WELDING

PROCESSES
Department of Mechanical Engineering
NIT Sikkim
 INTRODUCTION
Welding is a process for joining two similar or dissimilar metals by fusion. It
joins different metals/alloys, with or without the application of pressure and
with or without the use of filler metal.
The fusion of metal takes place by means of heat. The heat may be generated
either from combustion of gases, electric arc, electric resistance or by
chemical reaction. During some type of welding processes, pressure may also
be employed, but this is not an essential requirement for all welding processes.
Most of the metals and alloys can be welded by one type of welding process
or the other. However, some are easier to weld than others. To compare this
ease in welding term ‘weldability’ is often used. The weldability may be
defined as property of a metal which indicates the ease with which it can be
welded with other similar or dissimilar metals.
TERMINOLOGICAL ELEMENTS
OF WELDING PROCESS
 WELDING JOINTS
Welding joints are of generally of two major kinds namely lap joint and butt joint. The main types are described as
under. Some common welding joints are shown in figure:

Lap Joints

Butt Joints
 WELDING POSITIONS
There are four types of welding positions, which are given as:
i. Flat or down hand position ii. Horizontal position
iii. Vertical position iv. Overhead position
 ADVANTAGES OF WELDING
Welding is more economical and is much faster process as compared to other processes
(riveting, bolting, casting etc.)
Welding, if properly controlled results permanent joints having strength equal or sometimes
more than base metal.
Large number of metals and alloys both similar and dissimilar can be joined by welding.
General welding equipment is not very costly.
Portable welding equipment can be easily made available.
Welding permits considerable freedom in design.
Welding can join welding jobs through spots, as continuous pressure tight seams, end-to-end
and in a number of other configurations.
Welding can also be mechanized.
DISADVANTAGES OF WELDING
It results in residual stresses and distortion of the work-pieces.
Welded joint needs stress relieving and heat treatment.
Welding gives out harmful radiations (light), fumes and spatter.
Jigs, and fixtures may also be needed to hold and position the
parts to be welded
Edges preparation of the welding jobs are required before
welding
Skilled welder is required for production of good welding
Heat during welding produces metallurgical changes as the
structure of the welded joint is not same as that of the parent
metal.
 MANUAL METAL ARC WELDING
PROCESS
Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) is a commonly used arc welding process manually
carried by welder. It is an arc welding process in which heat for welding is produced
through an electric arc set up between a flux coated electrode and the work piece.
PRINCIPLE OF ARC WELDING
• In arc welding, positive voltage is
applied to the electrode (welding
rod/wire) and negative
voltage is applied to the base
material. This makes an arc occur
from the base material to the
electrode.
• The output current of the arc is
about 5 to 1,000 A and the output
voltage is about 8 to 40 V.

• The temperature of the arc is

about 5,000°C to 20,000°C. The
melting temperature of iron is
about 1,500°C. Consequently, the
base material and electrode are
heated to a high
temperature and fuse together.
 POLARITY OF ARC WELDING
• Direct Current Straight Polarity (DCSP / DCEN) —occurs when electrode is made
negative and base plates are made positive. Thus electrons flow from electrode tip to
base plates.
• Direct Current Reverse Polarity (DCRP / DCEP)—occurs when electrode is made
positive and base plates are made negative. Thus electrons flow from base plates to
electrode.
• Alternating Current Polarity—if power source provides AC current then above two
cases will occur one after another in every cycle. In one half of the cycle, electrode will
be negative (so base plates will be positive) and in the next half, electrode will be
positive (so base plate will be negative). Number of cycles per second depends on
frequency of supply. For example, with a 60Hz supply, 60 cycles occur in every
second.
 Direct Current Straight Polarity
Direct Current Reverse Polarity (DCRP)
(DCSP)
When an electrode is connected to When an electrode is connected to
the negative (-ve) terminal of the powerthe positive (+ve) terminal of the power
supply i.e. electrode behaves as supply i.e. electrode behaves as
a cathode then the connection is knownan anode then the connection is known
as DCSP. as DCRP.
It is also known as Direct Current It is also known as Direct Current Electrode
Electrode Negativity. Positivity.
More heat on the work-piece (66%) and More heat on the electrode (66%) and less
less heat on the electrode (33%). heat on the work-piece (33%).
Used for welding high thickness & high Used for welding less thickness & low
melting point materials. melting point materials.
Depth of penetration is maximum. Depth of penetration is minimum.
Filler material weld deposition rate is Filler material weld deposition rate is high
low results in a smaller weld pool. results in a greater weld pool.
 BEVELLING/ EDGE PEPERATION
IN WELDING:
Bevelling is the process of preparing metal to be welded by cutting an angled slope on the
edge of the metals to be joint. The purpose of providing a bevel or any other joint
preparation is to make provision for good metal penetration into the joint hence plates
having a very low thickness (less than 5 mm) requires no bevelling on their edges.
The square butt-welded joints are used when the thickness of the plate is from 5 to 8
mm. In this weld, the edges are kept apart 3 mm from each other.
The single V-butt welded joints are used when the thickness of the plates is between
8-16 mm; The angle of the bevel is about 70° to 90°.
The double V-butt welded joints are used when the thickness of the plates is more than
16 mm and where welding can be performed on both sides of the plate.
The single and double U-butt welded joints are used when the thickness of the plates is
more than 20 mm; Double U-butt welded joint can be performed on both sides of the
plate.
 WELDING EQUIPMENT

The equipments used for arc welding are as follows:

i. Power Source
ii. Welding cable
iii. Electrode Holder
iv. Chipping hammer
v. Wire brush
vi. Earth clamp
vii. Safety equipments
 ARC WELDING POWER SOURCE
Both direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) are used for electric arc welding,
each having its particular applications. DC welding supply is usually obtained from
generators driven by electric motor or if no electricity is available by internal combustion
engines. For AC welding supply, transformers are predominantly used for almost all arc
welding where mains electricity supply is available. They have to step down the usual
supply voltage (200- 250 volts) to the normal open circuit welding voltage (50-90 volts).
The following factors influence the selection of a power source:
i. Type of electrodes to be used and metals to be welded
ii. Available power source (AC or DC)
iii. Required output
iv. Duty cycle
v. Efficiency
vi. Initial costs and running costs
Welding cables: Welding cables are required
for conduction of current from the power
source through the electrode holder, the arc,
the work-piece and back to the welding power
source. These are insulated copper cables.
Electrode holder: Electrode holder is used
for holding the electrode manually and
conducting current to it.
Chipping hammer: Chipping Hammer is
used to remove the slag by striking.
Wire brush: Wire brush is used to clean the
surface to be weld.
Earth clamp: The earth clamp is a tool that,
via the earth cable, ensures the electrical
circuit to be closed between the welding
power source and the piece to be welded.
SAFETY EQUIPMENTS
Face Shied: Face Shied used for
protection of eyes and supervision of
weld bead.
Apron: It protects you and your
clothing from hot metal and slag that is
generated while welding.
Gloves: Leather welding gloves are
required to protect the hands while
welding.
 WELDING ELECTRODE
An electrode is a piece of wire or a rod of a metal or alloy, with or without coatings.
An
arc is set up between electrode and work-piece. Welding electrodes are classified
into following types-
1. Consumable Electrodes
i. Bare Electrodes
ii. Coated Electrodes
2. Non-consumable Electrodes
i. Carbon or Graphite Electrodes
ii. Tungsten Electrodes
 FUNCTIONS OF ELECTRODE
COATING
It limits spatter, produces a quiet arc.
Easier slag removal.
The covering improves penetration and surface finish.
Less chance of oxidation.
OXY-ACETYLENE WELDING
✔ In this process, acetylene is mixed with oxygen in correct proportions in the welding
torch and ignited.
✔ The flame resulting at the tip of the torch is sufficiently hot to melt and join the parent
metal.
✔ The oxy-acetylene flame reaches a temperature of about 3300°C and thus can melt
most of the ferrous and non-ferrous metals in common use.
✔ A filler metal rod or welding rod is generally added to the molten metal pool to build up the
seam slightly for greater strength.
✔ The neutral flame has a one-to-one ratio of acetylene and oxygen. Neutral welding
flames are commonly used to weld: Mild steel, Stainless steel, Cast Iron, Copper,
Aluminum.
✔ The carburizing flame has excess acetylene compared to oxygen. A carburizing flame is commonly
used for welding high carbon steel and hard facing nonferrous alloys as nickel and Monel.
✔ Oxidizing flames are produced when slightly more than one volume of oxygen is mixed with one
volume of acetylene. Oxidizing welding flames are commonly used to weld these metals: Brass,
Bronze, Gold.
 WELDING DEFECTS
Defects in welding joints are given as:
✔ Brazing is a metal joining process whereby a filler metal is heated above melting
point and distributed between two or more close fitting parts by capillary action.
✔ In brazing, metallic parts are joined by a non-ferrous filler metal or alloy.
✔ Brazing involves the melting of comparatively low melting point filler material
against the base metal pieces to be joined while they are clean and free from oxides,
oil grease, etc.
✔ The molten filler material
i. Wets the base metal surfaces
ii. Spreads along the joint by capillary action
iii. Adheres and solidifies to from the brazed joint.
✔ Brazing gives much stronger joint compare to soldering.
✔ Filler material used in this processes are generally two types
i. Copper based alloy
ii. Silver based alloy
✔ The parts to be joined by brazing are carefully cleaned, the flux applied and the parts
clamped in position for joining. Borax is generally used as flux.
❖ Advantages
✔ In brazing dissimilar metals or non-metals can be joined.
✔ Complicated component can also be brazed at low cost.
✔ It is suitable for mass production.
✔ Brazing produces clean joint.
✔ Brazing does not melt the base metal which allows much close control over the
tolerances.
❖ Disadvantages
✔ Strength of brazed joints can be damaged under high service temperature.
✔ Strength of the brazed joints is less compare to welded joints.
✔ Filler metals used in this process are costly.
✔ The joint color is different than that of base metal which creates an aesthetic
disadvantage.
Application
✔ Brazing is applicable to Cu, Al, Mg and their alloys.
 SOLDERING
✔ Soldering is a method of joining two or more pieces of metal by
means of a fusible alloy or metal, called solder, applied in molten
state.
✔ Solders are essentially alloys of tin and lead. To improve the
mechanical properties and temperature resistance, solders are
added to other alloying elements such as zinc, cadmium and silver
in various proportions.
✔ Solvent cleaning, acid pickling and even mechanical cleaning are
applied before soldering.
✔ Soldering can be classed as soft soldering and hard soldering.
i. The process of joining metals using tin-lead solders which melt
below 420°C is known as soft soldering.
ii. The process of joining metals using hard solders consisting of
copper, zinc, cadmium and silver which melt above 600° is known
as hard soldering.
 ❖ Advantages
✔ By soldering various dissimilar metals can be joined.
✔ It is simple and low cost method.
✔ Work piece with different thickness can be joined.
✔ The joined formed in the soldering, do not require machining.
✔ Soldering is a low temperature process; hence there is no change in
the properties of metals.
❖ Disadvantages
✔ The soldered joints are not suitable for high temperature service because
of the low melting temperatures of the filler metals used.
✔ The soldering joints also need to be cleaned meticulously to provide
chemically clean surfaces to obtain a proper bond.
✔ Corrosion resistance of solder joint is less.