**Peizhuo Zhai 1, Songbai Xue 1,\*, Jianhao Wang 1, Weizhong Chen 2, Tao Chen <sup>1</sup> and Shilei Ji <sup>2</sup>**


Received: 25 April 2020; Accepted: 18 May 2020; Published: 20 May 2020

**Abstract:** The characteristics of weld bead formation and droplet transfer in pulsed gas metal arc weld (GMAW) with different arc lengths were studied by changing the base current time in this work. The results showed that it was easier to cause short circuits and spatters with a short arc. However, the deviation between the deepest point of penetration and the center of bead will be aggravated with the increase of arc length. In addition, more than 90% "one drop per pulse" (ODPP) transfer mode can be obtained when the pulse parameters were selected properly. However, the short arc trended to rise the proportion of "multiple drops per pulse" (MDPP), and the long arc trended towards increasing the proportion of "one drop per multiple pulses" (ODMP). Additionally, with the growth of the arc in the projected transfer zone, the penetration tended to become shallower because of the increase of arc heat dissipation, the fall of arc energy density, and droplet impact force. Overall, the strategy of choosing suitable arc length of pulsed GMAW was summarized: in order to obtain high-quality bead formation and weld joints, a shorter arc in the projected transfer zone was recommended.

**Keywords:** pulsed GMAW; droplet transfer; weld bead formation; droplet impact force
