Indian Institute of Welding - ANB

Refresher Course – Module 08

Gas Metal Arc and Flux

Cored Arc Welding
Processes

Contents

• Gas Metal Arc Welding

• Flux Cored Arc Welding

1
 Major Arc welding processes

– MMAW / SMAW
• Manual Metal Arc Welding / Shielded Metal Arc
Welding
– GMAW / FCAW *
• Gas Metal Arc Welding ( MIG / MAG )
• Flux Cored Arc welding
– GTAW *
• Gas Tungsten Arc welding
– SAW
• Submerged Arc Welding
• Electro – slag

*Gas shielded processes

Weld Metal Deposited By Major Arc

Welding Processes

70% 28%
2%
Manual Metal Arc
1%
20% Submerged Arc
70% 9%
Gas Metal Arc

Gas Tungsten Arc

8%

Developed 62%
Countries
India

2
 Gas Metal Arc Welding the Dominant Process

• Improved productivity with flexibiity

• High weld quality with low hydrogen deposit
• Suitable for semi-automatic and automatic welding
• Increased penetration and deposition rates
• Amenable to mechanisation and robotic applications

• Adaptable to microprocessor based feed back

control

Gas Metal Arc ( MIG ) Welding

Uses continuous wire

0.6 – 2.0 mm as
electrode
Gas shielded, inert or
active gas
Manual, automatic or
semi-automatic
process
High productivity

3
 GMAW process

GMAW equipment

4
 Power Source Characteristics

 Power Sources of Constant Current type having

drooping characteristics are used for
- MMAW process
- GTAW process
- Plasma processes

 Power sources of constant voltage type having flat

characteristics are used for
- GMAW & FCAW processes
- SAW process

V-A Relationship – CV power

source for GMAW / SAW

5
 Automatic arc length regulation

Wire Feed Speed / Current.

• Constant potential power sources are used for

GMAW and have no built in means of changing the
current. The current adjusts itself to burn off the
quantity of wire delivered. If the wire feed speed is
increased more current is drawn to burn it off . In
this way adjusting the wire feed speed also adjusts
the current supplied.

• The current dictates the amount of heat generated

by the arc. Increasing the current increases the arc
energy and therefore the heat input. This in turn
increases fusion and penetration, wire deposition
rate and travel speed.

6
 Shielding Gases

Shielding gases provide a Types of shielding

protection to the weld metal gases used in GMAW
from the atmosphere and • Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
have a pronounced effect on: • Argon (Ar)
• Arc characteristics • Helium (He)
• Mode of metal transfer • Ar + O2
• Penetration and weld bead profile • Ar + CO2 ( + O2 )
• Speed of welding • Ar + He
• Undercutting tendency • Ar + H2
• Cleaning action • Ar + N2
• Weld metal mechanical properties

+

GMAW Filler Wire

GMAW filler wire for welding carbon-manganese and low alloy steels
require additional quantities of silicon and Manganese as de-oxidisers.
Some stainless steel wires may also have higher silicon, otherwise
chemistry of GMAW wire generally match the plate material

AWS specifications covering GMAW wire

• SFA-5.7 for copper and copper alloys
• SFA-5.9 for stainless steels
• SFA-5.10 for aluminium and aluminium alloys
• SFA-5.14 for nickel and nickel allos
• SFA-5.18 for carbon – manganese steels
• SFA-5.28 for low alloy steels

7
 Modes of metal transfer

• The mode of transfer is determined by a number of

factors:
– Magnitude, type and polarity of welding current
– Electrode diameter
– Electrode composition
– Electrode extension and
– Shielding gas composition

Influence of welding current & gas on

metal transfer mode in GMAW

DIP GLOBULAR SPRAY

CO2 Argon Mix
CO2 /
Ar Mix

8
 Modes Of Metal Transfer
• DIP TRANSFER
Low current - low voltage used to produce
short circuiting arc, freq. 200 times / minute.
Used for sheet metal and postional welding

• SPRAY TRANSFER
Higher currents and voltage used , droplet size
same as or lower than the wire diameter.
Higher deposition rate penetration and fluidity
of the molten pool , increases the productivity

Dip or Short Circuit Transfer

• Occurs with carbon dioxide, argon and argon mixtures
as the shielding gas and the current density is low.
• Molten droplets forms on the tip of the electrode, but
instead of dropping to the weld pool, they bridge the gap
between the electrode and the weld pool as a result of
the greater wire feed rate.
• This causes a short circuit and extinguishes the arc, but
it is quickly reignited after the surface tension of the weld
pool pulls the molten metal bead off the electrode tip.
• The metal is transferred from the electrode only during
the period in which the electrode is in contact with the
weld pool.
• No metal is transferred across the arc.
• The electrode contacts the weld pool in the range of 20-
to 200 times per second.

9
 GMAW – Metal Transfer modes

Spray Transfer Globular Transfer

4 steps in
Short
circuiting
transfer

Spray Transfer
• Spray transfer GMAW occurs when the molten
metal from the electrode is propelled axially
across the arc in the form of minute droplets.
• With Argon-rich gas shielding it is possible to
produce a very stable, spatter-free axial spray
transfer mode.
• The mode requires Direct current with a positive
electrode (DCEP) and a current level above a
critical value termed the spray transition current.
Below this level, the transfer is globular.

10
 Axial Spray Transfer

•Molten metal is
propelled axially
across the arc in
minute droplets
•Argon-rich gas
shielding produces
stable spatter free
axial spray transfer
mode

Argon Mixed Gas Spray Transfer

11
 Modes Of Metal Transfer Contd.

• GLOBULAR TRANSFER
An intermediate stage between dip and spray
transfer. Droplet sizes are more than the wire dia.
Produces excessive spatter and erratic arc
behaviour

• PULSED TRANSFER
Controlled method of spray transfer. Heat input to
the job is controlled by low background current
with high pulses using special type of equipment

Globular transfer
• Globular transfer is normally encountered with CO2 as shielding gas
at higher current and voltages.
• The higher surface tension of molten metal with CO2 produces a
larger size droplet greater than the wire diameter.
• The CO2 gas also dissociates in the welding arc to CO and oxygen
and then recombines back on top of the weld.
• This sets up some electro-magnetic forces in the upward and
tangential directions which act on the metal droplet. It also produces
greater heat due to the burning of the CO.
• When the droplet finally detaches by gravity or it falls in an uneven
manner on to the workpiece, This causes higher spatter and a more
uneven bead.
• As a result of the large molten droplets this mode of transfer is
generally limited to flat and horizontal welding positions.

12
 CO2 Globular Transfer

Pulse Transfer

Combines the control on heat input of short arc with the higher
deposition rate of open arc.
Gives extremely precise control on metal transfer and penetration
to give superior weld quality
In synergic pulsed systems wire feed rate synchronised with
pulsed current to control individual droplet detachment.

13
 Problems of using CO2 as
Shielding Gas
• Unstable arc with high level of spatter

• High fume formation rate

• Higher level of reinforcement

• Reduced speed due to high viscosity

• Undercut / sharp notch at the toe of weld

Spatter generated

1 metre of weld at 260 amps

using 1.2mm dia. A18 solid wire

Carbon dioxide Argon - 20 CO2 Argon-12 CO2

17.1 g 8.6 g 5.5 g

T-GK 3 (10)

14
 Problems in using pure Argon
as Shielding gas

• Stable and Soft arc with a tendency to wander

• Finger shaped penetration profile

• Poor fusion and penetration due to low heat

input

• Comparatively high bead profile

Finger Profile of pure Argon arc

Pure Argon Profile
Oxygen

Carbon di-oxide
20% 10%

Modified by oxygen and CO2

15
 Development of Shielding Gas
Mixtures
For welding mild and alloy steels which can tolerate some amount of
oxidising gases the pure Argon arc is modified by adding
• 1 – 5% oxygen to reduce surface tension and improve weld pool
fluidity to give a flatter bead and increase welding speeds.
• 5 – 25% CO2 to increase arc heat to improve fusion and penetration
and round out the penetration profile of pure argon. However the
greater is the amount of CO2 added higher is the spatter.
For welding stainless steels
• Upto 2% oxygen or 3% CO2 added to improve weld fluidity and give
flatter weld bead.
• 10 - 40% helium added in modern gases for improved penetration &
bead shape and increased welding speeds,
For welding aluminium, copper, nickel and other non-ferrous
alloys where no oxidising gas can be tolerated
• 25 – 75% helium added to improve fusion, penetration and welding
speeds.

Argon - Helium Mixtures used for

Aluminium and Non-ferrous metals

Helium Argon

16
Effect of CO2 and O2 on welding speed
( 4mm throat fillet on 6mm plate)

70
60
Welding 50
40
speed
30
cm/min 20
10
0

2
2

2
2

O
O

O
O

2%
C

C
C

8%

2-
20

O
r-
r-

C
A

5%
r-
A

CO2 and Argon mixture profiles

CO2 Argon mixture

17
 Shielding gas profiles &
effect on weld length
weld length
1.2 m weld length
1.15 m weld length
1m

Ar-CO2-O2 Ar-CO2 CO2

Savings with Argon / CO2 / O2 gas mixtures

Process
Savings in wire DIP SPRAY
----------------------
 From reduced spatter 5% 10 - 15 %

 From flatter weld 10 - 20 % 10 - 15 %

Total Savings 15 - 25 % 20 - 30 %

Savings in arcing time 15 - 25 % 20 - 40 %

-----------------------------------
 Savings in power Equivalent to Equivalent to
arcing time arcing time

 Savings in gas volume Equivalent to Equivalent to

assuming flow rate same as CO2 arcing time arcing time

Savings in weldshop productivity

------------------------------------------------
 From improved welder productivity 5 - 10 % 5 - 10 %

 From reduced spatter cleaning and upto 50 % upto 75 %

weld dressing time

18
CASE STUDY - 2
Heavy Fabrication
CO2 Argon Mix
Welding Parameters 270 A 280 A
31 V 30 V

Gas flow rate (lt/min) 15 15

Arcing Time (sec) 440 306
(30% saving)
Wire Consumption (kg) 32.8 25.8
(21% saving)
Cost (Rs.) 1180 930
3
Gas Consumption (M ) 6.6 4.6
Cost (Rs.) 92 263
Power Cost (Rs.) 372 249
Labour - welding (Rs.) 366 255
- dressing (Rs.) 60 30
Total Welding Cost 2070 1727

Reduction in direct weld costs - 16.6 %

All weld deposit properties

with ER70S-6 wire
Weld Chemistry
Wire With CO2 With Argon-mix

C 0.085 0.08 0.09

Mn 1.39 1.20 1.30

Si 0.95 0.73 0.76

Mechanical Properties
UTS (kg/cm2) 54.8 62.5
2
YS (kg/cm ) 45.1 49.8
% El 24 30
Impact (Joules) - RT 149 180
- (-)300C 60 100

19
 Benefits of using gas mixtures
• Improved arc stability leading to lower spatter loss

• Improved weld bead geometry leading to weld metal saving

• Faster welding speeds leading to higher productivity and

reduced labour costs

• Improved weld quality leading to lesser rejects

• Reduced clean up time

• Lower distortion

• No heaters required for individual cylinders

Gas Metal Arc Welding Parameters

• Current ( amps )
• Voltage ( volts )
• Shielding gas flow rate. ( litres / min )
• Stick out
• Torch angle
• Welding speed

20
 Balancing the wire feed speed

• As the wire feeds toward the weld it is melted by the

arc which burns up the wire. This is shown below.

Balancing welding parameters

Wire Feed
Rate

Arc Burn -
Back Rate

Balancing the wire feed speed

• Two options are available to balance the wire

feed rate
• Adjusting the arc voltage to increase or
decrease the burn off rate - used when the
current is OK for the job
• Adjusting the wire feed speed if the current
is too high or low.

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 WELDING PARAMETER CHART
PROCESS PARAMETER WIRE SIZE WIRE SIZE WIRE SIZE

0.8 mm 1.0 mm 1.2 mm

Dip Amps 45 -130 60 -145 65 -150

(Short nozzle) Volts 15 -22 16 -22 16 -22
Gas flow (lts/min) 10-15 12-16 12-16
Stick out (mm) 8 – 10 8 – 12 8 – 12

Spray Amps 150 – 200 180 – 200 (250) 210 – 400

(Long nozzle) Volts 24 – 31 25 – 31 26 – 35
Gas flow (lts/min) 12 – 16 14 – 18 15 - 20
Stick out (mm) 15 – 20 16 - 22 18 – 25

Torch angle.

15 - 25

D ire c tio n o f tra v e l

This rake angle should be utilised for the welding of all joint types in the
flat and overhead position.

22
 Influence of wire angle
The wire angle influences
• penetration
• weld convexity
• tendency to undercutting
• porosity.

Backhand gives high penetration,

narrow and high weld convexity, and
relatively high risk for undercutting

Vertical welding gives optimum

performance
Backhand Vertical Forehand
Forehand gives low penetration, wide
and low weld convexity, and relatively
slight risk for undercutting

Process Variations

• Gas metal arc spot welding is a technique in

which two overlapping work-pieces are fused
together by penetration of the arc
• Heavier sections can also be welded by
punching a hole in the upper work-piece. This is
know as plug-welding
• As against resistance spot welds, access to only
one side of the joint is necessary for Gas metal
arc spot welding.

23
 MIG Brazing
• MIG brazing is a variation of the MIG
welding process used for brazewelding. It
uses the heat generated by an arc struck
between a continuously fed consumable
filler wire and the workpiece to fuse the
metal in the joint area.
• The consumable wire used in MIG brazing
is solid and an additional shielding gas is
required to protect the arc and weld area in
the same manner as that used for MIG
welding.
• The main features of the process are low
welding currents, low heat input and high
deposition rates.
• The filler wire is usually of copper-silicon
alloy, although other copper alloy wires
have also been used.

High Productivity GMAW Processes

• Conventional GMAW limited to deposition rates upto

6kg / hr and speeds upto 600 mm / min.

• To achieve higher productivity

- Modified single wire processes
Speeds upto 2m/min, deposition rate 14kg/hr
- Two wire processes
Speeds upto 5m/min, deposition rates 20kg/hr

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 RAPID ARC / RAPID MELT / T.I.M.E
PROCESSES

• Characterised by high wire feed rates upto 30 m/min

with high stick out
• 3 voltage ranges : Low - Forced short arc
High - Moderated spray arc
V.High - Rotating arc
• Special gas mixture compositions
Ar - 26.5He - 8CO2 - 0.5O2
Ar - 30He - 10CO2 - 300ppm NO
Ar - 8CO2

Two Wire Processes

• Two wires, leading and trailing forming common
elongated weld pool.

Twin wire GMAW -

• Power sources coupled in parellel with common
control. Parameters cannot be set independently
• Equipotential contact tubes - same volts for both
wires. Magnetic attraction of arc roots.
• Optimum inter wire spacing 4-7mm.
• Mostly used with Pulsed - Arc and Spray Arc

25
 Multi-wire GMAW Process

• Tandem Wire Technologies

came to the GMAW process
in early Nineties .
• 2 electrically isolated wires,
one behind the other (lead &
trail electrodes), closely
spaced, deposit metal in
single weld pool
• Lead wire generates most of
base metal penetration, trail
wire controls bead contour
and edge wetting-also adds
to Depo. Rate.
• Managed by specialized
Power control software

Two Wire Processes

Tandem MIG
• Independently controlled power sources
frequency coupled - master and slave operation.
• Electrically seperated contact tubes allows
independent volts and parameter settings.
• Phase shift in pulsed welding achieves high
quality spatter free welding
• Argon - 5O2 and Argon - 18CO2 gas mixtures
used
• Applications in Ship building, tank welding, truck
wheels, rail coaches

26
 FCAW PROCESS

FCAW Process Features

• Uses tubular wire with flux
inside
• Gas shielded (FCAW-G) or self
shielded (FCAW-S)
• The flux produces a protective
slag and/or gas cover
• Combination of benefits of
MMAW and GMAW
• High productivity process with
low spatter. Smooth arc with
CO2. Argon mixtures give
superior performance
• Problem of high fumes which
need to be extracted in
enclosed areas

27
 Application of FCAW

• For fabrication of
- mild and low alloy steels
- stainless steels
- high nickel alloys

• For surfacing
- for wear or corrosion/oxidation resistance
- wide range of hardness / compositions available
- self shielded wires mainly used here

FCAW application areas

Out-of-position welding
• Solid wire GMAW has to use dip-transfer which is slow with
tendency for lack-of-fusion or expensive pulsed-arc power sources
• Rutile type gas shielded E71T-1 wires can deposit over 3 kgs/hr
vertically up and are extensively used in shipbuilding, structural and
general fabrication applications.

Outdoors field welding

• Gas shielded, solid wire or FCAW processes cannot be used due to
windy conditions
• Self shielded E71T-8 wires used which can deposit upto 2 kgs/hr
vertically up.

28
 FCAW application areas
Down-hand welding
• For applications not requiring Charpy impact properties
E70T-4, self shielded wires used. Deposits upto 18 kg/hr
in mechanised operation
• For applications requiring impact properties E70T-1
wires used. Deposits upto 14 kg/hr in mechanised
operation.

For welding coated and galvanized sheet

• Self shielded E71T-14 wires used. Breaks up and
volatilizes the coating avoiding porosity and cracks

For high impact requirements and low alloy steels

• E70T-5 wires used with gas shielding

Typical welding Parameters for FCAW

E71T-1 wire
Wire Down-hand Vertical-up Overhead
Size
0.9 mm 26V – 200A 23V – 150A 26V – 200A

1.2 mm 27V – 240A 25V – 200A 27V – 210A

1.4 mm 28V – 260A 25V – 210A 28V – 220A

1.6 mm 28V – 275A 25V – 220A 28V – 240A

29
 Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of

the following faculty members for developing
this module

• Mr.R.Banerjee
• Mr.R.Srinivasan

THANK YOU

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