SERVICE WELDING GUIDE PREPARED AND EDITED BY CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO. Peoria, Illinois © 1964 CATERPILLAR TRACTOR CO.TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Are Welding Shielded Arc Welding Types of Arc Welding Equipment FUNDAMENTALS OF ARC WELDING Types of Welds and Joints Welding Symbols Types of Electrodes Storing of Electrodes Safety Precautions ARC WELDING TECHNIQUES Joint Design Preparation of Joints Selection of Electrodes Setup of Equipment Striking an Are Controlling the Arc Manipulating the Electrode Tack Welding Flat and Horizontal Welding Overhead and Vertical Welding Weld Size and Weld Strength Service Welding Specifications RECONDITIONING BY ARC WELDING Repairing Cracks and Defective Welds Installing Reinforcing Plates Controlling Heat Distortion Selecting the Proper Reinforcing Steel Rebuilding by Welding Hardsurfacing APPENDIX Reference Books Glossary oneINTRODUCTION ARC WELDING ‘ne term welding in its broadest sense refers to the art of uniting two pieces of metal by heating them un- til soft or molten and establishing a bond between them. Arc welding is an example of welding by melt- ing (fusion welding). The heat from an electric arc is utilized to melt the adjacent surfaces of the pieces to be joined. The band of sparks or incandescent light that ap- pears between two terminals of an electric circuit that are placed close enough together to have electrons jump between them is called an electric arc. In arc welding, the electrode and the work being welded are the terminals, and the heat derived from the arc melts the surfaces to be joined and allows them to fuse. The arc is sustained by a power source to which the elec- trode and the work are attached (Figure 1). The characteristics of the arc produced in this man- ner depend to a great extent on the voltage and the amperage of the current developed by the power source. The current can be either AC or DC. Voltages range from 17, which is the minimum for starting an arc, to about 45; amperages range from around 30 up to 500 or more for manual operation. The temperature of the welding arc is about 6500°F for most welding operations. With DC current, the di- rection that the current flows in the circuit is important. Direction of current flow in a welding circuit is expressed in terms of polarity. If the positive lead from the power source is connected to the electrode and the negative lead is connected to the work, the circuit is said to have reverse polarity (Figure 2, fe. straight polarity, on the other hand, the positive lead is connected to the work and the negative lead is con- nected to the electrode (Figure 3, page 2). Straight polarity is used for welding thin material such as sheet. metal and for other applications where a rapid melt-off of the electrode is desired. 1—The elec page 2). Reverse polarity gives rise to a deep pene- an ksi trating weld and is used in most service welding. With 6" "si" the welding circuit.Fig. 2-Positive lead & connected to electrode for re verse poly Another phenomenon of DC welding is magnetic are blow. When current is passed through the work being welded, a magnetic field is established in and around the work. When the lines of magnetic force become concentrated, as they will when the electrode approaches a comer’ or the end of a joint, the arc is deflected away from the concentration. "This de- flection from the intended path is called magnetic are blow. This deflection may be sideways, but it is usually forward or rearward (Figure 4). Excessive are blow interferes with control of the arc and can have a detri- mental effect on the quality of the weld. Methods of minimizing are blow are discussed on page 16. electrodes that were employed in early are welding opera- tions produced weak and brit / ‘The carbon and bare wire ‘PARSON OF TRAV, tle welds because of the in- clusion of foreign particles in _ ps or one the welds and the rapid oxi- iZE — {| dation of the parent ‘metals. eS =} Otherwelding techniques such e SSS as forge, gas, and induction = welding’ were employed ex- Fig, 4A is de flected away trom the concentration af magnetic fore tensively. In 1910, however, a Swedish concern developed a heavily fluxed or coated electrode which made possible the “shielded arc” which is characteristic of modern welding. SHIELDED ARC WELDING Shielded are welding was developed to. eliminate the problems arising when the are and the molten metal are exposed to air. Two types of shielding— gas shielding and slag shielding—or a combination of the two are commonly employed. With gas shield- ing, the electrodes used are coated with a material which, when heated, decomposes to gases which sur- round the are and the pool of molten metal and shield them from the air (Figure 5). 2 Fig. 3-Positive laad is eannected tower fratight polyWith slag shielding, the electrodes used are coated with flux compounds which melt into the puddle and help remove impurities. The flux and impurities float to the top of the molten metal and form slag, which solidifies and slows the rate of cooling of the weld metal (Figure 5). This retardation of cooling allows gases to escape from the weld deposit and reduces cooling stresses. The slag also serves to shield the — rxcreovt molten weld metal from a) the air. ¢ontW6 The core of the elec- co trode melts and blends with the molten parent metal to form the weld metal. Most shielded arc welding electrodes now used have both types of shielding compounds in the coating and provide both gas and slag shields. Different types of elec- trodes and their applica- tions are discussed on page 7. TYPES OF ARC WELDING EQUIPMENT Are welding equipment consists of power sources, cables, electrode holders, protective equipment and cleaning accessories. Power sources, or welding ma- chines, are available in several varieties: welding trans- formers, generator sets, rectifier sets and combination welders. Welding transformers convert high voltage- low amperage AC current from single phase power lines into low voltage-high amperage AC current suitable for welding. Generator sets produce DC current of a variable and precisely controlled output. Rectifier sets are single or three phase transformers that have rec- tifiers to change the output from AC to DC. Combination welders ave basically trans- formers and rectifiers with provisions for tapping either the AC or the DC output. For service maintenance and reconditioning work in the field, an engine driven DC welder (Figure 6) with an output in the range of 300 to 3 Fig. SA shielded arc is protected from ait by both gas and slag shields. = SS +S \ PARENT METAL Fig. 6—An engine driven DC welder isrecommended for field welding.400 amperes is generally found to be the most useful. For service welding in the shop, a portable combina- tion welder with a 300 to 400 ampere capacity is recommended. Two cables—an electrode cable and a ground cable— are necessary to complete the welding circuit. Both cables must be of suitable size to handle the cur- rents used and adequately insulated with a ma- terial that is waterproof, not susceptible to deterior- ation from exposure to gasoline, grease, cleaning sol- vents, etc., and resistant to abrasion and wear. The electrode cable also must be highly flexible and of sufficient length so the electrode can be manipulated with ease. The ground cable must have a clamp that provides a mechanically and electrically sound con- nection. Electrode holders must grip the electrode firmly and provide a good electrical contact yet per- mit quick and easy change of electrodes. The holders must have comfortable handles that are insulated from heat and from the current carrying parts. A holder with insulating material around the jaws to prevent grounding should the holder be touched to the work is recommended for general service work. A welding helmet is required to protect the welder’s eyes and face from the direct rays of the arc and from spatter. The glass in the window of the helmet must be of such composition that it absorbs the infrared and ultraviolet rays from the arc as well as most of the visible light. Looking at a welding arc with the unprotected eye for any length of time at distances less than 40 feet can result in painful eye burns and perhaps permanent eye damage. Heavy gauntlet-type gloves and protective aprons are recommended to keep sparks and spatters of mol- ten metal from burning the welder’s clothing or skin. Portable screens are necessary to protect other work- men in the area. The wire brush, the slag chipping chisel and the peening hammer are the basic cleaning ac- cessories required in the welding shop. For manual operation, a welder’s chipping hammer which com- bines the wire brush, hammer and chipping chisel, is most useful. Electric or pneumatic powered slag chip- pers and portable grinders are time savers for cleaning joints and weld beads, removing slag and spatter and similar operations. Right angle drive grinders equip- ped with depressed center grinding wheels, cupped wire brushes and abrasive discs are recommended. 4