Chapter 1

Introduction
There have been discussions and sometimes arguments on describing if welding
is an art or a science. Mundane as it might appear, the question is pertinent, and
in my experience, some well-meaning experts often miss the point as to which
part about the term “welding” they are referring to support their arguments.
Welding as the physical and practical part of joining two materials in most part
is an art; however, the study of the heat and melt flow solidifications prediction
and prediction of material behavior under heating and cooling cycles associated
with the term welding is a science. Hence, welding is both an art and science
of joining metals by use of adhesive and cohesive forces between metals by
welding, brazing, and soldering some of these joining processes to produce
metallurgical bonds.
Both process metallurgy and physical metallurgy, discussed Section 1, are
involved in welding. Welding is a unique metallurgical activity because it
involves a series of metallurgical operations similar to metal production, such
as steelmaking and casting, but in a rapid succession and on a very small scale.
Generally, the thrust of the study is on the materials’ behavior during appli-
cation of localized heat and cooling and solidification physics.
Welding is often compared in a very rudimentary way to casting. The
comparison with casting involves the fact that in welding, a volume of molten
metal is solidified (cast) within the confines of a solid base metal (mold). The
base metal may have been preheated to retard the cooling rate of the weld joint
just as in casting molds are preheated to slow down cooling and reduce
“chilling” of the casting. Upon solidification, the weld deposit or casting can
be directly put into service because the welds are often used in as-welded
condition or may be heat treated or worked on as required. However, such
comparison is not an accurate depiction of the welding process. For example,
in welding, the base metal “mold” is part of the weld, unlike the mold of a
casting, which is removed after solidification, so unlike casting process, what
happens to the “mold” is of significance in welding. Unlike casting, in
welding, the solidification and the nucleation of weld metal takes effect on the
basis of the base metal grain structure that is just adjacent to the molten metal
of welding, and a unique set of metallurgy is created in the base metal that is
heated to above austenitic temperature range; this small band of base metal is
called the heat-affected zone (HAZ). We shall discuss this phenomenon in
more detail in this section of the book.

Applied Welding Engineering. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804176-5.00013-X

Welding involves small area relative to the full size of the structure base
material. Thus, a weld is a very small mass of metal, mostly two metals that
are heated very rapidly by intense heat and cooled rapidly. The dissipation of
heat is by all three modes, conduction, radiation, and convection. Often the
large surrounding mass of colder base metal is heated by the conduction
process, which is the major source of heat transfer from weld. After welding,
the cooling process is dynamic; equilibrium conditions are seldom seen in
conventional welding operations. In fact, welding conditions represent a great
departure from equilibrium. This is the reason weld zones often display un-
usual and verity of structures and properties, all this within the confines of a
very small area affected by the welding process.
It is thus important that a welding engineer have very good understanding
of “heat” in welding. An understanding of heat generation and the physics of
welding is important in the making of a good welding engineer. In the next
chapter, we start with basic understanding of physics of welding. We will
review the process of heat generation, which is an essential part of the welding
processes, and will discuss the cooling, nucleation, and solidification physics
of molten weld metal and its effect on the parent metal. In the process, we will
also review heating rate, peak temperature, HAZ, and the changes these bring
in the properties of weld metal and the metal being welded.
Welding is carried out based on a well-thought-out and specific plan in
order to attain the required material properties. Many regulatory and industrial
specifications have well-developed processes to get the plan in activation. Such
plans are called welding procedures and welding qualifications. Following is a
brief discussion on welding procedures and their role in welding application.

WELDING PROCEDURES
A welding procedure is a statement of execution, a specific plan prepared by
the welding contractor. The procedure details with listing of various variables
associated with the proposed welding process, giving an assurance that the
required mechanical and metallurgical properties will be met. Any format of
form may be used to develop a welding procedure that gives essential details.
Some international specifications especially addressing the welding re-
quirements have developed a format for the purpose, AWS D1.1 has the E-1
form for prequalified procedures. Similarly, ASME Section IX of the Boiler
and Pressure Vessels Code has a set of such forms for welding specifications,
welding qualification records (PQRs), and welders’ qualification records;
they are numbered QW-482, QW-483, and QW-484, respectively. Other in-
ternational standards for welding are EN ISO 15609-1, EN ISO 15609-2,
EN ISO 15609-3, EN ISO 15609-4, EN ISO 15609-5, and EN ISO 15614.
The last revision, the EN ISO 15614, has 12 parts dealing with specific topics
on welding various materials, including steel, aluminum, cast iron, titanium,
copper, and so on.
 Introduction Chapter j 1 129

The plan details all essential and nonessential variables that are important
to achieve the quality of weld. These variables are welding process specific.
Some of these variables are discussed in this part. In ASME section IX, these
variables are listed specific to the particular welding process, and they are
subdivided into essential, supplementary essential, and nonessential variables.
However, these variables are not specific to ASME but are in general agree-
ment with welding technology.
Essential variables are those in which a change, as described in the specific
variables, is considered to affect the mechanical properties of the weldments;
hence, any change shall require requalification of the welding procedure. The
supplementary essential variables are required for metals for which other
sections specify notch-toughness tests and are in addition to the essential
variables for each welding process.
The nonessential variables, on the other hand, are those in which a change,
as described in the specific variables, may be made in the welding procedure
specification (WPS) without requalification.
Some special process such as corrosion-resistant and hard-surfacing weld
metal overlays may have different additional essential variables. Only the
variables specified for special processes shall apply. A change in the corrosion-
resistant or hard-surfacing welding process requires requalification.
The correct electrode diameter is one on of the variables that, when used
with the proper amperage and travel speed, produces a weld of the required size
in the least amount of time. Selection depends on the thickness of the material
being welded, the position of welding in relation to the gravity of the earth, and
the type of joint to be welded. The welder’s experience is also important because
more skill is required to control the weld puddle in out-of-position welds, the
different types of electrode coverings, and fluxes. Inexperience may lead to
poor-quality welds that may have defects such as inclusions or porosities in the
final welds.
Welding current can be either direct or alternating, depending on the
process, type of electrode, and available power supply and material being
welded. Direct current (DC) provides a steadier arc and smoother transfer as
well as good wetting action and out-of-position control. Reverse and straight
current polarities are used for specific applications. Reverse polarity produces
deeper penetration, and straight polarity produces higher electrode melting
rates.