UTILIZATION ELECTRIC ENERGY

Electric Welding

Chapter 3

Dr Gamal Sowilam
1. INTRODUCTION
Welding is the process of joining two pieces of metal or non-metal
together by heating them to their melting point. Filler metal may or
may not be used to join two pieces.

The physical and mechanical properties of a material to be welded

such as melting temperature, density, thermal conductivity, and tensile
strength take an important role in welding. Depending upon how the
heat applied is created; we get different types of welding such as
thermal welding, gas welding,
and electric welding.

Here in this chapter, we will discuss only about the electric welding
and some introduction to other modern welding techniques. Welding is
nowadays extensively used in automobile industry, pipe-line
fabrication in thermal power plants, machine repair work, machine
frames, etc.
2. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF WELDING
Some of the advantages of welding are:

o Welding is the most economical method to permanently join

two metal parts.

o It provides design flexibility.

o Welding equipment is not so costly.

o It joins all the commercial metals.

o Both similar and dissimilar metals can be joined by welding.

o Portable welding equipment are available.

Some of the disadvantages of welding are:

o Welding gives out harmful radiations and fumes.

o Welding needs internal inspection.

o If welding is not done carefully, it may result in the distortion

of work-piece.

o Skilled welding is necessary to produce good welding.

ELECTRIC WELDING

It is defined as the process of joining two metal pieces, in which

the electrical energy is used to generate heat at the point of
welding in order to melt the joint.
3. ELECTRIC WELDING
The classification of electric welding process is shown:
The selection of proper welding process depends on the
following factors.

o The type of metal to be joined.

o The techniques of welding adopted.

o The cost of equipment used.

o The nature of products to be fabricated

A. RESISTANCE WELDING
Resistance welding is the process of joining two metals together by the heat
produced due to the resistance offered to the flow of electric current at the
junctions of two metals. The heat produced by the resistance to the flow of
current is given by:
where I is the current through the electrodes, R is the contact resistance of the
interface, and t is the time for which current flows.

Here, the total resistance offered to the flow of current is made up of:

1. The resistance of current path in the work.

2. The resistance between the contact surfaces of the parts being welded.
3. The resistance between electrodes and the surface of parts being welded.

In this process of welding, the heat developed at the contact area between
the pieces to be welded reduces the metal to plastic state or liquid state,
then the pieces are pressed under high mechanical pressure to complete
the weld. The electrical voltage input to the welding varies in between 4
and 12 V depending upon area, thickness, composition, etc. and usually
power ranges from about 60 to 180 W for each squre mm of area.

Any desired combination of voltage and current can be obtained by means

of a suitable transformer in AC; hence, AC is found to be most suitable for the
resistance welding. The magnitude of current is controlled by changing the
primary voltage of the welding transformer, which can be done by using an
auto-transformer or a tap-changing transformer.
Automatic arrangements are provided to switch off the supply after a pre-
determined time from applying the pressure, why because the duration of
the current flow through the work is very important in the resistance
welding.
The electrical circuit diagram for the resistance welding is shown in Figure.
This method of welding consists of a tap-changing transformer, a clamping
device for holding the metal pieces, and some sort of mechanical arrangement
for forcing the pieces to form a complete weld.

Electric circuit for resistance welding

Advantages
o Welding process is rapid and simple.
o Localized heating is possible, if required.
o No need of using filler metal.
o Both similar and dissimilar metals can be welded.
o Comparatively lesser skill is required.
o Maintenance cost is less.
o It can be employed for mass production.
However, the resistance welding has got some drawbacks and they
are:
o Initial cost is very high.
o High maintenance cost.
o The work-piece with heavier thickness cannot be welded, since it requires
high input current.

Applications
o It is used by many industries manufacturing products made up of thinner
gauge metals.
o It is used for the manufacturing of tubes and smaller structural sections.
Types of resistance welding
Depending upon the method of weld obtained and the type of electrodes used,
the resistance welding is classified as:
1. Spot welding.
2. Seam welding.
3. Projection welding.
4. Butt welding.
(i) Spot welding

Spot welding means the joining

of two metal sheets and fusing
them together between copper
electrode tips at suitably
spaced intervals by means of
heavy electric current passed
through the electrodes.
This type of joint formed by the spot welding provides mechanical
strength and not air or water tight, for such welding it is necessary to
localize the welding current and to apply sufficient pressure on the
sheet to be welded.

The welding current varies widely depending upon the thickness

and composition of the plates. It varies from 1,000 to 10,000 A, and
voltage between the electrodes is usually less than 2 V. The period
of the flow of current varies widely depending upon the thickness of
sheets to be joined.

Good weld can be obtained by low currents for longer duration

and high currents for shorter duration; longer welding time
usually produces stronger weld but it involves high energy
expenditure, electrode maintenance, and lot of distortion of
workpiece.
 (ii) Seam welding

Seam welding is nothing but the

series of continuous spot welding.
If number spots obtained by spot
welding are placed very closely
that they can overlap, it gives rise
to seam welding.
In this welding, continuous spot
welds can be formed by using
wheel type or roller electrodes
instead of tipped electrodes.

When these wheel type electrodes travel over the metal pieces which are under
pressure, the current passing between them heats the two metal pieces to
the plastic state and results into continuous spot welds.

Seam welding is very important, as it provides leak proof joints. It is

usually employed in welding of pressure tanks, transformers, condensers,
evaporators, air craft tanks, refrigerators, varnish containers, etc.
 (iii) Projection welding
In the projection welding, both
current and pressure are localized to
the welding points as in the spot
welding. But the only difference in
the projection welding is the high
mechanical pressure applied on
the metal pieces to be welded,
after the formation of weld. The
electrodes used for such welding
are flat metal plates known as
platens.

One of the two pieces of metal is run through a machine that makes the
bumps or projections of required shape and size in the metal. As current
flows through the two metal parts to be welded, which heat up and melt. These
weld points soon reach the plastic state, and the projection touches the metal
then force applied by the two flat electrodes forms the complete weld.
The projection welding has the following advantages over the spot
welding.

o Simplicity in welding process.

o It is easy to weld some of the parts where the spot welding is not
possible.
o It is possible to join several welding points.
o Welds are located automatically by the position of projection.
o As the electrodes used in the projection welding are flat type, the
contact area over the projection is sufficient.

This type of welding is usually employed on punched, formed, or

stamped parts where the projection automatically exists. The
projection welding is particularly employed for mass production work,
i.e., welding of refrigerators, condensers, crossed wire welding,
refrigerator racks, grills, etc.
 (iv) Butt welding

Butt welding is similar to the spot welding; however, the only difference is, in
butt welding, instead of electrodes the metal parts that are to be joined or
butted together are connected to the supply. The three basic types of the butt
welding process are:
1. Upset butt welding.
2. Flash butt welding.
3. Percussion butt welding.
(a) Upset butt welding

In upset welding, the two metal parts to

be welded are joined end to end and are
connected across the secondary of a
welding transformer. Due to the
contact resistance of the metals to be
welded, heating effect is generated in
this welding.
When current is made to flow through the two electrodes, heat will develop
due to the contact resistance of the two pieces and then melts. By applying
high mechanical pressure either manually or by toggle mechanism, the two
metal pieces are pressed. When jaw-type electrodes are used that introduce
the high currents without treating any hot spot on the job.

This type of welding is usually employed for welding of rods, pipes, and wires
and for joining metal parts end to end.

(b) Flash butt welding

Flash butt welding is a
combination of resistance, arc,
and pressure welding. This
method of welding is mainly used
in the production welding. In this
method of welding, the two
pieces to be welded are brought
very nearer to each other under
light mechanical pressure.
These two pieces are placed in a conducting movable clamps. When high
current is passed through the two metal pieces and they are separated by some
distance, then arc established between them. This arc or flashing is allowed till
the ends of the work-pieces reach melting temperature, the supply will be
switched off and the pieces are rapidly brought together under light pressure.
As the pieces are moved together, the fused metal and slag come out of the
joint making a good solid joint.

Following are the advantages of the flash butt welding over the upset
welding.

• Less requirement of power.

• When the surfaces being joined, it requires only less attention.

• Weld obtained is so clean and pure; due to the foreign metals appearing on
the surfaces will burn due to flash or arc.
 (c) Percussion welding
It is a form of the flash butt welding, where high current of short duration is
employed using stored energy principle. This is a self-timing spot welding
method.
Percussion welding arrangement consists of one fixed holder and the other
one is movable. The pieces to be welded are held apart, with the help of two
holders, when the movable clamp is released, it moves rapidly carrying the
piece to be welded. There is a sudden discharge of electrical energy, which
establishes an arc between the two surfaces and heating them to their melting
temperature, when the two pieces are separated by a distance of 1.5 mm apart.
As the pieces come in contact with each other under heavy pressure, the arc is
extinguished due to the percussion blow of the two parts and the force
between them affects the weld. The percussion welding can be obtained in
two methods; one is capacitor energy storage system and the other is magnetic
energy storage system.
The capacitor ‘C’ is charged to about 3,000 V from a controlled rectifier. The
capacitor is connected to the primary of welding transformer through the
switch and will discharge. This discharge will produce high transient current in
the secondary to join the two metal pieces. Percussion welding is difficult to
obtain uniform flashing of the metal part areas of the cross-section grater than
3 sq. cm. Advantage of this welding is so fast, extremely shallow of heating is
obtained with a span of about 0.1 sec. It can be used for welding a large
number of dissimilar metals.
Applications
• It is useful for welding satellite tips to tools, sliver contact tips to copper, cast
iron to steel, etc.
• Commonly used for electrical contacts.
• The metals such as copper alloys, aluminum alloys, and nickel alloys are
percussion welded.

CHOICE OF WELDING TIME

The successful welding

operation mainly depends upon
three factors and they are:
1. Welding time.
2. Welding current.
3. Welding pressure.

Figure shows how the energy

input to the welding process,
welding strength, and welding
current vary with welding time.
Electromagnetic storage welding circuit is shown in Figure. In this type of
welding, the energy stored in the magnetic circuit is used in the welding
operation.

In this system, rectifier is fed from AC supply, which is converted to DC, the
DC voltage of rectifier is controlled in such a way that, voltage induced in
the primary without causing large current in the secondary of
transformer on opening the contactor switch, DC on longer flows, there is
rapid collapse of magnetic field, which induces very high current in the
secondary of a transformer. Induced currents in the secondary of the
transformer flow through the electrodes that develop heat at the surface of the
metal and so forming the complete weld.

Magnetic energy storage welding circuit

 ELECTRIC ARC WELDING
Electric arc welding is the
process of joining two metallic
pieces or melting of metal is
obtained due to the heat
developed by an arc struck
between an electrode and the
metal to be welded or between
the two electrodes as shown

In this process, an electric arc is produced by bringing two conductors

(electrode and metal-piece) connected to a suitable source of electric
current, momentarily in contact and then separated by a small gap, arc
blows due to the ionization and give intense heat.
The heat so developed is utilized to melt the part of work-piece and filler
metal and thus forms the weld.
In this method of welding, no mechanical pressure is employed; therefore,
this type of welding is also known as 'non-pressure welding’.
The length of the arc required for welding depends upon the following
factors:
• The surface coating and the type of electrodes used.
• The position of welding.
• The amount of current used.

Various types of electric arc welding are:

1. Carbon arc welding.

2. Metal arc welding.

3. Atomic hydrogen arc welding.

4. Inert gas metal arc welding.

5. Submerged arc welding.

 A. Carbon arc welding
It is one of the processes of arc welding in which arc is struck between two
carbon electrodes or the carbon electrode and the base metal. The simple
arrangement of the carbon arc welding is shown in Figure.
In this process of welding, the electrodes are placed in an electrode holder
used as negative electrode and the base metal being welded as positive.
Unless, the electrode is negative relative to the work, due to high
temperature, there is a tendency of the particles of carbon will fuse and mix up
with the base metal, which causes brittleness; DC is preferred for carbon arc
welding since there is no fixed polarity maintained in case of AC.

In the carbon arc welding, carbon or graphite rods are used as electrode. Due
to longer life and low resistance, graphite electrodes are used, and thus
capable of conducting more current. The arc produced between electrode
and base metal; heat the metal to the melting temperature, on the negative
electrode is 3,200°C and on the positive electrode is 3,900°C.

This process of welding is normally employed where addition of filler metal is

not required. The carbon arc is easy to maintain, and also the length of the arc
can be easily varied. One major problem with carbon arc is its instability
which can be overcome by using an inductor in the electrode of 2.5-cm
diameter and with the current of about of 500–800 A employed to deposit
large amount of filler metal on the base metal.
Filler metal and flux may not be used depending upon the type of joint and
material to be welded.
Advantages

• The heat developed during the welding can be easily controlled by

adjusting the length of the arc.
• It is quite clean, simple, and less expensive when compared to other
welding process.
• Easily adoptable for automation.
• Both the ferrous and the non-ferrous metals can be welded.

Disadvantages

• Input current required in this welding, for the work-piece to rise its
temperature to melting/welding temperature, is approximately double the
metal arc welding.
• In case of the ferrous metal, there is a chance of disintegrating the carbon
at high temperature and transfer to the weld, which causes harder weld
deposit and brittlement.
• A separate filler rod has to be used if any filler metal is required.
Applications

• It can be employed for the welding of stainless steel with thinner gauges.
• Useful for the welding of thin high-grade nickel alloys and for galvanized
sheets using copper silicon manganese alloy filler metal.

B. Metal arc welding

In metal arc welding, the electrodes
used must be of the same metal as
that of the work-piece to be
welded. The electrode itself forms
the filler metal. An electric arc is
stuck by bringing the electrode
connected to a suitable source of
electric current, momentarily in
contract with the work-pieces to be
welded and withdrawn apart. The
circuit diagram for the metal arc
welding is shown in Figure.
Write about:
1. Atomic hydrogen arc welding.
2. Inert gas metal arc welding.
3. SUBMERGED ARC WELDING.
4. ELECTRON BEAM WELDING.
5. LASER BEAM WELDING.
6. TYPES OF WELDING ELECTRODES.
The arc produced between the work-piece and the electrode results high
temperature of the order of about 2,400°C at negative metal electrode and
2,600°C at positive base metal or work-piece.
This high temperature of the arc melts the metal as well as the tip of the
electrode, then the electrode melts and deposited over the surface of the work-
piece, forms complete weld.
Both AC and DC can be used for the metal arc welding. The voltage required
for the DC metal arc welding is about 50–60 V and for the AC metal arc
welding is about 80–90 V.
In order to maintain the voltage drop across the arc less than 13 V, the arc
length should be kept as small as possible, otherwise the weld will be brittle.
The current required for the welding varies from 10 to 500 A depending upon
the type of work to be welded.
The main disadvantage in the DC metal arc welding is the presence of arc blow,
i.e., distortion of arc stream from the intended path due to the magnetic forces
of the non-uniform magnetic
field with AC arc blow is considerably reduced. For obtaining good weld, the
flux-coated electrodes must be used, so the metal which is melted is covered
with slag produces a non-oxidizing gas or a molten slag to cover the weld, and
also stabilizes the arc.
ELECTRIC WELDING EEQUIPMENT
Electric welding accessories required to carry out proper welding
operation are:

1. Electric welding power sets.

2. Electrode holder to hold the electrodes.
3. Welding cable for connecting electrode and workpiece to the supply.
4. Face screen with colored glass.
5. Chipping hammers to remove slag from molten weld.
6. Wire brush to clean the weld.
7. Earth clamp and protective clothing.