When it comes to joining metals together, there are different types of welding processes. Of course, it is very true that welding is a crucial process. Also, it demands a great deal of expertise to achieve efficiency in the process.
Welding is no more a process of simply joining the metals together. In fact, it is an important process that requires talent and skill. Hence, if you know about what welding is and its different types and applications, it will help you to excel in the work.
What is welding – Find here the definition
Welding is a technique that is useful in joining the metallic parts together by applying heat and pressure. Here the heat applied helps the metals to become soft. And the application of pressure enables the part to join.
You can find the welding process in many things. This may be in the form of soldering or simply making joints between two metals or joints of bigger works.
Types of welding
- Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)
It is a kind of arc welding. This welding is considered one of the most difficult welding techniques. This uses a non-consumable tungsten welding electrode in its application. Here tungsten is the material with the hardest nature and it can’t burn off or dissolve.
This TIG welding technique requires two hand processes. Here one hand guides the rod, while the other will involve holding a TIG torch.
Applications:
This kind of welding is used in:
- Welding thin pieces of stainless steel & non-ferrous metals
- Useful in aerospace and automotive industries
- Helpful for farmers to weld wagon frames
- Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
This process also has the name MIG welding. This process involves a higher welding electrode. This electrode will be fed via a welding gun which in turn produces an arc on the base material.
Here the metal will get heated up till it starts melting. Thus it is made easy to get fused with other materials. Since this welding process is well-known for strength and durability, it is widely popular in the industry.
Applications:
- Has its use in both thick and thin plate metals
- An ideal welding process for beginners
- Ideal for both ferrous and non-ferrous metals
- Sheet metal industry
- Stick welding (SMAW)
This welding is a kind of manual arc process where a consumable electrode is used to cover a flux in order to lay the weld. This is a welding process that has its most efficiency on thicker metals. Also, it is useful in producing strong welds. It is portable as well as a versatile process.
Since it does not need shielding gas, it is effective on rusty metals. This kind of welding is well suited for heavy metals of size 4mm or more.
Applications:
This stick welding is widely useful in the below sectors:
- Shipbuilding Industry
- Steel Industry
- Fabrication Industry
- Maintenance and Repair Industry
- Flux-cored arc welding (FCAW)
This welding type is more or less similar to MIG welding. Similar to the case of a MIG welding, here a wire serves as an electrode, and filler metal gets passed through the rod. In this FCAW, the wire comes with a flux core which typically creates a gas shield around the weld. Hence, you can avoid the requirement of an external gas supply.
Applications:
- Beneficial to the shipbuilding industry
- Construction industries
- Highly appreciated for hard facing and surfacing.
- Yields benefits in mechanical industries
- Laser Beam Welding
This is a newer technique in the welding industry. Here the laser beam is used to join metal pieces or thermoplastics. The laser beam used in this welding type serves as a concentrated heat source for creating welds. In this type of welding, a laser source emits light energy. And this energy is focused upon the workpiece that fuses the materials together.
This welding type is mostly used in high-volume applications, especially in uses where penetration mode welding is required. In most cases, laser welding gets combined with other processes that are laser-aided. This includes laser cutting and laser marking. In laser welding, the heat-affected zone (HAZ) is found to be smaller. Additionally, the total heat input is very low compared with traditional welding operations.
Applications:
- Useful in joining miniaturized electrical circuitry
- Used on materials such as stainless steel, carbons steel, aluminum, HSLA steels, and titanium.
- Widely used in manufacturing, specifically in the automotive industry
- Thin gauge metal boxes, gauge parts, and gauge tubing
- Stainless steel heat exchangers
Here, in this blog, we have seen some of the most widely used types of welding in the industry. In addition, we have also seen their applications. Welders these days have high specialization in various types. In fact, they are capable of handling almost 30 types of welding processes.
