SMAW/GTAW/FCAW

Shielded Metal Arc Flux Cored Arc Gas Tungsten-Arc

Welding (SMAW) Welding (FCAW) Welding (GTAW)
 Process Capability

• Shielded metal arc welding one of most used

of various electric arc welding processes
 Shielded Metal Arc Welding
(SMAW)
• Manual arc welding
– Heat for welding generated by electric arc
established between flux-covered consumable
metal rod (electrode) and work
• Called stick electrode welding
• Combustion and decomposition of electrode
creates gaseous shield
– Protects electrode tip, weld puddle, arc, and highly
heated work from atmospheric contamination
• Additional shielding provided by covering of molten
slag (flux)
SMAW

American Welding Society

 SMAW Advantages

• Equipment less complex, more portable and

less costly
• Can be done indoors or outdoors, in any
location and any position
• Electrodes available to match properties and
strength of most base metals
– Not used for welding softer metals
– Not as efficient in deposition
 Welding Process

• Electric arc started by striking work with

electrode
• Heat of arc melts electrode and surface of base
metal
• Tiny globules of molten metal form on tip of
electrode and transferred by arc into molten
pool on work surface
• After weld started, arc moved along work

11 - 7
Major defects in this process
are

Undercutting,
Incomplete penetration,
incomplete fusion,
Porosity,
Slag Inclusions, Cracks
The SMAW process can not
be used on steel thinner than
about 3mm

discontinuous process it is
only suitable for manual
operation.

It is very widely used in

fabrication shops and for on
site steel construction work.
The flux covering the electrode melts during welding. 

gas and slag to shield the arc and molten weld pool. 

The flux also provides a method of adding scavengers,

deoxidizers, and alloying elements to the weld metal.
 Flux-Cored Arc Welding

Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW)

 Flux-Cored Arc Welding

Advantages
 High deposition rates
 Deeper penetration than
SMAW
 High-quality
 Less pre-cleaning than
GMAW
 Slag covering helps with
larger out-of-position welds
 Self-shielded FCAW is
draft tolerant.
 Flux-Cored Arc Welding

Limitations
 Slag must be removed
 More smoke and fumes
than GMAW and SAW
 Spatter
 FCAW wire is more
expensive
 Equipment is more
expensive and complex
than for SMAW
 Case Study-4

Pi-Cheng Tung, Ming-Chang Wu, Yean-Ren Hwang, “An image-guided

mobile robotic welding system for SMAW repair processes”, International
Journal of Machine Tools & Manufacture 44 (2004) 1223–1233.

shortage of skilled technicians .

manual operator - not easy to apply in hazardous areas .

An image-guided mobile robotic welding system is developed.

CCD cameras, a five-axis SCORBOT-ER VII robot and SMAW equipment

on a mobile vehicle.

The control system determines the feeding velocity

effectively perform SMAW operations resulting in good quality welding.

GTAW and GMAW are not suitable - poor mobility
 Case Study-5

G. Madhusudhan Reddy, T. Mohandas, K.K. Papukutty, “Effect of welding

process on the ballistic performance of high-strength low-alloy steel
weldments”, Journal of Materials Processing Technology 74 (1998) 27–35.

 projectile penetration of the various zones in the weldments of a high-

strength low-alloy steel.

A comparison has been made : SMAW; GTAW; FCAW).

ballistic limit has been found to be highest in the case of the SMAW
weld and least in respect of FCAW welds.
Ballistic performance

Ballistic limit- indication of resistance to penetration against

projectile attack

The ballistic limit is arrived at by subtracting the residual

velocity of the projectile from the initial velocity, after the
projectile had penetrated through the target. The initial
velocity is taken as the ballistic limit when the projectile is not
able to penetrate through the target at this projectile velocity.
SMAW and FCAW:
columnar grains

FCAW- larger

GTAW: equi-axed grains

The weld region

comprised austenite, ferrite
and martensite
 Acicular martensite ferrite formation in this case (Fig. 7a).

austenite, carbides and ferrite constituents (Fig.6bFig. 7bFig. 8b),

decomposition in HAZ is more in the HAZ of GTAW than for SMAW

and FCAW (compare Figs. 6 and 8).