Enhancing the Width of Molten Pool and the Tracking of Welding Current in Gas Metal Arc Welding Processes Using a Robust PIλDμ Controller

Abstract

With a high-speed welding power source based on better performance power electronic components and modern control methods, self-regulation of the electrode contact-tube to work-piece distance may be provided to offer additional features that can be fine-tuned to automate and improve the gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process. In this article, the dynamic properties of a self-regulated electrode to workpiece have been investigated when the length between the torch and the workpiece changes over time. The significant parts of arc welding processes have been analyzed and the suggested fractional PID (PIλDμ) regulator has been created to keep the welding current during the fusing and short-circuiting of electric wires within a specified range. In this study, the most effective FOPID regulator parameters is designed with a weighted sum multi-objective optimization technique using the Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO) technique with weights associated with various criteria including Integral Absolute Error (IAE), Integral Time Absolute Error (ITAE), Integral Time Square Error (ITSE), and Integral Square Error (ISE). Numerical simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK are conducted to indicate the usefulness of the proposed PIλDμ controller over conventional PID controller and knowledge of the processes, which adjust the welding voltage and arc current in reaction to variations in arc length. The simulation results show that this automatic arc welding control system can perform effectively.