JFE TECHNICAL REPORT

No. 20 (Mar. 2015)

Narrow Gap Gas Metal Arc (GMA) Welding

Technologies†
MURAYAMA Masatoshi*1   OAZAMOTO Daisuke*2   OOE Kensuke*3  

Abstract: ment effect as a result of reheating. NKK (now JFE

This paper describes the latest implementation status Engineering) also independently developed the “high
of the narrow gap welding process by the high speed speed rotating arc narrow gap welding method,” which
rotating arc method developed by JFE Engineering in it applied to its own products and sold to customers
1980s. In case of the engine crankcases, adaptive con- beginning the 1980s. Subsequently, with the aims of
trol function of the welding speed corresponding to the achieving higher efficiency and a higher level of auto-
variation of the groove width has been newly developed. mation, JFE Engineering also developed an adaptive
Tandem welding system by one operator without watch- control function of welding speed by use of an arc sen-
ing the two equipment has been also employed, shorten- sor, and promoted expanded application by adding new
ing the welding lead-time to less than half that of the oscillation patterns.
conventional method. Furthermore, for innovation of the This paper presents an outline of the high speed
narrow gap welding, another oscillation pattern of the rotating arc narrow gap welding process and the recent
welding torch by the circular weaving has been added to condition of practical application, and also reports on
the conventional equipment. In case of the turbine mem- the status of efforts to improve the penetration shape by
bers, application range has been expanded to be able to addition of a circular weaving function, improve
apply to the inclined narrow gap joints, and it was con- response to variations in groove width, expand applica-
firmed that the groove width could be decreased from tion to inclined welded joints, etc., and to realize a nar-
the conventional 13 mm to about 8 mm. rower welding gap.

1. Introduction 2. High Speed Rotating Arc

In welding of extra-heavy gauge plates with thick- Narrow Gap Welding Method
nesses exceeding 50 to 100 mm, use of an I-shaped nar-
2.1 History and Types of Narrow Gap Welding
row gap groove is effective, as this groove shape greatly
reduces the cross-sectional area of the groove. Begin- Narrow gap welding process was first developed in
ning in the 1980s, various narrow gap welding methods 1963 by Battelle Memorial Institute in the United States.
were developed and applied into practical uses. I-shaped Much research and development on this technology has
narrow gap grooves are widely used in various types of been carried out in countries around the world, but
large-scale structures because this groove shape not only where practical application is concerned, Japan was the
significantly reducing the welding deposition volume, most enthusiastic. It is generally said that there was a
thereby shortening the welding time as the plate thick- feeling that a variety of narrow gap welding methods
ness increases, but also realizes low strain due to the flowered all at once in Japan in the 1980s. Various inter-
reduced heat input and a fracture toughness improve- pretations have also been given to the definition of nar-

†
Originally published in JFE GIHO No. 34 (Aug. 2014), p. 98–103 *2
Project Planning Sec.,
Tsu Works,
Steel Structure Engineering Sector,
JFE Engineering

*1
Principle (Welding), *3
Planning Sec.,
Machinery Center, Machinery Center,
Industrial Machinery Sector, Industrial Machinery Sector,
JFE Engineering JFE Engineering

147
Copyright © 2015 JFE Steel Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
 Narrow Gap Gas Metal Arc (GMA) Welding Technologies

Table 1 Examples of narrow gap gas metal arc (GMA) welding equipments3)

Method (a) Wave-shaped wire (b) Bent tip (c) Curved tip (d) High speed rotating arc

Principle
of
welding
machine

Groove Groove width : 9 mm (8–14) 16 (15–20) mm 11–13 mm 12–18 mm

width Torch : 6 mm t-35 mm w Nozzle : f 8 mm Torch : 8 mm t-65 mm w Nozzle : f 8 mm
Wire diameter : 1.2 mm 1.2 mm 1.2 mm 1.2 mm
Standard
Arc current : 240 A, Pulsed 110–180 A, Pulsed 260–270 A, Pulsed 300–350 A
welding
Welding speed : 210 mm/min 150–180 mm/min 210 mm/min 220–300 mm/min
conditions
Shielding gas : 20% CO2-Ar 20% CO2-Ar 20% CO2-Ar 20% CO2-Ar
Weaving 0.5–1.5 Hz 0.2–0.6 Hz 4–15 Hz Max. 150 Hz
frequency Amplitude adjustment is easy. Amplitude adjustment is easy. Wire bending width: 2–4 mm Rotating diameter: 7.6 mm
• Reproduces the movement • Simple and high reproduc-
• Oscillates at low speed in • Easy seam tracking by uti-
Features of experienced welders by ibility oscillation mecha-
straight lateral direction lizing arc voltage
detailed control nism

row gap welding, but the generally-accepted definition JFE Engineering4).

is that of an expert committee from that period, namely,
2.2 Features of the High Speed Rotating Arc
“a technique to weld thick plates of more than 30 mm
Narrow Gap Welding Method
thickness either by mechanical or automatic arc welding
process preparing a narrow gap groove compared with The principle of the rotating mechanism in this
the plate thickness (gap is smaller than approximately method will be explained using (d) in Table 1. The weld-
20 mm when plate thickness is under 200 mm and ing wire is supplied into the center of the electrode noz-
smaller than approximately 30 mm when plate thickness zle, and the required amount of eccentricity is given by
is over 200 mm).”1) the eccentric outlet hole of the contact tip. The electrode
Narrow gap welding processes span a diverse range. nozzle is supported by the bearing block, and rotated at
In the original stage of development, gas metal arc weld- high speed in the same direction by the rotating motor.
ing (GMAW) was the main stream, but thereafter, devel- Accordingly, the welding wire and the arc at its tip are
opment also progressed in various other welding pro- rotated at high speed with a diameter corresponding to
cesses such as submerged arc welding and gas tungsten the eccentricity of the contact tip outlet hole. Because
arc welding. Although the main welding position in the this high speed rotation of the arc disperses the heat
earliest period was flat, several narrow gap welding pro- input and the arc pressure, this is remarkably effective in
cesses for horizontal welding and vertical welding have improving the bead formation phenomena.
also been developed2). The influence of the rotating speed of the arc on the
Table 1 shows the main narrow gap welding methods bead formation in narrow gap welding is shown in
(excerpted from the Journal of the Japan Welding Soci- Fig. 1. The welding wire is a 1.2 mm solid wire, the
ety, 1999). In both methods (a) and (c), the arc is oscil- shield gas is 20% CO2-Ar, the welding current is 300 A,
lated in a narrow gap by forcibly bending the wire; how- and the rotating diameter is 8 mm. Without rotation,
ever, due to differences in the wire bending machine, the penetration takes the form of concentrated and central-
oscillation frequency of (c) is higher. On the other hand, ized penetration, which is peculiar to metal active gas
in both methods (b) and (d), the arc is oscillated by (MAG) welding, whereas rotation of the arc results in a
rotating the electrode, which is realized by applying dispersed-type wide penetration shape and penetration at
eccentricity to the contact tip. The oscillation frequency the side walls is increased. In addition, the concaved
is remarkably faster in method (d), and this technology bead surface also becomes more suitable for multi-layer
has the advantage of an automatic seam tracking func- welding. Since the bead shape improvement effect by
tion using an arc sensor. Method (d) is the high speed arc rotation becomes remarkable at 40 Hz and faster,
rotating arc narrow gap welding method developed by 50 Hz has been adopted as the standard rotating speed.

148 JFE TECHNICAL REPORT No. 20 (Mar. 2015)

 Narrow Gap Gas Metal Arc (GMA) Welding Technologies

Photo 1 Applications of the High Speed Rotating Arc welding process

ucts delivered by JFE Engineering is 275 mm. As spe-

cial applications, JFE Engineering also has actual results
of enclosed welding of railway rails6), as shown in (c),
and girth welding of gas pipelines7), as shown in (d).

3. Recent Practical Applications

3.1 Adaptation to Groove Width Variations

When originally developed in the 1980s, an analog
circuit board was used in the high speed rotating arc nar-
row gap welding machine, and arc sensor control was
performed by an operational amplifier. Now, however,
programable logic control is applied to all functions, and
Fig. 1 Influence of the rotating speed on the bead shape setting of the welding conditions and control parameters
has also evolved from a control knob method to a touch
panel system. Accompanying this, improvements in the
Moreover, the arc sensing ability and its response have welding automation function and the operability of the
been improved remarkably, enabling satisfactory seam welding machine have also been realized. As an example
tracking control with a high speed rotating arc. Accord- of this, the present section presents an outline of the
ingly, the target position of the torch can be kept at the adaptive control function for welding speed (deposition
center of the groove at all times, and stable bilaterally- rate) by using the arc sensor.
symmetrical penetration of the side walls can be In actual products, the width of the narrow gap
obtained. groove is not constant. This is due not only to errors in
groove preparation and assembly, but also to variations
2.3 Application of High Speed Rotating Arc
in the amount of shrinkage depending on the location,
Narrow Gap Welding Method
which occur because the intensity of restraint of the joint
Photo 1 shows the main applications of the high is not uniform over the full length of the weld line.
speed rotating arc narrow gap welding method and an Photo 2 shows an example of the appearance of the
example of the cross-sectional bead shape. The main weld bead in an engine frame with a plate thickness of
objects of application by JFE Engineering are (a) heavy 140 mm and a total length of approximately 5 m.
equipment parts, such as piston cylinders and (b) bridge Because the deposited bead height varied by more than
and steel frame structure products such as steel frame 15 mm at maximum, complicated excess metal adjust-
BOX columns5). The maximum plate thickness in prod- ment work was necessary after automatic welding.

JFE TECHNICAL REPORT No. 20 (Mar. 2015) 149

 Narrow Gap Gas Metal Arc (GMA) Welding Technologies

Photo 2 Weld bead variation without the welding speed control

Photo 4 Tandem narrow gap welding of the engine crankcase

operator’ s monitoring. Therefore, during welding of one

working object, a tandem welding method was adopted,
in which one operator is responsible for the operation of
two narrow gap welders. Photo 4 shows an example of
tandem welding. The leading machine and trailing
machine travel in the same direction with a short dis-
tance between the two machines, and after slag removal
work, the welding direction is reversed, and tandem
welding of the next pass is performed in the opposite
order. Adoption of tandem welding has improved the
number of layer passes per unit of time by approxi-
mately 1.75 times, achieving a large improvement in
Photo 3 Adaptive control of the welding speed welding efficiency.

3.3 Demand for further Reduction

of the Groove Width
Therefore, based on the results of torch height con-
trol by the arc sensor, a function which detects varia- The lead time for welding of one engine frame mem-
tions in the weld bead height and automatically adjusts ber was shortened to less than half of the conventional
the welding speed in-process so as to achieve a uniform time as a result of the above-mentioned improvement of
bead height was added. Photo 3 shows the bead appear- operability by adoption of digital control equipment,
ance before the final pass welding. It can be confirmed elimination of the need for excess metal adjustment
that the bead height is substantially uniform over the full welding by adaptive control of the welding speed, and
length of the weld line. The system is designed so that improved efficiency by adoption of the tandem welding
the results of detection of the weld bead height can be method. Because these improvements also prevented
checked from the touch panel. The results confirm that
the bead height variation before the final pass was kept
within±1 mm. As a result of the addition of this adaptive
control function of the welding speed, that is, a function
for adaptation to variations in the groove width, compli-
cated excess metal height adjustment work after final
welding is no longer necessary, and stable weld quality
has been achieved.

3.2 Tandem 1-Operator/2-Welder System

Because the welding system performs automatic
seam tracking control and adaptive control of the weld-
ing speed by the arc sensor, the operator only needs to
check the arc immediately after the start of welding, and
after which welding is basically performed without Photo 5 Distortion restrained members of the narrow gap joint

150 JFE TECHNICAL REPORT No. 20 (Mar. 2015)

 Narrow Gap Gas Metal Arc (GMA) Welding Technologies

welding defects, there were no strong calls from the pro- setting the weaving conditions so that the weaving cen-
duction site for further increase in efficiency. However, ter was the front in the welding direction, the weaving
reduction of welding distortion remained as a deeply- angle was±120 degrees, the end stopping time was
rooted need. Photo 5 shows the appearance of a 0.2 seconds at each end, and the weaving frequency was
deformation-constrained member of an engine frame. As 1.2 Hz (weaving speed: 1 080 degrees per second).
many as eight constrained members are attached in order Figure 3 shows a comparison of the penetration
to constrain the angular deformation caused by more shape in the first pass welding between the conventional
than 30 passes of narrow gap welding, and the man- method and the newly-developed circular weaving
hours required to attach and remove these members method. Although penetration at the corner parts is small
exceed the man-hours necessary for the welding. Thus, a in conventional method, it can be confirmed that the
further reduction of the groove width, which is currently penetration depth at the groove corner parts increases
13 mm, is demanded from the viewpoint of preventing when circular weaving is applied, and the penetration
welding distortion. displays a twin-peak shape. The penetration shape of the
horizontal cross section at the bottom of the groove is
shown in Fig. 4; here, it can be seen that penetration in
4. Study of Innovative Technologies the groove width direction varies slightly with a wave-
in Narrow Gap GMA Welding Method shaped form having the same period as weaving, corre-
sponding to the trajectory of the torch. As lack of fusion
4.1 Outline of Circular Weaving Method
might occur between weaving pitches if the weaving
In the existing high speed rotating arc narrow gap period was too long, the weaving pitch (traveling dis-
welding method, the tolerance with respect to variations tance in one weaving period) in circular weaving is set
in the groove width is small, which gives rise to various to a condition of 5 mm or less.
problems. For example, because the arc rotating diame-
ter cannot be changed during welding, if the groove
width becomes smaller than the specified value, the arc
will climb up the side walls, resulting in unstable weld-
ing. Moreover, since the rotating speed was the only
substantial weaving parameter, it was not possible to
control the heat input distribution in the groove width
direction. Therefore, it has been attempted to control the
heat input distribution in the groove width direction by
changing the torch weaving pattern from unidirectional
continuous rotation to reciprocating circular weaving.
Figure 2 shows an example of the weaving condi-
tions and torch trajectory in circular weaving. In this
weaving condition, priority is given to securing penetra-
tion at the corner parts of the narrow gap. Therefore, the
heat input to the groove corner parts was increased by

Fig. 3 Comparison of the bead shape by torch weaving method

Fig. 2 Example of the trajectory in the circular weaving Fig. 4 Observation of the penetration width

JFE TECHNICAL REPORT No. 20 (Mar. 2015) 151

 Narrow Gap Gas Metal Arc (GMA) Welding Technologies

method with a gap of 5–6 mm has been developed by

4.2 Application to Inclined Joints
using a small-width tungsten electrode, but because the
Because the weaving parameters can be set with contact tip in gas metal arc welding is a consumable, the
asymmetrically in circular weaving, adaptability to target groove width was set at 8 mm, as this seemed to
inclined joints and other types by bilaterally-asymmetri- be the insertion limit with commercial small-diameter
cal joints is also improved. Photo 6 shows the condition tips.
of application to a 15 degrees-inclined narrow gap joint Photo 7 shows an example of the result of 8 mm nar-
of a turbine diaphragm. In case of the conventional row gap welding. Satisfactory results were obtained by
method, penetration was shallow at the groove corner applying the circular weaving method. Differ from
part on the lower side of the inclined joint, and lack of actual products, the constraint of this test specimen was
fusion easily occurred. However, with the circular weav- weak, and as a result, welding shrinkage caused the side
ing method, it has been confirmed that stable weld qual- plate to deform in an arched shape. For this reason, the
ity can be obtained in actual welding as a result of groove width of narrow gap joints changes with progress
improvement of the penetration shape by adopting bilat- of the welding pass. In the conventional high speed
erally-asymmetrical weaving conditions. rotating arc method, the weaving width (i.e., rotating
diameter) is fixed, but in the circular weaving method, it
4.3 Efforts to Achieve further Reduction
is possible to make fine adjustments in the weaving
of the Groove Width
width corresponding to changes in the groove width,
In the narrow gap joint of the turbine diaphragm which expands the allowable range of groove width
mentioned above, one plate was an extra-heavy carbon variation. It may be noted that two methods of fine
steel plate, while the other was a thin stainless steel weaving width adjustment are used together; namely,
plate with a thickness of about 6 mm. Accordingly, even when the weaving width is reduced, the weaving angle
in I-groove narrow gap welding, the welding distortion of circular weaving is decreased, and when the width is
of the thin stainless steel plate was large, and an even increased, linear reciprocal weaving of the welding head
smaller heat input had been required. Therefore, reduc- traverse axis is performed simultaneously with circular
tion of the existing 13 mm groove width was studied. In weaving.
gas tungsten arc welding, an ultra-narrow gap welding
4.4 Combination with J-STARTM Welding
Since spatter easily occurs in conventional narrow
gap welding with a CO2 gas shield, MAG gas (20%
CO2-Ar) welding, in which droplet transfer takes the
spray type, had been adopted, as shown in Table 1.
J-STARTM welding8), which was developed by JFE Steel,
has the advantage of minimizing spatter because spray
transfer occurs even with a CO2 gas shield.
Therefore, weldability in narrow gap welding with
the J-STARTM wire was investigated. With the conven-
tional high speed rotating arc method, no significant dif-
ference was observed in penetration to the both side
walls when the J-STARTM wire was used, but an increase
Photo 6 Application to the inclined narrow gap joints in the penetration depth was confirmed with the circular
weaving method.
Photo 8 shows a comparison of the penetration shape
in circular weaving method with an 8 mm groove width
when using the conventional wire and the J-STARTM
wire. The welding heat input decreases because it is nec-
essary to increase the welding speed when the groove
width is decreased, assuming a constant welding current
and welding bead height. Therefore, although penetra-
tion of the groove corner parts was barely adequate with
conventional MAG welding, it can be seen that satisfac-

Photo 7 An example of 8 mm narrow gap welding “J-STAR” is registered trademark in Japan.

152 JFE TECHNICAL REPORT No. 20 (Mar. 2015)

 Narrow Gap Gas Metal Arc (GMA) Welding Technologies

ther reduction of the groove width and welding of

inclined joints, was also reported. The main points are
enumerated below.
(1) In order to respond to variations in groove width, an
adaptive control function for the welding speed by
using the arc sensor was developed. This has elimi-
nated the need for complicated excess metal height
adjustment work after production welding and con-
tributed to stabilizing weld quality.
(2) A one operator/two welding machine tandem weld-
ing method was adopted, shortening the lead time in
welding of engine frame members to less than one-
half of the conventional time.
Photo 8 Comparison of the penetration shapes
(3) A circular weaving function was newly added to the
existing narrow gap welding machine, expanding the
range of application to bilaterally-asymmetrical
tory penetration can be obtained with J-STARTM CO2 joints such as 15 degrees-inclined joints. The poten-
welding. This appears to be an effect of the strong con- tial of this technology for reducing the current
vection flow of the weld pool, which is a distinctive fea- 13 mm groove width to approximately 8 mm was
ture of J-STARTM welding, and the heat of dissociation confirmed.
of the CO2 gas. Moreover, in explaining this difference,
it is also conjectured that the high oscillation speed of References
the arc in the high speed rotating arc method prevents 1) Welding Guide Book I by Technical Commission on Welding Pro-
the formation of a depression in the weld pool directly cess of the Japan Welding Society, Narrow Gap Welding. 1986,
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2) Hatano, Rei at el. All Position Narrow-Gap Welding for Heavy
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sion is formed in the weld pool and as a result, the pene- 1995, vol. 32, no. 6, p. 379–382. (Japanese)
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to a remarkable degree. p. 179–198. (Japanese)
4) Sugitani, Yuji; Kobayashi, Yukio; Murayama, Masatoshi. Devel-
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The features of the high speed rotating arc welding Narrow Gap Welding Process with High Speed Rotating Arc to
method, which is a unique narrow gap welding method Box Column Joints of Heavy Thick Plates. JFE Technical Report.
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JFE TECHNICAL REPORT No. 20 (Mar. 2015) 153

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