A preliminary study on the double cold wire gas metal arc welding process

The increasing demands in productivity and reliability in welding have led to the development of newer welding processes. These processes frequently have superior deposition rates; however, they might lead to a wider heat-affected zone (HAZ) which might impair their mechanical properties. Here, a promising process termed the double cold wire gas metal arc welding (DCW-GMAW) is evaluated, offering higher deposition rates via feeding two cold wires into the weld pool to improve productivity. In contrast to similar processes, the HAZ of DCW-GMAW welds are smaller than gas metal arc welding (GMAW) welds. This work reports a preliminary assessment of the feasibility of the process in terms of electrical arc characteristics and stability. High-speed video acquisition was used to analyze the metal transfer across the arc. Finally, standard metallographic techniques and Vickers hardness were used to assess the weld cross sections and microstructures. The results demonstrate the feasibility of DCW-GMAW based on the process stability at different cold wire feed rates while also offering high deposition (high productivity) of weld deposits with desirable hardness due to increased acicular ferrite content.