Material properties of welds are strongly influenced by the thermal history, including the thermo-fluid and electromagnetic phenomena in the weld pool and the arc heat source. A necessary condition for arc heat source models to be predictive is to include the plasma column, the cathode, and the cathode layer providing their thermal and electric coupling. Different cathode layer models based on significantly different physical assumptions are being used. This paper summarizes today’s state of the art of cathode layer modeling of refractory cathodes used in GTAW at atmospheric pressure. The fundamentals of the cathode layer and its physics are addressed. The main modeling approaches, namely (i) the diffusion approach, (ii) the partial LTE approach, and (iii) the hydrodynamic approach are discussed and compared. The most relevant publications are systematically categorized with regard to the respective physical phenomena addressed. Results and process understanding gained with these models are summarized. Finally, some open questions are underlined.

Modelling of the arc in electric arc welding is significant to achieve a better pro-cess understanding, thus gain better weld quality and a more efficient production process.It requires knowing the conditions at the surfaces of the anode and cathode. These condi-tions are very difficult to set from measurements and should be calculated. This requiresmodelling the complex physics of the electrode layer coupling electrode and arc. Thispaper presents a self-consistent electrode layer model that 1) is suited to welding applica-tions, 2) accounts for the known physics taking place, and 3) satisfies the basic conservationrequirements. The model is tested for different conditions. Its potentiality for welding ap-plications is shown through calculations coupling plasma arc, electrode and cathode layermodels. The calculations are done for both tungsten and thoriated tungsten electrode.

Various models coupling the refractory cathode, the cathode sheath and the arc at atmospheric pressure exist. They assume a homogeneous cathode with a uniform physical state, and differ by the cathode layer and the plasma arc model. However even the most advanced of these models still fail in predicting the extent of the arc attachment when applied to short high-intensity arcs such as gas tungsten arcs. Cathodes operating in these conditions present a non-uniform physical state. A model taking into account the first level of this non-homogeneity is proposed based on physical criteria. Calculations are done for 5 mm argon arcs with a thoriated tungsten cathode. The results obtained show that radiative heating and cooling of the cathode surface are of the same order. They also show that cathode inhomogeneity has a significant effect on the arc attachment, the arc temperature and pressure. When changing the arc current (100 A, 200 A) the proposed model allows predicting trends observed experimentally that cannot be captured by the homogeneous cathode model unless restricting a priori the size of the arc attachment. The cathode physics is thus an important element to include to obtain a comprehensive and predictive arc model