Welding Processes

Dr.P.Sathiya
Professor
Department of Production Engineering
National Institute of Technology
Tiruchirappalli-620 015
Email: psathiya@nitt.edu
Oxyacetylene Welding

A typical oxyacetylene welding operation (OAW).

 Acetylene (C2H2)
• Most popular fuel among OFW group
because it is capable of higher
temperatures than any other - up to
3480C (6300F)
• Two stage chemical reaction of acetylene
and oxygen:
– First stage reaction (inner cone of flame):
C2H2 + O2 → 2CO + H2 + heat
– Second stage reaction (outer envelope):
2CO + H2 + 1.5O2 → 2CO2 + H2O + heat
 Oxyacetylene Torch
• Maximum temperature reached at
tip of inner cone, while outer
envelope spreads out and shields
work surfaces from atmosphere

Figure 31.22 The neutral flame from an oxyacetylene torch

indicating temperatures achieved.
 Alternative Gases for OFW
• Methylacetylene-Propadiene (MAPP)
• Hydrogen
• Propylene
• Propane
• Natural Gas
 What is an Electric Arc?
An electric arc is a discharge of electric
current across a gap in a circuit
• It is sustained by an ionized column of gas
(plasma) through which the current flows
• To initiate the arc in AW, electrode is
brought into contact with work and then
quickly separated from it by a short
distance
 What is Arc Welding?
• The fusing of two or more pieces of
metal together by using the heat
produced from an electric arc welding
machine.
 Basics of Arc Welding
• The arc is struck between the
electrode and the metal. It then heats
the metal to a melting point. The
electrode is then removed, breaking
the arc between the electrode and the
metal. This allows the molten metal to
“freeze” or solidify.
 How an arc is formed?
• The arc is like a flame
of intense heat that is
generated as the
electrical current
passes through a
highly resistant air
gap.
 Welding Processes

• SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding)

• SAW (Submerged Arc Welding)
• GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding)
• GTAW (Gas Tungsten Arc Welding)
Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
• GMAW is an arc welding process which
produces the coalescence of metals by
heating them with an arc between a
continuously fed filler metal electrode and the
work.
• The process uses shielding from an
externally supplied gas to protect the molten
weld pool.

• The application of GMAW generally requires

DC+ (reverse) polarity to the electrode.
WELDING EQUIPMENT
WIRE FEEDER
 Power Source
❖Almost all GMAW is done with reverse
polarity also known as DCEP
❖Positive (+) lead is connected to the torch
❖Negative (-) lead is connected to the work
piece
❖Provides a relatively consistent voltage to
the arc
❖Arc Voltage is the voltage between the
end of the wire and the work piece
POSITIVE NEGATIVE
TERMINAL TERMINAL
 Shielding Gases

❖Purpose of shielding gas is the protect the

weld area from the contaminants in the
atmosphere
❖Gas can be Inert, Reactive, or Mixtures of
both
❖Gas flow rate is between 25-35 CFH
❖Argon, Helium, and Carbon Dioxide are
the main three gases used in GMAW
FLOW METER

CFH PRESSURE
ADJUSTMENT
KNOB

CYLCINDER
PRESSURE
GAUGE
GMAW PROCESS
- The method used to transfer the metal across
the arc. There are four metal transfer methods
(short circuit, globular, spray, pulsed spray).
Each one requires different settings and has
divers use interests.
- The shielding gas.
- The electrode size.
- The electric parameters: voltage and current
(the GMAW use the continuous current).
- The feed rate (speed of filler supply).
- The travel speed.
SHIELDING GASES
 Advantages of GMAW
• The ability to join a wide range of material types and thicknesses.
• Simple equipment components are readily available and affordable.
• GMAW has higher electrode efficiencies, usually between 93% and
98%, when compared to other welding processes.
• Higher welder efficiencies and operator factor, when compared to
other open arc welding processes.
• GMAW is easily adapted for high-speed robotic, hard automation and
semiautomatic welding applications.
• All-position welding capability.
• Excellent weld bead appearance.
• Lower hydrogen weld deposit — generally less than 5 mL/100 g of
weld metal.
• Lower heat input when compared to other welding processes.
• A minimum of weld spatter and slag makes weld clean up fast and
easy.
• Less welding fumes when compared to SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc
Welding) and FCAW (Flux-Cored Arc Welding) processes.
 Benefits of GMAW
• Generally, lower cost per length of weld metal deposited
when compared to other open arc welding processes.
• Lower cost electrode.
• Less distortion with GMAW-P (Pulsed Spray Transfer
Mode),
GMAW-S (Short-Circuit Transfer Mode) and STT™
(Surface
Tension Transfer™).
• Handles poor fit-up with GMAW-S and STT modes.
• Reduced welding fume generation.
• Minimal post-weld cleanup
 Limitations of GMAW
• The lower heat input characteristic of the short-
circuiting mode of metal transfer restricts its use to
thin materials.
• The higher heat input axial spray transfer
generally restricts its use to thicker base materials.
• The higher heat input mode of axial spray is
restricted to flat or horizontal welding positions.
• The use of argon based shielding gas for axial
spray and pulsed spray transfer modes is more
expensive than 100% carbon dioxide (CO2).
GMAW
Welds
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
(GTAW)
Uses a non-consumable tungsten
electrode and an inert gas for arc
shielding
• Melting point of tungsten = 3410C
(6170F)
• Used with or without a filler metal
– When filler metal used, it is added to weld pool
from separate rod or wire
• Applications: aluminum and stainless
steel most common
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding

Figure 31.9 Gas tungsten arc welding.

 Advantages / Disadvantages of
GTAW
Advantages:
• High quality welds for suitable applications
• No spatter because no filler metal through arc
• Little or no post-weld cleaning because no flux
Disadvantages:
• Generally slower and more costly than consumable
electrode AW processes
 Hot wire TIG welding
Hot wire welding with narrow gap preparation
Increase of permits :
productivity up to a factor of 9 compared to
standard TIG welding

Maintain the best affordable quality produced by the

TIG process
Hot Wire TIG Welding
 Hot wire technique

Hot wire welding principle

49
 ACTIVATED TIG WELDING
• Activated flux assisted TIG (A-TIG) welding is a novel variant
of Conventional TIG welding process ,where application of a
special flux on the weld seam or groove of the base metal
significantly increases the weld penetration.
• The resulting depth of penetration is increased by a factor of 1.5
to 4.

WITHOUT
A-TIG FLUX

WITH
A-TIG FLUX
 Cond…
• A thin layer of activating flux is covered on the surface of the joint
to be welded by means of a brush or a spray before welding.
• The flux usually consists of oxides and halides, and it is mixed
with acetone or the like to form a paste and painted as a thin
coating over the area to be welded
• Many investigations on the mechanism and application technology
of the A-TIG process have been made, and the two representative
theories are the arc constriction and reversal of the Marangoni
convection in the weld pool.
Mechanism of arc constriction
Major Penetration Mechanisms
1) Reversed of Marangoni convection

• This theory relates increase in

depth of penetration to
direction of fluid flow. The
temperature coefficient of
surface tension is a factor in
determining direction of
molten fluid flow.

• During TIG welding the surface tension gradient is negative and the
convection movements are centrifugal leading to shallow
penetration. The addition of activated flux induces an inversion of
the convection currents changing the sign of the surface tension
gradient, resulting convection movements changed to centripetal.
Hence, the penetration depth increases.
2) The Arc Constriction Effect

• The activated flux which gets

vaporized during welding will
constrict the arc by capturing
electrons in the outer regions
of the arc. Electron attachment
can take place in the cooler
peripheral regions where the
electrons have low energy in a
weak electric field.
• Towards the center of the arc where
there is a strong electric field, high
temperatures and very high energy
electrons and ionization will dominate.
This results in a narrower arc and
a deeper weld pool.
• maximum arc pressure is at the
center of the molten pool surface.
• electromagnetically induced arc
pressure increases with the weld
current.
• finger-like penetration increases
with the weld current, because of
the induced strong arc pressure
acting on the center of the molten
pool surface.
• the arc pressure induced by the
plasma jet arrested on the center of
the molten pool surface also
enhances the centripetal
Marangoni convection and
increases the penetration capability
of activated TIG welds.
 The characteristic appearances of the activated and conventional TIG arcs and the
comparative depths of penetration in 6mm thick stainless steel (left: Conventional TIG
welding, right: A-TIG welding)
Influence of activated flux on bead shape

It was obvious that the

increases in penetration
depth and the decrease in
bead width are significant
with use of the silica-titania
mixed fluxes. The 80%
SiO2+20%TiO2 mixture can
produce the greatest
improvement in penetration
capability, up to 410%,
compared with the
conventional TIG welding of
stainless steel 316L plates.
 Material and time consumption per meter in TIG and ATIG welding of
steels
TI A TIG A TIG A TIG A TIG A TIG A
G TIG TIG TIG TIG TIG TIG

welding from one side welding from both sides

Thickness of metal being 5 8 10 12 14 16

welded, mm

Number of passes 3 1 4 1 5 1 5 2 7 2 9 2

Time of welding, min 26 7 34 15 40 20 43 24 60 30 77 40

Filler wire consumption, kg 0.28 0.0 0.50 0.0 0.6 0.1 0.7 0 0.8 0 1.1 0
6 8 4 0 8 1

Argon consumption, m3 0.26 0.07 0.34 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.6 0.3 0.7 0.4
5 0 0 3 4 0 0 7 0

Power consumption, kW 1.10 0.1 1.4 0.6 1.9 0.8 1.9 0.8 2.6 1.1 3.4 1.5
3 9 3 5 7 0 8 0 0 0 3
 Advantages of A-TIG welding
A-TIG welding has several advantages such as
• In experiments done on Stainless steels showed 300% improvement
in Penetration
• No degradation of microstructure and mechanical properties.
• Reduces both the need for edge preparations and increases
productivity due to the reduction in the number of weld passes
required to make the joint.
• Capacity to weld components in a single pass using a square edge
butt penetration.
• Minimized residual stresses and distortion in the weld joints.
• Allow faster welding speed, require reduced joint preparation,
consumes less filler wire and involve reduced distortion correction
through lower heat input and distortion which is achieved by higher
joint penetration.
• Overall Cost is reduced due to above advantages.
Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)
Uses a continuous, consumable bare wire
electrode, with arc shielding provided by a
cover of granular flux
• Electrode wire is fed automatically from a
coil
• Flux introduced into joint slightly ahead of
arc by gravity from a hopper
– Completely submerges operation, preventing sparks,
spatter, and radiation
Submerged Arc Welding

Figure 31.8 Submerged arc welding.

Submerged arc welding:
 Flux

• Fluxes used in SAW are granular fusible minerals containing

oxides of manganese, silicon, titanium, aluminium, calcium,
zirconium, magnesium and other compounds such as calcium
fluoride.

• Types

– Sintered fluxes - produced by grinding the dry charge

together, processing into small balls & heating to, 1000 –
1100°C in gas fired furnace. It is crushed to the desired
fineness, sieved, sized, & packed in suitable containers.

– Fused fluxes - produced by mixing the ingredients, then

melting them in an electric furnace to form a chemically
homogeneous product, cooled and ground to the required
particle size. Smooth stable arcs, with welding currents up to
2000A and consistent weld metal properties, are the main
attraction of these fluxes.
 Flux

– Agglomerated fluxes - produced by finely powdered

ingredients are mixed and ground dry in a mixer.

1
CaO + MgO + CaF2 + Na2O + K 2O + ( MnO + FeO)
Basicoxides 2

Acidicoxides SiO2 + 1 ( Al2O3 + TiO2 + ZrO2 )
2
 Variations of the process.
• Two-wire systems--same power source.
• Two-wire systems--separate power source.
• Three-wire systems--separate power source.
• Strip electrode for surfacing.
• Iron powder additions to the flux.
• Long stickout welding.
• Electrically "cold" filler wire.
 Material applications

• Carbon steels (structural and vessel construction)

• Low alloy steels
• Stainless steels
• Nickel-based alloys
• Surfacing applications (wear-facing, build-up, and
corrosion resistant overlay of steels)
 Advantages of submerged arc welding

• The deposition rate is high

• Penetration of weld is high
• Weld joints are strong and of good quality
• Due to automation option, the production speed is
high
• Welding operator skill required may not be high
• Due to the shielding of arc by flux, fumes and arc light
is low
 Limitations of SAW

• Welding positions are limited

• Good for only continuous and long length welding
• Possibilities of irregular wire feeding
• Flux handling is time consuming and added work
• Post welding slag removal
 Plasma Arc Welding

• Plasma Arc Welding is the welding process utilizing

heat generated by a constricted arc struck between a
tungsten non-consumable electrode and either the
work piece (transferred arc process) or water cooled
constricting nozzle (non-transferred arc process).

• Plasma is a gaseous mixture of positive ions,

electrons and neutral gas molecules.
Plasma Arc Welding
 Plasma Arc Welding

• Transferred arc process produces plasma jet

of high energy density and may be used for
high speed welding and cutting of
Ceramics, steels, Aluminum alloys, Copper
alloys, Titanium alloys, Nickel alloys.

• Non-transferred arc process produces

plasma of relatively low energy density. It is
used for welding of various metals and for
plasma spraying (coating). Since the work
piece in non-transferred plasma arc welding
is not a part of electric circuit, the plasma
arc torch may move from one work piece to
other without extinguishing the arc.
 Plasma Arc Welding

Advantages
•Requires less operator skill due to good tolerance of arc to
misalignments;
•High welding rate;
•High penetrating capability (keyhole effect)

Disadvantages
•Expensive equipment;
•High distortions and wide welds as a result of high heat
input.