A main problem raised by arc welding manufacturing is the determination ofthe optimal process parameters to ensure weld quality as well as resource efficient andsustainable production. To address this problem a better process understanding is required.In this study thermal magneto hydrodynamic modeling of a welding arc is used to reacha deeper insight into the influence of the composition of the shielding gas on the pressureforce and the heat fluxes to a workpiece. The model was implemented in the open sourcesimulation software OpenFOAM. Four different shielding gas mixtures combining argonand carbon dioxide were studied. When increasing the fraction of carbon dioxide the resultsshow a significant increase of the arc velocity and temperature with constriction of thetemperature field, a decrease of the pressure force and a significant increase of the heatfluxes on the base metal.