Welding current and arc voltage control in a GMAW process using ARMarkov based MPC

A predictive functional controller based on ARMarkov model structure has been designed to control welding current and arc voltage in a GMAW process. The closed loop system performance is investigated through computer simulations and is compared by those achieved from implementing two commonly used controllers i.e. PI and feedback linearization based PID. The local stability of the closed loop system is analyzed in the presence of uncertainties in the linearized model of the process as well as the control parameters. Finally it is shown that the proposed controller performs like a PI controller along with a pre-filter compensator.