STUDY ON A-TIG WELDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF STAINLESS STEELS USING INDIVIDUAL FLUX-OXIDES. PART 1: EVALUATION OF THE A-TIG ARC ENERGY EFFICIENCY TO THE WELD DEPTH OF PENETRATION
This article presents the results of the study of activating oxide fluxes effects on the energy efficiency of the TIG welding arc (A-TIG) influence. This efficiency was estimated by the amount of energy spent by the arc (q) at the depth of penetration (P). It is revealed that the arc energy efficiency factor “K<sub>epac</sub>” can be used as an indicator of the influence of arc energy on the efficiency of penetration of the welded metal, which is determined by the ratio of spent energy per unit of depth of penetration (q/P) at TIG and A-TIG welding. In accordance with the results of the research, it is observed an increase of the energy efficiency on the welding arc penetration capability of all individual oxides used as fluxes in A-TIG welding is observed. Among them, the greatest energy efficiency of the arc process on the penetration of CrNi18-10 steel is observed when oxides such as TiO<sub>2</sub>, SiO<sub>2</sub>, Cr<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub> and Co<sub>3</sub>O<sub>4</sub> are used.