Can you imagine a world without buildings, gates, fences, and vehicles? What would happen if a kitchen had no appliances? What would have happened to our dream of space travel? Well, without any metalwork, there wouldn’t be any industry. Welding is a vital component for sectors like the automotive industry, aviation industry, construction industry, and many more.
But what is Welding? Welding is a process of fabrication in which two or more metal parts are joined or fused using pressure or heat or both to form a joint as the components cool.
Types of Welding
There are various types of Welding done in industries according to their needs or requirements. Let us have a look at some of them.
- Metal inert gas (MIG) welding,
- Stick Welding,
- Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding, also known as Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW),
- Gas Welding,
- Metal active gas (MAG) welding,
- Flux-cored Arc Welding (FCAW),
- Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW),
- Submerged Arc Welding (SAW),
- Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
- Plasma Arc Welding
Welding requires welding control equipment, accessories, and soldering tools to create a joint on a workpiece. Whether you are a DIY at-home enthusiast or a professional with an industrial background, you may need to choose from the following welding equipment and accessories used for the purpose.
- MIG Welders
- TIG Welders
- Stick Welders
- Engine Drives
- torches
- electrodes
- filler metals
- solder
- Multi-Process Welders
- Multi-Operator Welders
- Spot Welders
- Submerged Arc Welders
- Wire Feeders
In addition to this, many other welding control equipment, including power supply devices, welding machine, welding data monitoring equipment, weld monitor, auxiliary equipment, and weld counter. Some jigs and fixtures for rapid assembling of the parts which are to be weld, some institutions for preventing or reducing the warpage of the articles that are weld and transportation equipment.
Welding processes
There are four basic welding processes which one needs to look into to differentiate between them –
1. MIG Welding
MIG welding is a process that has developed in the 1940s and is also known as Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW). It is a semi-automatic process and requires electricity for the production of heat. It requires an electrode to fill the joint and uses a shielding gas to protect the weld from the air. A MIG welder needs a constant DC current when the wire and gas are being fed continuously through the welding gun as the trigger of the gun is depressed. This type of Welding requirement is mostly in the fabrication environment, especially where the production requirements are high.
MIG welder uses common shielding gases such as –
Argon, Carbon Dioxide, 75 / 25 Mixed Gas, and Helium
2. TIG Welding
TIG Welding is a manual welding process wherein the welder has to use both the hands. It is popularly known as Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). In this type of Welding, the welder holds the TIG torch in one hand and produces an arc while the other hand adds the filler metal to the weld joint. TIG welding is a challenging process to learn but, at the same time, very versatile. If done correctly, this type of Welding produces the highest quality of the weld. It is advantageous for critical weld joints and welding metals in addition to standard steel. TIG welding is useful where small precise welds are needed.
The TIG welder uses common shielding gases such as –
Argon, Helium, and Ar/He Mix
3. Stick Welding
Stick Welding Is also a manual process that is useful for outdoor high wind repair situations. It is popularly known as Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW). This type of Welding uses a power source that connects to an electrode holder. The current passes through the leads towards the electrode. There is no requirement of shielding gas in this process as the flux covers the electrode, which further protects the arc during a weld.
4. Flux Cored Welding
Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) is remarkably similar to MIG welding. The basic difference is that the filler metal is hollow and is filled with flux, therefore not requiring any shielding gas in the process. Flux-cored Welding is beneficial in outdoor high wing repair situations.
The safest welding method
Are you wondering which is the safest welding method from all of the above?
MIG welding is the cleanest, most comfortable, and safest of the above’s welding method. It can be easily useable on thin and thick metals. At the same time, Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) is the wire-feed process and is also one of Welding’s safe methods. It does not require shielding gas; instead, the flux-cored wire shields the arc from contamination. It is one of the most straightforward and efficient approaches, mostly when the welding work is done outdoors, in windy conditions, or on dirty materials. FCAW is famous in the construction industry due to its portability and high welding speed.
Both MIG and Flux Cored Arc Welding are easy to learn processes and create an extraordinarily clean weld on steel, aluminum, and stainless steel. Both of these processes have the capacity to weld materials as thin as 26 gauge.
Difference between Arc Welding and Gas Welding
There are some significant differences between Arc Welding and Gas Welding. The primary difference between Arc Welding and Gas Welding is that Arc Welding uses electricity while Gas Welding uses flammable gases for generating heat. Also, Arc Welding generates higher temperatures as against Gas Welding.
| Parameters of distinction | Arc Welding | Gas Welding |
| Generation of heat | Electricity is used for generation of heat in order to Weld metals together | Flammable gases are used for the regeneration of heat |
| Resultant temperature | Arc Welding temperature higher around 6000 centigrade | Gas Welding temperature are relatively lower around 3600 see centigrade |
| Resultant joint | It creates a stronger joint even on dirty surface es by using stick welders due to high temperature | It creates relatively weaker joint in comparison to an arc joint |
| Filler wire | The filler metal is combined with a shielding gas | Filler road is separately used |
| Risk factors | The risk involved is explosion due to high voltage | The risk involved is explosion due to high pressure |
| Welding speed | High speed welding | Low speed welding |
| Cost of setup | Initial cost of setting up is high but in the long run it proves to be cheaper | Initial cost of setting up may be low but in the long run due to constant purchase of gas cylinders the operational cost becomes high |
| Efficiency | More efficient | Relatively less efficient |
Arc Welding uses electricity for generating heat to weld metals together. Whereas, in Gas Welding, flammable gases are used to create heat. It is the primary difference between these two processes. Arc Welding generates higher temperatures as compared to using Gas Welding.
How Can Weld-Chron Arc Weld Timer help?
The Weld – CHRON Arc Weld Timer is a weld monitor with a sensory arc timer. It’s a cost useful, accurate, and trustworthy Weld data monitoring device.
The Weld –CHRON Arc Weld Timer provides an arc time data to access utilization of equipment. It improves the efficiency of the process while minimizing the operational cost. There is no need for any additional power and provisions of the network. It uses a Weld-counter for weld data monitoring. One gets immediate deployment, results, and actions through improved productivity, thereby achieving a quick return on investment. Without getting actual data, an organization cannot improve its productivity. The Weld-CHRON Arc Weld Timer is the only essential low-cost means available to acquire that necessary data.