Systems and methods to control welding wire tension

A method to control welding wire tension, the method comprising:

• controlling, via control circuitry, a push motor velocity of a push motor of a welding wire feeder based on a target wire feed speed;
• controlling, via the control circuitry, a pull motor velocity of a pull motor of a welding torch coupled to the welding wire feeder based on the target wire feed speed;
• determining, via the control circuitry, an estimated friction force in response to the push motor velocity and the pull motor velocity reaching a threshold velocity based on a velocity command;
• estimating, via the control circuitry, a wire slip velocity based on a push motor force and a pull motor force;
• estimating, via the control circuitry, a wire tension in the welding wire based on the wire slip velocity, the push motor velocity feedback, and the pull motor velocity feedback, based on reducing a difference in the push motor force and the pull motor force by the estimated friction force;
• and
• compensating, via the control circuitry, each of the push motor velocity of the push motor and the pull motor velocity of the pull motor based on push motor velocity feedback, pull motor velocity feedback, the estimated wire tension, and the estimated wire slip velocity, wherein the push motor velocity and the pull motor velocity are based on a target wire tension.