the welding plasma is
temperature, the spectral lines of the same atomic or ion assumed to be optically thin and in local thermal equilibrium
are usually selected and they should fulfill the criterion (LTE). It means that the particles have an energy distribution
given by the Maxwell equation and the collision processes
E1  E2 > kTe ð2Þ
are dominant relative to the radiation processes.16)
on the upper energy levels.18) Figure 6 shows a sample of The assumption of LTE is fulfilled when the electron
Boltzmann plot data for mg atom and electron temperature of density is high enough so that
the AFM01 flux wire welding. The electron temperature of
Ne  1:6  1012 Te1=2 ð
EÞ3 (cm3 ) ð5Þ
TIG welding plasma is shown in Table 4. The result shows
that the electron temperature of the plasma in TIG welding where Ne is the electron density, Te (K) is the electron
with the normal wires is about 9000 K  500 K; when the temperature and
E (ev) is the largest energy gap in the
activating flux coated wires of the composite flux AFM01 is atomic energy level system of plasma. When the electron
added, the electron temperature decrease to 7900 K  400 K; temperature is 20,000 K, the threshold value of electron
with the TiO2 activating flux coated wires, the electron density to fulfill LTE assumption is about 4:14  1015 cm3 .
temperature decrease to 8700  400 K. In the present experiment, the electron densities of TIG
welding plasma with the normal wires and activating flux
3.4 Electron density coated wires are higher than the threshold value. So the
The profile of an emission line can be affected by different welding plasma satisfies the assumption of LTE and the
mechanisms of broadening: natural broadening, thermal electron temperature and density estimated by Boltzmann
Doppler broadening, Stark broadening and instrumental plot method and Stark broadening effect reflect the char-
broadening.19) In welding process, Stark and Doppler broad- acteristics of the plasma correctly.
ening mechanisms have great effect on profile of the spectral
line, the other mechanisms are negligible. The Doppler 3.6 Video captures of arc plasma
broadening can be calculated from eq. (3) The MS25K high speed camera is used to capture the
images of the electric arc. Using the camera 1072 images can


D ¼ 7:16  107
ðTe =MÞ1=2 (nm) ð3Þ
be captured in a second. The narrow-band filter is used to
 Spectral Analysis of Welding Plasma of Magnesium Alloy Using Flux Coated Wire 1913

Fig. 5 Arc plasma of Mg I in TIG welding with normal wire and AFM01 flux coated wire.

acquire the arc plasma to study the variation of arc plasma. It is confirmed that there are emission lines of Mg I, Mg II,
The wavelength and the full width at half-maximum Ar II, Ca I, Mn I, Ti I and Zn I in the arc plasma with AFM01
(FWHM) of the narrow-band filter are 514.9 nm and 6 nm. flux wires. The ionization energies of the Ar, Mg and Ca
Figure 5 shows the arc plasma of welding magnesium alloy atoms are 15.7 eV, 7.6 eV and 6.1 eV. The electron energy
with AFM01 flux coated wire and normal wire under the need to excite the Mg and flux elements atoms is lower than
standard welding conditions (Table 2). In the FWHM of the that of Ar atom. Then the ionization degree of the arc plasma
narrow-band filter, the emission lines spectrum are spectrum should increase when the evaporation of magnesium and the
of Mg I in the welding plasma. In this case, intensity of arc activated flux elements (the dissociation of the flux) exist
plasma image through the filter in includes the continuous in the regions of the arc plasma. With the ionization degree
spectrum and line spectrum. Compared with the line of the arc plasma increased, the electron temperature of the
spectrum, the intensity of the continuous spectrum is very arc plasma would decrease. In the experiment, the electron
weak. Accordingly the intensity of arc plasma image is temperature of arc plasma in TIG welding with normal
dependent on the intensity of line spectrum of Mg I. wire is about 9000 K  500 K and that of the composite
For the ACTIG welding, it includes EN (negative flux AFM01 coated wire decreases to 7900 K  400 K. The
electrode period) cycle and EP (positive electrode period) electron density of the arc plasma would increase with the
cycle. In TIG welding with normal wire, the arc plasma is ionization degree of the arc plasma increased. The electron
weak. In TIG welding with AFM01 flux coated wire, the density of the AFM01 flux wires arc plasma is much higher
views for EN period suggest that the arc plasma of Mg I than that of normal wires in TIG welding of magnesium
intensifies and expands in a large extent and the views for alloy.
EP period suggest that the plasma of Mg I intensifies a little. The current density of conducting channel depends on
It indicates that mg atoms evaporates and burns severely and the electron density of the plasma. The relationship between
the plasma expands due to the evaporation of magnesium the current density and the electron density can be described
alloy. The variation of mg atoms in arc plasma is consistent by:
with the plasma spectrum. The arc voltage variation is jx ¼ e
N e
K e
X ð6Þ
recorded in TIG welding. It observed that the effective arc 9
pffiffiffiffi
voltage of the normal wires is 12 V, that of the AFM01 flux Ke ¼ 2:83  10
= T ð7Þ
coated wires is 15 V, and that of the TiO2 flux coated wires where jx is the current density, Ne is the electron density, Ke
is 13 V. is the electron mobility and X is the electric field intensity,

is the electron mean free path, which is a constant in the
3.7 Discussions arc plasma of TIG welding.
In the TIG welding process of magnesium alloy, magne- The electron mobility Ke depends on the electron
sium vaporizes severely due to its low melting point and temperature and the electric field intensity X will be
boiling point under the action of flux.20) According to the suitable for the arc voltage. It observed that the electron
study by P. Sahoo,21) the presence of the activated elements temperature decreases when the AFM01 flux wires are used,
(the dissociation of the flux) in welding ambient will increase the electron mobility Ke increases with the electron
the vaporization rates of the weld metal. In the experiments, temperature decrease. It observed that the effective arc
the spectral lines of Mg element intensify when the AFM01 voltage is 12 V with normal wire, 15 V with AFM01 flux
flux wires are used, at the same time, the arc plasma images wire and 13 V with TiO2 flux wire in the welding. The
of Mg atom observed by narrow-band filters expand. It effective arc voltage increases when the AFM01 flux wires
shows that the evaporation of magnesium alloy intensify are used, the electric field intensity X increases with the arc
under the effect of activating fluxes. Then the quantity of voltage increases. The electron density increases from
mg atom increase in the arc plasma. 2:49  1016 cm3 to 4:68  1016 cm3 when the AFM01
1914 Z. Zhang and F. Zhang

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