48 Welding Technology and Design

In automotive industries, radiators are either brazed or resistance seam

welded. Upset seam welding is used for exhaust and tail pipes. The side
seams are usually spot or seam welded. Seam welding is normally limited
to sheets upto 5 mm thick.
Baffles and other interior parts are spot welded in place. A typical application
of projection welding is in the manufacture of honey comb panels.
Propeller and drive shafts are commonly made from resistance welded
tubing with the end forgings arc welded by submerged arc or MIG/CO2
process.
(g) Electro-slag welding: This process is for thick section welding, 50 mm and
above, of alloy steels. This is mainly used for pressure vessel parts, steel
plant equipments, large shafts etc. Both ESW and SAW are best suited for
thick plates; however, ESW is more specialized in its application and less
flexible compared to SAW.
(h) Electron and laser beam welding: Stainless steel, nickel base alloys, Ti and Zr
and other reactive metals upto 10 to 25 mm can be welded. Special
applications are in electronic industries, nuclear and aerospace industries.
The process is rather costly.
Laser welding has the ability to make tiny spot welds. So it is applied in
microelectronic circuits. Laser beam can weld metals on silicon and
germanium.
(j) Diffusion bonding: This is widely used in the manufacture of metallic components
for electronic tubes.

1.3 CLASSIFICATION OF ELECTRODES

1.3.1 Electrode coating

Electrode covering has a large effect on its performance. The functions of the
electrode include the following; it
(a) provides a vapour shield to protect the molten metal from reaction with the
oxygen and nitrogen of the air.
(b) provides an ionised path for conducting current from the electrode tip to
the work and for maintenance of an arc.
(c) provides flux for cleansing the metal surface of oxides and tying up any
oxides as slags that float to the top and may be removed from the finish
weld.
(d) controls the weld profile, especially on fillet welds.
(e) controls the melt-off rate of the electrodes
(f) controls the penetration properties of the arc.
(g) provides filler metal in addition to that supplied by the core wire.
(h) adds alloy materials to the weld deposits where a particular chemical
composition is required.
Materials used in the electrode covering for fluxing and slag formation, vary in
their abilities to clean dirty or rusty plate and provide the thickness of the resultant
slag covering. These materials remove undesirable elements, and form slags that