• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.41-48
• /
• 1997

For analyzing the characteristics of arc welding processes, an algorithm is necessary to determine the metal transfer mode, arc stability and weld quality. In this study, the weight of spatter during welding was selected for determining the arc stability, which is very relevant to the occurrence of spatter. Weld spatter occurs mainly at the moment when the short circuit is formed and also when it is broken causing the arc to restrike. Based on this fact, the arc stability can be determined by finding the suitable parameters of welding current and arc voltage which influence the weight of spatter. Through various welding experiments, the peak current, the arcing time, the short circuit time, the current and its slope at the start of short circuit were found mainly to influence the weight of spatter. For the convenient usage, an index was proposed by combining all these parameters. It was found that the index is very effective for determining the arc stability.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.57-67
• /
• 1996

With an expansion in automation of welding processes, emphasis has been shifted from other welding processes to the GMA welding. However, there is a problem with this process that the spatter occurs very frequently. In GMA welding, there are several types in the way of metal transfer from the electrode wire to the weld pool, which have a close relatonship with the spatter genetration. This study was concerned with the spatter occurring in the short-circuiting transfer. In welding with short-circuiting, the electromagnetic force formed by the welding current facilitatics the rupture of the metal bridge between the wire and workpiece and ensures the normal process of the welding process. However, the spatter can be genetrated from the droplet because of the upward magnetic force, when the droplet contacts with the weld pool. The passage of current through the bridge results in the accumulation of the thermal energy, which causes the bridge to explode in the final stage of short-circuiting, thus forming the spatter. Based on the above phenomena in conjunction with other experimental results published, the physical phenomenon related with the occurrence of spatter was modeled and the current waveform was investigated to reduce the spatter. Finally, the fuzzy rule based method was proposed to predict the time of short-circuiting and arcing in the metal transfer.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2011.07a
• /
• pp.1536-1537
• /
• 2011

The high-voltage circuit breaker plays an important role in the electrical system because there has been a need for suitable switching devices capable of initiating and interrupting the flow of the electric fault current. It continues as the contacts recede from each other and as the newly created gap is bridged by a plasma. The arc plasma happens inside the insulation nozzle of SF6 self-blast interrupter which is newly developed as the next-generation switching principle. The ablation of PTFE nozzle is caused by this high temperature medium, the PTFE vapor from the nozzle surfaces flows toward the outlets and the pressure chamber. The vapor makes the pressure of the chamber increased by heat and mass transfer from the arcing zone. Because the rate of ablation depends on the magnitude of applied current, it decreases when the current goes to zero. The compressed gas inside the chamber flows reversely toward the arc plasma during this moment. According to this principle, the arc can be cooled down and the fault current can be interrupted successfully. In this study, we calculate arc plasmas and thermal-flow characteristics caused by fault current interruption inside a SF6 self-blast interrupter, and to investigate the effect of PTFE ablation on the whole arcing history.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.76-84
• /
• 1994

Droplet transfer modes due to welding conditions and the effect of Ca in welding wire on droplet transfer were investigated. Droplet transfer mode in CO$_{2}$ welding was classified into 2 modes, that is, short circuit and globular transfer, with increasing welding current and voltage. With increasing Ca content in wire, repulsive pressure due to vaporization of Ca was considerably increased. In short circuit transfer region, arcing time was increased and droplet transfer cycle was decreased, with increasing Ca content. In globular transfer region, welding condition for globular transfer was lower current region, with increasing Ca content.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2001.07a
• /
• pp.243-245
• /
• 2001

This paper presents a new classification method for high impedance faults in power systems. Results of phase plane trajectory with Clarke modal transformation using postfault current and voltage are utilized to classify types of arcing faults. The performance of the proposed method is tested on a typical 154 kV korean transmission system under various fault conditions using EMTP. As can be seen from results, phase plane trajectory of postfault current should be combined with that of o component from Clarke modal transformation to give reliability of clear fault classification. Thus the proposed method can classify arcing faults including LIFs and HIFs accurately in power systems.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.85-102
• /
• 1995

Weld quality of GMA welding processes is closely related to arc stability. Although many researches on arc stability have been performed, real-time estimation of arc stability has not been attempted. For instance, Mita proposed a off-line statistical method in which short circuiting and arcing time, and voltage and current wave forms were sampled to assess arc stability. But this method is not suitable to assess arc stability for GMA welder which employ inverter power source due to its controlled current and voltage wave forms. In this paper, the relationship between are stability and wire feed rate fluctuation is analyzed to propose new criterion for inverter power source. When arc voltage and arc current and arcing time are analyzed, we can assess arc stability only for short circuit transfer mode. When wire feed rate is analyzed, we can estimate arc stability udner the condition of spray transfer mode as well. Hence, the wire feed rate is chosen for monitoring process variable to cover possible metal transfer modes in GMAW. Through this research, it has been identified that arc stability in GMA welding processes is closely related to wire fed rate. When inverter power source is used, conventional statistical method of estimating arc stability, such as Mita index, is no longer valid due to its controlled voltage and current wave forms. Arc stability has been also examined in phase plane diagram.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 1999.11d
• /
• pp.1054-1056
• /
• 1999

It is necessary to install the arc generation facility to obtain the important technology for the design of breakers and switches, and the improvement of their performance and reliability. With this facility it is possible to study the characteristics of Arc in air/gas/vacuum insulation environment. The arc generation facility briefly consists of capacitor bank which can charge enormous energy, an air-core reactor, and several measurement equipments. This facility can simulates the arc phenomena in breakers and switches by means of generating high currents. In order to the protect electrode damage during the arcing time in arc extinguishing chamber, we installed auxiliary current source in addition to main capacitor bank, This auxiliary current source produces relatively small arc between electrodes before high current generation by main capacitor bank. Therefore it is possible to observe and measure the arcing phenomenon without damage of electrodes.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.11 no.1 s.34
• /
• pp.18-22
• /
• 2007

The fault current through the earth originated from a power line ground fault might cause arcing through the soil to an adjacent pipeline, which might bring about not only a catastrophic accident such as gas explosion and oil leakage but also a hazard to the safety of workers responsible for the maintenance and repair of the pipeline. In this paper we investigated the arcing phenomena through soil between a power line tower and a pipeline and outlined the standards for the separation distance of a buried pipeline adjacent to the power line tower.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
• /
• 2006.06a
• /
• pp.234-235
• /
• 2006

In this study, we experimented deterioration characteristics of PVC insulation wires for electrical apparatus by series arcing and analyzed the heat generation at the contacts of wires, glowing/growing process of copper oxide, waveforms of contact voltage, current, power dissipation, and so on. We found out that how glowing contacts and surface arcing can decompose PVC insulation and that subsequent series arc can lead to ignition. We expect that these results are useful for improving fire protection technology by providing a better understanding of how electrical fires can initiate.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.7-14
• /
• 2009

Several electrical loads such as inrush current, normal operation arcing and non-sinusoidal loads have normal current waveforms similar to arc waveforms. To detect arcs in such loads, therefore, it is necessary to analyze difference between current waveforms with or without arcs. In this paper, using apparatuses of arc generation in UL 1699, arcs are generated in these loads and, then, arc current waveforms are investigated in both the time and the frequency domains to find arc characteristics. This investigation shows that arc current signals have shoulders at some zero current points in the time domain and increment of spectrum magnitude in all over frequency domain. It also shows that the arc characteristics at normal operation arcing and non-sinusoidal loads are detected more easily in the frequency domain than in the time domain. This investigated arc characteristics are expected to be utilized as the basis of development of arc-fault circuit interrupters.