Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyze the characteristics of sound during gas tungsten argon welding (GTAW), which is very important to effectively monitor the welding quality in future by using the information extracted from sound. Design/methodology/approach -The hardware used in the experiment is described. Then the paper researches the influence of welding techniques (gas flow, welding speed, welding current, and arc length) on arc sound and the distribution of the welding sound field. Finally, the relation between welding power and sound are studied based on Fourier transforms and recursive least square methods. Findings -The sound pressure is affected greatly by gas flow, arc length, and current; welding sound source obeys the dipole model; the sound can be better predicted when the three orders derivative of the welding power are combined together. Originality/value -This paper provides a new insight into welding sound resource model and a detailed analysis of the influence of the welding sound caused by welding techniques.

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