WORKSHOP TECHNOLOGY CASE STUDY

WELDING
NAGULAN VEGNESWARAN
02DAD22F1101
Lecturer: Azmin Bin Abit
INTRODUCTION
Welding in the automotive industry is extremely crucial as it is directly related to the
safety of passengers. Apart from safety, clean and strong welds are an important
part of a vehicle as it improves its appearance and reliability. Some of the real
examples of welding applications in automotive industries are, fixing cracked vehicle
panels, damaged fenders, welding exhaust on cars or rusted metal and so on. For
example, an auto body technician in automotive industry often needs to cut out the
bent piece of metal and replace it. They then use a welding technique to fasten the

new piece of metal and repair the vehicle's frame or fender safely. The automotive
industry is using welding robots more than ever before. However, the automotive
industry still needs skilled welders to work on specialized welding and to handle and
supervise the welding robots. Skilled welders are needed to set the right parameters
on the robots to ensure correct penetration and weld quality.

TYPE OF WELDING USED

As stated in the introduction, fixing cracked vehicle panels, damaged fenders,
welding exhaust on cars or rusted metal are some of the real examples of welding
applications in automotive industry. Gas metal arc welding is one of the highly
executed welding method in automotive industry to fix cracked vehicle panels,
damaged fenders, welding exhaust on cars or rusted metal.

EXPLANATION ABOUT BASIC CONCEPTS OF MIG WELDING

MIG welding is an arc welding process in which a continuous solid wire electrode is
fed through a welding gun and into the weld pool, joining the two base materials
together. A shielding gas is also sent through the welding gun and protects the weld
pool from contamination. GMAW have a way to protect the weld from oxidizing. On
most GMAW the weld is protected by a CO2 or argon gas. GMAW method uses a
welding wire that is fed automatically at a constant speed as an electrode. A short
arc is generated between the base metal and the wire and resulting heat from arc
melts the welding wire and joins the base metal together. The equipments of GMAW
is regulator, interconnections, gas cylinder, power source, MIG torch, work
return/earth, and wire feed unit. GMAW uses a DC current, AC current does not
apply to MIG welding because of the bad arc stability. Positive (+) lead is connected
to the torch. Negative (-) lead is connected to the work piece. A GMAW electrode is
a metal wire measured by its diameter. An electric arc occurs in the gas filled space
between the electrode wire and the work piece. Electric arcs can generate
temperatures up to 10,000°F. As the wire electrode and work piece heat up and
melt, they form a pool of molten material called a weld puddle. This is what the
welder watches and manipulates while welding.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVATAGES OF GMAW

The advantages of GMAW is, the arc is more clearly visible by the operator with the
absence of smoke from the flux. The GMAW has a higher welding speed, less time
is spent on stopping and removing the slag and replacing welding rods. Moreover,
no slag to chip as compared to SMAW. The quality of the weld in GMAW is greater.
Large gaps filled easily, making repairs efficiently and less electrode loss as
compared to covered electrodes. Disadvantages of GMAW is welding power
source expensive. Shielding gas of GMAW is expensive. Needs Shielding Gas so
welding in windy conditions can be difficult. The cost of the wire electrode is higher
and most GMAW machines require three-phase input power. Lastly, GMAW is not
as versatile as SMAW for maintenance.

Types of joints can be found in application

Butt joint
 Butt joint Symbol

Butt joints are often used to join plate,

pipe, tubing or any other application where a smooth, flush weld face is desired.
Welding projects that use this design can include an exhaust system on a car or
joining panels for a door. This is a type of joint made between two pieces of metal
lying in the same plane and used to butt weld light sheet metal.

Lap joint

Lap joint symbol

Lap welding joints are essentially a modified version of the butt joint. They are
formed when two pieces of metal are placed in an overlapping pattern on top of each
other. They are most commonly used to joint two pieces with differing thicknesses
together. Lap joint made when two pieces of metal overlap one another and used for
plates having thickness less than 3mm.These lap joint welding is usually done by the
robotic welding on the car bodies because it automates the welding process to
increase accuracy, enhance safety and reduce the time needed to complete each
project.

Corner joint

Corner joint symbol

Corner joints are used in automotive industries to repair broken chassis of cars and
lorries. Corner joint welding refers to instances in which two materials meet in the
“corner” to form an L-shape. You can use corner joints to construct sheet metal
parts, including frames, boxes, and similar applications. This is a joint made when
two pieces of metal are placed at right angles to each other to make a 90–degree
angle .This joint used for both light and heavy gauge sheet metal. Advantages of this
joint is ,it can be welded without any filler metal by melting the edges of the parent
metal.

EDGE JOINT

Edge joint symbol

A joint that is formed by placing two pieces of metal parallel to one another or by
stacking one on top of the other. This joint is commonly used to join edges of sheet
metal, reinforcing plates in flanges of I beams, edges of angles, mufflers, tanks for
liquids. Plates of sheet metal thickness can be joined without using a filler metal.

SAFETY ELEMENTS DURING THE WELDING WORKS

During the welding process make sure to wear appropriate personal protective
equipments such as;
 Welding Gloves.
 Helmet With Eye Protection.
 Heat Resistant Welder's Jacket.
 Welding Pants (No cuff)
 Welding Respirator or Lung protection.
 Ear Muff or Plugs.
 Welding Work Boots.

Procedures before start welding;

 Be sure the welder is properly installed and grounded.
 Never weld without adequate ventilation.
 Take proper precautions to prevent fires.
 Protect your entire body with fire retardant clothing, shoes, and gloves.
 Wear eye protection at all times.
 Weld only in a firesafe area.

Conclusion
MIG welding is an ideal method for assembling body and interior components of
vehicles. Advances in MIG welding offer the process higher stability, greater
durability and more productivity at a lower cost compared to other welding
methods. The fact that it can provide a strong weld for even very thin metals makes
MIG welding the ideal technique for assembling and repairing the body and interior
of any vehicle. MIG-welded metals are also extremely versatile, a must for vehicles
that need to hold up to many years of use.