Gas metal arc welding (GMAW)

Uses an arc between a continuous filler metal (consumable) electrode and the
weld pool. Shielding is provided by an externally supplied shielding gas. This
process is also known as MIG welding or MAG welding. MIG (Metal Inert Gas)
welding means the use of an inert (i.e. non active) gas. MAG (Metal Active Gas)
welding requires the use of an active gas (i.e. carbon dioxide and oxygen). CO2
is a more commonly used shortening of MAG welding gas.
The process consists of a DC arc burning between a thin bare metal wire
electrode and the piece. The arc and weld area are enveloped in a protective
gas shield. The wire electrode is fed from a spool, through a welding torch which
is connected to the positive terminal into the weld zone. MIG/MAG welding is the
most widely used process in the world today. It is a versatile method which offers
a lot of advantages. The technique is easy to use and there is no need for slagcleaning. Another advantage is the extremely high productivity that MIG/MAG
welding makes possible.
MIG/MAG welding is used on all thicknesses of steels, aluminum, nickel,
stainless steels etc. The MAG process is suitable both for steel and unalloyed,
low-alloy and high-alloy based materials. The MIG process, on the other hand, is
used for welding aluminum and copper metals
Flux Cored Arc Welding
Flux cored arc welding (FCAW) is an electric arc welding process that uses an
arc between a continuously fed flux-filled electrode and the weld pool. The
process is used with shielded gas from a flux contained within the tubular
electrode with or without additional shielding from an externally supplied gas.
The FCAW process utilizes the heat of an arc between a continuously fed
consumable flux cored electrode and the work. The heat of the arc melts the
surface of the base metal and the end of the electrode. The metal melted off the
electrode is transferred across the arc to the work piece, where it becomes the
deposited weld metal. Shielding is obtained from the disintegration of ingredients
contained within the flux cored electrode. Additional shielding is obtained from an
envelope of gas supplied through a nozzle to the arc area. Ingredients within the
electrode produce gas for shielding and also provide deoxidizers, ionizers,
purifying agents and, in some cases, alloying elements.
Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)
Submerged arc welding is an arc welding process that fuses together the parts to
be welded by heating them with one or more electric arcs between one or more
bare electrodes and the work piece. The submerged arc welding process utilizes
the heat of an arc between a continuously fed electrode and the work. The heat
of the arc melts the surface of the base metal and the end of the electrode. The
metal melted off the electrode is transferred through the arc to the workpiece,
where it becomes the deposited weld metal.

Shielding is obtained from a blanket of granular flux, which is laid directly over
the weld area. The flux close to the arc melts and intermixes with the molten weld
metal and helps purify and fortify it. The flux forms a glasslike slag that is lighter
in weight than the deposited weld metal and floats on the surface as a protective
cover. The weld is submerged under this layer of flux and slag- hence the name
submerged arc welding.
Tungsten inert gas welding (TIG)
In TIG an arc is created between a nonconsumable tungsten electrode and the
metal being welded. The arc produces the heat needed to melt the work. The
shielding gas keeps oxygen in the air away from the molten weld pool and the
hot tungsten. Gas is fed through the torch in order to shield the electrode and the
molten weld pool. The shielding gas used is pure argon. There may or may not
be filler metal added to the molten weld pool during the process. Tungsten is
used for the electrode because of its high melting temperature and good
electrical characteristics.
The main advantage of TIG welding is the wide range of materials that it can
weld. TIG welding is used to a great extent for welding different kinds of alloys of
aluminum and stainless steel, specially when quality is of great importance. This
technique is mainly used in aeronautical constructions and in the chemical and
the nuclear power industry.

Electro slag welding

by Owen Gorton

Description
Electro slag welding is a very efficient, single pass process carried out in the
vertical or near vertical position and used for joining steel plates/sections in
thicknesses of 25mm and above. It was developed by the Paton Institute in the
Ukraine in the early 1950s and superseded the very high current submerged arc
process for making longitudinal welds in thick-walled pressure vessels.
Unlike other high current fusion processes, electro slag welding is not an arc
process. Heat required for melting both the welding wire and the plate edges is
generated through a molten slag's resistance to the passage of an electric
current.
In its original form, plates are held vertically approximately 30mm apart with the
edges of the plate cut normal to the surface. A bridging run-on piece of the same
thickness is attached to the bottom of the plates. Water cooled copper shoes are
then placed each side of the joint, forming a rectangular cavity open at the top.
Filler wire, which is also the current carrier, is then fed into this cavity, initially
striking an arc through a small amount of flux. Additional flux is added which
melts forming a flux bath which rises and extinguishes the arc. The added wire
then melts into this bath sinking to the bottom before solidifying to form the weld.
For thick sections, additional wires may be added and an even distribution of
weld metal is achieved by oscillating the wires across the joint. As welding
progresses, both the wire feed mechanism and the copper shoes are moved
progressively upwards until the top of the weld is reached. See figure 1.

Fig.1.

Electro
welding

slag

The consumable guide variant of the process uses a much simpler set-up and
equipment arrangement which does not require the wire feed mechanism to
climb. In this case, the wire is delivered to the weld pool down a consumable,
thick-walled tube which extends from the top of the joint to the weldpool. Support
for the molten bath is provided by two pairs of copper shoes which are moved
upwards, leapfrogging each other as welding progresses. The tubular guides can
be further supplemented by additional consumable plates attached to the tube.
Generally, as the thickness of plate increases, the number of wires/guides
increases, approximately in the ratio of one wire per 50mm of thickness, see
figure 2.

Fig.2. Consumable guide welding

Current status
In the fabrication industry, the process continues to be used for thick walled
pressure vessels which are post-weld normalized and for structures such as blast
furnace shells and steel ladles which are used at above ambient temperatures.
The process is also extensively used for the welding of railway points.

Important current issues

Considerable interest was shown in electro slag welding during the 1970s when
ideas for increasing welding speed were investigated. This was seen as an
important parameter for increasing productivity and as a way of reducing heat
input to improve HAZ and weld metal impact properties.
However, since that time little has been done by way of development. Those
developments that have taken place have been limited to the tuning of
parameters and tailoring techniques for specific applications.

Benefits
The principal benefits of the process are:
speed of joint completion; typically 1 hour per meter of seam, irrespective
of thickness
lack of angular distortion
lateral angular distortion limited to 3mm per meter of weld
high quality welds produced
simple joint preparation, i.e. flame-cut square edge
major repairs can be made simply by cutting out total weld and re-welding

Risks
Electro slag welding is not one of the major welding processes because the high
heat input generates large, coarse grained weld metal and HAZs which lead to
poor fracture toughness properties in these areas. Toughness improvements can
only be achieved by post-weld normalizing treatment. Additionally, the near
parallel-sided geometry of the weld, combined with the coarse grains, can make
it difficult to identify defects at the fusion boundary by standard ultrasonic NDT
techniques.
The process has considerable potential for increasing productivity. However, its
use has been limited because of relatively poor understanding of the process
and, for specific applications, the significance of the fracture toughness values.
As a result, use of the process has been restricted to a few niche applications.