6 Hot Gas Welding

6.1 Process Description The hot gas welding process can be carried out by
two methods: hand welding (also called pendulum
Hot gas welding, also called hot air welding, is a welding, fan welding, slow-hand welding or free-hand
manual process where the weld quality is dependent welding), as shown in Fig. 6.1; or speed welding, as
on the skill and experience of the operator. shown in Fig. 6.2.
During the welding process heated gas, usually air, In order to achieve hot gas welds of good strength,
is used to locally melt or soften both a consumable weld the position and grip of the operator’s hand on the
(filler) rod and the parts to be welded. Manual pressure welding torch is important. For speed welding, the
is applied to the weld rod, either via the welding nozzle hand should be placed underneath the grip and pulled
or by hand, and the combination of heat and pressure downward as the weld progresses (Fig. 6.3). This will
causes the weld rod and the parent material to fuse maintain good control over the position of the welding
together; it is possible to achieve weld strengths of up
to 90% of the parent material strength. The operator
should maintain a consistent travel speed as the weld is
made to ensure uniform heating. Critically, the weld rod
and the parts to be welded must be made of the same
thermoplastic and, ideally, should be of the same grade.
Before welding, the surface of the parts to be joined
should be cleaned to ensure that any contamination, in
the form of dirt, dust, or grease, is removed. The
cleaned parts and the weld rod should then be scraped
to remove any oxide layer and to ensure that a contam-
inant-free weld is achieved.
The heated gas is produced by a hot gas torch (or
gun). The temperature of the gas stream is normally
adjusted using a rheostat control in the handle of the
welding torch, although some modern hot gas torches
accurately regulate the temperature, ensuring that the
output gas temperature is constant. The welding tem- Figure 6.1. Hot gas hand welding (Source: TWI Ltd).
perature (i.e., the temperature of the air coming out of
the torch) should be set specifically to the type of
material being welded. The use of welding
temperatures outside the recommended range will
result in a joint that is more likely to fail when
exposed to chemicals, thermal cycling, solvents, or
mechanical stresses. It is therefore recommended that
a temperature calibration device should be used to
guarantee that the correct gas tempera- ture is being
used. The volume of gas passing through the welding
torch is typically 60 liters per minute.
All workshop welding should be undertaken on a
wooden surface to prevent excessive heat loss from
the joint; chipboard and medium density fiberboard
(MDF) are ideal. Metal bench tops should be avoided
as they act as a heat sink. All parts to be welded
should be clamped securely to prevent movement
while welding and during cooling. This allows the Figure 6.2. Hot gas speed welding (Source: TWI Ltd).
parts to relieve stress without distorting.

65
6: HOT GAS WELDING 66

Figure 6.3. Hot gas welding hand position (Source: TWI Figure 6.4. Scraping between weld runs (Source: TWI
Ltd). Ltd).

torch relative to the joint line. With repeated practice In hand welding, the angle of the weld rod relative
the balance of speed and pressure between weld rod to the joint is also important (Fig. 6.5). For welding
and welding gun should ensure that a quality weld is PVC, the weld rod should be at 90° to the sheet
achieved. For thicker joints, where more than one surface with a “bow wave” effect visible at the root of
weld run is required, it is important to allow each the weld rod. If the rod is bent back too much, stresses
weld run to cool. This prevents the polymer from can be imposed on the surface of the weld rod and if
overheating and reduces stresses in the material. The subse- quent runs are placed in the joint, the weld
edges of the weld rod and the heat-affected surface of could relieve stress and split, causing unwanted gaps
the weld prepara- tion should be scraped prior to the in the joint. If the rod is bent forward, the weld
application of each subsequent weld run (Fig. 6.4). pressure will be difficult to maintain, which can result
For hand welding, the weld rod is fed into the in a weak weld. For welding PP, the weld rod needs to
joint without the aid of a welding nozzle; the pressure be bent back to ensure a forward-welding motion is
is applied directly to the welding rod by the welder. achieved. The “bow wave” effect should also be
This technique is ideally suited for welding small, visible, as this shows that the weld has sufficiently
complex components, since it allows for movement penetrated into the parent material.
around the joint where a speed welding nozzle would
not be able to fit. The nozzle of the welding torch is
moved rapidly up and down the weld rod and along
the joint line, heat- ing both the joint surface and the 6.2 Advantages and Disadvantages
weld rod as it pro- gresses. When welding with this
Hot gas welding can be used to weld practically
method, it is important to maintain a constant pressure
any shape or size of component, and the equipment
on the weld rod and a constant travel speed along the
has probably the lowest cost of all the plastic welding
joint. As weld pressure is applied by hand, the fingers
tech- niques. Hot gas torches are very light and easy
can get uncomfortable and this could potentially
to use in awkward positions, and are ideally suited for
compromise the weld strength. To overcome this
field repairs where the component is too large to be
problem, it is recommended that short relaxation
trans- ported into a workshop environment. However,
breaks are taken. As in speed weld- ing, cooling and
welding speeds are relatively slow compared to other
scraping between each weld run is necessary.
plastic welding techniques, and the weld quality is
dependent
 Incorrect Correct for
Correct for PVC welding rod is Figure 6.5. Hot gas hand welding
polypropylene
compressed rod angle (Source: TWI Ltd).

on the operator’s skill. It is therefore important that a high air flow that is usually clean and moisture-free.
hot gas welding operators are properly trained and If a compressor is used, it is essential that the air is
certifi- cated (e.g., to EN 13067 or AWS B2.4) [1, 2]. dried and filtered before it reaches the welding torch,
in order to prevent any potential contamination
reaching the weld.
6.3 Applications A blower can be either an integral part of the hot
As hot gas welding is a manual process, it is not gas welding torch (Fig. 6.6) or a separate unit on a hose.
suitable for joining parts in mass production. In fabrication workshop applications, where more
However, it is ideal for fabricating various custom- than one torch is required and the work is primarily
made items, as it can be tailored for welding parts bench work, a single large blower can be used to sup-
with any joint geometry. Examples of these include ply several welding guns simultaneously. In this case,
chemical storage tanks, ducting, fume extraction it is important to ensure that the blower is capable of
systems, and wet benches for the semiconductor supporting all the torches requiring the supply,
industry. These items are difficult to fabricate using without a drop in airflow.
any other welding tech- nique. Hot gas welding is For welding ECTFE some suppliers recommend
used to weld thermoplastic membranes for roofing, using nitrogen as the gas medium. This is largely for
lagoons, and linings for chemi- cal vessels, and can health and safety reasons, as the fumes produced when
also be used for repairing automo- tive parts such as welding in air can cause polymer fume fever. As an
bumpers and fluid reservoirs. addi- tional precaution, it is advised that local extraction
is used, or that the welder wears a full face mask with a
separate air supply.
6.4 Materials The heating element is an electric coil wound
around a ceramic core and is located inside the barrel
The most common thermoplastics joined by hot
gas welding are PP, PE, PVC, and fluoropolymers
(PVDF, FEP, PFA, and ECTFE). In most cases, the
material used will be selected based on its chemical
resistance, maximum working temperature and pres-
sure, and on the design life of the finished product.
Other materials that are hot gas welded include ABS,
PC, acrylic, and polyamide. Also, hot gas welding is
used for repairing automobile bumpers made from
polycarbonate/polyester, PBT, or EPDM [3].

6.5 Equipment
Hot gas welding equipment consists of a gas
source, hand grip, heater unit, and welding nozzle.
Figure 6.6. Hot gas welding torch with integral blower
For hot air welding, the air can be compressed or
(Source: TWI Ltd).
blown. A blower is commonly used because it can
supply
of the welding torch. The gas temperature is usually weld rod is fed. There is also a small toe at the front of
set via a dial on the handle of the gun and is the speed nozzle, which helps to guide the weld rod
controlled by a diode, although in some equipment the into the joint line and applies the necessary pressure to
temperature is set using a digital display on the handle force the rod into the joint. The hot gas for preheating
of the gun and is controlled by using a temperature the parent material is fed into the joint via a slot
control micro- processor. under- neath the main body of the nozzle. The
diameter and profile of the feeder tube is dependent on
the shape and diameter of the weld rod. Speed
6.5.1 Welding Nozzles welding nozzles are available for 3, 4, and 5 mm
(0.12, 0.16, and 0.2 inches) diameter round weld rods,
Welding nozzles are interchangeable and are
and 5.6 and 7.4 mm (0.22 and 0.29 inches) triangular
moun- ted at the front of the welding gun. There are
weld rods.
three main types of welding nozzles: hand, speed, and
tack- ing (Fig. 6.7).
For most applications, the tacking nozzle is used
to hold the parts together before and during the 6.6 Joint Design
applica- tion of the weld rod. As the tacking nozzle is
moved along the joint, a stream of hot gas is expelled Where butt-welded joints are to be made for mate-
from the heel of the nozzle, heating and softening the rials less than 6 mm (0.24 inches) thickness, the sheet
parts to be welded. The toe of the tacking nozzle then edges should be prepared in the form of a single V at
forms the molten material into a localized weld. This an angle of between 60 and 80° (Fig. 6.8a). For
tack weld has a low strength and should not be used as fabrica- tions where the sheet thickness is greater than
the sole means of welding parts together. 6 mm (0.24 inches), the preparation of the joint should
The hand-welding nozzle is used for welding be a double V (Fig. 6.8b). In both cases, the number
oper- ations where a conventional speed welding of weld runs should be sufficient to fill the prepared
nozzle cannot be used. The end of the nozzle is joint; if required, the weld can be dressed to a smooth
usually 5 mm (0.2 inches) in diameter; however the finish, leaving no indents or grooves on the surface of
length will vary depending on the application. During the component. This is important for food or
welding, the noz- zle is held between 5 and 10 mm laboratory applications, where a contamination-free
(0.2–0.4 inches) from the root of the weld and is surface is required.
manipulated in a pendulum motion up the rod and Figure 6.9 shows examples of different T-joint
along the joint line. configurations. Sheet thickness and specific customer
The speed welding nozzle has a separate cylinder requirements usually determine which joint is
attached to the front of the nozzle, through which the selected. Figure 6.10 shows a typical design for a
corner joint.
)
a
(
°m
801
– 0–
60
m

(b
) 60–
80°

Figure 6.7. Hot gas welding nozzles: tacking (left), hand Figure 6.8. Typical hot gas butt joint weld preparations:
(center), and speed (right) (Source: TWI Ltd). (a) single V; (b) double V (Source: TWI Ltd).
 and the position of the welding gun in relation to the
joint.
The optimal gas temperature will depend on the
material being welded, and the recommended welding
45° 0–1 mm temperature range should be obtained from the mate-
rial manufacturer. Before welding, the temperature
should be measured using a temperature calibration
tool, 5 mm (0.2 inches) inside the nozzle, in the center
of the air stream (Fig. 6.11).
It is important to allow the temperature of the gas
flow to stabilize after setting the hot gas temperature.
This typically takes around ten minutes, although on
45 microprocessor controlled equipment, temperature sta-
°
bilization will be quicker. On completion of the weld-
ing operation, the set temperature should be reduced
to zero with the gas supply left running. This will
Figure 6.9. Examples of T-joints for hot gas welding
allow the heating element to cool naturally,
(Source: TWI Ltd).
preventing dam- age to the torch, and helping to
prolong the life of the heating element.
The welding pressure is one parameter of the
weld- ing process that can be difficult to control, since
weld- ing pressure is always applied manually.
Repeated practice of hot gas welding on a pressure
sensitive table is one method of ensuring that a
consistent welding pressure is achieved. For speed
welding, fusion takes place by applying pressure to
the weld rod by hand and simultaneously applying
pressure to the toe of the noz- zle. This is done by
pulling down on the handle of the welding gun. For
0–1 mm hand welding, only manual pressure is applied to the
60° weld rod.
The welding speed is partly governed by the tem-
perature setting of the torch, the type of material being
welded, and the diameter of the weld rod. The speed
should be sufficient for the surface of the prepared
joint and weld rod to soften. If the correct travel
Figure 6.10. Typical corner joint preparation for hot gas speed is
welding (Source: TWI Ltd).

6.7 Welding Parameters

There are four main parameters for hot gas weld-
ing: temperature, pressure, speed, and torch position.
It is essential that the operator has the necessary
knowl- edge to implement and monitor each welding
parame- ter effectively. Failure to do so could result in
the fabrication of a weak weld.
Welding temperature is the most important
welding parameter, although the temperature at the
joint surface depends not only on the temperature of
the gas coming out of the welding torch but also on
the welding speed Figure 6.11. Hot gas torch temperature calibration device
(Source: TWI Ltd).
used, a bead should appear along the edge of the weld will vary according to the membrane type and thick-
run. In the case of PVC, a glossy, smooth surface tex- ness, and ambient conditions. If the temperature is too
ture should be apparent and, in the case of PP and PE, high or the welding speed too low, this will result in
a slight flat on the surface of the weld bead and a dis- excessive melt generation and/or surface deformation.
tinct smooth texture should be visible. No charring or
discoloration should be apparent along the weld, and
the filler rod should not be stretched during welding. 6.8.2 Automatic Hot Gas Welding
The angle of the welding gun in relation to the Automatic hot gas welding machines are also
joint is also a very important welding parameter, since avail- able for lap welding of membranes (Fig. 6.13).
an even preheat will ensure that the parent material is The pressure and drive rollers, which are usually
soft- ened sufficiently, ensuring a full penetration knurled, apply pressure to the seam and move the
weld is made. For multi-pass welding, the gun angle machine along as welding proceeds. A drive motor,
will vary depending on which weld run is being which uses a chain drive system similar to a wedge
applied. The type of joint configuration will also welding machine, powers the rollers. As heated gas is
affect the angle of the welding gun. blown between the membranes through a nozzle,
escaping gas preheats the material to be sealed, and
small particles (stones, sand, dust, etc.) are blown
6.8 Variants of Hot Gas Welding away from the surface. Hot gas
6.8.1 Manual Lap Welding
Hot gas welding is also used for joining
membrane materials, such as PE, PP, and PVC,
without the use of a filler rod. The principle of this
technique is that hot air is introduced between the two
sheets to be joined by means of a flat (fish-tail) nozzle,
which subsequently melts the two surfaces. The
nozzle is moved between the sheets at a constant
speed and pressure is applied immediately behind the
nozzle by means of a hand- held roller or some other
blunt instrument that will not damage or puncture the
liner (Fig. 6.12). The combina- tion of hot air and
applied pressure results in the two liners being welded
together.
The two surfaces to be joined should be cleaned to
remove any contamination, such as dirt or dust, prior Figure 6.12. Hot gas lap welding of PVC membrane
to welding. The welding temperature and rate of (Source: Leister Process Technologies).
seaming

Blower

Pressure and Heating unit

drive rollers

Hot-gas nozzle

Overlap weld
Upper/lower
membranes

Hot-gas
Figure 6.13. Diagram of an
Direction of work automatic hot gas welding machine
used for sealing membrane seams.
emerges at the tip of the nozzle, causing the thermo- plastic sheet material to melt and flow. As new
material is fed through the pressure and drive roller, the melted seam cools, and solidifies.
There are two main types of airflow nozzles; one for producing a single track and another for
producing a double-track seam. If a double-track seam is required, the nozzle is subdivided at its exit
end into two separate airflow channels.
Temperature controllers on the machine should be set according to the type of membrane being
welded, the ambient temperature, and the rate of seaming. A welding speed of 4 m/minute (13
feet/minute) is typi- cal. Automatic hot gas welding produces a consistent, reproducible, high quality
weld [4].
 References
1. EN 13067: Plastics welding personnel—Qualifi- cation testing of welders—
Thermoplastics welded assemblies, 2003.
2. AWS B2.4: Specification for welding procedure and performance qualification for
thermoplastics, 2006.
3. Turner BE, Atkinson JR: Repairability of plastic automobile bumpers by hot gas
welding. ANTEC 1989, Conference proceedings, Society of Plastics Engineers, New
York, May 1989.
Natrop J: Welding of HDPE Geomembranes by Hot-Gas Welding Method, Supplier technical report (FB 10),
Malcom Co