Argon arc welding to energy storage capacitor

Can you use a capacitive discharge welder to weld stainless steel?

After finding that I could do basic pulse arc welding using the TIG welder, I decided to have a go at a capacitive discharge welder, again primarily for joining stainless steel wire for vacuum tubes. The plan was to use a TIG torch and dump a energy storage capacitor into the gap to give a high-current pulse.

What happens when argon shielding gas is used in arc welding?

The formation of the taper occurs during gas metal arc welding of steel, aluminum and titanium, when using argon shielding gas [Y.S. Kim, 19891. There are a number of consequences of this taper formation. Firstly, Y.S. Kim [I9891 has shown that the melting rate of the electrode is controlled by heat transfer across the liquid-solid Fig. 1.

Why is argon arc heat carried by electron current?

The correct explanation lies in the variation of the thermal conductivity of the gases. Although eighty percent of the heat in the argon arc is carried by the electron current, twenty percent is due to heat conductance across a gas boundary layer at the anode surface. IQuiqley et al., 1973; Dinesclu and Pfender, 19801

How does heat flow through an argon arc?

Although eighty percent of the heat in the argon arc is carried by the electron current, twenty percent is due to heat conductance across a gas boundary layer at the anode surface. IQuiqley et al., 1973; Dinesclu and Pfender, 19801 Heat flow across this boundary layer is controlled by the thermal conductivity of the gas.

How does argon affect anode spot size?

With argon, the anode spot is more diffuse and grows noticably in size as the current increases. At sufficiently high currents (for example, above 23.0 amperes with 1.6 mm diameter steel electrodes) the anode spot fills the molten drop and begins to climb the cylindrical side walls of the electrode.

How does a welder arc work?

When the voltage becomes sufficient, the spark gap breaks down, dumping the stored charge into the primary of the output transformer. The secondary of the output transformer is in series with the welder output, so a HV pulse appears superimposed on top of the welder output. This is sufficient to start the arc.