Keyholeplasmaarcweldingexperimentsareconductedtomeasuretheweldgeometryandpenetrationatdifferentmomentsduringtheinitialphasefromignitingarctoquasi-steadystate.Indirectinformationonkeyholeformationandevolutioninplasmaarcweldingcanbeextractedbasedontheweldmacrophotographatcrosssection.Ithaslaidfoundationtoverifythemathematicalmodelsofkeyholeplasmaarcwelding.