A JOURNAL ON MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY

LAB-I

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Precautions to be adopted in Machine Shop:
1. Correct tools and work holding devices should be used recommended for the
process.
2. The tools and work piece should be held securely on the machine.
3. The tool should be clamped properly. An overhanging tool can be catastrophic.
4. The chips should never be removed with bare hands.
5. Compressed air should not be blown with mouth, instead brush should be used.
6. While removing from the machine the work piece should not be touched with bare
hands. It can cause serious injury due to high temperature.
7. The machine should be operated at required operating conditions with respect to
the tool and work piece combination.
8. Only recommended coolant should be for the required operation.
9. In case of power failure immediately shut down the machine and the tool should
be retrieved from the work piece.
10. Any kind of cleaning should not be done in running condition of the machine. It
should always be shut down and the cutting tool be retrieved from the work piece
before any cleaning takes place.
Precautions to be adopted in Welding Shop:
1. While performing any welding operations or observing from nearby proper safety
clothing and eye protection devices should be worn, otherwise serious damages
including damage to the retina may take place due to the harmful radiations.
2. The clothing and the gloves of the welder should be dry.
3. The welding cables should be free of grease.
4. The welding machine should always be turned off after completion of the
operation.
5. The polarity switch of the machine should not be used while the machine is in
running condition. This will cause injury to the welder and serious damage to the
machine.
6. Electrode holders with defective jaws and poor insulation should be avoided.
7. In gas welding the operator should always look for any kid of leakage and avoid
using cylinder, hoses, nozzle and fittings which has undergone leakage.
8. Skin contact with fluxes should be avoided as it contains fluorides and can cause
serious harm to the skin of the operator.

Single Point Cutting Tool:

Types of Cutting Tools:
The cutting tools are basically classified into two types:
(a) Single Point Cutting Tools: The cutting tools that have only one cutting edge are
 known as single point cutting tools. e.g.: Lathe tools, shaper tools, planner tools
etc.
(b) Multi Point Cutting Tools: The cutting tools that have more than one cutting edge
are known as multi point cutting tools. e.g.: drilling tools, boring tools, grinding
wheels etc.
Cutting Tool Materials-Properties and Types:
The following are the properties of cutting tool materials:
(a) Hot Hardness: The property by virtue of which the cutting tool retains its hardness
even at higher temperature is called hot hardness.
(b) Toughness: The property by virtue of which the cutting tools are resistant to
shock and impacts without fracturing is called toughness.
(c) Higher Resistance to wear: The cutting tool material should be resistant to wear so
as to ensure a longer tool life.
(d) Low coefficient of friction: The chip-tool interface experience a lot of wear owing
to the rough nature of the chips, hence in order to reduce the coefficient of friction
in the chip-tool interface the cutting tool should have a very high degree of surface
finish.
(e) Economical: The cost of the cutting tool materials should be economically viable.

The following are the most commonly used cutting tool materials:
(a) High carbon Steel: Plain carbon steel has a carbon content of 0.6-1.5% and are not
considered suitable as cutting tools in production works. But when the plain
carbon steel is alloyed with elements like Tungsten, Chromium, Molybdenum,
Vanadium its performance improves rapidly. The hot hardness increases, wear
resistance increases and also has a higher impact resistance than plain carbon steel.
The High Carbon steel can operate at temperatures of 350C.
(b) High Speed Steel: The high speed steel is a special alloy of steel consisting of
elements like Tungsten, Chromium, Vanadium, Cobalt and Molybdenum. They
comprise up to 25% of the total alloy composition. The high speed steel does not
lose its hardness up to temperatures of 550C to 600C. They can also operate at
cutting speed of 2-3 times higher than that of high carbon steel. The commonly
known High Carbon steel is 18-4-1 which contains 18% Tungsten, 4% Chromium
and 1% Vanadium. The Cobalt high Speed Steel has a Cobalt concentration of
2-15% which has high wear resistance and high hot hardness. The Vanadium High
Speed Steel has the following concentration 2% Vanadium, 6% Tungsten, 6%
Molybdenum and 4% Chromium, which has high toughness and high impact
resistance.
(c) Coated High Speed Steel: The coated High Speed Steel are coated with refractory
 materials like Titanium Carbide, Titanium Nitride and Aluminium Hafium Nitride.
The coated layer has a thickness of 2-6m. This helps to increase the tool life by
5-10 times than that of High Speed Steel.
(d) Cemented Carbides: The cemented carbides also known as sintered carbides are
produced by forming a powdered mixture of Tungsten, Titanium or Tantalum with
Carbon. The powdered mixture is mixed with Cobalt which acts as a binder and
sintered at a pressure of 1500-4000 kg/cm2 and temperature over 1500C and
shaped to the desired form and then brazed or fastened into the shank of carbon
steel. The cemented carbide tip is known for its hardness and can retain the same
hardness to a temperature up to 1000C. It is believed that only diamonds are
harder than cemented carbides. It can also operate at speed greater than 5-6 times
more than that of High Speed Steel.
(e) Stellite or Cast Alloys: These consist of non-ferrous alloys mainly formed by
Cobalt, Tungsten and Chromium. Other elements like Tantalum, Molybdenum and
Boron are added in varied proportion. The cutting tools formed with Stellite or
Cast alloys have high hardness and they can retain the hardness up to a
temperature of 920C. They are suitable to operate on hard work pieces like
Bronze and Cast Iron. They can also operate at speeds up to 2 times higher than
that of High Speed Steel. The Stellite or Cast Alloys consists of 40-50% Cobalt,
25-35% Chromium, 0.3-1.5% Tungsten and 1-4% Carbon.
(f) Cemented Oxides or Ceramics: The cemented oxide or Ceramics are the cheaper
replacement of cemented carbides. The cemented oxides or ceramics are formed
by mixing Aluminium Oxide and Boron Nitride in powdered form and heated at
temperature of up to 1700C. They can retain their hardness up to temperature of
1500C and also has greater wear resistance. However they are very brittle.
(g) Diamond: Diamond is the hardest naturally occurring material known to man.
However the diamond cutting tool is brittle and has low resistance to shock.
However it has very high wear resistance and low coefficient of friction. Due to
which they can produce very high grade of surface finish. The diamond cutting
tools are used in polymer, carbon, plastic and Aluminium cutting tools.
Single Point Cutting Tool nomenclature:
 Fig 1: Cutting Tool Nomenclature
The single point cutting tools have the following parts:
(a) Shank: It is the main body of the cutting tool and the cutting tool held by the tool
holder by the shank.
(b) Face: It is present at the top portion of the tool and is present between the shank
and the point.
(c) Point: It is the wedge shaped portion of the cutting tool where the face and the
flank meet. This is the main part of the cutting tool which comes in first direct
contact with the work piece.
(d) Flank: This is the surface that faces the work piece.
(e) Base: The surface which is held by the tool holder is called base.
(f) Heel: It is the curved portion of the tool where the base and the flank meet.
(g) Nose Radius: The cutting tip of the tool is not a sharp point but instead it is a
curvature and the radius of which is called nose radius. The curvature is called
Nose.
(h) Rake Angle: The angle formed by the face with the horizontal axis is called rake
angle. The rake angle guides the chips along the face. The rake angle formed by
the face which slopes upwards is known as Negative rake angle, while if the face
is parallel to the horizontal axis then the rake angle formed is called zero rake
angle.
(i) Lip Angle: The lip angle is also sometimes known as the angle of keenness. It is
formed between the face and flank. Greater the lip angle, greater is the strength of
the cutting tool as it affects the strength of the point. However increasing the lip
angle will have an inverse effect on the rake angle i.e. as the lip angle increases
the rake angle will decrease.
(j) Clearance Angle: The angle formed by the front or side surface of the cutting tool
with the vertical axis is called clearance angle. The front clearance angle is formed
with respect to the flank and the side clearance angle is formed with respect to the
side cutting surface of the single point cutting tool.
(k) Relief angle: The relief angle is formed between the point and the vertical axis
that passes through it.
(l) Cutting Angle: The cutting angle is formed by the face with a line which passes
through the point and which is tangent to the work piece surface.

Cutting Tool Life and factors affecting Tool Life and Tool Wear
The tool life of a cutting tool is defined as the time interval in which the cutting tool
works satisfactorily between two grindings. However it is also sometime referred to as
the volume of undesirable material (Chips) that is removed from the work piece.
The following are the expressions used for tool life:
(a) With respect to the volume of chips removed:
If D= Diameter of the work piece (mm)
t= depth of cut (mm)
f= feed (mm/rev)
N= No. of revolution of work piece per min (rpm)
T= Total time of operation (min)
Volume of material removed, TLV= DtfNT (mm3)
Now, V= Cutting speed (mm/min)

V=

DN= Vx1000
i.e. TLV= (Vx1000)xtfT (mm3)

(b) With respect to the time of operation

The concept of tool life with respect to time interval where the tool operates
satisfactorily is described with the help of the Taylor’s Equation. It was obtained that
when Cutting speed (mm/min) is plotted against the tool life (min) the a parabolic
curve was obtained.
Thus, VTn = Constant
Where V= Cutting Speed (mm/min)
T=Tool Life (min)
The value of n, which is an exponential constant, depends on the cutting tool material.
n=0.1 to 0.15 for High Speed Steel
n=0.2 to 0.5 for Cemented Carbide
n=0.6 to 1.0 for Ceramic Tools
(c) With respect to the feed, depth of cut and Cutting speed:
If V= Cutting Speed (mm/min)
f= feed (mm/rev)
t= depth of cut (mm)
T= Tool life (min)
The above mentioned terms are related with an empirical equation:

V= . . . (mm/min)

Factors effecting Tool life:

The following are the factors that affect the tool life:
(a) Cutting Speed: The effect of cutting speed on the tool life has been explained
above in sub-topic of Taylor’s Equation.
(b) Tool Geometry: The tool geometry plays a very crucial role in the tool life. The
rake angle is an important angle in the single point tool as it helps to provide the
required clearance for the chips to flow through the face of the cutting tool. Thus a
greater rake angle with help to provide a greater clearance for the chips to flow.
But if the rake angle is increased beyond its optimal limit then the lip will be
reduced and hence the strength of the cutting tool will be reduced. Thus the
optimal value of the rake angle should be -5 to 10. Similarly the relief and
clearance angles are provided to protect the flank from any adverse contact with
the work piece. However if the clearance and relief angles are increased beyond
an optimal limit the lip angle will be affected and the strength of the cutting tool
will be reduced. Thus the optimal value of these angles is 5 to 8. Similarly the
cutting edge angles also affect the tool life. Its value should be 5 to 8.
(c) Work piece material: The nature of the work piece also has a great effect on the
tool life. If the work piece is very hard the tool life of the cutting tool operating on
it reduces significantly. Similarly while working on pure metals, which has a
tendency to stick to the cutting tool surface increase the frictional force by a
greater amount and results in the reduction of the tool life.
(d) Rigidity of the cutting tool and the work piece: Both the work piece and the
cutting tool material should remain rigid in all conditions of operation. Because if
either of the two is not rigid enough the vibrations that is produced will result in
impact loading which reduce the tool life of the cutting tool.
(e) Feed and depth of cut: The effect of the feed and depth of cut has been explained
in the above topic with required empirical expression.
(f) Tool material: As discussed in one of the previous topics the selection of an ideal
 material for a cutting tool is very important and certain factors like hot hardness,
toughness, impact resistance, wear resistance etc are very important for a cutting
tool. These factors help to keep the tool geometry intact and hence increase the
tool life.
(g) Nature of cutting: Generally there are two natures if cutting i.e. continuous and
intermittent cutting. In the later case it is seen that the impact loading is very high
on the cutting tool and as a result the tool life reduces drastically.
(h) Use of cutting fluids: Since the material removal operation using the cutting tools
involve a very high temperature hence the proper use of the cutting fluid is very
important. The cutting fluid chosen should be such that it does not affect the
chemical composition of the cutting tool i.e. corrosion.
Orthogonal and Oblique Cutting:
(i) Orthogonal Cutting: The orthogonal cutting is the process of material removal in
which the cutting edge is perpendicular to the feed provided to the work piece. It
is known as Two Dimensional cutting. The chip movement is perpendicular to the
cutting edge of the
tool. In orthogonal
cutting the cutting
edge is longer than
the width of the
cut.
(ii) Oblique
Cutting: In
oblique cutting the
cutting edge of the
tool remains at an
acute angle to the
feed given to the
work piece. It is
known as three
Fig. 6 Orthogonal and Oblique dimensional
Cutting cutting. The
direction of chip
flow takes place at an angle,  with the normal to the cutting edge. The angle 
is called the chip flow angle. Unlike orthogonal cutting, the cutting edge of the
tool may or may not be longer than the width of the cut.
Types of Chips:
1. Discontinuous chips: The discontinuous chips are formed in the brittle work
 piece. In this type of chip formation process the shear plane angle,  is very small
thus preventing any scope for the chips to flow in continuity. Hence the chips
break down in the form of thin segments under the influence of the compressive
stress. However if the cutting speed is low and the depth of cut is greater and
proper lubrication is not provided the discontinuous chips are produced in ductile
materials as well. In ductile materials production of discontinuous chips result in
poor surface finish of the work piece.

Fig. 8 Discontinuous Chips

2. Continuous Chips: The continuous chips are produced in ductile materials under
favourable working conditions i.e. the cutting speed, depth of cut should be
optimal and the proper lubrication should be done. Also it should be seen that the
friction between the tool and the work piece interface should be minimum. The
continuous chips are produced by virtue of continuous plastic deformation of the
work piece.

Fig. 9 Continuous Chips

3. Continuous chips with build up edge: The build up edge is produced in the
surface of the cutting tool due to excessive heat generation between the chips and
the cutting tool. As the chips flow past the work piece through the flank and the
 nose the chips exerts a pressure on the cutting tool surface. As seen from the
figure the normal reaction of the chips on the cutting tool increases and hence a
huge amount of frictional force is developed in the cutting tool and chip interface
which results in dissipation of excessively high temperature which helps the chips
to get welded on the cutting tool surface and thus resulting in formation of a build
up edge.

Fig. 10 Continuous chips with build up edge

2. Casting:
Metal casting is one of the oldest manufacturing processes known to human beings.
Casting is basically the process in which hot molten metal is poured on a refractory
mould with a cavity containing the shape to be obtained in the final product, called
pattern. Once the molten metal is solidified the mould is either broken down or
separated to obtain the final product. The final product is referred to as casting or cast.
Casting Terms:
 Fig 1 Sand casting parts
1. Flask: The flask is the housing which keeps the sand mould intact.
2. Drag: The lower half of the flask is called drag.
3. Cope: The upper half of the flask is called cope.
4. Cheek: The intermediate part of the flask is called cheek.
5. Pattern: The pattern is the final replica of the final product to be obtained with
minor modifications. The mould cavity is obtained with the help of the pattern.
6. Parting Line: As the name suggests the parting line divides the bottom and the top
portion of the flask.
7. Bottom Board: The bottom board forms the base of the flask and is the starting
point of the mould making component.
8. Facing sand: This kind of sand is used in the inner portion of the mould which is
used to provide the surface finish.
9. Moulding sand: It is freshly prepared refractory material used for making the
mould cavity. The moulding sand consists of appropriate amount of silica, clay
and moisture.
10. Backing sand: The backing sand is mostly used sand from previous operations and
forms most of the mould cavity.
11. Core: The core is the hollow cavity present in the casting.
12. Pouring Basin: The pouring basin is a funnel shaped opening that is present on
the top of flask which forms the opening for pouring the molten metal.
13. Sprue: Tne sprue is the passage through which the molten metal from the pouring
basin passes to the mould cavity.
14. Runner: The runner helps to regulate the flow along the sprue before reaching the
mould cavity.
15. Gate: The gate is the actual entry point to the mould cavity.
16. Chaplet: The chaplets are present inside the mould cavity which helps to support
the core.
17. Chills: The chills are the metallic objects that are present in the mould cavity to
increase the rate of cooling.
18. Riser: The riser consists of additional molten metal that gets added to the mould
cavity when there is a reduction in the molten metal volume due to its
solidification.
.
Casting Procedure:
 Fig. 2 Sand Casting Procedure
1. A bottom board is placed on the moulding platform or on the floor and on top
of that the drag part of the flask containing the drag part of the pattern exactly
at the centre in an upside down position. Firstly dry facing sand is sprayed all
over the board to form a non-sticky layer. Then moulding sand up to thickness
of 30-50 mm is placed. Rest of the drag is now filled with back up sand and
rammed uniformly. While ramming it should be kept in mind that the sand
should not be tightly rammed nor should it be loosely rammed. If rammed
very tightly there would not be any escape for the gases, but if it is rammed
loosely the mould structure will collapse.
2. A vent wire of thickness 1-2 mm diameter with a pointed end is used to
prepare the vent holes through the full depth of sand up to the flask or the
pattern. The vent holes help to remove any kind of gases during the casting
process.
3. The drag is rolled over exposing the pattern. Using a slick the edges of sand
alongside the pattern is repaired.
4. Now the cope is placed aligned to the drag and the alignment is matched with
the help of dowel pins. Then dry facing sand is sprayed all over.
5. Sprue pin and riser pin are placed at an appropriate distance from the pattern.
The cope is now rammed with moulding sand and back up sand as in drag.
 6. The sprue and the riser pin are removed from the flask. Then the pattern is
withdrawn making sure that the mould cavity is not affected by the
withdrawing pattern. Any excess sand is blown out and the backing sand is
used as paste along the mould cavity which will give a better surface finish.
7. The dry sand is placed all over the mould and the cope is once again placed
over the drag and aligned with dowel pins. The mould is ready for pouring of
molten metal.
Patterns:
Patterns are the replica of the final product to be obtained by casting with some
modifications. While designing a pattern the following allowances should be taken
care of:
(a) Shrinkage allowance: All metals shrink when they undergo cooling. However the
rate of shrinkage of the metals while cooling in liquid state is different than
shrinkage of the metals while cooling in solid state. The higher shrinkage
allowance is provided to the outer dimension than those sides which are under
restriction.
(b) Finish or machining allowance: The surface finish provided by the casting process
is not very smooth, hence additional material removal processes like grinding or
filing are required for proper surface finishing of the final product obtained. Hence
the dimension of the pattern should be greater than that of the final dimension of
the product required.
(c) Draft allowance: At the time of withdrawing of the final cast if the sides are
completely vertical they may damage the mould cavity. Hence a small amount of
draft is provided along on which supposedly vertical faces were. The amount of
draft allowance provided differs on the basis of the complexity of the job.
(d) Shake or Rapping Allowance: In order to remove the mould cavity without
damaging there is always some amount of clearance kept between the pattern and
the mould. But since the size of the mould is slightly larger than the original
pattern the size of the pattern should be reduced. Hence Shake or Rapping
allowance is a negative allowance.
(e) Distortion allowance: Usually when long and flat portions are just solidified in a
casting process, they are very weak and may undergo distortion. Hence the general
practice in such a case is to provide additional metal in the long and flat portions
so as to prevent distortions. It is done in hit and trial method.

Pattern Materials:
Sl. Pattern Materials
No.
1 Aluminium Alloys
2 Grey cast iron
3 Steel
4 Brass and Bronze
5 Lead Alloys
Advantages Disadvantages
(a) Good machinability (a) Low strength
(b) High corrosion (b) High cost
resistance
(c) Low density
(d) Good surface finish
(a) Good machinability (a) Corrosion prone
(b) High strength (b) High density
(c) Low cost
(a) Good surface finish (a) Corrosion prone
(b) High strength (b) High density
(a) Good surface finish (a) High cost
(b) High strength (b) High density
(c) High corrosion
resistance
(a) Good machinability (a) High Cost
(b) High density
(c) Low strength

Types of pattern:
1. Single piece pattern: This is a very simple kind of pattern and as the name
suggests is made into a single piece. They accommodate in the drag itself.

Fig. 3 Single piece pattern

2. Split or two piece pattern: When the pattern is intricate and cannot be withdrawn
if it forms a single piece pattern then the pattern forms a split or two piece pattern.
 Fig. 4 Split piece pattern
3. Gated pattern: This is an improvement on the simple patterns where the sprue,
runner, gate and riser had to be provided with pins. In a gated pattern the sprue,
runner, gate and riser are integral part.
4. Cope and Drag Pattern: These types of pattern are similar to that of split pattern
but they also have cope and drag attached to their upper and the lower parts along
with the gating and the riser system. These patterns are used for castings which are
heavy and cannot be used for continuous production.

Fig. 5 Cope and Drag pattern

5. Match Plate pattern: These types of patterns are an extension to that of the
previous kinds of pattern. Here there is a match plate that forms the parting plate
for the cope and the drag. The cope is prepared on the top of the match plate while
the drag is prepared below and the system consists of the riser and the gating
system. When the match plate is removed a complete mould is produced with riser
and gating system is produced.

Fig. 6 Match plate pattern

6. Loose piece pattern: This type of pattern is used when the contour of the part such
that, withdrawing the pattern from the mould is not possible. Hence during
moulding, the obstructing part of the contour is held as a loose piece by the wire.
The moulding with loose piece requires a lot of skill on part of the operator.

Fig 7 Loose piece pattern

7. Follow board pattern: These types of castings are adopted for patterns which have
some portions that are structurally weak and are likely to break. Hence to
accommodate for such patterns the bottom board is modified to closely fit the
contour of the weak pattern. The follow board is used during the preparation of the
drag, while during the preparation of cope the follow board is not required.

Fig 8 Follow Board Pattern

8. Sweep pattern: It is used to sweep the complete casting by means of a plane sweep.
They are used for generating large shapes which are axi-symmetrical or prismatic
in nature such as bell shaped or cylindrical as shown in the figure. This reduces
the cost of three dimensional patterns. These kinds of pattern are suitable for large
castings such as bells for ornamental purposes which are generally cast in pit
moulds.
 Fig. 9 Sweep Pattern
9. Skeleton pattern: These kinds of patterns are made from strips of wood which are
used to make the final pattern by packing sand around the skeleton. The skeleton
made depends on the shape and geometry of the final product to be obtained.
Skeleton pattern is generally suitable for large castings that are required on small
quantities so a considerable cost on the pattern is not justified.

Fig. 10 Skeleton Pattern

Properties of moulding materials:
1. Refractoriness: The ability of moulding materials to withstand high temperatures
without fusion is called refractoriness.
2. Green Strength: The ability of the moulding sand to retain the shape of the mould
in presence of moisture is called Green strength.
3. Dry Strength: The ability of the moulding sand to retain the shape of the mould in
absence of moisture is called dry strength. The Green Sand when comes in contact
with the molten metal quickly expels the moisture and is known as dry sand.
4. Hot Strength: The ability of moulding sand to retain its strength after all the
moisture is eliminated and the temperature of the moulding sand has risen
considerably is called hot strength.
5. Permeability: The ability of the moulding sand to remove gases released from the
molten metal is called permeability. The removal of these gases are very important
as if stuck in the molten metal they will deform the casting.
Moulding sand composition:
1. Silica Sand: The silica grains form the largest composition of the moulding sand
( about 96%), while the other components include alumina, sodium oxide and
 magnesium oxides to a concentration of about 2%. The main source of the sand is
the river sand which can either be washed or unwashed. The fusion temperature of
the sand for cast iron is 1450C and for steel it is 1550C.
2. Clay: The clay is used in conjunction with the moulding sand as a good binding
agent. There are two types of clays that are used with the moulding sand:
(a) Kaolinite or Fire Clay (Al2O32SiO22H2O)
(b) Bentonite (Al2O34SiO2H2O nH2O)
Kaolinite has a melting point of 1750-1787C while bentonite has a melting point of
1250-1300C. However bentonite has the ability to absorb more water which
increases its ability to bond easily. The clay is also added with mixtures of lime,
alkalies and other oxides which help to improve its refractoriness.
3. Water: The bonding ability of the clay is activated using water. However the use
of the quantity of water needs to be checked as up to a certain limit the water help
to improve the bonding ability of the clay, beyond that it helps improving the
plasticity of the clay but beyond that it will decrease the strength of the mould
formed. Thus the percentage of water in the mixture of moulding sand, clay and
water should be 2-8%.

Welding:
Introduction:
Welding is a process of joining similar or dissimilar metals by the application of heat
and/or pressure.
Types of welding:
On the basis of the use of temperature or pressure to join two similar or dissimilar
metals welding is classified into two types:
(a) Fusion Welding: Fusion welding is the process of joining similar or dissimilar
materials by application of heat by melting of the parent metal.
(b) Solid state welding: Solid state welding is the process of joining similar or
dissimilar metals by application of pressure. Although some amount of
temperature is involved in the process of welding but the temperature is below the
melting point of the metals.
Classification of Fusion welding:
1. Gas Welding (Oxy-Acetylene Welding, OAW): Gas welding (Oxy-Acetylene
Welding, OAW) is a welding process that melts and joins metals by heating them
with a flame caused by the reaction between a fuel gas and oxygen. Oxyacetylene
welding (OAW), is the most commonly used gas welding process because of its
high flame temperature. A flux may be used to deoxidize and cleanse the weld
metal. The flux melts, solidifies, and forms a slag skin on the resultant weld metal.

Fig.1: Setup for OAW

The following are the types of flames used in OAW:
(a) Neutral flame: This refers to the case where oxygen (O2) and acetylene
(C2H2) are mixed in equal amounts and burned at the tip of the welding
torch. A short inner cone and a longer outer envelope characterize a
neutral flame. The inner cone is the area where the primary combustion
takes place through the chemical reaction between O2 and C2H2. The heat
of this reaction accounts for about two-thirds of the total heat generated.
The products of the primary combustion, CO and H2, react with O2 from
the surrounding air and form CO2 and H2O. This is the secondary
combustion, which accounts for about one-third of the total heat
generated. The area where this secondary combustion takes place is
 called the outer envelope. It is also called the protection envelope since
CO and H2 here consume the O2 entering from the surrounding air,
thereby protecting the weld metal from oxidation. For most metals, a
neutral flame is used.

Fig. 2: Neutral Flame

(b) Reducing or Carburising Flame: When excess acetylene is used, the
resulting flame is called a reducing flame. The combustion of acetylene is
incomplete. As a result, a greenish acetylene feather between the inert
cone and the outer envelope characterizes a reducing flame. This flame is
reducing in nature and is desirable for welding aluminium alloys because
aluminium oxidizes easily. It is also good for welding high-carbon steels
(also called carburizing flame in this case) because excess oxygen can
oxidize carbon and form CO gas porosity in the weld metal.

(c) Oxidising Flame: When excess oxygen is used, the flame becomes
oxidizing because of the presence of unconsumed oxygen. A short white
inner cone characterizes an oxidizing flame. This flame is preferred when
welding brass because copper oxide covers the weld pool and thus
prevents zinc from evaporating from the weld pool.
 Fig. 3: Carburising/Reducing Flame and Oxidising Flame
Advantages and Disadvantages of OAW:
The main advantage of the oxyacetylene welding process is that the equipment is
simple, portable, and inexpensive. Therefore, it is convenient for maintenance and
repair applications. However, due to its limited power density, the welding speed is
very low and the total heat input per unit length of the weld is rather high, resulting in
large heat-affected zones and severe distortion. The oxyacetylene welding process is
not recommended for welding reactive metals such as titanium and zirconium because
of its limited protection power.
2. Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW):
Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) is a process that melts and joins metals by
heating them with an arc established between a sticklike covered electrode and the
metals. It is often called stick welding. The electrode holder is connected through a
welding cable to one terminal of the power source and the work piece is connected
through a second cable to the other terminal of the power source. The core of the
covered electrode, the core wire, conducts the electric current to the arc and provides
filler metal for the joint. For electrical contact, the top 1.5 cm of the core wire is bare
and held by the electrode holder. The electrode holder is essentially a metal clamp
with an electrically insulated outside shell for the welder to hold safely.
The heat of the arc causes both the core wire and the flux covering at the electrode tip
to melt off as droplets. The molten metal collects in the weld pool and solidifies into
the weld metal. The lighter molten flux, on the other hand, floats on the pool surface
and solidifies into a slag layer at the top of the weld metal.
 Fig. 4: Setup for SMAW
Functions of Electrode Covering:
The covering of the electrode contains various chemicals and even metal powder in
order to perform one or more of the functions described below.
A. Protection: It provides a gaseous shield to protect the molten metal from air. For a
cellulose-type electrode, the covering contains cellulose, (C6H10O5)x. A large volume
of gas mixture of H2, CO, H2O, and CO2 is produced when cellulose in the electrode
covering is heated and decomposes. For a limestone-(CaCO3) type electrode, on the
other hand, CO2 gas and CaO slag form when the limestone decomposes. The
limestone-type electrode is a low-hydrogen type electrode because it produces a
gaseous shield low in hydrogen. It is often used for welding metals that are
susceptible to hydrogen cracking, such as high-strength steels.
B. De-oxidation: It provides deoxidizers and fluxing agents to deoxidize and cleanse
the weld metal. The solid slag formed also protects the already solidified but still hot
weld metal from oxidation.
C. Arc Stabilization: It provides arc stabilizers to help maintain a stable arc. The arc is
an ionic gas (plasma) that conducts the electric current. Arc stabilizers are compounds
that decompose readily into ions in the arc, such as potassium oxalate and lithium
carbonate. They increase the electrical conductivity of the arc and help the arc conduct
the electric current more smoothly.
D. Metal Addition: It provides alloying elements and/or metal powder to the weld
pool. The former helps control the composition of the weld metal while the latter
helps increase the deposition rate.
Advantages and Disadvantages of SMAW:
The welding equipment is relatively simple, portable, and inexpensive as compared to
other arc welding processes. For this reason, SMAW is often used for maintenance,
repair, and field construction. However, the gas shield in SMAW is not clean enough
for reactive metals such as aluminium and titanium. The deposition rate is limited by
the fact that the electrode covering tends to overheat and fall off when excessively
high welding currents are used. The limited length of the electrode (about 35 cm)
requires electrode changing, and this further reduces the overall production rate.

Types of welding joints:

Types of welding positions: