The article provides an overview of the sources with the results of the study of arc welding processes, justifies the relevance of studies of the radial distribution of current density in the anode spot of the plasma arc. The results of the study of the radial distribution of the current density across the active spot on the plane water-cooled probes, which are one of the arc electrodes, and the results of studies of the conversion of the plane probe data into the radial distribution of an axially symmetric function are presented. The radial current density distribution functions and the current density distribution characteristics are experimentally obtained.

Keywords: plasma welding, control system, current-voltage characteristic, shielding gas, burner circuits, plasma arc, sounding

The article substantiates the relevance of research for solving problems of designing automatic control systems for welding processes. The purpose of the experiments was determined to obtain empirical dependencies of welding parameters, which could be used to identify the parameters of the transfer function of the automatic control system. A brief review of similar scientific papers. The description of the shunting mechanism is given, its influence on the efficiency of the welding process is studied. A number of empirical dependences of changes in the parameters of plasma welding on the conditions of use of the filler wire were obtained.

Keywords: plasma welding, filler wire, control system, shunting, plasma gas, experimental dependencies