As you noted, each manufacturer has their own idea of how to design a welding machine with the best operating characteristics while pulsing. The basic assumption is that there should be metal transfer while the pulsing parameters are their peak values and no metal transfer occurs when the parameters are not at the maximum. The means of producing the required pulsing wave form varies not only from one manufacturer to another, but also from one machine model to another.

Developing the optimum parameters is typically beyond the technical capability of the welder, so the manufacturers often provide "canned programs" based on the information provided by the end user, i.e., base metal to be welded and the thickness of the base metal, electrode diameter, electrode classification, position, shielding gas, etc. The welder is permitted some limited latitude in ranges of the welding parameters set by the manufacturer. The programs are tailored to provide acceptable results when using the particular model of welding machine with pulsing capability.

The problem is that no two welding machines are alike, each model uses a different approach to producing the pulsing characteristics. Thus the optimum parameters for one machine model rarely provide optimum results when used with a different welding machine. This complicates developing welding procedures that can be used with several different models of welding machines even when the machines are produced by the same manufacturer. Depending on one's basic philosophy of what a WPS is to accomplish, it may be nearly impossible to write a WPS that can be used with different welding machines with pulsing capability. The meters provided on the control panel do little in providing useful information to the individual collecting date while the WPS is qualified. There is little relevance in the information provided by the meters for the amperage and voltage used while welding. They provide no information regarding the wave form of the pulse, thus the conditions can not be replicated using a different welding machine model. Recording the instantaneous "power" while welding provides no information that allows the welding conditions to be replicated when setting up other machine models. What is the solution?

The only way I know of to record the welding parameters, i.e., the characteristics of the pulse, is to use a multichannel oscilloscope. This is no easy task, nor can the information be transfer to another welding machine that uses different characteristics to provide pulsing parameters. Basically, in my humble opinion, a WPS that utilizes pulsing is qualified for the particular welding machine and model used to qualify the WPS.

In my opinion the WPS functions as work instruction to the welders to ensure different welders produce welds that are consistent in their properties and if necessary, their appearance. That is, if the WPS is followed, the mechanical properties of the resulting weld should meet the minimum requirements of the applicable welding standard. However, the purpose of the WPS is much more than alluded to in the preceding sentence. The WPS should provide the welders with the parameters needed to set up the welding machine, the techniques to be used, and other information such as groove details, fit up tolerances, etc. When followed, the WPS should ensure a code compliant weld is produced. That entails much more that simply ensuring the weld produces the required mechanical properties. All of the preceding assumes the welders have the basic welding skills necessary to produce a sound welds and it assumes the welders follows the WPS.  

The bottom line is that the WPS is qualified only when used with the same model of pulsing welding machines produced by the same manufacturer that made the machine used to qualify the WPS. The information and thus the WPS is not transferable to a different pulsing welding machine model or to a machine produced by a different manufacturer. Pulsing isn't the same as conventional transfer modes.

Best regards - Al