This paper develops an automatic welding control scheme for alternating current shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) system. A mathematical model of the welding control system is derived and the system parameters identified. An adaptive sliding mode controller is designed to estimate the bound of the system uncertainties and to modulate the electrode feed rate in such a way that the desired arc length and arc current are maintained as the electrode melts during the welding process. The proposed control method is suitable for any consumed electrode welding technique. The simulation and experimental results show that the automatic welding control system successfully maintains the magnitude of the arc current at the desired value and preserves the arc stability, thereby obtaining an enhanced SMAW control system performance.
