A Technical Report on

Brief Introduction to Welding Technology

From
[Advanced Welding Technology (PE-ME 702H]

Continuous Assessment 2(CA 2)

Under
MAULANA ABUL KALAM AZAD UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
(Formerly known as West Bengal University of Technology)

Submitted by
NAME: Pravat Kumar Rout

REGISTRATION NUMBER: 212690100720053

ROLL NUMBER: 26900721042
DEPARTMENT: ME

YEAR: 4th
SEMESTER: 7 th

MODERN INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY RAJHAT, BANDEL,

HOOGHLY 2023
INTRODUCTION:
Welding is recognised all over the world, to day as a remarkably versatile means of metal
fabrication. Welding, in combination with allied processes like thermal cutting, brazing, braze
welding and metal spraying has provided ample freedom to the modern designer to develop metallic
product in which optimum mechanical properties, lightness & aesthetics are harmoniously blended.
A large number of welding & allied processes have come into industrial use in the last 30
years. Variations & extensions of these processes are being developed & put to practical from time
to time. The wide range & variety of these processes enables the modern engineers to join almost all-
commercial metal & alloys in many different sizes & in thickness ranging from a fraction of a
millimetre to 2000mm and above.
Welding of plain carbon steels, low alloy steel, & heat resisting steels, and many non-ferrous metals &
their alloys (such as aluminium, nickel copper) are in routine commercial application and metals
such as Titanium, Columbium, Molybdenum & Zirconium are welded extensively for missile, jet
aircraft, & nuclear power plant industry. Modern industrial products such as automobiles, railway
rolling stocks, transmission pipe lines, pressure vessels, storage tanks, machinery, power generation
equipment, offshore platforms, oil refineries, and fertiliser plants which have contributed to material
prosperity of man kind, owe their development and efficient performance to Welding.

DEFINATION OF WELDING:

The American Welding Society (AWS) defines weld as a localised coalescence of metal or
non-metal produced either by heating the materials to suitable temperatures, with or without
application of pressure, or by the application of pressure alone, and with or without the application
of filler materials.
Indian Standard IS: 812-1957 defines the weld as “Union between two pieces of a metal at
faces rendered plastic or liquid by heat or by pressure, or both. Filler metal may be used to affect the
union.”
International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has defined welding as “An operation
by which two or more parts are united by means of heat or pressure or both, in such a way that there
is continuity of the nature of the materials between the parts. A filler material, the melting point of
which is of the same order as that of the parent materials, mayor may not be used.”
To elaborate, a weld is a localised coalescence (unite into a body) or union of metals. This
implies that in welding, the abutting surfaces grow together into a common mass, so that the joint
has metallic continuity. The ideal weld is one in which there is perfect continuity between the parts
joined, such that every part of the joint is indistinguishable from the metalsin which the joint is made.
The ideal joint is never achieved in practice, because the microstructure & mechanical
properties are not identical over the entire joint & the original metal. Yet, welds which give
satisfactory service can be obtained by selecting proper welding processes, typeof joint & Procedure.

WELDING & ALLIED PROCESSES: Welding has a large number of variation and diversity.
However, Welding and allied activities may be broadly classified in four distinct categories, namely:

• Welding.
• Braze welding.
• Brazing.
• Soldering
• Thermal cutting.
• Thermal spraying
 Diversity of welding processes
welding

Solid state welding Fusion welding Soldering and brazing

Resistance welding Soldering

Cold welding Brazing
Friction welding
Electrical energy Chemical energy
Diffusion welding
Flash welding Oxyacetylene welding

Ultrasonic welding Oxyfuel gas welding

Explosion welding
Consumable electrode Non consumable Other processes
electrode
Gas metal arc welding Laser beam welding
Shielded metal arc welding Gas tungsten arc welding Thermit welding
Atomic hydrogen welding
Submerged arc welding Electron beam welding
Plasma arc welding
Flux cored arc welding
Electrogas welding
Electroslag welding

BASIC REQUIREMENTS OF A WELDING PROCESS:

In welding, energy is the basic requirement to effect coalescence. Almost in all cases, the
energy is used in the form of heat to melt the joint interface or to bring it to a plastic state. The
source of energy is widely varied; starting from mechanical working, electrical energy, chemical
energy, sound energy, about all forms of energy are used including even light energy and kinetic
energy! However, electrical energy and chemical energy are the two most common forms in use.
Naturally, the welding equipments to convertthese energies to heat also vary widely.

The next most important aspect in welding is protection of molten and very hot metal from
oxidation. This shielding is done either by producing fumes by burning fluxes or by supplying jet of
gasses (inert or active) separately near the weld area during welding. The flux may be provided
along with the consumable electrode as in Manual Metal Arc (MMAW) and Flux Cored (FCW)
welding or separately as in Submerged Arc (SAW) and Electro Slag (ESW) welding.

Apart from shielding the molten and hot metal, flux also has the function of refining the
molten metal. De-oxidiser like Silicon, Manganese etc. are added to flux, which reacts with metal
oxide to form slag and float at the top thus leaving a clean metal below. Alloy addition, when needed
to control the weld metal chemistry is also done through flux. However, except in FCW, alloy
addition through flux runs a risk of non-homogeneity of weld metal chemistry.

The third important consideration in welding is filler metal. If the thickness of the material is
such that the whole cross section can’t be melted in a single pass, edge preparation by the way of
beveling and maintaining some distance between the two plates are necessary to reach the bottom
cross section. To fill up the gap, filler metal is to be provided. The core wire in MMAW and the
continuous wires in other types of welding are used for this purpose. For joining thin sections, filler
metal may not be necessary. In such cases, non consumable type electrodes or other devices are used
to provide the heat.
CLASSIFICATION OF WELDING PROCESSES:

There are many ways of classifying welding processes, like:

• Based on Source of Energy
• Based on State of Weld Zone
• Based on Weld pool composition
• Based on Degree of Automation etc

We will adopt the classification based on State of Weld Zone & Weld pool composition. In
Indian Railways, majority of application is of fusion welding. By far, worldwide it is the most
commonly used welding process for almost all materials. As the name suggests, melting of metal at
the joint face and subsequent solidification is involved. This leads to gross change of metal
composition (in case of using filler material), microstructure and associated material properties. The
process is prone to various defects as both welding defects and casting defects are involved.
Some commercial application does not call for thorough melting and solidification along the
join interface. In such cases and also in applications where lesser welding defects are desired, joining
is accomplished by applying pressure after bringing the material into plastic state by application of
heat like Flash Butt Welding, Spot Welding, Friction welding etc. Though in lesser degree, change
in material properties is unavoidable due to change in micro structure during application of heat
In some very specialized applications where service requirements are met through close
control over microstructure, even heating to an appreciable degree is also not permitted. In such
cases, bonds are formed by pressure alone like explosive welding.

There are processes which are combinations of these principles by application of heat
over a very small area, may be in the atomic scale. Electron Beam Welding, Atomic Hydrogen
welding, LASER welding etc. are examples of such processes.

WELDING, CUTTING AND ALLIED PROCESSES

Solid Phase Plastic Phase Fusion welding B razing & Thermal Cutting Ther mal spra ying

Soldering
Friction, Diffusion,
Ultrasonic, E xplosion etc
Only PM Mix. Of PM & FM Only FM
Thermit Welding

Resistance Laser Plasma TIG M anual Submerged M IG MAG Flux Cored

W elding EB, At. Hydrogen A rc Arc (C O 2 )
.
Gas shielded Self Shielding
Flash Butt, Flash, Spot, Stud Seam, Percussion etc.

THE KINGDOM OF WELDING

From the figure above, it is evident that variety of processes has been evolved to meet
various requirements. In Indian Railways mostly Fusion welding and a few Plastic phase welding
are followed. The basic operating principles of some important processes arediscussed below.
FUSION WELDING PROSESSES:

These processes involve fusion of the base metal to complete the weld. Fusion welds
ordinarily do not require the application of pressure, and they may be completed with or without
addition of filler metal. A fusion weld made without the addition of filler metal is called Autogenous.
In most cases, fusion welding involves the use of filler metal.

Metal arc welding:

Manual metal arc welding:- This is a group of processes in which heat required for fusion is
generated by the electric arc formed between a metallic electrode & the base metal. The electrode is
consumed in the arc & provides the filler metal for the joint. The electric arc is an ideal source of
welding heat. The extremely high arc temperature of over 50000C permits it to supply a large amount
heat to a small area. Hence the melting in the base metal is restricted to a narrow zone. Among the
arc processes, manual metal arc is the most common, versatile and inexpensive one and account for
60% of the total welding in advanced countries and over 90% of the total welding in India. It is a
manual process, and hence depends on the skill and experience of the welder. It makes use of a flux
–coated electrode having a core of solid wire (diameter 6.3-1.6mm, length 450-250mm). It needs a
power source, either a transformer supplying AC or generator/ rectifier supplying DC.
The process is suitable for the entire range of plate thickness, and for almost all-commercial metals
and alloys. It is used for joining as well as for surfacing (rebuilding). It can be used in all welding
positions. It is well suited for site welding (Fig-1).

Fig 1: Manual Metal Arc Welding (a) welding circuit (b) welding arc in action

Submerged-Arc Welding: -This is mostly used as a fully- automatic process, and sometimes as a
semiautomatic process. The electrode is a continuous metallic wire (solid or flux cored) in the form of
a spool or a coil. It is fed automatically into the arc at a constant speed. The arc is covered with a
layer of dry granular flux fed into the welding groove, which performs the same functions as the
coating of a manual electrode. The arc is created
between the continuous wire lowered through the flux and the base plate. The arc remains covered
by the flux, hence the name. As the arcing continues either the welding or the welding head moves,
feeding the flux ahead of flux from a hopper. The arc length is automatically controlled. The power
source can be a transformer (AC) or a generator/rectifier (DC). It is generally of high capacity, say
750 or more, even up to 3,000amps.
In semiautomatic welding, the operator guides the flexible welding head along the groove. In
doing so he controls the speed of travel and the line of travel. Controlling the line is difficult,
because the arc is submerged. Hence this version is usually restricted to fillet weld and grooved butt
weld.

In fully- automatic welding, the welding head is mounted on a trolley, which travels along
the joint. Alternately, the welding head is stationary, and the joint moves under it. This process gives
very high productivity and excellent weld quality.

It is generally applied on mild steel, high tensile steels, and stainless steels. It is ideal for
heavy thickness. For thin sections, weld backing is necessary to avoid burn-through. It is commonly
used for fabrication of plate girders, pressure vessels, pipes and penstocks, for surfacing & strip
cladding. In strip cladding, the electrode is in the form a strip, usually 1.6mm Χ75mm wide (Fig-2).

FIG 2: Diagrammatic sketch of Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)

MIG Welding: MIG (Metal–Inert-Gas Welding) is also known as GMAW (Gas–Metal-Arc

Welding). In this process, coalescence is achieved by an electric arc formed between the work piece
and a continuous consumable solid wire electrode, which is fed through a gun at controlled speeds.
Inert gas flows through coaxial passage in the gun and forms a blanket over the weld puddle to
protect it from atmospheric contamination.

The welding can be semiautomatic or fully mechanised. In semiautomatic version, the

welder concerns himself only with gun-to-work distance, gun manipulation, welding speed. Wire
feed rates, electrical settings, and gas flow is pre-set. When the equipment is
completely mechanised, all of these variables and welding functions performed automatically without
the need for a welder.
The power source is a rectifier or motor generator giving DC. DCRP (Direct Current ReversePolarity
i.e. electrode to positive terminal and job to negative terminal) is used, as it gives better melting,
deeper penetration and better cleaning action.
MIG is a versatile process, and is gradually replacing manual metal-arc and TIG welding.
Most metals can be easily welded including aluminum, carbon steels, low alloy steels, stainless
steels, nickel, copper, magnesium, titanium, and zirconium. However, for carbon steels and low alloy
steels, MAG or CO 2 welding is preferred, because it avoids the use of expensive argon gas (Fig-3).

Fig 3: Schematic diagram of MIG/MAG (CO2) Welding

MAG (CO2) Welding: MAG stands for metal active-gas arc welding. This is a variation of MIG
welding, in which identical equipment is used but chemically active gas mixture or carbon dioxide
replaces the inert argon gas. However, the CO 2 gas tends to form Dry Ice while coming out from
high pressure cylinder. To prevent choking, one tubular heating arrangement is kept just at the outlet,
through which the gas is passed. The term gas-metal- arc welding (GMAW) is also applied to the
MAG (CO 2) process. CO 2 welding is gradually replacing MMAW in the fabrication of structural,
pipes, automotive products, storage tanks, and machinery, etc. (Fig-3). In RCF a proprietary gas
mixture containing 90% CO 2, 5% Argon and 5% Oxygen is being used.

Flux-Cored Arc Welding: This is an extension of the MIG/MAG process. A tubular wire whose
core is filled with flux replaces the continuous solid wire. The equipment is the same as used for
MIG/MAG welding. The flux performs the same functions as the coating of a manual electrode. For
welding alloy steels and for hard-facing applications, suitable alloying elements are also included in
the flux. Flux-cored arc welding is normally performed with a additional CO 2 shield to protect the
weld pool from atmospheric attack. Thus it becomes a gas-shielded process. Some flux-cored wires
are specially designed to be self-shielding, which means they do not require the external CO 2 shield.
Such wires are widely used in the USA and Japan for structural and hard facing applications. When
such wires are used, the process is known as self-shielding or gas less (Fig-4).
 The process gives the best of both worlds. It is versatile like MMAW as the basic shielding
moves along with the wire. Again it can give high degree of automation and high rate of production
due to the continuous nature of the electrode. Moreover unlike other welding processes, where alloy
steel core wire is to be used, alloy addition is most simple in FCW. Plain mild steel sheath is used in
all the cases and varying amount of alloy addition depending on the end product requirement is
added in the flux. This gives a high degree of flexibility and scope of inventory control for
manufacturer.

Fig 4: Schematic diagram of Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW)

TIG Welding: TIG (Tungsten-Inert-Gas) welding is also termed as GTAW (Gas-Tungsten- Arc
Welding). In this process, an arc is struck between a non-consumable tungsten electrode and the
base metal. The inert argon or helium or argon-helium mixture shields the arc. A filler wire may or
may not be used. When it is used, the welder feeds it externally into the arc in the form of rod or
strip. The welder also has to control the arc length and arc travel speed. An AC power source is used
for welding aluminum & its alloys, while a DC source is used for other metals. This is an ideal
process for welding non-ferrous metals and stainless steels of limited thickness. TIG is also preferred
for depositing the root pass in the pressure piping, where welding from inside is not possible (Fig-5).

Fig-5 SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF TIG WELDING

Arc Spot Welding: In this process, coalescence at the overlapping surfaces is produced in one
spot by heating with an electric arc between an electrode and the work. The weld is made without
preparing a hole in either member. Filler metal or shielding gas or flux may or may not be used. The
arc is produced by using either of the carbon arcs, TIG, MIG processes. Arc spot welding by MAG
(CO 2) process is widely used today, for which the equipment is provided with the necessary
controls to achieve consistent spot-welds. While
electric resistance spot welding requires access from both sides of the overlapping plates, arc spot
welding can be from one side only (Fig-6).

Fig 6: Schematic diagram of Arc Spot Welding

Gas Welding: In this process, the melting of the base metal is achieved by means of a gas flame, which
derives its intense heat from the combustion of a fuel with oxygen. The most commonly used fuel is
acetylene, and hydrogen is sometime used. Hence appropriate term of this process is oxy fuel or
oxyacetylene welding. Filler metal may or may not be used.

The oxyacetylene process depends on the chemical reaction, which occurs in two
stages:

Primary stage: C2H2 + O2 = 2CO + H2

The primary combustion provides the actual flame for welding, with temperature up to3,000 0C in
the inner cone.

Secondary stage: 2CO + H2 + 11/2 O2 = 2CO 2 + H2O

Oxygen
from air
This secondary combustion occurs at the outer portion of the flame. It protects themolten
puddle from attack by air and helps to preheat the base metal.

Equipment for oxyacetylene welding consists of oxygen and acetylene cylinders, pressure
regulators that reduce the high cylinder gas pressure to the required working pressure, a torch where
the two gases are mixed, and hoses, which connect the regulators to the torch.
Gas welding has limited application for industrial production purposes, because it is much slower
than arc welding process. It is used considerably more for general maintenance work including thin
sheet welding, hard-facing, welding metals of low melting points (especially non-ferrous metals) and
performing such operations as brazing, soldering and thermal spraying (Fig-7).
 Fig-7:Oxyfuel welding: (a) Schematic diagram of the process
(b) Sketch of the welding torch

Neutral flame Oxidizing flame Carburizing flame

Fig 8: Different flames produced by controlling the gas flow

Thermit Welding: This process utilises the intense heat developed during the reaction between iron
oxide and aluminum. When a mixture of three parts of iron oxide and one part of aluminum by
weight is locally heated with a special a special ignition powder, a vigorous reaction takes place
which proceeds rapidly through the mass, resulting in the formation of aluminum oxide and iron, and
a considerable amount of heat.

The reaction

Fe2O3 + 2Al = 2Fe + Al2O3 + 181.5 K. Cal

3FeO + 2Al = 3Fe + Al2O 3 + 160 K. Cal

The heat is sufficient to melt the iron and the oxide slag. In carrying out a Thermit welding
operation, the Thermit mixture is placed in a refractory crucible above the pieces to be welded. In
practice, the additional metals and compounds are often placed in the Thermit mixture to alloy the
iron and improve its properties. The molten metal from the Thermit reaction in the refractory
crucible is guided to the preheated joint to be welded by a sand mould, which is fastened around the
work.. By virtue its super heat, the Thermit metal melts a portion of the base metal with which it
becomes in contact. Upon solidification of this melt, the mould is removed and the extra metal is
chiseled out while red hot.
 The process is the only effective process for welding the railway tracks in situ.
It is also sometimes used to repair heavy broken parts such as mill rolls (Fig-9).

Fig 9: Diagrammatic sketch of Thermit Welding (a) Refractory crucibleFor

Thermit reaction (b) Sand mould containing the joint

LASER welding: In this process, fusion is achieved by directing a highly concentrated beam
of light about the diameter of a human hair to the spot to be welded. LASER (Light Amplification by
Simulated Emission of Radiation) has a higher energy concentration than even an electron beam. A
monochromatic spatially coherent beam of light of 0.001 inch diameter can be produced with very
high heat concentration. Since the heat input to the work piece is extremely small, the size of the
heat-effected zone and the thermal damage to the adjacent parts of the weld are negligible. Carbon-
di-Oxide, Nd:YAG (Neodymium Ytrium Garnet), Ruby are the commonly used LASER producing
materials. Laser can be used to join dissimilar metals and other difficult-to weld metals such as
copper, nickel, tungsten, aluminum, stainless steel, titanium and columbium. The current application
of laser welding is largely in aerospace and electronic industries, where extreme control in weldment
is required. Its major limitation is the shallow penetration (less than 5mm). In ICF and RCF, LASER
welding is being used for joining thin sheets and cutting of SS. During cutting high pressure, 14bar,
N2 gas is used for blowing off molten metal. During welding, the same gas is used at the flow rate of
40L/min for providing shielding.

Plasma Welding: Plasma is considered the fourth state of matter, the other three being solid, liquid,
and gas. Plasma is a gas, which has partially dissociated into positive ions, and negative electrons.
Plasma is formed when an electric discharge takes place in a gas, and also in an electric arc (the
blinding light of an arc comes from the plasma). In normal arc welding processes, moving gas
streams easily blows the plasma away. But in plasma processes which are listed below, the plasma is
contained and used effectively:
 • Plasma arc welding.
• Micro-plasma arc welding.
• Plasma-MIG welding.
• Plasma arc cutting.
• Plasma spraying.
In all these processes, based on DC supply, a specially designed torch, which is a modification
of the TIG torch, concentrates the plasma energy and ensures its most efficient utilization for
welding, cutting, and spraying. The tip of the tungsten electrode (DC negative) is located within the
torch nozzle, while the nozzle has a small opening, which constricts the arc. As gas (usually argon or
air) is fed through the arc, it becomes heated to the plasma temperature range (30,000 0 to the
60,0000F). The plasma tail-flame comes out of the torch nozzle as a jet of tremendous velocity.

The plasma-arc is of two types: transferred arc and non- transferred arc. In the former, the arc is
formed between the electrode and the work piece. In the latter, the arc is formed between the
electrode and the constricting orifice inside the torch.

Plasma arc welding is an extension of TIG welding. The main difference as explained above is
the constriction of the arc column, resulting in much higher heat transfer rate. The torch is further
modified to provide an outer sheath of cool gas around the central plasma core. When the plasma jet
strikes the metal, it cuts entirely through the work piece producing a small hole, which is carried along
the weld seam. During this cutting action, the molten metal in front of the arc flows around the arc
column, then gets drawn together immediately behind the hole by surface tension forces and reforms
as a weld bead. Butt welds of 12.5 mm or larger thickness are possible in a single pass without edge
preparation or filler metals. The process can weld Carbon Steels, Stainless Steels, Copper, Brass,
Aluminium, Titanium, Monel, and Inconel (Fig-10).

Fig 10: Sketch of Plasma Welding

Plasma MIG welding is an extension of plasma arc welding in which the non-consumabletungsten
electrode is replaced by a consumable continuously fed metallic electrode.

PLASTIC PHASE WELDING:

These processes may also be termed as Electrical Resistance Welding Process as resistivity
property of a metal to the passage of electricity is invariably used in all cases. In these processes, the
coalescence is achieved by passing electric current through themetallic parts by inserting them into a
circuit. The electric resistance produces heat particularly at the joint interface because of the micro
gap. When the interface becomes plastic because of high temperature, then pressure is applied to
effect final bonding. These types of welding are placed in between the fusion and solid phase
processes, because it is difficult to decide whether they are fusion processes or solid state processes
as evident frombelow:
 • Resistance butt-welding is a solid state process in which melting of the joint is totallyavoided
by controlling the parameters.
• Spot, seam and projection welding are also solid-state processes, but a small molten nugget is
formed in the weld. The size of the nugget is kept as small as possible.
• In flash, percussion and high frequency welding, the surfaces to be joined do get fused, but
the fusion zone is controlled to an extremely narrow zone, almost to 0.005mm.

Resistance Butt Welding: This process is also known as upset butt welding or simply butt-welding.
Here, the temperature the joint is raised by the resistance to the passage of an electric current across
the interface of the joint. The parts to be joined (usually wires and rods) are held in clamps, one
stationary and the other movable, which acts as conductors for the low voltage electric supply and
electric current is passed through. Force is applied only after the abutting surfaces have reached a
temperature slightly below the melting point, which results in the upsetting of the metal. Uniform
and accurately mating surfaces are desirable to exclude air and give uniform heating. The process is
commonly used during rodrolling and wire drawing operations to join the ends ( Fig 11).

Fig 11: Sketch of Resistance Butt Welding

Flash Butt Welding: This process is an extension of resistance butt-welding. The parts to be joined
are mounted on platen and gripped in the clamps attached to secondary circuit. Byforward movement
of platens, the end faces, which are machine cut to ensure parallelism, are gradually brought into
contact to complete the secondary circuit. When the welding voltage of about 10V is applied at the
clamps, current flows through the initial points of contact causing them to melt. These molten
bridges are then ruptured by moving the platen in reverse direction and small short-lived acres are
formed.

The platens on which the movable clamps are mounted move forward again, making fresh
contacts elsewhere and the cycle of events are repeated. In these subsequent cycles, voltage also is
increased gradually. All the parameters are pre-set in the control panel. After a few such strokes, the
metal contained in the molten bridges starts expelling violently in a spectacular manner by flashing.

Flashing is allowed to continue until the surfaces to be joined are uniformly heated or molten.
After a predetermined number of cycles, the current is put off and the platens are moved forward
with force so that the end faces collide with pre set force. The molten metal containing oxides is
expelled. The total distance up to the point of upset is known as the flashing allowance. Typical
applications of this process are rails, steel strips, window frames
and automobile rear axle casings. Special purpose machines are designed for each of these
applications. (FIG12)

Fig 12: Flash Butt Welding: (A) Sketch of Joint Set Up (B) Schematic diagram of
equipment.

Resistance Spot Welding: In this process, a spot of weld is made between overlapping sheets
by means of two cylindrical copper-alloy electrodes, one on top and the other at the bottom, which
carry a high current. The electrodes also clamp the work and apply pressure. When the metal at the
joint gets sufficiently heated by electrical resistance, the current is switched off and more pressure is
applied through the electrodes. A tiny button of fused metal results at the sheet interface, which is
called the nugget. The electrodes are retracted after the weld is complete. Spot welding is performed
with a machine in which all the parameters can be controlled & preset. The process is used on a
large-scale in ICF for fabrication of super structure, automotive production and in sheet-metal
fabrication (Fig 13).

Fig 13:Sketch of Resistance Spot Welding

Roller Spot Welding: This is an extension of the earlier process devised for faster
production. In this process, a series of intermittent spot welds are made using wheels or rollers as
electrodes. The rollers are power driven and are stopped at a predetermined distance while individual
welds are made. Current is passed intermittently when the electrodes are stationary (FIG 14).
 Fig 14: Sketch of Roller Spot Welding

Roller Seam Welding: Seam welding is similar to spot welding, except that the copper-
alloy electrodes in the form of circular rollers carry current continuously. The overlapping sheets are
held under constant pressure between the roller electrodes, which rotate at constant speed and carry
current. A series of spot welds whose nuggets overlap each other, is formed which give the
appearance of a continuous weld seam. A common application of seam welding is in the
manufacture of steel drums (Fig-15).

Fig 15:Sketch of Seam Welding

Butt Seam Welding: This is similar to seam welding except that the sheets to be joined are in the
same plane instead of being overlapped. The joint edges are in intimate contact and the roller
electrodes travel directly over the seam. The process is used in production of welded tubes (Fig-16).
 Fig 16: Diagrammatic Sketch of Butt Seam Welding

SOLID PHASE WELDING:

This is a group of processes in which coalescence is produced essentially below the melting
point of the base metals being joined, without the addition of filler metal. In some of them pressure
is used. With the exception of cold welding and ultrasonic welding, all the process involves heat.

Forge Welding: This is the age-old process used by the village blacksmith. It consists of heating
the surfaces to be joined (may be on a charcoal fire or any other handy sources of heat), placing these
surfaces in contact, and hammering them together to form a weld. The surfaces are heated below the
melting point to make them somewhat plastic. The oxidizing flame of the fire produces a liquid film
of iron oxide on the surface, which is squeezed out more or less completely when the solid surfaces
are hammered together.

The historic iron pillar in Delhi consists of several ingots of pure iron forge-welded together.

Hammer Welding/Die Welding/ Roll Welding: These are the refined variations of forge welding.
Hammer welding is a semiautomatic or automatic process in which a heavy hammer is powered by
steam, hydraulic or pneumatic equipment and the blows are applied at low velocity to forge the weld.
In die forging, the parts are heated in a furnace and the pressure is applied by means of dies. The dies
also form the work while it is hot. In roll welding, the pressure is applied on heated parts by means
of rollers. Roll welding is used mostly for the manufacture of clad steel plates and sheets.

Gas Pressure Welding: This is another modern version of forge welding, in which the joint, held
in compression, is locally heated by Oxy- acetylene flames to a temperature somewhere below the
melting point. When the joint is held for a sufficient length of time at this temperature under
pressure, welding takes place. This process has been successfully adapted for welding of rail ends.

Cold Welding: In this process, welding is obtained at room temperature solely the
application of pressure across the interface. The contact surfaces have to be specially prepared by
degreasing, scratch brushing & other operation. The joints are either lap or butt. The butt methods are
used for joining wires, tubes, & bar stocks. Cold welding is generally done on ductile metals like Cu
& Al.

Explosive Welding: This process has been used to prepare clad plates involving dissimilar metals &
in welding tubes to tubes plates in heat exchanger. In this process, two pieces of metals are impacted
together at an extremely high velocity by the detonation of explosive charge. The result is a solid-
state weld completed in micro seconds without any noticeable deformation.

Friction Welding: In this process friction is employed to generate heat between two sliding or
rotating metals surfaces. The process is usually carried out by placing the pieces to be welded in
chucks on the common horizontal axis. One part is rotated while the other remains stationary.
Pressure is applied to generate enough heat to reach a bonding temperature within a few seconds. At
this point, rotation is stopped rapidly and pressure is maintained or increased to complete welding

Ultrasonic Welding: Ultrasonic welding is a solid-state process for joining of similar or dissimilar
metals by application of high frequency vibratory energy to work pieces held together under
moderate static pressure. The process has proved to be an economical substitute for resistance
welding. It welds faster, uses less power, and usually requires lower capital investment. The vibration
breaks up and disperses oxides, surface films, and some types of insulation at the joint surface to
permit bare metal contact. Inter atomic diffusion
 occurs across the facing surfaces and results in a metallurgical bond without application of heat. The
joints so produced possess electrical resistance and mechanical strength almost equal to that of the
parent materials.

Braze Welding: This process is similar to brazing, except that the molten filler metal is not
distributed in the joining by capillary action. It gets filled up in a groove or gets piled up as a fillet
weld. In other words, braze welding is similar to normal welding, but the filler metal used has
melting point above 450 0 C but below the melting point of the base metal. A typical example of this
process is what is popularly called bronze welding, used for making joints in mild steel and cast iron.

BRAZING & SOLDERING:

Brazing & Soldering are two similar processes. The only difference between them is that in soldering
the filler material has a melting point above 450 0C and below the melting point of the base metal,
whereas in soldering the filler material has a melting point below 450 0C. Brazing is done for
mechanical joint whereas soldering is normally done to get good electrical contact. In both the cases,
coalescence between the metallic parts is obtained by:

• Holding the base materials closely and heating them to a suitable temperature.
• Melting filler material over the joint.
• Heating the filler metal till it gets distributed between the closely fitted surfaces by
capillary attraction.

References:
1. P.Kannaiah and K.L.Narayana Workshop Manual. Scitech Publications, 1996
2. D. Venugopal Basic Engineering Workshops: Pheory and Practice. Arathy
Publications, 2006
3. G.Sukumaran Basic Engineering Workshops. Link Books, 2003
4. A. Bhatiya Fundamentals of Gas Cutting and Welding. Course No: D06-002
Continuing Education and Development, Inc. 9 Greyridge Farm Court Stony Point, NY
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