Estimation and control of droplet size and frequency in projected spray mode of a gas metal arc welding (GMAW) process

New estimators are designed based on the modified force balance model to estimate the detaching droplet size, detached droplet size, and mean value of droplet detachment frequency in a gas metal arc welding process. The proper droplet size for the process to be in the projected spray transfer mode is determined based on the modified force balance model and the designed estimators. Finally, the droplet size and the melting rate are controlled using two proportional–integral (PI) controllers to achieve high weld quality by retaining the transfer mode and generating appropriate signals as inputs of the weld geometry control loop.