Welding Processes Handbook

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1

Introduction to welding

1.1 The history of welding

Methods for joining metals have been known for thousands of years, but for most of this period the only form of welding was forge welding by a blacksmith.

A number of totally new welding principles emerged at the end of the 19th century. It became possible to combine and store safely gases such as oxygen and acetylene to produce a flame with enough heat. At the same time sufficient electrical current could then be generated for resistance welding and arc welding. The intensity of the heat source enabled heat to be generated in, or applied to, the workpiece quicker than it was conducted away into the surrounding metal. Consequently it was possible to generate a molten pool which solidified to form the unifying bond between the parts being joined. The basic welding methods of resistance welding, gas welding and arc welding were all developed during the time before World War I.

Figure 1.1 Thomson’s resistance welding transformer.

Resistance welding

The first resistance welding machines were used for butt welding. Elihu Thomson made the first welding transformer in 1886 in the USA and patented the process the following year. His transformer managed to output approximately 2000 A at 2 V open circuit voltage.

After the turn of the century Thomson continued to develop other types of machines such as spot welding, seam welding, projection welding and flash butt welding. Spot welding later became the most common resistance welding method and today is used mainly in the automotive industry but also for many other sheet metal applications. Figure 1.2 shows the principle: two copper electrodes apply a pressure to the overlapping plates and a high current melts the plates together. The first robots for resistance spot welding were delivered from Unimation to General Motors in 1964.

Figure 1.2 The principle of resistance spot welding.

Gas welding

Gas welding with an oxyacetylene flame was developed in France at the end of the 19th century. The first torch suitable for welding was made by Edmund Fouche and Charles Picard in about 1900. The use of acetylene and oxygen made it possible to produce a comparatively high flame temperature, 3100 °C, which is higher than that of other hydrocarbon based gases. The torch became the most important tool for welding and cutting of steel.

Acetylene gas had been discovered much earlier in England when Edmund Davy in England found that a flammable gas was produced when carbide was decomposed in water. The gas proved to be excellent for illumination when burned and this soon became the main use of acetylene.

However, numerous large explosions occurred when the gas was transported and used. It was found that acetone could dissolve large quantities of acetylene, especially if the pressure was increased. In 1896 Le Chatelier developed a safe way of storing acetylene by the use of acetone and a porous stone inside a cylinder (see Figure 1.3). The Swede Gustaf Dahlén at AGA changed the composition of the porous content and managed to make acetylene storage 100 % safe.

Figure 1.3 Equipment for gas welding.

Arc welding

Arc welding was initially carried out using carbon electrodes, developed by Bernardos, and then by the use of steel rods. The weld was however not protected from the air and there were problems with quality. The Swede Oskar Kjellberg made an important advance when he developed and patented the coated electrode. The welding result was amazing and arc welding using coated electrodes became the foundation of the ESAB welding company.

Figure 1.4 Principle of Manual Metal Arc (MMA) welding.

Later developments: SAW, TIG and MIG/MAG welding

Later, in the 1930s, new methods were developed. Up until then, all metal-arc welding had been carried out manually. Attempts were made to automate the process using a continuous wire. The most successful process was submerged arc welding (SAW) where the arc is submerged in a blanket of granular fusible flux.

Figure 1.5 Submerged arc welding.

Figure 1.6 The TIG welding method.

During the Second World War the aircraft industry required a new method for the welding of magnesium and aluminium. In 1940 experiments began in the USA with the shielding of the arc by inert gases. By using an electrode of tungsten, the arc could be struck without melting the electrode, which made it possible to weld with or without filler material. The method is called Tungsten Inert Gas or TIG welding.

Figure 1.7 The MIG/MAG welding method.

Some years later the Metal Inert Gas or MIG welding process was also developed using a continuously fed metal wire as the electrode. Initially, the arc was protected by inert gases such as helium or argon. Lyubavskii and Novoshilov tried to use CO2 as this was much easier to obtain. By using the dip transfer method they did manage to reduce some of the problems caused by the intense generation of spatter. When using a relatively reactive gas such as CO2 or mixed gases such as argon/CO2, the process is generally called Metal Active Gas or MAG welding.

Figure1.8 Plasma welding.

When plasma welding was introduced in 1953 it produced a much more concentrated and hotter energy source which made it possible to increase the welding speed and decrease the heat input.

Other welding processes

The power-beam processes, electron beam (EB) welding and laser welding, have the most intense heat sources. The breakthrough with EB welding came in 1958. The aircraft and nuclear power industries were the first to utilise the method. The main characteristics of EB-welding is its deep and narrow penetration. Its one limitation is the need for a vacuum chamber to contain the electron beam gun and the workpiece.

Figure 1.9 Electron beam welding.

In some respects, laser welding (and cutting) have ideal characteristics. The laser beam is a concentrated heat source which permits a high operating speed and very low distortion of the workpiece. Unfortunately, a high power laser is also large and expensive. The beam must also be conducted to the joint in some way. The light from a CO2 laser must be transmitted by mirrors, while that from a Nd:YAG-laser can be carried by a thin glass fibre, which makes it attractive for use with robotic welding.

Figure 1.10 Laser welding.

Friction stir welding (see Figure 1.11) was patented in 1992 by TWI in the UK. The method works very well for aluminium and manages to join two pieces without melting and at high quality. It has no need of filler metal and has a low consumption of energy. Another benefit is the low environmental impact. The process is so simple and so effective that it must be considered to be one of the 20th century’s most remarkable innovations in the world of welding.

Figure 1.11 Friction stir welding (FSW).

The most recent development is hybrid welding where two different processes are combined. Particularly promising is laser-MIG hybrid welding where very high speed and high penetration are achieved.

Welding power sources

One possible reason why electric welding methods were not developed before the end of the 19th century may have been the lack of suitable power sources.

Figure 1.12 Different design principles of power sources.

AEG in Germany developed a welding generator in 1905. It was driven from a three phase asynchronous motor and had suitable characteristics for welding. The weight was 1000 kg and it developed 250 A.

DC current was normally used for arc welding until the 1920s. The development of stick electrodes made it possible to use AC current. The welding transformer soon became very popular, as it was cheaper and had lower energy consumption.

At the end of the 1950s static welding rectifiers were introduced. Selenium rectifiers were used initially, followed later by silicone rectifiers.

Thyristor rectifiers that came later made it possible to control the welding current electronically. This type of rectifier has since become very common at least for larger welding power sources.

However, the most remarkable development in welding power source started when the welding inverter was developed in 1980.

Mechanised welding

Robots have been used for resistance welding since 1964. The breakthrough with arc welding robots came about 10 years later. New electric robots could then be designed with enough high accuracy to satisfy the demands of MIG welding.

Mechanised welding opened up for new applications. Submerged arc welding became an important process for welding in ship yards, pipe mills and big pressure vessels. Narrow gap welding saved time, consumables and reduced distortion in welding of heavy sections. Mechanised TIG and plasma welding are both used in high quality applications.

1.2 Terminology

Definitions of welding processes

Definitions of welding processes are given in ISO 857. Reference numbers for the various processes are given in ISO 4063. Examples of the use of reference numbers for welding processes are shown in Table 1.1. These numbers are used as references in preparing drawings (ISO 2553) or in welding procedure specifications (EN ISO 156141).

TABLE 1.1

Reference numbers for some fusion welding processes (ISO 4063).

A summary of the different types of welding processes is shown in Figure 1.13.

Figure 1.13 Schematic presentation of the most common welding methods.

Basic terms

Some basic terms used in welding are defined below.

Weldment. The combined weld, heat affected zone (HAZ – see below) and base metal.

Butt welds. Butt welds join two pieces fitted edge to edge. Full penetration welds are most common and provide a particularly strong weld.

Fillet welds. The alternative to the butt weld, fillet welds join two overlapping pieces (lap joint) or two pieces placed perpendicularly to each other (e.g. a T or L-shaped joint)

Pressure welding. Welding in which sufficient outer force is applied to cause more or less plastic deformation of both the facing surfaces, generally without the addition of filler metal. Usually, but not necessarily, the facing surfaces are heated in order to permit or to facilitate bonding.

Fusion welding. Welding without application of outer force in which the facing surface(s) must be melted. Usually, but not necessarily, molten filler metal is added.

Welding procedure specification (WPS). A document specifying the details of the required variables for a specific application in order to assure repeatability (EN ISO 15609).

Deposition rate. The amount of metal supplied to the joint per unit time during welding.

Parent metal. The metal to be joined, or surfaced, by welding, braze welding or brazing.

Longitudinal direction. The direction along the length of the weldment, parallel to the weld.

Transverse direction. The direction along the width of the weldment, perpendicular to the weld.

Surfacing. Producing a layer of different metal by welding, e.g. with higher corrosion, abrasion or heat resistance than the parent metal.

Heat input. The heat input has great importance for the rate of cooling of the weld. It can be calculated from the formula:

Efficiency*

MMA: 0.8

MIG/MAG: 0.8

SAW: 1.0 TIG: 0.6

Where

Q = heat input (kJ/mm)

U = voltage (V)

I = current (A)

V = welding speed (mm/min)

(* Efficiencies according to EN 1011–1.)

Heat Affected Zone (HAZ). The heat affected zone, (Figure 1.14), is that area of the base metal not melted during the welding operation but whose physical properties are altered by the heat induced from the weld joint.

Figure 1.14 Fillet weld showing the location of weld toes, weld face, root and heat affected zone.

Throat thickness. Fillet welds are calculated by reference to the throat size. The size required is specified on drawings in terms of throat thickness, t, or the leg length, l, see Figure 1.15.

Figure 1.15 Throat thickness (t) and leg length (l) in a fillet weld.

Joint types and welding positions

Joint types are chosen with regard to the welding method and plate thickness. The ideal joint provides the required structural strength and quality without an unnecessarily large joint volume. The weld cost increases with the size of the joint. A higher heat input may cause problems with impact strength and distortion.

Joint preparation can be expensive. It is preferable to use joint types where the joint faces are parts of the workpiece. This means that fillet welds are probably the most commonly used joints.

Figure 1.16 illustrates some key terms in joint technology whilst Figure 1.17 shows examples of some common joint types.

Figure 1.16 Joint terminology.

Figure 1.17 Examples of joint types.

Welding positions

There are essentially six different basic welding positions:

• PA, flat

• PB, horizontal vertical

• PC, horizontal

• PD, horizontal overhead

• PF, vertical up

• PG, vertical down

Vertical position welding can be carried out as vertical upward (PF) or vertical downward welding (PG), see Figure 1.18. Fillet welds are often made in the intermediate positions PB and PD, as shown in Figure 1.18 and 1.19. Corresponding designations are also used in pipe welding.

Figure 1.18 Designations for welding positions.

Figure 1.19 Definitions of welding positions for fillet welds with designations as given in EN ISO 6947. AWS designation in parenthesis.

1.3 References and further reading

Hughes, S. A quick guide to welding and weld inspection. Woodhead Publishing Limited; 2009.

Weman, K., A history of welding, Svetsaren, 59(1), 2004.

2

Gas welding

2.1 Introduction

Oxy-acetylene gas welding is one of the oldest methods of welding and, for many years, was the most widely used welding technique. Its use is a lot less common today. Nevertheless, it is a versatile method, using simple and relatively cheap equipment. It is suitable for repair and construction work, for welding pipes/tubes and structures with a wall thickness of 0.5–6 mm and in materials particularly prone to cracking, such as cast iron. It is also used for welding non-ferrous metals and for cladding and hardfacing. In addition to welding, the technique is often used for cutting, and is also very useful for heating and straightening materials.

The heat is generated by the combustion of acetylene in oxygen, which gives a flame temperature of about 3100 °C. This is lower than the temperature of an electric arc, and also produces a less concentrated heat. The flame is directed onto the surfaces of the joint, which melt, after which filler material can be added as necessary. The melt pool is protected from air by the reducing outer zones of the flame. The flame should therefore be removed slowly when the weld is completed.

The less concentrated flame results in slower cooling, which is an advantage when welding steels that have a tendency to harden, although it does make the method relatively slow, with higher heat input and the added risk of thermal stresses and distortion.

2.2 Equipment

A set of equipment for gas welding consists essentially of gas bottles, pressure regulators, gas hoses, flashback arresters and welding torches (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1 A gas welding set.

Welding gases and their storage

Gas bottles for combustible gases must be stored outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. Special warning signs must be displayed on the outside of the storage area. Acetylene and oxygen bottles must be kept well apart.

Acetylene

Acetylene (C2H2) is the main fuel gas for gas welding. Its main properties compared to other fuel gases are listed in Table 2.1. It consists of 92.3 % carbon and 7.7 % hydrogen by weight. Its combustion in oxygen produces a higher combustion temperature than that of any other hydrocarbon gas. In addition, its flame is the most concentrated in comparison with other gases.

TABLE 2.1

Important characteristics of fuel gases.

It is important to be aware of the risks of using acetylene. Acetylene ignites very easily, and produces an explosive mixture in air over a wide range of concentrations (2.3–82 %). As a result it is important to check carefully that there are no leaks from gas bottles or hoses.

Acetylene is chemically unstable under pressure, even without the presence of air. Under certain conditions, it can explosively decompose to its constituents (carbon and hydrogen). To enable the gas to be stored safely, the bottles are filled with a porous mass, saturated with acetone, which absorbs the gas when it is filled. The pressure in the bottles is 2 MPa. However, explosive decomposition can occur in pipes or hoses leading from the bottle if the pressure in them exceeds