Casting, Forming and Welding
ME31201
Section 2
Lecture 4
VNM Vamsi, Sushanta Panda, Siddharth Tamang
ARC WELDING
Shielded metal Arc
Welding (SMAW)
or
Manual Metal Arc
Welding (MMAW)
or
Stick Welding
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Source: Miller
work piece
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Source: V Ryan
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Slag Spatter
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Functions of flux
• Provide a protective atmosphere
• Stabilize the arc
• Promote slag of lower density, lower melting point than the base metal
• Viscosity of slag
• Compensate the losses of elements
• Add alloying elements
• Add nuclei for grain size control-alloying elements
• Deoxidation-to react with and deplete the level of dissolved gaseous
elements that can cause porosity
• Reduce spatter and fume
• Dissolve the scale
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SMAW Advantages and Applications
• Inexpensive Equipment
• Portable
• The SMAW electrode provides both the filler metals and shielding
from environmental contamination
• Not much disturbance is caused my draft of wind or breeze
• It can be used in hard to reach application. The electrode can be bent
for welding blind spots
• Can weld most of the widely used metals
• SMAW can be used to weld different types of weld positions and
configurations
• Welding in confined spaces
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Disadvantages
• The electrode length decreases during operation, thus requiring
skilled labour to maintain the arc
• The length of the electrode is limited – low productivity
• Electrode needs to be changed frequently
• Difficult to remove Slag
• Length of electrode is limited
• Current levels is caped to a maximum permissible limit (300Amp)
• Limited shielding from environment in comparison to other processes
• Stub loss
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Gas Metal Arc Welding
(GMAW)
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• Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
• The electrode is fed continuously
• Shielding gas is used (inert gas) that is externally supplied
• Carbon dioxide also used as shielding gas
• Most widely used process in the fields of industrial manufacturing, agriculture,
construction, shipbuilding and mining
• process is used to weld pipe, pressure vessels, structural steel components,
furniture, automotive components and numerous other products.
• Semiautomatic and automated operations
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Source: AWS handbook
Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
Advantages
1) Higher welding speeds due to continuous electrode
2) Greater deposition rates
3) Less post welding cleaning (e.g. no slag to chip off weld)
4) Better weld pool visibility
5) No stub end losses or wasted man hours caused by
changing electrodes
6) Low skill factor required to operate
7) The process is easily automated
8) No fluxes required in most cases
9) It is a low-hydrogen process
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Disadvantage
• It is complex, less portable and more expensive that the SMAW process
• The manipulation of welding torch is bit difficult due to the higher weight
• The weld must be protected from draft of wind more than 8km per hr
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Self-shielded Flux Cored Arc Welding
Gas Shielded Flux Cored Arc Welding
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