ME452

Welding Technologies
Fall (2020-2021)
Lecture 3

Instructor : Asst. Prof. Dr. Samet AKAR

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Çankaya University
Gas-tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)
Gas–tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is a process that melts and
joins metals by heating them with an arc established between a
nonconsumable tungsten electrode and the metals.

The tungsten electrode is usually in contact with a water-cooled copper tube, called the
contact tube. (to prevent overheating)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uO5pVLOAmD4

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GTAW a.k.a. TIG and Heliarc Welding
o Protection from the air is much better in GTAW than in SMAW
because an inert gas such as argon or helium is usually used
as the shielding gas and because the shielding gas is directed
toward the weld pool. For this reason, GTAW is also called
tungsten–inert gas (TIG) welding.
o In special occasions a non-inert gas can be added in a small
quantity to the shielding gas. Therefore, GTAW seems a more
appropriate name for this welding process.
o When a filler rod is needed, for instance, for joining thicker
materials, it can be fed either manually or automatically into the
arc.
o If one uses helium as the shielding gas the process also called
Heliarc Welding.

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Polarity
o A. Direct-Current Electrode Negative (DCEN)
o B. Direct-Current Electrode Positive (DCEP)
o C. Alternating Current (AC)

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Direct-Current Electrode Negative (DCEN)
This, also called the straight polarity, is the most
common polarity in GTAW. The electrode is connected
to the negative terminal of the power supply.
Electrons are emitted from the tungsten electrode and
accelerated while traveling through the arc.
A significant amount of energy, called the work
function, is required for an electron to be emitted from
the electrode. When the electron enters the workpiece,
an amount of energy equivalent to the work function is
released.
This is why in GTAW with DCEN more power (about
two-thirds) is located at the work end of the arc and
less (about one-third) at the electrode end.
Consequently, a relatively narrow and deep weld is
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Direct-Current Electrode Positive (DCEP)
This is also called the reverse polarity. The electrode is
connected to the positive terminal of the power source.
The heating effect of electrons is now at the tungsten
electrode rather than at the workpiece. Consequently, a
shallow weld is produced. Furthermore, a large-
diameter, water-cooled electrodes must be used in
order to prevent the electrode tip from melting. The
positive ions of the shielding gas bombard the
workpiece, knocking off oxide films and producing a
clean weld surface. Therefore, DCEP can be used for
welding thin sheets of strong oxide-forming materials
such as aluminum and magnesium, where deep
penetration is not required.

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Alternating Current (AC)
o Alternating Current (AC) Reasonably good penetration and
oxide cleaning action can both be obtained.

AC is often used for welding aluminum alloys.

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GTAW- Features

o Non-consumable tungsten electrode

o Inert gas for arc shielding

o With or without filler rod

o Aluminum and stainless steel

o high-quality welds, no weld spatter because no filler metal

o Little or no post weld cleaning because no flux is used

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Electrodes

Tungsten electrodes with 2% cerium or thorium have better

electron emissivity, current-carrying capacity, and resistance to
contamination than pure tungsten electrodes. As a result, arc
starting is easier and the arc is more stable.
The electron emissivity refers to the ability of the electrode tip
to emit electrons. A lower electron emissivity implies a higher
electrode tip temperature required to emit electrons and hence a
greater risk of melting the tip.

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Electrodes-Color Coding
o Tungsten electrodes types and their typical application
can be identified by color coded end marks as follows.

Pure Tungsten : Green

2% Ceriated : Gray
2% Thoriated : Red
2% Zirconiated : Brown
1.5% Lanthanated : Gold
2% Lanthanated : Blue

Pure tungsten electrodes are generally used on less critical welding operations
than the tungsten electrodes that are alloyed. This type of electrode is used for AC
welding, has a relatively low current carrying capacity and a low resistance to
contamination.

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Electrodes
Thoriated tungsten electrodes (1 or 2 percent thorium) are
superior to pure tungsten electrodes because of their higher
electron output, better arc-starting and arc stability, high current-
carrying capacity, longer life, and greater resistance to
contamination.
2% thoriated tungsten electrodes can be used for AC welding,
but they excel in DC electrode negative (straight polarity) GTAW
on carbon and stainless steel, nickel, and titanium. Welding
operators should note that 2% thoriated tungsten electrodes
contain low levels of radioactivity. Therefore, they must always
follow manufacturer’s warnings, instructions, and the
MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for their use.

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Electrodes
Lanthanated tungsten electrodes contain a minimum of 97.80 percent
tungsten and 1.30 percent to 1.70 percent lanthanum, or lanthana, both
1.5 and 2% lanthanated tungsten electrodes offer excellent arc starting at
low amperages, provide long electrode life and stability, and have a low
burn-off rate. They also resist tip wear. The 2% lanthanated tungsten
electrodes are considered to have superior characteristics. 2%
lanthanated tungsten electrodes are often used in critical applications,
such as in the aviation industry, and can be used to replace 2% thoriated
tungsten electrodes. Both electrodes are well suited to welding carbon
steel, stainless steel, nickel alloys, titanium, and aluminum. They work well
on AC or DC electrode negative with a pointed end, or they can be balled
for use with AC sine wave power sources. Unlike thoriated tungsten,
lanthanated electrodes are suitable for AC welding and, like ceriated
electrodes, allow the arc to be started and maintained at lower voltages.
Compared with pure tungsten, the addition of 1.5 percent lanthana
increases the maximum current-carrying capacity by approximately 50
percent for a given electrode size.
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Electrodes
Ceriated tungsten electrodes contains a min of 97.3 %
tungsten, with 1.8 to 2.2 % cerium, is used for low current
settings and has a low-amp arc. These electrodes perform best in
DC welding at low current settings but can be used proficiently in
AC processes.

Zirconium tungsten electrodes contain 0.7–0.9% zirconium

and are known for their ability to ball up easily in AC
applications. Zirconium electrodes generally fall between pure
tungsten electrodes and thoriated tungsten electrodes in terms of
performance. There is, however, some indication of better
performance in certain types of welding using ac power.

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Shielding Gases
o Both argon and helium can be used.

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Shielding Gases
The ionization potentials for argon and helium
are 15.7 and 24.5 eV (electron volts), respectively. Since it is
easier to ionize argon than helium, arc initiation is easier and the
voltage drop across the arc is lower with argon.
Also, since argon is heavier than helium, it offers more effective
shielding and greater resistance to cross draft than helium. With
DCEP or AC, argon also has a greater oxide cleaning action than
helium.
These advantages plus the lower cost of argon make it more
attractive for GTAW than helium.

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Advantages
o Gas–tungsten arc welding is suitable for joining thin sections
because of its limited heat inputs.
o The feeding rate of the filler metal is somewhat independent
of the welding current, thus allowing a variation in the relative
amount of the fusion of the base metal and the fusion of the filler
metal. Therefore, the control of dilution and energy input to the
weld can be achieved without changing the size of the weld.
o It can also be used to weld butt joints of thin sheets by fusion
alone, that is, without the addition of filler metals or autogenous
welding.
o Since the GTAW process is a very clean welding process, it
can be used to weld reactive metals, such as titanium and
zirconium, aluminum, and magnesium.

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Disadvantages
o The deposition rate in GTAW is low.
o Excessive welding currents can cause melting of the tungsten
electrode and results in brittle tungsten inclusions in the weld
metal. However, by using preheated filler metals, the
deposition rate can be improved.
In a nutshell:
Hot wire gas tungsten arc welding (HW-GTAW) process is a
modified gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process in which the
filler wire is pre-heated before entering the weld pool. As the filler
wire is pre-heated by resistance heating, the weld deposition
efficiency of HW-GTAW process is higher when compared to the
conventional GTAW process. HW-GTAW process is specifically
used to weld many high temperature materials that are used by
the power industry.
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PLASMA ARC WELDING
Plasma arc welding (PAW) is an arc welding process that melts and joins
metals by heating them with a constricted arc established between a tungsten
electrode and the metals.

Arc starting
Although the arc is initiated using HF,
it is first formed between the
electrode and plasma nozzle. This
'pilot' arc is held within the body of
the torch until required for welding
then it is transferred to the
workpiece. The pilot arc system
ensures reliable arc starting and, as
the pilot arc is maintained between
welds, it obviates the need for HF
which may cause electrical
interference.

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Three operating modes can be produced by varying bore diameter
and plasma gas flow rate:
o Microplasma: 0.1 to 15A.
The microplasma arc can be operated at very low welding
currents. The columnar arc is stable even when arc length is
varied up to 20mm.
o Medium current: 15 to 200A.
At higher currents, from 15 to 200A, the process characteristics
of the plasma arc are similar to the TIG arc, but because the
plasma is constricted, the arc is stiffer. Although the plasma gas
flow rate can be increased to improve weld pool penetration,
there is a risk of air and shielding gas entrainment through
excessive turbulence in the gas shield.

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Keyholing
Keyhole plasma: over 100A.
By increasing welding current and plasma gas flow, a very
powerful plasma beam is created which can achieve full
penetration in a material, as in laser or electron beam welding.
During welding, the hole progressively cuts through the metal
with the molten weld pool flowing behind to form the weld bead
under surface tension forces. This process can be used to weld
thicker material (up to 10mm of stainless steel) in a single pass.

A plasma arc weld made in 13-mm-thick 304

stainless steel with keyholing.

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Advantages
Plasma arc welding has several advantages over GTAW.
o With a collimated arc, PAW is less sensitive to unintentional arc
length variations during manual welding and thus requires less
operator skill than GTAW.

o The short arc length in GTAW can cause a welder unintentionally

touch the weld pool with the electrode tip and contaminate the weld
metal with tungsten. However, PAW does not have this problem
since the electrode is recessed in the nozzle.
o The keyhole is a positive indication of full penetration, and it allows
higher welding speeds to be used in PAW.
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Disadvantages
o The PAW torch is more complicated.
o It requires proper electrode tip configuration and positioning,
selection of correct orifice size for the application, and setting
of both orifice and shielding gas flow rates.
o Because of the need for a control console, the equipment cost
is higher in PAW than in GTAW.
o The equipment for variable-polarity PAW is much more
expensive than that for GTAW.

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