J. P. Bergmann, M. Dolles, R. Müther, Technische Universität Ilmenau, Ilmenau, Germany; J. Wilden, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Summary: Short arc technology is gaining high interest for low temperature joining strategies as for example soldering of zinc coated steels and joining of steel/aluminium mixed joints. The short arc allows on the one hand a very low heat input in the component, so that melting of the base material can be limited. On the other hand it is possible to use low temperature melting filler wires. New development in controlling short arc especially after short have been performed in the last year and reached its maturity for production. In one case it was possible, thanks to a new type of highly dynamic inverter switching, combined with very fast digital current control, to reduce drastically the peak power in the arc when the short arc is reignited. The consequence of this is a no-spatter, low heat processing procedure. The arc is considerably colder due to the power reduction on re-ignition, which means that a lower heat input is possible. Short arc presents many advantages for cladding as well. The low heat input leads to a low dilution and to a reduced shrinkage. Further more the low heat input in the filler/cladding wire and the controlling of shot reduces sputter formation and enhances process stability. In this paper investigations regarding cladding with a controlled short arc device are reported. Heat sensitive materials as well as cladding materials which aren’t normally compatible are presented and confirm the suitability of short arc for high quality cladding applications.