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1-Properties and Classification of Welding Processes

The document discusses different welding processes including gas welding, arc welding, MIG welding, TIG welding, resistance welding, and plasma cutting. It provides definitions of welding and each process, describing their energy sources, applications, advantages, and diagrams of how each process works.

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abastosuapt
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48 views10 pages

1-Properties and Classification of Welding Processes

The document discusses different welding processes including gas welding, arc welding, MIG welding, TIG welding, resistance welding, and plasma cutting. It provides definitions of welding and each process, describing their energy sources, applications, advantages, and diagrams of how each process works.

Uploaded by

abastosuapt
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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CHAPTER 1

PROPERTIES AND CLASSIFICATION OF WELDING


PROCESSES

0
1 - Definition

Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals


or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting
the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten
material (the weld puddle) that cools to become a strong joint, with
pressure sometimes used in conjunction with heat, or by itself, to produce
the weld. This is in contrast with soldering and brazing, which involve
melting a lower-melting-point material between the workpieces to form a
bond between them, without melting the workpieces.

Until the end of the 19th century, the only welding process was forge
welding, which blacksmiths had used for centuries to join metals by
heating and pounding them. Arc welding and oxyfuel welding were among
the first processes to develop late in the century, and resistance welding
followed soon after. Welding technology advanced quickly during the early
20th century as World War I and World War II drove the demand for
reliable and inexpensive joining methods. Following the wars, several
modern welding techniques were developed, including manual methods
like shielded metal arc welding, now one of the most popular welding
methods, as well as semi-automatic and automatic processes such as gas
metal arc welding, submerged arc welding, flux-cored arc welding and
electro slag welding. Developments continued with the invention of laser
beam welding and electron beam welding in the latter half of the century.
Sometimes, carbon dioxide lasers are used, as well as Garmire, Co2 lasers
of stainless steel. Today, the science continues to advance. Robot welding
is becoming more commonplace in industrial settings, and researchers
continue to develop new welding methods and gain greater understanding
of weld quality and properties.

2 – Properties of Welding Process

The ideal welding would be the one which we could make continuity
between the workpieces, but this objective is almost impossible to reach in
practical jobs. For soldered joints free of defects and with appropriated
mechanical properties, the welding process must meet a certain number of
requirements. In first place it’s necessary to produce energy to the
workpieces.

1
Many different energy sources can be used for welding, including a
gas flame, an electric arc, a laser, an electron beam, friction, and
ultrasound. While often an industrial process, welding can be done in many
different environments, including open air, underwater and in space.
Regardless of location, however, welding remains dangerous, and
precautions must be taken to avoid burns, electric shock, poisonous fumes,
and overexposure to ultraviolet light.

The workpieces can only be satisfactory connected if they’re free of


oxides and other contaminants. So although the cleaning of the surfaces
before welding it’s necessary, it’s not enough: the process of welding must
be able to remove or disperse the films of oxides or other substances. This
objective is achieved by the action of an electric arc or by mechanical
means such as friction. The contaminated substances may be present in the
form of organic films, absorbed gases or chemical compounds in the base
metal.

Once removed the films of oxide or nitrate, we should avoid its


development during the welding process. So, we notice that in any welding
process must exist a mean in order to protect the joint’s area of the
atmosphere’s influence. If the process uses a flux to clean the surface, it
can also be used for the protection. In other cases, the protection is ensured
by inert gases or those which do not form oxides with the base metal. In
other welding, the process is taken in vacuum. In cases where the welding
has a high speed and low heat’s production, it may not exist enough time to
produce the oxidation of the pieces so that becomes unnecessary.

For last, it’s important that the joint has appropriated mechanicals
properties. In sum, we can say that the welding process must have four
requirements to produce a high quality joint:

- Provide energy to facilitate the welding process;


- It must have the correct mechanism to remove the superficial
contaminated substances;
- Avoid the atmosphere’s contamination and its effects;
- Control of the deposited metal’s structure.

There are two main groups: Gas Welding and Arc Welding. In the first
group, it uses a flame from burning gas to create welding heat and in the
second group; it uses an electric arc to create the welding heat.

2
GAS WELDING:

- Propane Torch (soldering, heating): Good for sweating pipes,


starting fires, and spending hours trying to heat frozen bolts,
while the surrounding metal gets just as hot;

Figure 1 – Gas welding process

- Oxyacetylene Torch (Cutting, welding, brazing, soldering,


leading): Most universal and useful welding tool. (Uses Acetylene
gas and Oxygen for hot flame.) With the right bits, rod, and
technique, you can weld almost anything. Good for cutting
anything from sheet metal to the turret off a tank, lead filling,
brazing (a sort of hard soldering process) welding plate, welding
sheet metal, welding aluminium, heating frozen bolts, or
alternately cutting them off, drilling holes in plate, welding cast
iron, shrinking and forming steel, and can double as a flame
thrower in a pinch. Drawbacks are: Overheating of some types of
work, harder to control quality of some processes;

3
Figure 2 – Gas welding process2

ARC WELDING:

- Basic AC and DC Arc Welders: Uses flux coated steel (or other)
rods of various types for different jobs. Makes some of the best
welds on heavy gauge steels and cast iron. Cutting rods can make
clean holes through thick stock, and are about the only thing
which can cut Kryptonite bike locks. Very difficult to weld thin
metals. You can also get a carbon arc torch to use on an arc
welder to braze. Eastwood's "stitch" welder is a gimmick used on
an arc welder to buzz the rod in and out, which may help on
thinner stock;

4
Figure 3 – Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) process

- MIG (Metal Inert Gas): A DC arc welding process which uses


filler metal fed in the form of a spool of thin wire, shielded by
flow of inert gas (CO2, Argon) instead of flux used in Arc. Very
fast, much easier than Arc Welding, with less heat buildup. Very
good for sheet metal, due to minimal heat distortion. Harder to
weld thick stock, as welds are weaker due to poorer penetration.
The modern choice for steel body work, it can also be used for
Aluminium with Argon as the shield gas;

5
Figure 4 – Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding process

- TIG (Tungsten Inter Gas): A high frequency AC arc process


which uses a tungsten electrode shielded by an inert gas to create
a fine, controllable torch. Uses a separate filler rod, as in Oxy-
Acetylene welding. Capable of welding very thin metals. About
the best process for Aluminium, Stainless steel, and other exotic
stuff;

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Figure 5 – Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding process

- Resistance Welding (includes Spot Welding): Uses the heat


generated by electricity flowing through work to melt and fuse. If
we put an electrode on either side of 2 overlapped sheets of steel,
and turn on power. Metal in between heats up, and melts together.
An old favourite for assembling car bodies;

Figure 6 – Resistance Welding process

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- Plasma Cutters: Not a welder, but related. A high voltage arc is
used to superheat and ionize a stream of air to the "plasma" state.
The stream of plasma makes a rapid, clean, narrow cut with
minimal heating of the work piece.

Figure 7 – Plasma Cutting process

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4 – Summary of the Welding Processes

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