Time Controlled Power Supply Design for Magnetically Impelled Arc Butt Welding

Magnetically Impelled Arc Butt (MIAB) Welding is a forge welding technique that is used to join ferrous pipes and tubes using high speed rotation of an arc as the heating source that softens the weld parts and a short duration upset force for forming the weld. Parametrical analysis conducted for experimental joining of carbon steel tubes of 21.5mm Outer Diameters (OD) and the thickness ranging between 1.5-2mm suggested the control of current in the two stages of this weld technique. This work attempts to simulate the control of power supply circuit using SIMULINK -MATLAB, so as to provide two current levels for the two stages of this weld technique. 3Phase to DC conversion circuit is used and the difference in current levels is brought about with the inclusion of time-controlled change in the circuit resistance. This study can be extended further by physical implementation of the proposed power system to verify the efficient control of the current levels in bringing out an effective weld.