Research from: Joining of materials

WELDING
Welding is a metal joining process in which two or more parts are joined or coalesced at their
contacting surfaces by suitable application of heat or/and pressure.

Advantages of welding

 Welding provides a permanent joint.

 Welded joint can be stronger than the parent materials if a proper filler metal is used that
has strength properties better than that of parent base material and if defect less welding
is done.
 It is the economical way to join components in terms of material usage and fabrication
costs. Other methods of assembly require, for example, drilling of holes and usage of
rivets or bolts which will produce a heavier structure

Disadvantages of welding

 Labour costs are more since manual welding is done mostly.

 Dangerous to use because of presence of high heat and pressure.
 Disassembly is not possible as welding produces strong joints.
 Some of the welding defects cannot be identified which will reduce the strength.

Types of welding

Welding processes can be broadly classified into

 fusion welding, and

 solid state welding

In fusion-welding processes, heat is applied to melt the base metals. In many fusion welding
processes, a filler metal is added to the molten pool during welding to facilitate the process and
provide strength to the welded joint.

Types: Arc welding, Resistance welding, Oxyfuel gas welding, electron beam welding, laser
welding.

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 Arc welding: In this operation, electric arc is used to produce heat energy and the base metal is
heated. Sometimes, both pressure and heat are applied.

Resistance welding: In this operation, electric resistance is generated to the flow of current that
generates heat energy between two contacting surfaces that are held in pressure.

Gas welding: Oxyfuel gas welding is a welding operation in which heat is generated by a hot
flame generated mixture gas of oxygen and acetylene. This heat is used to melt base material and
filler material, if used.

Flux: Used mainly to protect the weld region from formation of oxides and other unwanted
contaminants, or to dissolve them and facilitate removal. During welding, the flux melts and
covers the weld region giving protection and it should be removed by brushing as it is hardened.

Research from: Joining Processes

Welding Processes
Welding: permanent joining of two materials, usually metals, by coalescence
Coalescence results in atoms of the materials being joined to form common crystal structures
Coalescence induced by a combination of temperature, pressure and metallurgical conditions
High quality weld requires:
Source of heat and/or pressure
Means to protect/clean metals to be joined
Methods to avoid detrimental metallurgical changes
Classification of Welding Processes
 Oxyfuel gas welding (OFW)
 Arc welding (AW)
 Resistance welding (RW)
 Solid state welding (SSW)
 Unique Processes
Types of Welds and Joints
Types of Fusion welds

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Types of Joints

Examples of Welded Joints

Joining Variations
Fastening: materials are joined together using fasteners (e.g., screws, nails, nuts, bolts)
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 Advantages: any shape or material; can be disassembled; often the least expensive method for
volume production
Disadvantages: do not develop the full strength of the base material; do not produce hermetic seals;
fasteners are extra parts; need to drill holes.
Fusion welding
Materials are melted and bonded together by means of heat (chemical or electrical).
Heat + filler material = weld
Types (different heat sources)
– Flame: oxygen + fuel (oxy-acetylene)
– Electric arc
– Resistance
– Laser beam
– Electron beam
Other Joining Processes
Laser Welding
Electron Beam Welding
Solid State Welding
– Electrical Resistance Welding
– Friction Welding
– Diffusion Bonding
Research from: JOINING PROCESSES
Welding is a metal joining process in which two or more parts are joined or coalesced at their
contacting surfaces by suitable application of heat or/and pressure.
Sometimes, welding is done just by applying heat alone, with no pressure applied. In some cases,
both heat and pressure are applied; and in other cases, only pressure is applied, without any external
heat. In some welding processes a filler material is added to facilitate coalescence(Joining)
Classification of Welding processes
Arc Welding
1)Gas tungsten arc welding(TIG) or (GTAW)
2)Gas metal arc welding(MIG) or (GMAW)
3)Shielded metal arc welding(SMAW)

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4)Submerged arc welding
5)Plasma arc welding
6)Flux cored arc welding(FCAW)
Resistance welding
1)Spot welding
2)seam welding
3)Projection welding
4)Resistance butt welding
Gas welding
1)Oxy-acetylene welding
2) Oxy-hydrogen welding
3)Air -acetylene welding
4)Pressure Gas welding
Thermo chemical welding Process
Thermit welding

Atomic hydrogen welding

Radient energy welding Process

1)Electron beam welding

2)Laser beam welding.

Solid State Welding:

In this method, joining is done by application of pressure only or a combination of heat and
pressure. Even if heat is used, the temperature in the process is less than the melting point of the
metals being welded (unlike in fusion welding). No filler metal is utilized.

Flux: Used mainly to protect the weld region from formation of oxides and other unwanted
contaminants, or to dissolve them and facilitate removal. During welding, the flux melts and
covers the weld region giving protection and it should be removed by brushing as it is hardened.

Gas welding / Oxyfuel gas welding

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In this process, various fuels are mixed with oxygen and burnt to perform welding. Eg:
Oxyacetylene welding

Oxyacetylene welding (OAW): In this case, welding is performed by a flame formed by the
combustion of oxygen and acetylene. The flame comes from a torch. A filler rod coated with flux
is used sometimes which prevents oxidation, creating a better joint. Acetylene is a famous fuel
because it is capable of generating a temperature of 3500°C.

Welding defects

Defects in Weldments (unit formed by welding together an assembly of pieces) • Defects occur
in weldments due to improper welding procedures or due to random causes. With proper care
these defects can be prevented. The defects commonly occurring can be classified into 3 main
categories: 1. Dimensional defects.

2. Structural discontinuities.

3. Inadequate properties.

Dimensional defects:

Warpage, incorrect joint preparation, incorrect weld size and incorrect profile of the weld.

Structural discontinuities: Porosities, inclusion, incomplete fusion, under welding, inadequate

penetration, cracks and other surface defects.

Inadequate properties: Low tensile strength, low yield strength, low ductility, inadequate
hardness, impact failure, incorrect composition, and improper corrosion resistance.

The following defects are commonly found in weldments: 1. Undercut. [Link] fusion. 3.
Porosity. 4. Slag inclusion. 5. Weld cracking. 6. Voids and Craters 7. Distortion. 8. Corrosion.

Undercut: Undercut is a small notch at the weld interface. It is caused by too high welding
current and improper welding technique.

Incomplete Fusion: This is caused by insufficient penetration of the joint, incorrect welding
technique, wrong design of the joint, or poor selection of welding parameters and improper
cleaning of the joint.

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 Porosity: Porosity is caused by entrapment of gases during the solidification process. The gases
mostly consist of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen of which hydrogen is most prominent for causing
porosity. Gases like argon, helium or carbon dioxide do not cause porosity because they are
insoluble.

Slag Inclusion: Slag is formed by the reaction of fluxes and is expected to float out at the top of
molten metal and be removed after solidification. Slag may also be present in multi-pass welds.

Weld cracking: Weld cracking may be hot cracking or cold cracking. Hot cracking occurs during
the root pass if the mass of the base metal is very large compared to the weld metal deposited. It
can be controlled by preheating the base metal, by changing the contour, composition of weld
bead.

Voids and Craters: It has been shown that voids up to 7% of the cross section have not much
effect on the tensile or impact strength or the ductility of the weld. If the size of voids is larger
presence of foreign matters cause a large reduction in the strength of the weld leading to opening
of cracks.

Distortion: Distortion is one of the major problems found in weldments. It is caused mainly by
shrinkage.

Corrosion: Welding makes metals more susceptible to corrosion in a number of ways. The
intense heat of welding removes protective coatings from metal surfaces and also changes some
metals to make them more susceptible to corrosion. For ex: welding can make stainless steel lose
its corrosion resistance.

Welding Defects
Heat affected zone (HAZ)
Residual stresses: thermally-induced
Welding distortion
Welding Defects

Porosity: Presence of small voids in the weld metal formed by gases entrapped during
solidification. It usually results from inclusion of atmospheric gases, sulfur in the weld metal, or
contaminants on the surfaces.

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Shrinkage voids: Cavities formed by shrinkage during solidification. Both of the cavity type
defects are similar to defects found in castings.

Solid inclusions: These are nonmetallic solid particles (like flux in arc welding, metallic oxides
in welding Al) trapped inside the weld metal.

Incomplete fusion: It is a weld bead in which fusion has not occurred throughout the entire cross
section of the joint.