WHAT IS WELDING?

Welding is the process of joining together two pieces of materials (like metals or thermoplastics) so that bonding takes
place at their original boundary surfaces. When two parts to be joined are melted together, heat or pressure or both
is/are applied and with or without added metal for formation of metallic bond.

CLASSIFICATIONS OF WELDING PROCESSES

There are many types of welding techniques used to join materials. The welding processes differ in the manner in which
temperature and pressure are combined and achieved.

1. PLASTIC WELDING/ PRESSURE WELDING

A process which produces coalescence at temperature below the melting point of the base materials being joined. To
accomplish this, external pressure is applied. The advantage of this process is the base metal does not melt and hence,
the original properties are retained with the metals being joined.

2. FUSION WELDING/ NON-PRESSURE WELDING

The material at the joint is heated to a molten state and allowed to solidify. In this process, the joining operation
involves melting and solidification and any external forces applied to the system do not play an active role in producing
coalescence. Usually fusion welding uses a filler material to ensure that the joint is filled.

COMPONENTS OF FUSION WELDING

a. Heat Source
b. Shield/ Flux
c. Filler Metal (optional)

TYPES OF WELDING
1. GAS WELDING
It is done by burning of fuel gases with the help of oxygen which forms a concentrated flame of high temperature. This
flame directly strikes the weld area and melts the surface and filler material. The melted part of welding plates diffused
in one another and created a weld joint after cooling.

Categories:
a. oxy-acetylene welding
b. oxy-hydrogen welding
c. pressure gas welding
d. air-acetylene

2. ARC WELDING
Type of welding in which metals are melted together to form the joint. The energy required for melting the work piece
is taken by electric arc so it’s known as arc welding.

Categories:
A. CARBON ARC WELDING
Carbon rod is used as electrode to melt the joint.

B. SHIELDED METAL ARC WELDING (“Stick Welding”)

It uses an electrode that has flux, the protectant for the puddle around it. The electrode holder holds the electrode as it
slowly melts away. Slag protects the weld puddle from atmospheric contamination.
C. SUBMERGED ARC WELDING
It is widely used in automatic welding process. In this process, welding electrode is submerged with granular layer of
flux. This flux is an electric conductor which does not resist electric supply. The thick layer of flux prevents the molten
metal to atmosphere and ultra-violet radiation.

D. GAS METAL ARC WELDING (“Metal Inert Gas Welding”)

It uses a wire feeding gun that feeds wire at an adjustable speed and sprays an argon-based shielding gas or a mix of
argon and carbon dioxide over the weld puddle to protect it from atmospheric contamination.

E. GAS TUNGSTEN ARC WELDING (“Tungsten Inert Gas Welding”)

It uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode to produce the weld. The weld area is protected from atmospheric
contamination by an inert shielding gas such as argon or helium.

F. FLUX-CORED ARC WELDING (“Core Wire Welding”)

It is almost identical to MIG welding except it uses a special tubular wire filled with flux; it can be used with or without
shielding gas, depending on the filler.
G. ELECTRO SLAG WELDING
Type of welding where coalescence of work pieces takes place vertically through electrically melted flux which melts
both the filler metal and the surface of the work pieces.

H. PLASMA WELDING
An arc welding process very similar to TIG welding as the arc is formed between a pointed tungsten electrode and the
work piece. However, by positioning the electrode within the body of the torch, the plasma arc can be separated from
the shielding gas envelope. Plasma is then forced through a fine-bore copper nozzle which constricts the arc.

3. RESISTANCE WELDING
It is a thermo-electric process in which heat is generated at the interface surfaces of welding plates due to electric
resistance and a controlled low pressure is applied to these plates to create a weld joint. It is named as resistance
welding because it uses electric resistance to produce heat.

A. SPOT WELDING
It is simplest type of resistance welding in which the work pieces are held together under pressure of anvil face. The
copper electrodes are brought in contact with work piece and current starts to flow through it. The work piece material
applies some resistance in flow of current which causes local heat generation. At the interface surfaces, the resistance
is high due to air gap. The current starts to flow though it which melts down the interface surface. The amount of
current supply and time should be sufficient for proper melting of interface surfaces. Now the current stopped to flow
but the pressure applied by electrode maintained for a fraction of second, while the weld rapidly cooled. After it, the
electrodes are removed and brought to contact at other spot. It will create a circular nugget. The nugget size depends
on size of electrode.

B. SEAM WELDING
Seam welding is also called continuous spot welding in which a roller-type electrode is used to flow current through
work pieces. First, the rollers are brought in contact with work piece. A high ampere current is passed through these
rollers. This will melt the interface surfaces and form a weld joint. Now the rollers start rolling at work plates. This will
create a continuous weld joint. The timing of the weld and movement of electrode is controlled to assure that the weld
overlap and work piece do not get too hot.
C. PROJECTION WELDING
It is a modified term of spot welding where the work pieces are joined by localized heating and application of pressure
at the projections to form multiple weld spots simultaneously.

D. FLASH BUTT WELDING

The pieces of metal to be welded are set apart at predetermined distance. Current is applied to the metal, and the gap
between the two pieces creates resistance and produces the arc required to melt the metal. Once the pieces of metal
reach the proper temperature, they are pressed together, effectively forge welding them together.

4. SOLID STATE WELDING

Solid state welding processes are those welding processes in which no external heat is applied and the joining of work
piece takes place in solid state. In these welding processes, no filler metal is used and welding does not involve molten
state of base material or filler material. The weld formation takes place due to inter molecular diffusion process in
which, the interface molecules of work pieces flows from high concentration region to low concentration region due to
applied pressure.

A. FORGE WELDING
Forge welding works on basic principle of forging. In this type of welding process, both welding plates heated
simultaneously quite below its melting temperature. This heating deforms the work pieces plastically. Now a repeated
hammering on these plates applied together. This hammering starts diffusion process between plates and repeated
continuously until whole joint is created.
B. FRICTION WELDING
As the name implies, this welding uses friction heat to accelerate diffusion process. In this type of welding, a
rotating work piece bring in contact with a stable work piece. Due to high friction force at the contact
surfaces, a high amount of heat generates. The friction is applied until the plastic form at interface surface is
achieved. After this heating process, a continuously increasing pressure force is applied on these work pieces
until whole joint is formed. This welding mostly used to join steel bars, tubes etc. One of the most important
types of friction welding is friction stir welding in which, a non-consumable rotating tool is used to apply
friction of welding plates.

C. ULTRASONIC WELDING
Ultrasonic welding is also a solid state welding process in which energy of ultrasonic waves is used to join two work
pieces. In this process, ultrasonic vibration create dynamic shear between the interface surfaces. This will create local
plastic deformation and friction between plates which is used to create joint at interface part.

D. EXPLOSIVE WELDING
This welding uses explosive energy to joint two plates. In this process, both the welding plates placed one over another
such that the welding surface is in contact with one another. Now a buffer plate is placed over upper surface of welding
plate which protects welding plates form high impact force of explosive. The explosive is placed over buffer plate.
When the explosion starts, a high pressure wave generates which deforms the interface surface of welding plates
plastically and form a metallurgical bond between these plates. This joint is stronger than parent material. It is mostly
used to weld large welding area.
5. RADIANT ENERGY WELDING
A. ELECTRON BEAM WELDING
In this welding process, a high jet of electrons strikes at welding plates where its kinetic energy converts into heat
energy. This heat energy is sufficient to melt the work pieces and fuse them into one piece. This whole process carried
out in vacuum otherwise the electrons collides with air particles and loses its energy.

B. LASER WELDING
It is a welding technique used to join pieces of metal or thermoplastics through the use of a laser. The beam provides a
concentrated heat source, allowing for narrow, deep welds and high welding rates. The process is frequently used in
high volume applications using automation, as in the automotive industry.

DEFECTS IN WELDING
The lack of training to the operator or careless application of welding technologies may cause discontinuities in welding.
The following list shows common weld defects found in welded joints:

1. POROSITY
Porosity occurs, when the solidifying weld metal has gases trapped in it. The presence of porosity in most of the welded
joints is due to dirt on the surface of the metal to be welded or damp consumables.

It is found in the shape of sphere or as elongated pockets. The region of distribution of the porosity is random and
sometimes it is more concentrated in a certain region. By storing all the consumables in dry conditions and degreasing
and cleaning the surface before welding, porosity can be avoided.

2. LACK OF FUSION
Due to too little input or too slow traverse of the welding torch, lack of fusion arises. By increasing the temperature, by
properly cleaning the weld surface before welding and by selecting the appropriate joint design and electrodes, a better
weld can be obtained. On extending the fusion zone to the thickness of the joints fully, a good quality joint can be
obtained.

3. INCLUSIONS
Due to the trapping of the oxides, fluxes and electrode coating materials in the weld zone, the inclusions are occurred.
Inclusions occur while joining thick plates in several runs using flux cored or flux coated rods and the slag covering a run
is not totally removed after every run and before the next run starts. By maintaining a clean surface before the run is
started, providing sufficient space for the molten weld metal between the pieces are to be joined, the inclusions can be
prevented.

4. CRACKING
Due to thermal shrinkage, stain at the time of phase change, cracks may occur in various directions and in various
locations in the weld area. Due to poor design and inappropriate procedure of joining high residual stresses, cracking is
observed. A stage-wise pre-heating process and stage-wise slow cooling will prevent such type of cracks. This can
greatly increase the cost of welded joints.

The cracking can be minimized by preferring fillers with low carbon and low impurity levels. The solidification cracking
can be avoided by reducing the gaps and cleaning the surface before welding.

5. UNDERCUTTING
The undercut is caused due to incorrect settings or using improper procedure. Undercutting can be detected by a naked
eye and the excess penetration can be visually detected.

6. LAMELLAR TEARING
Due to non-metallic inclusions, the lamellar tearing occurs through the thickness direction. This is more evidently found
in rolled plates. By redesigning the joint and by buttering the weld area with ductile material, the lamellar tearing can
be minimized.
WELDING JOINTS

1. BUTT JOINT
The joint which is formed by placing the ends of two parts together is called butt joint. In butt joint the two parts are
lying on the same plane or side by side. It is the simplest type of joint used to join metal or plastic parts together.

2. CORNER JOINT
The joint formed by placing the corner of two parts at right angle is called corner joint (see fig above). Two parts which
is going to be weld with corner joint forms the shape of L.

3. T-JOINT
The joint which is made by intersecting two parts at right angle (i.e. at 90 degrees) and one part lies at the center of the
other. It is called as T joint as the two part welded look like English letter ‘T’.

4. LAP JOINT
The lap joint is formed when the two parts are placed one over another and then welded (see fig above). It may be one
sided or double sided. This type of welding joint is mostly used to join two pieces with different thickness.

5. EDGE JOINT
The joint formed by welding the edges of two parts together is called edge joint. This joint is used where the edges of
two sheets are adjacent and are approximately parallel planes at the point of welding. In this joint the weld does not
penetrate completely the thickness of joint, so it cannot be used in stress and pressure application.