ELECTRIC WELDING

Welding : welding is a process in which two metal plates are joined with the help of increasing
temperature and pressure or filling the materials called welding.

Electric welding
Electric welding is a process by means of which two metal pieces are joined together
by the heat produced due to the flow of high current.
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 produced we get different types of welding
such as thermal welding, gas welding, and electric welding. Welding is nowadays extensively
used in automobile industry, pipe-line fabrication in thermal power plants, machine repair
work, machine frames, etc. It is used to repair of the damaged casting, welding of steel plates,
manufacturing of ships, pipeline, bridge.

Advantages of Welding:
1. A good weld is as strong as base metal.
2. General equipment is not very costly.
3. Welding permits considerable freedom in design.
4. A large number of metals/alloys both similar and dissimilar can be joined by welding.
5. Welding can be mechanized.
6. Portable welding equipments are available.
7. It provides design flexibility.
8. Uniform welding
9. clean welding

Disadvantages of Welding:
1. Welding gives out harmful radiations (light) and fumes.
2. A skilled welding is must to produce a good weld.
3. Edge preparation of work pieces is generally required before welding them.
4. Jigs and fixtures are generally required to hold and position the parts to be welded.
5. If welding is not done carefully it may result in the distortion of work piece.

Classification of electric welding

The selection of proper welding process depends on the following factors.
 The type of metal to be joined.
 The techniques of welding adopted.
 The cost of equipment used.
 The nature of products to be fabricated.

There are two methods by which electric welding can be carried out. These are

1. Resistance Welding. 2. Arc Welding.

RESISTANCE WELDING

Definition: Resistance welding is the process in which a sufficiently strong electric current is
sent through the two metals in contact to be welded which melts the metal by the resistance
they offer to the flow of electric current. In resistance welding a heavy current (above 100A)
at a low voltage is passed through the work piece and the heat developed by the resistance to
the flow of current is utilized. The heat produced by the resistance to the flow of current is
given by:
H = I2Rt.
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. Alternating
current is found to be most suitable for resistance welding as it can provide any desired
combination of current and voltage by means of a transformer.
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.
Advantages:
 Fast rate of production
 Less skilled workers can do the job.
 Both similar and dissimilar metals can be welded.
 High reliability and reproducibility are obtained.
 Employs semi automatic equipments and maintenance cost is less.
 No rod is required for welding.
 No need of using filler metal.
 Welding process is rapid and simple.

Disadvantages:
1. Initial cost of equipment is high.
2. Skilled persons are needed for the maintenance of equipment and controls.
3. In some materials, special surface preparation is required.
4. Initial cost is very high.
5. The workpiece with heavier thickness cannot be welded, since it requires high input current.

Applications:
1. Joining sheets, bars, rods and tubes.
2. Making tubes and metal furniture.
3. Making cutting tools.
4. Welding aircraft and automobile parts.
5. Making fuel tanks of cars, tractors etc.
6. It is used by many industries manufacturing products made up of thinner gauge metals.
7. 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.
5. Flash welding.

1. 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 as shown in Figure.
  The electrodes are made up of copper or copper alloy and are water cooled.
 Spot welding depends upon 1) Generation of heat 2) Application of forging pressure.
 Current flows for less time. It varies from 1,000 to 10,000 A. Voltage between the
electrodes is usually less than 2 V. Power factor is (0.3-0.5 lag)
 This spot welding provides mechanical strength and used for sheets having thickness
(10-12 mm)
 For such welding it is necessary to localize the welding current and to apply sufficient
pressure on the sheet to be welded.
 A step-down transformer is used to reduce a high-voltage and low-current supply to
low voltage and high-current supply required. The period of the flow of current varies
widely depending upon the thickness of sheets to be joined. When voltage applied
across the electrode, the flow of current will generate heat at the three junctions, i.e.,
heat developed, between the two electrode tips and workpiece, between the two
workpieces to be joined as shown in Figure.
The generation of heat at junctions 1 and 3 will effect electrode sticking and melt through
holes, the prevention of electrode striking is achieved by:
1. Using water-cooled electrodes shown in Figure. By avoiding the heating of junctions of
electrodes in which cold water circulated continuously as shown in Figure below.
2. The material used for electrode should have high electrical and thermal
conductivity. Spot welding is widely used for automatic welding process, for joining
automobile parts, joining and fabricating sheet metal structure, etc.

Water cooled electrode

Applications:

 Used for Galvanised, tinned and lead-coated sheets and mild steel sheets work.
 Used for non ferrous metals such as brass, aluminium, nickel and bronze.

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.
 Butt welding

 Used for joining bars and plates together end to end , one bar is fixed in clamp and
another in movable clamp.The clamps should be electrically insulated from the other
clamp. The clamps are connected to the source of current.
 Voltage used is 2-8V
 Current used is 50 A
 When the two ends to be joined are brought in contact and current is switched on, the
resistance at the joints causes the end to heat up to welding temperature. The current is
then switched off and the movable clamp is forced up, so that a weld is made.
 Plained and butt welding are used upto material a having thickness of 25 mm.
 This process is being used for welding such things as steel rails of cross-section area
of 6.25 cm2.

Flash welding

Flash welding is a combination of resistance, arc, and pressure welding. This

method of welding is mainly used in the production welding. A simple flash butt
welding arrangement is shown in Figure above.

 One clamp is fixed and another is movable.

 Voltage is applied across the electrode
 When electrodes are joined there flows heavy current by which high flashing arc occurs.
  When high current is passed through the two metal pieces and they are separated by
some distance, then arc established between them.
This arc is allowed till the ends of the workpieces reach melting temperature, the
supply will be switched off and the pieces are rapidly brought together under light
pressure.

Advantages
 Less requirement of power once the arc is produced
 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

Applications
 Automobile construction on the body, axles, wheels, frames etc.
 Welding motor frames , transformer tank and many types of steel sheet containers such
as at barrels and floats.

SEAM WELDING

 Seam welding can be defined as a series of spot welding with the difference the
electrodes are in the form of rollers and the work moves in the direction perpendicular
to roller axis.
 If number spots obtained by spot welding are placed very closely that they can overlap,
it gives rise to seam welding.
 In this method, the work pieces to be welded are cleaned, overlapped suitably and is
placed between two circular electrodes which clamp the work pieces together by
electrode force.
 A current impulse is applied to the circular rollers to the material is contact with them.
 The current is interrupted 300 to 1500 times a minute to give rise to overlapping spot
welding.
 Seam welding is obtained by keeping the job under 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.
 After forming weld at one point, the weld so obtained can be cooled by splashing water
over the job by using cooling jets

Fig: Seam welding

It is not satisfactory to make a continuous weld, for which the flow of continuous current build
up high heat that causes burning and wrapping of the metal piece. To avoid this difficulty, an
interrupter is provided on the circuit which turns on supply for a period sufficient to heat the
welding point. The series of weld spots depends upon the number of welding current pulses.

Applications
Seam welding is employed for welding pipes , conduits, tanks, transformers, refrigerators,
aircrafts and various types of containers.

PROJECTION WELDING
It is a modified form of spot welding. It uses the same equipment as spot welding . In this type
of welding, electrodes used are flat
metal plates known as platens. As seen, the upper and lower platens are connected across the
secondary of a step-down transformer. The two pieces of base metal are held together between
the platens out of which one piece have projections or bumps which are obtained by passing
through a machine when current is passed from a transformer to the pieces to be welded, metal
gets heated up near the projection area and charges to plastic state. The heated and softend
projection collapses under the pressure of the electrodes there by form up the weld.

Fig : projection welding

Advantages:
1. Projection made the welding process simple..
2. Simplicity in welding process.
3. It is easy to weld some of the parts where the spot welding is not possible.
4. It is possible to join several welding points.
5. Welds are located automatically by the position of projection.
6. As the electrodes used in the projection welding are flat type, the contact area over the
projection is sufficient.
7. The projection welding needs no protective atmosphere as in the to produce successful
results.
8. This welding process reduces the amount of current and pressure in order to join two
metal surfaces, so that there is less chance of distortion of the surrounding areas of the
weld zone.

Application :
 The projection welding is particularly employed for mass production work, i.e.,
welding of refrigerators, condensers, crossed wire welding, refrigerator racks, grills,
etc.
 This process is especially suitable for metals like brass, aluminium and copper etc.
mainly due to their high thermal conductivity
 ARC WELDING

Here electricity is conducted in the form of an arc which is established between the two metallic
surfaces.

Four Positions of Arc Welding

There are four basic positions in which manual arc welding is done.

1. Flat position. It is shown in figure (a). Of all the positions, flat position is the easiest,
most economical and the most used for all shielded arc welding. It provides the
strongest weld joints. Weld beads are exceedingly smooth and free of slag spots. This
position is most adaptable for welding of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals
particularly for cast iron.

2. Horizontal Position. It is the second most popular position and is shown in Fig (b)..
It also requires a short arc length because it helps in preventing the molten puddle of
the metal from sagging. However, major errors that occur while welding in horizontal
position are under-cutting and over-lapping of the weld zone .

3. Vertical Position: It is shown in Fig (c) In this case, the welder can deposit the bead
either in the uphill or downhill direction. Downhill welding is preferred for thin metals
because it is faster than the uphill welding. Uphill welding is suited for thick metals
because it produces stronger welds.

4. Overhead Position. It is shown in Fig (d). Here, the welder has to be very cautious
otherwise he may get burnt by drops of falling metal. This position is thought to be the
most hazardous but not the most difficult one.

Electrodes for Metal Arc Welding

An electrode is a filler metal in the form of a wire or rod which is either bare or coated
uniformly with flux. As per IS : 814-1970, the contact end of the electrode is left bare
and clean to a length of 20-30 mm. for inserting it into electrode holder.
 The following materials can be used for coating:
 Titanium oxide
 Silica flour
 Calcium carbonate
 Ferromanganese
 Asbestos clay

Flux Coating

A flux coating is a layer of a chemical which acts as a cleaning agent, a purifying agent or a
flowing agent. The coating is used on electric welding rods and serves several functions. It
protects the weld pool and solid metal from atmospheric contamination and helps in removing
impurities from the weld pool. The impurities float on the surface of the pool and are easily
removed after it cools down. These two functions contribute to the formation of a strong and
durable welded joint.

Advantages of coated electrode

 Arc is stabilized (since coating contains compounds sodium and potassium).

 The impurities present on the surface being welded are fluxed away
 Slag is formed over the weld which protects

Types of electrode used depends on following factors:

 Types of metal to be welded

 The welding position
 The type of electric supply (A.C. or D.C.)
 The polarity of welding machine.

Principle of arc welding

An electric arc is formed whenever electric current is passed between two metallic electrodes
which are separated by a short distance from each other. The arc is started by momentarily
touching the positive electrode (anode) to the negative metal (or plate) and then withdrawing
it to about 3 to 6 mm from the plate. When electrode first touches the plate, a large short-
circuits current flows and as it is later withdrawn from the plate, current continues to flow in
the form of a spark across the air gap so formed. Due to this spark (or discharge), the air in the
gap becomes ionized i.e. is split into negative electrons and positive ions. Consequently, air
becomes conducting and current is able to flow across the gap in the form of an arc. Intense
heat is generated when high velocity electrons strike the anode. It is found that nearly two-
third of the heat is developed at the anode which burns into the form of a crater where
temperature rises to a value of 3500-4000°C. The remaining one-third of the heat is developed
near the cathode. The above statement is true in all d.c. systems of welding where positive side
of the circuit is the hottest side. As a result, an electrode connected to the positive end of the
d.c. supply circuit will burn 50% faster than if connected to the negative end. This fact can be
used for obtaining desired penetration of the base metal during welding.

Metal Arc Welding :

It is an arc welding process where in the welding is brought about by heating the work piece
with an electric arc setup between a flux coated electrode and the work piece. In this type of
welding a metal rod of same metal as being welded forms one of electrode and also serves as
a filler rod and no filler rod is used separately. Heat required for welding is obtained from the
arc struck between a coated electrode and the work piece. The arc melts the electrode end and
the job. Material droplets are transferred from the electrode to the job through the arc and arc
deposited along the joint to be weld. The electrodes are coated with a covering to prevent the
contamination of molten weld metal since the flux coating generates a gas shield round the arc
which protects the weld against the foreign matter. Fluxing not only protects the weld but also
stabilizes the arc and governs the rate and amount of metal in weld. For metal arc welding both
A.c and D.C can be used. However a.c. is preferable as compared to D.c since d.c metal arc
welding may result in arc blows. With arc system
the covered or coated electrode is used , whereas whereas with D.C. system for cast iron and
non-ferrous metals, base electrodes can be used. In order to strike the arc an open circuit
voltage of 50V in case of D.C. supply is required and 80V in case of A.C. is required. For
maintaining the short arc 17-25V is necessary. Current required for welding is 10-500 A
depending upon the class of weld. Voltage drop across arc is 13V. Current , Voltage and speed
of the welding should not vary.

Metal Arc Welding

Disadvantage
Arc blow in case of d.c. power source.
.
Applications :
 Electric arc welding is extensively used for the joining of metal parts, the repair of
fractured casting, and the fillings by the deposition of new metal on base metal, etc.
 Low carbon steel,
 High alloy austenitic ( for strength, durability, corrosion resistance)
Stainless steel

Carbon Arc Welding:

In this process of welding, 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. Voltage
supply is about 80-90 V . 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 600 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 o Input
current required in this welding, for the workpiece 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 o 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.

Applications:
 For welding steel, aluminum, nickel, copper and a good number of other alloys.
  Carbon arc can also be employed for brazing, preheating and post heating of welded
joints

Atomic Hydrogen Welding

In atomic hydrogen arc welding, shown in Fig, the heat for the welding process is produced
from an electric arc struck between two tungsten electrodes in an atmosphere of hydrogen.
Here, hydrogen serves mainly two functions; one acts as a protective screen for the arc and the
other acts as a cooling agent for the glowing tungsten electrode tips. As the hydrogen gas passes
through the arc, the hydrogen molecules are broken up into atoms, absorbs heat from the
glowing tungsten electrodes so that these are cooled.

Atomic Hydrogen Welding

But, when the atoms of hydrogen recombine into molecules outside the arc, a large amount of
heat is liberated. This extra heat is added to the intense heat of arc, which produces a
temperature of about 4,000°C that is sufficient to melt the surfaces to be welded, together with
the filler rod if used. Moreover hydrogen includes oxygen and some other gases that might
combine with the molten metal and forms oxides and other impurities. Hydrogen also removes
oxides from the surface of work piece. Thus, this process is capable of producing strong,
uniform, smooth, and ductile welds. In the atomic hydrogen arc welding, the arc is maintained
between the two non-consumable tungsten electrodes under a pressure of about 0.5 kg/cm2. In
order to obtain equal consumption of electrodes, AC supply is used. Arc currents up to 150 A
can be used. High voltage about 300 V is applied for this welding through a transformer. For
striking the arc between the electrodes the open circuit voltage required varies from 80 to 100
V.

Advantages :
In this process strong, uniform, smooth , good quality ductile welds are obtained.

Application
As the atomic hydrogen welding is too expensive, it is usually employed for welding alloy
steel, carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, non-ferrous metals etc.
Comparison between Resistance and Arc Welding:

Resistance Welding: Arc Welding:

1. It uses only a.c. 1. It uses both a.c and d.c .
2. External pressure is required. 2. No external pressure is required hence the
equipment is more simple and easy to control.

3. Heat is developed due to flow of current 3. Heat is developed due to the arc electrode and
through the contact resistance mainly. the work piece.
4. material is added in any form to get the two 4. Suitable filler metal electrodes
pieces joined. are
necessary to get proper strength.
5. Power factor is very low. 5. Power factor is poor.
6. Maintenance required is less as the temperature 6. Maintenance is more as temperature of the arc is
reached is not high. high and so likely to damage the work if not
properly handled.
7. It can not be used for repair work hence it is 7. Not suitable for mass production and hence not
most suitable for mass production. suitable for repair work and where
more metal is to be deposited.

Comparison between A.C and D.C Welding:

1. As power supply available is usually a.c a 1. For a.c welding, only tansformer is required
rectifier is required for d.c welding hence the cost which is relatively cheap in cost.
is high.
2. Maintenance of a rectifier is somewhat difficult. 2. Maintenance of transformer is
less difficult electrodes are used.
3. Operating cost of d.c. equipments is high. 3. Operation costs of a.c. equipments are low
4. The electric energy consumption per Kg of 4. The electric energy consumption per Kg of
deposited metal in d.c welding ranges between 6- deposited metal in a.c. welding is 3-4 Kwh
10 kwh.
5. In case of d.c welding the no load voltage is low 5. In case of a.c welding, the no load voltage
and hence safer in operation. is high and hence somewhat dangerous in
operation..
6. Heat produced is uniform. 6. Heat produced is not uniform
7. Power factor is unity due to resistance. 7. Power factor is low hence capacitors are
required
8. Cheap electrodes can be used because no coated 8. Only coated electrodes are used or expensive
electrodes are used.
9. The arc produced is stable and is suitable for 9. The arc produced is not so stable.
welding of non-ferrous metals.