 Welding is a materials joining process

which produces a unit of materials by

heating them to suitable temperatures
with or without the application of
pressure or by the application of
pressure alone, and with or without
the use of filler material.
 Fusion Welding Pressure Welding

Homogeneous Heterogeneous Friction Welding

Gas Welding Brazing Soldering

Electroslag MIG

High Energy Beam TIG

Shielded Metal Arc – “Stick”

Electric Arc
FUNCTION OF WELDING
◦ It is used in the manufacture of
automobile bodies, aircraft frames,
railway wagons, machine frames,
structural works, tanks, furniture,
boilers, general repair work and
ship building.
 Most efficient way to join metals
 Affords lighter weight through
better utilization of materials
 Joins all commercial metals
 Provides design flexibility
 A good weld is strong as the base
metal
A good weld is strong as the base
metal
 General welding equipments is not

very costly
 Portable welding equipment are

available
 A large number of metals/alloys both

similar and dissimilar can be joined

by welding
 Welding is more economical and is a
much faster process
 It produce a permanent joint
 Welding operation can be

mechanized for production

Manually applied, therefore high
labor cost.
Need high energy causing danger
Not convenient for disassembly.
Defects are hard to detect at

joints.
 Welding gives out harmful radiation,
fumes and spatter
 Welding results in residual stresses

and distortion of the work piece

 Skilled welder is essential for

performing a good welding operation.

 Difficult to weld very thin materials
 Frequent restarts
A welding generator (D.C.) or
Transformer (A.C.)
Two cables- one for work and

one for electrode

Electrode holder
Electrode
Protective shield
Gloves
Wire brush
Chipping hammer
Goggles
 Thereare three main types of
welding machines used in arc
welding
◦AC (Alternating current ) machine
◦DC (direct current) machine
◦AC/DC machine (Combination of
the two machines)
 AC welding machine are usually called
transformer
 These machines transform the electric

current from the main line which is high

voltage/low amperage to a safe usable
welding current which is low voltage /High
amperage. This is done inside the machine
by an arrangement of a primary and
secondary coil and a movable reactor
 The transformer is housed in a steel tank
which has external tubes. The tank is
filled with transformer oil to cool the
transformer core by convection, thereby
preventing its overheating when working
under heavy load conditions. Instead of
being oil cooled, some transformer
employ electric funs and are thus air
cooled
More efficiency
Power consumption less
Cost of equipment is less
Higher voltage – hence not

safe
 Not suitable for welding non ferrous
metals
 Not preferred for welding thin

sections
 Since there is no moving part in a

transformer the operation is noiseless

 Polarity cannot be changed
 Because of alternating nature of current flow,

starting the arc is more difficult than DC

 Poor power factor is inherent in the use of the

transformers of the constant – current type.

 It requires a main supply and therefore not mobile
 Due to higher open – circuit voltage, the risk of

electric shock is greater than with DC equipments

A DC welding machines produces direct
current in either straight or reverse polarity.
The polarity selected for welding depending
upon the kind of electrodes used and materials
to be welded.
 DC welding machine is powered either by an

electric motor or diesel engine. Diesel operated

welding machine are suitable for out-door
application or other areas where power is not
available
 The current supplied by DC welding
machine is created by an armature
rotating in an electric field. The armature
is rotating by an electric motor or an
engine. The current is drawn off for
welding use by a cummutator
 A polarity switch on most machines

provides reversed or straight polarity

 Practically all electrodes perform well
with DC
 Polarity can be changed to develop the

majority of heat at either the work or

electrode giving greater flexibility
 Where no main supply is available diesel

or petro driven generator are essential

 Nearly all ferrous and non ferrous
metal can be welded.
 Preferred for welding thin sections
 Lessefficiency
 Higher initial cost
 Higher maintenance cost
 Noise machine operation
 Higher power consumption more
 These machines are basically AC transformer to
which a rectifier stack has been added to supply
any type of current needed, although some
transformer – rectifiers are designed to supply
DC
 Rectifier unit are designed to provide a choise of

low voltage for MIG and Submerged welding or

a high open circuit with droping voltage
characteristic for TIG welding
 The possess all advantages of an AC
transformer
 They have good performance even at low

welding current
 They can provide both straight and reverse

polarity
 Their current can be adjusted by using a

remote control kept near the operator

 Attached to the electrode cable
 Spring loaded
 Insulated hand grips.
 The electrode are used to grip the
electrode and provide an insulated handle
.
 The size of the holder required depend on

the maximum amperage to be used

 Theground clamps is fasted to the
piece of metal to be welded or onto
the welding table, thus complete the
welding circuit when the electrode is
touched to the metal
 The welding current is conducted from the
welding machine through the electrode holder,
the arc, work piece and back to the welding
machine by means of insulated copper or
aluminium cables.
 The two cables are needed for welding purpose,

one known as electrode lead joins electrode

holder and electrode to the welding machine and
other known as ground lead connected job with
welding machine
 Some special
tools are needed
for welding
 Hand shielded is a protective device, used
in arc welding for shield and protecting
the face and neck of the operator. A hand
shield held in the hand of the welder and
is equipped with suitable filter lens.
 Helmet is a protective device used in
arc welding for shielding and
protecting the face and neck of welder
. A helmet is designed to be worn on
the head of the operator and its
equipped with suitable filter lens
 Hand shielded is a
protective device, used
in arc welding for
shield and protecting
the face and neck of the Fibre-Metal Products Co.

operator. A hand shield Hand shield so person may hold

shield in front of face
held in the hand of the
welder and is equipped
with suitable filter lens.
 Helmet is a protective
device used in arc
welding for shielding and
protecting the face and
neck of welder . A helmet
is designed to be worn on
the head of the operator
and its equipped with
suitable filter lens
 Fibre-Metal Products Co.

Fibre-Metal Products Co.

Hand shield so person may hold
shield in front of face

Fibre-Metal Products Co.

 Filter lens enable a welder to see while
welding and filter out approximately 99.5%
of the infra red rays ( That can cause painful
injury to the eyes) and 99.75% of ultraviolet
rays (That burn skins )
 The lenses are usually green and graded by

number and also a standard size e.g.

◦ Number 16 is a light colour lens
◦ Number 12 is a dark coloured lens
◦ Number 10 is a medium coloured lens
 Lenses must always be protected by a
clear grass or plastic plate from metal
spatter etc
 Protectingclothing protect the limb of
welder against burning by molten metal,
molten flux, spatter and sparks. The
following are required protecting clothing
◦ Apron
◦ Gloves
◦ Overall
◦ Safety boots
 Allwelding rooms should be equipped
with cartains of fire resistance canvas .
The cartains eliminate the danger of eye
flush to any person working near or
passer by
 An electrode is a piece of wire or rod ( of metal or
alloy), with or without flux covering, which carries
current for welding.
 At one end gripped in a holder and an arc is set up at

other
 The composition of the core wire depends upon the

metal to be welded. For example, to weld mild steel,

core wire of similar composition will be prepared, in
order to get a homogeneous welded joint
 The size or diameter of the core wire will
depend upon the amount of weld metal to
be deposited and on the type of joint or
gap to be bridged between the two plates
to be welded. The higher current will be
required to weld with bigger diameter
electrodes
 Electrodesare grouped into two
major groups
◦Bare electrodes
◦Flux covered electrodes

 Bareelectrodes are those electrodes

contains no flux and are used only
where strength is not important
 Flux covered electrodes are the electrodes
which coated with flux
 The function of the flux coating(Electrode

coating)are
◦ Minimise contamination of the weld metal
by oxygen and nitrogen from surrounding
atmosphere
◦ Retards the rate of freezing
(Solidification) of metal
 Remove oxides and impurities
 Control the shape of the weld deposit
 Preventing overheating of the

electrodes
 Increasing the rate of melting and thus

speed up the welding operation.

 To reduce or prevent undercut
 The size of electrodes to be used will
depend on a number of factors
 The thickness of the work piece
 The preparation of the joint to be welded
 The position of the weld joint, flat,

vertical or overhead
 Type of welding machine AC or DC
 Type of polarity
 Mechanical and other properties required

in the welding joint

 Surface finish and quality of the weld

metal
 Most care is required in handling the storage of
electrodes . Electrodes coating should either get
damped nor damaged or broken
 To avoid damage of coating
 Electrodes during storage neither bend nor

deflect
 Electrodes packet should not be thrown or piled

over each other

 Electrodes should be stored in dry and well

ventilated store room

 Electrode with damp coating will produce
a violet arc , porosity and cracking the
joint
 Electrodes with damaged coating will

produce joint poor mechanical properties

 Fluxcontains
Silicates of sodium, potassium,
magnesium, aluminum, iron oxide, mica,
clay
 A. American Welding Society (AWS)
Numbering System
 1. Usually on container in addition to
manufacturer’s number
 2. “E” stands for electric arc welding
 3. First 2 digits = tensile in thousand
pounds
per square inch
 4.Third digit indicated welding
position
1= all position
2= horizontal and flat
3= flat only
5. Fourth digit indicates type of flux
coating.
 A. Fast Freeze Group
◦ 1. Little slag, forceful arc, all position
◦ 2. E6010, E6011
B. Fill Freeze Group
1. Heavy flux, easy slag removal, bead has even ripple
formations
2. E6012, E6013, E7014
C. Fast Fill Group
1. Very heavy flux, fast deposit rate
2. E6027, E7028
 The basic principle is to connect the work
to the welded to one terminal of an
electric supply and to connect a metal
electrode to other terminal.
 These two parts of an electric circuit are

brought together and then separated

slightly
 The electric current jumps the gaps
and causes a continuous spark
known as the arc – around 40000C is
sufficient to melt the metal being
welded and forms a molten pool.
 The electrode also melts and add

metal to the pool.

 As the arc moved the melt behind is
fuses as it solidifies. The melting
action is controlled by changing the
electric current flowing across the arc
and by changing the size of the
electrode
1.Thoroughly clean and prepare the edge for
proper deposition of metal. Various types of
edge preparation can be used and the choise of
most suitable is influences by a number of
factors, some of these, not necessary in order of
importance are
 Type of process
 Type of work
 Position of welding
 Access for arc and procedure
 Volume of deposition weld metal
 Cost of preparing edge
 Shrinkage and distortion

 Example of edge preparation are

◦ Single V
◦ Double V
◦ Single U
◦ Double U
2. Select the electrodes for proper
material (Having the same composition
as the base metal) and size according to
dimensions of the work piece
3. Assess and comply with safety
requirements
4. Adjust the voltage to proper value
5. Layout the work piece and connect
with an earth clamp
6 . Strike the arc at the correct position
sticking the arc involves touching the
electrodes to the base metal
◦ To make arc two methods are used
◦ Scratching, the methods is similar to
striking a match
◦ Tapping, the method is a straight up and
down tapping motion as the name
implies
There are two methods used in starting the arc.
◦ A striking movement is similar to striking a match.
 A tapping movement is where the electrode is
quickly tapped on the surface of the metal to
prevent it from sticking to the base metal.
7. Take proper run of welding
 Maintain proper arc length

◦ Arc length is the distance between the tip

of the electrode and the base metal being
welded
 Speed travel must be maintained ( not too

fast, not to slow)

 Angle of the electrodes must be maintained

when weld ( 150 to 200)

8. Clean the weld and chip off the spatter
9. Inspect the weld
  The work angle is
the angle between
the electrode and
the work as
90°
depicted on the left
 Work angles can

vary depending on
the position the
weld is being made
in
  Also commonly called Lead
Angle
 The travel (lead) angle is

the angle between the

20-30° electrode and the plane
perpendicular to the weld
axis
 Hold the electrode at a 90

degree angle to the work

as viewed from the end of
the two plates being
joined, and 5 to 15 degrees
in the direction of travel.
 After striking the arc, maintain a 3.2 mm distance
between the electrode and the workpiece
◦ If the arc length becomes too short, the electrode will
get stuck to the workpiece or ‘short out’
◦ If the arc length becomes too long; spatter, undercut,
and porosity can occur
◦ Arc length is equal to the diameter of the bare end of the
electrode.

Arc Length = 3.2 mm

 The travel speed is the
speed at which the
electrode moves along End of Weld

the base material while

welding
◦ Too fast of a travel speed
results in a ropey or convex
weld
◦ Too slow of a travel speed
results in a wide weld with
The travel speed impacts the
an excessive metal deposit shape of the bead.
◦ The electrode should
produce a bead that is 1.5
to 2 times the diameter of
the bare end of the
electrode.
 Flat

 The flat position produces welds that are

stronger than in any other position.
 Vertical
 Horizontal
 Overhead
 There
are various positions that a weld can
be made in:
 At the end of the weld, the operator breaks the
arc which creates a ‘crater’
 Use a short pause or slight back step at the

end of the weld to fill the crater

 Large craters can cause weld cracking

Back stepping is a
short move in the
opposite direction of
weld travel
 There are 5 types
of joints …

95
 Groove and fillet welds can be made on
many types of joints

96
 Filletwelds should:
◦ Have a flat to slightly convex face
◦ Be uniform in appearance
◦ Have equal leg size
◦ Have good wash-in into base materials
 This is an example of a good fillet weld:

97
 Thereare various positions that a weld
can be made in:

98
Welding defects is an
imperfection in the weld which
may lead to failure of the weld
joint under the service condition
for which it is designed
 Porosity is a group of small voids where as
blow holes or gas pocket is a comparatively
bigger isolated hole or cavity
 Factors lead to porous weld are

◦ Contamination of the surface of the parent

metal by rust , grease, moisture or dirty
◦ Excessive moisture in electrodes covering
◦ Too low or too high arc current
◦ Too high speed
◦ Improper electrodes
 The main causes of cracks formation
are
 Poor ductility
 Hardenability
 Faster arc travel speed
 Rigidity of the joint
 Inundercut a groove get formed in the
parent metal a long the side of the weld
bead. The main causes of undercutting are
as follows
◦ High current
◦ Too large electrodes
◦ High speed
◦ Too high arc length
 Penetration is the distance from base plate
top surface to the maximum extent of the
weld
 The main causes of lack of penetration are

◦ Improper joint
◦ Too large root face
◦ Less arc current
◦ High speed
 Themain causes of fusion are
◦Lower arc current
◦High speed
◦Incorrect joint preparation
◦Presence of oxides or rust
 Inclusion may be in form of slag or any other
foreign materials which does not get a chance to
float on the surface of solidifying weld metal and
thus get entrapped inside the same
 The factor promoting inclusion are
 Too high or too low current
 Too large diameter
 Insufficient chipping and cleaning of previous

passes in multpass weld

INCOMPLETE FUSION
A weld bead in which fusion has not
occurred throughout entire cross
section of joint
 Several forms of incomplete fusion are

shown below
 A B C D E F G

These welds were cut and etched

with nitric acid to show penetration

107
These welds were cut and etched
with nitric acid to show penetration
Weld Profile in AW
 (a)
Desired profile for single V-groove
weld joint, (b) undercut - portion of base
metal melted away, (c) under fill -
depression in weld below adjacent base
metal surface, and (d) overlap - weld
metal spills beyond joint onto part surface
but no fusion occurs

©2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. M P Groover,

Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing 4/e
Visualinspection
Nondestructive evaluation
Destructive testing
 Most widely used welding inspection method
 Human inspector visually examines for:

◦ Conformance to dimensions, Warpage

◦ Cracks, cavities, incomplete fusion, and
other surface defects
 Limitations:

◦ Only surface defects are detectable

◦ Welding inspector must also decide if
additional tests are warranted
Ultrasonic testing - high frequency
sound waves through specimen to
detect cracks and inclusions
Radiographic testing - x-rays or

gamma radiation provide

photograph of internal flaws
Dye‑penetrant and
fluorescent‑penetrant tests - to
detect small cracks and cavities at
part surface
Magnetic particle testing – iron

filings sprinkled on surface reveal

subsurface defects by distorting
magnetic field in part
Tests in which weld is destroyed either
during testing or to prepare test
specimen
 Mechanical tests - purpose is similar

to conventional testing methods such

as tensile tests, shear tests, etc
Metallurgical tests - preparation
of metallurgical specimens (e.g.,
photomicrographs) of weldment
to examine metallic structure,
defects, extent and condition of
heat affected zone, and similar
phenomena
 (a)Tension-shear test, (b) fillet break
test, (c) tension-shear of spot weld,
and (d) peel test for spot weld
Capacity of a metal or combination of metals to be
welded into a suitable structure, and for the
resulting weld joint(s) to possess the required
metallurgical properties to perform satisfactorily in
intended service
 Good weldability characterized by:

◦ Ease with which welding is accomplished

◦ Absence of weld defects
◦ Strength, ductility, and toughness in welded joint
 Some metals or metal combinations
can be readily welded by one process
but are difficult to weld by others
◦Example: stainless steel readily
welded by most AW and RW
processes, but difficult to weld by
OFW
 Some metals melt too easily; e.g., aluminum
 Metals with high thermal conductivity transfer

heat away from weld, which causes problems;

e.g., copper
 High thermal expansion and contraction in metal

causes distortion problems

 Dissimilar metals pose problems in welding

when their physical and/or mechanical properties

are substantially different
 Fillermetal
◦ Must be compatible with base metal(s)
◦ In general, elements mixed in liquid state that
form a solid solution upon solidification do not
cause a problem
 Surface conditions

◦ Moisture can result in porosity in fusion zone

◦ Oxides and other films on metal surfaces can
prevent adequate contact and fusion