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CMT+P welding is less susceptible to hot cracking than the MAG welding process due to use of low heat input properties. Solidification cracking was found in all weld specimens that had greater 0.39KJ/mm heat inputs. Cracking occurs because of the contraction stresses generates during cooling. Hydrogen cracking is found in HAZ with low heat input parameters, this type of cracking occurred because of very rapid cooling and therefore not enough time to allow the hydrogen to dissipate from the specimen. To eliminate this type of cracking the experiment could be repeated by adding heating during welding to control and reduce the cooling rate. Due to high carbon content in the steel and very fast cooling the microstructure of the weld is martensitic in the base metal as well as the HAZ. Microstructure in the weld and base metal is martensitic due to high carbon con-tent and rapid cooling. At low heat inputs dilution is less and therefore lower carbon content in weld pool. Better weld appearance and weld quality is achieved with CMT+P welding process than the conventional GMA welding processes because of the new wire movement technology during welding

Les laves de l’arc des Petites Antilles présentent une large gamme de compositions le long de l'arc et au sein d'un même centre volcanique. De précédentes études ont montré une variation de l'influence des fluides issus de la plaque océanique subductée le long de l’arc et au sein d’une même île. Cependant, la nature des fluides et l'importance de leurs contributions sont encore débattues. Afin d'apporter de nouvelles contraintes sur les conditions de genèse des magmas ainsi que sur l'influence et la nature des fluides issus du slab, des scories magnésiennes provenant de St. Vincent et Grenade, situées au sud de l’arc, ont été utilisés. Les compositions en éléments légers, traces et isotopes stables ont été déterminées par sonde ionique dans les inclusions vitreuses piégées dans les olivines, donnant un accès direct aux compositions des magmas primitifs, non affectés par les processus superficiels. La combinaison des différentes mesures a permis de mettre en évidence l’influence de trois sortes de fluides sur les sources mantelliques : 1- un fluide de compositions proche de celle de l’eau de mer, probablement relâché lors de la déshydratation du manteau serpentinisé entraîné en profondeur par le slab, 2- des fluides de déshydratation de la croûte océanique subductée et 3- des fluides issus de la déshydratation des sédiments. Ces fluides aqueux montrent des concentrations différentes en éléments dissous, reflétant la profondeur à laquelle ils sont extraits. L’ensemble des données révèle une genèse des magmas à plus forte profondeur et plus faible taux de fusion (7-15%) à Grenade, ceux de St. Vincent étant extraits à 1190-1220°C et 13-14 kbar avec un taux de fusion de 10-20%. / The Lesser Antilles arc lavas display a large range of compositions. Previous studies have suggested a variable influence of fluids derived from the subducted oceanic lithosphere along the arc and within individual islands. The fluid contributions and their nature are still a matter of debate. In order to bring new constraints on magmagenesis conditions and on the influence and nature of fluids from the slab on the mantle source, high magnesia scoriae from St. Vincent and Grenada, in the south of the arc, have been used. Different analyses (light and trace elements, ?D, ??Li, ?11B, ?18O, ?34S) have been performed on olivine-hosted melt inclusions, using ion probe. Their study gives a direct access to the primitive magma compositions as yet unaffected by superficial processes. The association of several measurements permit three types of fluid components to be highlighted: 1- a seawater-like fluid, probably released by serpentinized mantle dehydration when it is pulled down by the slab, 2- fluids deriving from altered oceanic crust dehydration and 3- fluids issued from sediment dehydration. These aqueous fluids have different solute contents, reflecting their extraction depths. This dataset suggest a deeper genesis and lower partial melting rate (7-15%) for Grenada melts, St. Vincent melts being generated at 1190-1220°C, 13-14 kbar, from 10-20% partial melting.

The feasibility of fully automatic GMAW processes may rely on the development of sophisticated equipment to emulate the manual welding torch oscillation pattern or on the development of high level methods of control to prevent the appearance of defects, especially the lack of sidewall fusion. An intermediate solution is to optimise the weaving parameters of a conventional pattern oscillator in such a way as to minimise the level of rejection. A prototype of a computerised system to work with Pulsed-GMAW equipment, in the vertical-up position, was proposed to produce a minimal level of rejection for welds in plates up to 25 mm thick. The system basically consists of optimised mode control algorithms, based on theoretical and experimental models of weld pool behaviour. Three tasks are performed by the system; the selection of parameters for an optimum working point, an off-line simulation of the operation and real-time error monitoring of the process. Statistical experimental modelling was applied in order to build most of the optimised models, because of the large number of variables to be treated and their complex inter-correlation. The welding variables were correlated with single responses. Partial and Correlation Analysis techniques were used to discover the relationship between the variables and the responses. Regression Analysis was then applied as a means of obtaining the 'weight' of the most significant variables. Finally, since some variables were found to be collinear, a corrective technique for biased variables was employed. Acceptance criteria for bead shapes were proposed and assessed. The effect of the oscillation parameters and other welding variables on the bead formation was analyzed and an operational 'envelope' for the parameters determined. A theoretical approach to predict the occurrence of poorly shaped beads, due to the lack of metal bridge between the joint walls, was successfully developed and applied in parallel with the statistical experimental methods. Equations for optimising the bead shape and for determining the operational envelope contours were subsequently generated and evaluated. An extension of the system to an actual adaptive control scheme was discussed and sensors and signals to be used were evaluated. Finally, a process instability phenomenon in long test plates was identified and investigated. This instability may prevent the use of GMA W in some conditions in the vertical-up position.

Argon TIG arc temperatures have been measured for a wide range of arc parameters using the 'Fowler-Milne' spectroscopic method. Prompted by widespread disagreement amongst temperatures published by previous groups, a detailed investigation has been carried out into those experimental and theoretical aspects of the measurement process that may have led to incorrect results. The tests have included the variation of experimental parameters, the choice of Abel inversion procedure, and the calculation of argon species number densities and partition functions. The existence of equilibrium within the TIG arc has been investigated by determining temperatures with a number of argon emission lines. Significant differences 'in derived values of the temperatures were observed within 1mm of the tungsten cathode tip, smaller variations were observed over the remainder of the arc. The results indicate that large scale departures from a Boltzmann distribution amongst argon atom excited states exists close to the tungsten tip, deviations decrease with increasing distance from the tip but do not disappear completely. lt is believed that the breakdown of equilibrium within the argon TIG arc may help to explain the disagreement in temperatures obtained by past groups that have used spectroscopic methods. Despite evidence for non-equilibrium within the arc. results from previous groups suggest that derived values of .the temperatures are substantially correct in the main body of the arc. The detailed temperature maps provide useful information on temperature changes with arc parameters for the purposes of modelling and understanding of the arc.

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