Polysoude Field Reports 1

The Principle of Hot Wire TIG Welding Resistance Heating of Filler Wire
Considerably Increases the Deposition Rate
With conventional TIG welding
applications, the heat required to
melt the Filler Wire, (app. 30 %
of the energy delivered by the
arc), is taken from the molten
pool. Any increase in the
deposition rate is limited by the
time necessary to heat up and
melt the filler wire.

The technique used to facilitate
Hot Wire TIG welding is based
on Cold Wire TIG equipment.
The filler wire is moved by a
feeding mechanism from the
wire spool to the contact
nozzle. The wire between the
contact nozzle and the molten
pool is warmed up by
resistance heating.

A second Power Source is
necessary to maintain this
resistance heating.
This Secondary Current circuit
is closed by the permanent
contact between the wire and
the molten pool.


The preheating temperature of
the wire can be varied within a
wide range by controlling the
intensity of the Hot Wire
Current.


The energy finally needed to
melt the Filler Wire, which is
taken from the molten pool, is
decreased by the preheating of
the wire. Thus, a considerably
higher volume of filler metal
can be added at higher
welding speeds while reducing
the energy input per unit
length of the weld at the same
time.









The crucial advantage of the TIG welding process, compared to processes using a melting
electrode, is the independence between the energy delivered by the arc and the quantity of the
added filler metal. The application of the Hot Wire technique allows us to exploit this advantage
still further, especially at higher deposition rates. The benefits of independent control of energy
input and added filler metal quantity are clearly to be seen at the beginning and end of the weld,
where the size of the weld pool can be modified specifically. This is an indispensable
precondition to producing welds corresponding to the highest quality requirements.