Welding

Asif Hussain Assistant Professor UMT Lahore Pakistan

What is Welding?
Welding is a process of permanent joining two materials (usually metals) through localised coalescence resulting from a suitable combination of temperature, pressure and metallurgical conditions. In order to obtain coalescence between two metals there must be a combination of proximity and activity between the molecules of the pieces being joined, sufficient to cause the formation of common metallic crystals.

Classification of Welding Process

Classification can be done on the basis of: Combination of temperature and pressure: from a high temperature with no pressure to a high pressure with low temperature Source of energy: 1. Gas welding oxyacetylene, oxy-hydrogen 2. Arc welding carbon arc, metal arc, submerged arc, inert-gas-welding

Classification of Welding Process

TIG(Tungsten Inert Gas) & MIG(Metal Inert Gas) plasma arc, electro-slag 3. Resistance welding spot, seam, projection, butt welding, induction welding 4. Solid state welding friction welding, ultrasonic welding, explosive welding, forge and diffusion welding 5. Thermo-chemical welding thermit welding, atomic H2 welding (arc welding) 6. Radiant-energy welding electron-beam welding, laser beam welding

Conditions for Obtaining Satisfactory Welds

To obtain satisfactory welds it is desirable to have: 1. Source of Energy: energy supplied is usually in the form of heat generated by a flame, an arc, the resistance to an electric current, radiant energy or by mechanical means (friction, ultrasonic vibrations or by explosion). 2. Surface Contaminants: e.g, organic films and absorbed gases are effectively removed by Heat, when used as a source of energy. Oxides are cleaned by fluxes as slag which floats over the weld bead and solidifies to protect it from further oxidation. Note: Flux is a substance which is nearly inert at room temperature, but which becomes strongly reducing at elevated temperatures, preventing the formation of metal oxides.

Selection of Welding Process

There are a number of welding processes available; however, their application is dictated by the material properties, type of weld joints, their quality required in the service condition, cost and availability of the machine and operators skill.

Electrical Method
Electric resistance welding: is a nonfusion welding process. The heat H generated is given by: H = I2 * R * t where I is the current, R is the resistance of the interface of the joint and t is the time of the application of current When the rise in temperature is sufficient, a large pressure is applied at the heated interface to form a weld joint. The process variables are current, time of application of current, pressure, duration of pressure applications, materials to be welded and their thickness

Circuit diagram for Resistance Welding

Step-down Transformer

Types of Resistance Welding

Spot welding Seam welding Projection welding Upset Butt welding Flash butt welding

Spot Welding
Squeeze time Weld time Hold time Off-time Certain constant pressure is maintained from squeeze time till hold time If the current is too high: weld expulsion, reduced mechanical properties and electrode embedment in the surface If the current is too low: unfused surface and poor weld If pressure is high: will increase the contact and decrease the contact resistance and so less heat will be generated. It may lead to distortion and reduced electrode life. Increase in current time: will make the nugget growth upto the electrode face

Spot Welding (contd)

What will happen when the two plates of: 1. Different thicknesses are welded 2. Different conductivity are welded In these cases, the electrodes of different diameters are selected. If t is the thickness of the plate then the diameter de of the electrode will be: de = (0.1 + 2t) mm

Advantages of Spot Welding

High speed of operation Cleanliness No welding rods and less operational skills

Seam Welding
Process of continuous joining of overlapping sheets by passing them between two rotating electrode wheels. Heat generated by the electric current flowing through the contact area and pressure provided by the wheels are sufficient to produce a leak-tight weld.

Seam Welding
There is a need to increase the heating as the welding proceeds either by increasing the current or by external heating like high frequency heating Current interruption can also be employed to control the heating of the rollers in order to supply the requisite heat to the weld The applied pressure and current density may range from 3-8.5 MPa & 775 A/mm2, therefore, cooling arrangements of rollers must be provided to avoid their distortion

Applications of Seam Welding

Seam Welding is a high speed and clean process used (when continuous tight weld is required) in fuel tanks, drums, domestic radiators

Resistance Butt Welding (Upset Butt Welding)

Weld is obtained by bringing two pieces of metals to end-to-end contact under pressure and then allowing the current to flow. The contact surfaces should be as smooth as possible. A forge structure is obtained. (Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging can produce a piece that is stronger than an equivalent cast part) Employed for joining tubes.

Flash Butt Welding

The process is obtained by pressing the two pieces against each other under pressure so that the contacts will be at the points due to surface roughness The surfaces are heated (by welding current) upto molten condition, and as one piece is slowly advanced towards the other the molten metal is flashed out. After the faces attain plastic stage, upsetting pressure is applied leading to bonding of the two faces.

Flash Butt Welding

Flash Butt Welding

Difference from RBW: Contrary to RBW where smooth contact surface is preferred, in FBW contacts between the two surfaces are made at some point only due to the roughness of the surface With preheating, the applied pressure in the cold (not preheated) can be reduced to approximately half the above values

Flash Butt Welding

Applications: 1. Cheap and simple 2. Employed to highly alloyed steels which cannot be welded by other methods satisfactory. 3. Motor-car industries