Group No: G7

Module Name: ME1071

Semester: 2

FAMILIARISATION WITH METAL

WELDING
By

Index No. Name Marks

200275A JEYARAJ J.S.P.

Group members

Index No. Name

200231L IMADUWA I.N.N.
200243B JAYAKODY J.P.C.L.
200246L JAYALATH J.W.K.N.
200268F JAYAWARDHANA N.V.
200271H JAYAWICKRAMA H.I.K.
200275A JEYARAJ J.S.P.
200278K NILMAN K.A.D.S.
200290N KARUNANAYAKA K.P.N.S.B.
200319N KUMARA M.A.S.J.
200320J KUMARA M.H.R.

Date of practical session

Date of submission

Instructor’s name

Department of Mechanical Engineering

University of Moratuwa
Sri Lanka
 STEPS FOLLOWED IN PERFORMING WELDING OPERATIONS

OXY-FUEL WELDING

We first set the pressure of the oxygen (O2) and acetylene (C2H2) gas cylinders to around 0.1 bar.
Then I first placed the workpiece on the welding table.

I then checked whether the pressures don’t change when the blowpipe valves of oxygen and acetylene
valves are opened slowly.

After confirming that there are no leakages and the functionality of all equipment are safe to start, I
opened the acetylene blowpipe valve slowly and lit the flame and adjusted the valve until the frame
produces no smoke.

Then I slowly opened the oxygen blowpipe valve to first get the carburising flame which is used for
heating and has lesser oxygen content than acetylene content.

Then I slowly opened the oxygen valve more to get the oxidising flame. This flame is used for cutting
metals and it is obtained when the oxygen content is higher than the acetylene content. With this
obtained flame I cut off the front piece of the work piece by moving the welding gun slowly across the
cutting line. The tip of the welding gun should be held slightly above the workpiece so that the tip
won’t be blocked by molten steel.

I slowly closed the oxygen valve to get the neutral flame. This is the flame which is used for welding
purposes. Here the oxygen content and the acetylene content are approximately equal. Then using this
flame, I first practised to make the molten steel pool and to maintain it across the workpiece.
Afterwards, I took a piece of welding rod and welded a line of weld on the workpiece. Here I first
made the molten steel pool on the workpiece then kept the welding rod and started moving the
welding gun while pressing the welding rod against the workpiece (Figure 1).

After the welding is done, I first closed the acetylene valve first and then the oxygen valve and ende
the welding safely.

Figure 1

Figure 2
ARC WELDING

I was given two arc welding rods which can be used for welding on mild steel and a mild steel
workpiece.

I set the current on the welding machine to 80A and fixed the welding rod to the electrode holder.

Then I practiced arc welding by placing dots of weld over workpiece. These should be of about 2mm
taller than the workpiece. For this we had to start the welding by creating the arc and then maintaining
it for some time by moving the welding rod (electrode) closer to the workpiece as the electrode
reduces in length.

After some practice I started to perform a butt joint of 10mm width and 2mm height on the workpiece.
Here I started the from one end and while giving time for the arc to settle in one place, I moved the
electrode across the workpiece at a steady speed while moving the electrode closer to the workpiece as
the rod starts to becoming short.

SPOT-WELDING

I was given 2 strips of aluminium to perform the spot welding. The machine used for spot welding was
a leg actuated spot-welding machine (rocker arm spot welder).

I first made a spot-weld and attached the 2 strips of aluminium together. For this I placed the 2 strips
on top of each other so that they coincide and placed them on the lower electrode and then lowered the
upper electrode by pressing the lever with my leg and welded them together.

Then I made a loop by rotating the strips around a cylindrical rod (Figure 3) and spot-welded again.
This process was continued till the strip was over and finally 2 ends were placed on each other and
spot-welded to form a ring shape (Figure 4).

Figure 3 Figure 4
 SAFETY PRECAUTIONS FOLLOWED IN WELDING SHOP

No loose clothing or loose hair was allowed in the welding shop since they get burnt or entangled and
cause damage to us and machines. Further protective shoes are recommended and if they are not
available leather shoes are compulsory as hot/molten metal pieces might get thrown to the legs.

Eye protection is compulsory in oxy-fuel welding and arc welding. For oxy fuel tinted glasses are worn
and for arc welding a shield with a special UV impermeable lens is essential.

A special leather apron should be worn while welding as hot/molten metal pieces might get thrown off
onto us.

While oxy-fuel welding the tip should not held very close to the workpiece as it can get clogged with
molten metal and can reduce weld efficiency and also cause minor blasts.

When finishing oxy-fuel welding the fuel (acetylene) valve should be closed first and then the oxygen
valve should be closed. Further before starting we should make sure all components are functioning
properly without leaks.

Wearing gloves is essential as we will be dealing with very hot substances and sometimes electrocuting
risks are there if the insulation of the handle of arc welding electrode holder is damaged.

While arc welding we should not weld until the welding rod is over, we should leave out around 3-4 cm
because if we couldn’t stop when the rod is over the electrode holder could be damaged. Further the
welding rod should not come in contact with the workpiece as it can get fused with the workpiece and
overheat.

COMPARISON AND CONTRADICTION OF THE 3 METHODS OF WELDING

Arc welding and oxy-fuel welding could be used to a wide range of metals and to perform very heavy
and strong welds, but the spot welding can’t be used for heavier metals and for greater thicknesses.

Arc welding and spot welding are performed using electricity while oxy-fuel welding is done by
combustion of fuel.

Oxy-fuel welding and arc welding are types of fusion welding since they melt the metal and join the
workpieces together while spot-welding is a type of solid-state welding as workpieces are only heated
till plastic state and are combined by applying pressure.

Spot-welding requires very less skill and experience to perform while oxy-fuel requires moderate
experience. Arc welding requires a lot of practice and skill.

The most versatile mode of welding is oxy-fuel welding as it can be used for welding, cutting and
heating, while spot-welding is the least versatile.
 APPLICATIONS OF VARIOUS MODES OF WELDINGS IN SRI LANKA
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

Welding is vastly used in many manufacturing processes throughout Sri Lanka. Since welding is the
most effective way of attaching 2 metallic pieces together welding processes can be seen in mostly all
the industries involving metallic components. For instance, it is being used for trains and bus repairs in
public transport industry, repairing automobiles and machinery, Aluminium and steel products such as
gates, fences, windows and etc too use welding to assist their manufacturing processes.

OXY-FUEL WELDING

This is one of the most widely used welding methods in Sri Lanka. Replacing corroded parts in
automobiles, trains and ships with new sheets of metals sometimes (Figure 5) (mostly arc welding) use
oxy-fuel welding. Further oxy-fuel welding is used to join alloys such as pewter and aluminium alloys.

The oxy-fuel welding is also vastly used for cutting heavy and light metals effectively and quickly
(Figure 6). This is also used for welding pipes together.

The usage of oxy-fuel welding is being used in small welding shops, big machinery and automobile
repairers like Edirisinghe Brothers Limited, Sri Lanka Dockyard, Railways department and metal
fabricating companies like Rex Industries.

Figure 5
Figure 6
ARC WELDING

Arc welding is a very useful welding method as it needs minimum resources for very strong welds. It
is widely used in many industries which already use oxy-fuel welding as a substitute for it. Advanced
arc welding methods such as TIG and MIG are also in use in Sri Lanka. Other than the industries
which use oxy-fuel welding the arc welding technique is also used in aircraft (Figure 7) and ship
repairing, welding large pipes together (oil transporting pipes), steel gate, fence and other household
items production and many more.
In contrary arc welding can’t be used to heat or cut objects and is less popular welding alloys. The
usage of arc welding also can be seen in big companies such as Sri Lanka Dockyard, National airports,
Edisinghe Brothers Limited, Rex Industries, Riland Sri Lanka and also in aluminium and steel welders
in producing railings, gates, and other furniture.

Figure 7

SPOT WELDING

Compared to the other methods of welding spot welding is very quick and easy. The problem with
spot welding is that it can’t be used to welding very thick sheets of metals effectively. However, this is
widely used in places where aluminium and other light metals or alloys are used. This is used welding
sheets of metal in automobiles (Figure 9), furniture, and white goods. Further this is also used in
electronics to weld small thin sheets without producing much heat.

This also is being used in most of the above industries in Sri Lanka and in addition these can be seen
in sheet metal industries and in cooking utensils manufacturing industries (Figure 8) too.

Figure 8 Figure 9

REFERENCES

All images are obtained from google images (except the photographs)

Sri Lankan welding industries: www.rexgroup.lk , www.riland.lk , www.weld.lk

Additional knowledge on spot welding: www.twi-global.com

Oxy-fuel and arc welding: www.studentlesson.com