Introduction to welding

Welding is a process of joining metallic components with or without

application of heat, with or without pressure and with or without filler
metal
Welding processes can be classified on the basis of following
technological criteria:
• Welding with or without filler material
• Source of energy for welding
• Arc and non-arc welding
• Fusion and pressure welding
Welding with or without filler material

Autogenous weld – without filler metal

Arc welding –GTAW (Non-consumable welding process)
Solid state welding –Friction welding
• The composition of the filler metal can be similar to that of base metal or
different one accordingly weld joints are categorized as homogeneous or
heterogeneous weld, respectively.

• In case of autogenous and homogeneous welds, solidification occurs directly by

growth mechanism without nucleation stage. This type of solidification is called
epitaxial solidification.

• The solidification in heterogeneous welds takes place in conventional manner in

two stages i.e. nucleation and growth
Arc or Non-arc welding

In Electroslag welding and flash

butt welding, arcing occur
initially and extinguish later.
Power density and welding process
Arc Physics in welding
Arc physics
• A welding arc is an electric discharge that develops primarily due to
flow of current from cathode to anode.
• Flow of current through the gap between electrode and work piece
needs column of charged particles for having reasonably good
electricalconductivity.
• These charged particles are generated by various mechanisms such as
thermal emission, field emission secondary emission etc.
• Density of charged particles in gap governs the electrical conductivity of
gaseous column.
• In an electric arc, electrons released from cathode (due to electric field or
thermo-ionic emission) are accelerated towards the anode because of
potential difference between work piece and electrode.

• These high velocity electrons moving from cathode toward anode collide
with gaseous molecules and decompose them into charged particles i.e.
electrons and ions.
• These charged particles move towards electrode and work piece as per
polarity and form a part of welding current. Ion current becomes only
about 1% of electron current as ions become heavier than the electrons so
they move slowly. Eventually electrons merge into anode.
• Arc gap between electrode and work piece acts as pure resistance load.
Heat generated in a welding arc depends on arc voltage and welding
current.
Emission of Free electrons
• Free electrons and charged particles are needed between the electrode
and work for initiating the arc and their maintenance.

• Ease of emitting electrons by a material assessed on the basis of two

parameters work function and ionization potential.

• work function is the energy (ev or J) required to get one electron released
from the surface of material.

• Ionization potential is another measure of ability of a metal to emit the

electrons and is defined as energy/unit charge (v) required for removing an
electron from an atom.

• Ca, K, and Na have very low ionization potential (2.1-2.3ev), while that for
Al and Fe is on the higher side with values of 4 and 4.5 ev respectively.
Thermo-ionic emission
• Increase in temperature of metal increases the kinetic energy of free
electrons and as it goes beyond certain limit, electrons are ejected
from the metal surface. This mechanism of emission of electron due
to heating of metal is called thermo ionic emission.

• The temperature at which thermo-ionic emission takes place, most of

the metals melt. Hence, refractory materials like tungsten and carbon,
having high melting point exhibit thermo ionic electron emission
tendency.
Field emission:
• In this approach, free electrons are pulled out of the metal surface by
developing high strength electro-magnetic field. High potential
difference (107 V/cm) between the work piece and electrode is
established for the field emission purpose.

Secondary emission

High velocity electrons moving from cathode to anode in the arc gap
collide with other gaseous molecules. This collision results in
decomposition of gaseuous molecules into atoms and charged
particles (electrons
Zones in Arc Gap
Cathode spot
• This is a region of cathode wherefrom electrons are emitted.
• Three types of cathode spots are generally found namely mobile,
pointed, and normal.

• Cathode drop region:

• This region is very close to the cathode and a very sharp drop of
voltage takes place in this zone due to cooling effect of cathode.
Voltage drop in this region directly affects the heat generation near
the cathode which in turn governs melting rate of the electrode in
case of the consumable arc welding process with straight polarity
(electrode is cathode).
Plasma:
• Plasma is the region between electrode and work where mostly flow of
charged particles namely free electrons and positive ions takes place. In
this region, uniform voltage drop takes place. Heat generated in this region
has minor effect on melting of the work piece and electrode.

Anode drop region:

• Like cathode drop region, anode drop region is also very close to the anode
and a very sharp drop in voltage takes place in this region due to cooling
effect of the anode. Voltage drop in this region affects the heat generation
near the anode & so melting of anode.

Anode spot:
• Anode spot is the region of a anode where electrons get merged and their
impact generates heat for melting. However, no fixed anode spot is
generally noticed on the anode like cathode spot.
Electrical Fundamentals of Welding Arc

• distribution of heat in three zones namely cathode, anode and arc

plasma can be changed.
• Variation of arc length mainly affects plasma heat while shielding gas
influences the heat generation in the cathode and anode drop zones.
• Addition of low ionization potential materials (namely potassium and
sodium) reduces the arc voltage because of increased ionization in arc
gap so increased electrical conductivity which in turn reduces the
heat generation in plasma region
• Heat generation at the anode and cathode drop zones is primarily
governed by type of welding process and polarity associated with
welding arc.
• Increase in spacing between the electrode and work-piece generally
increases the potential of the arc because of increased losses of the
charge carriers by radial migration to cool boundary of the plasma.

• losses of charged particles must be accommodated to stabilize the arc

by increasing the applied voltage.
• Arc Initiation
• There are two most commonly used methods to initiate an electric
arc in welding processes namely touch start and field start.

touch start technique

• Maintenance of Arc
• Once electric arc is initiated, next step is to maintain it to use the heat
generated for welding purpose. For maintaining of the arc two
conditions must be fulfilled
• (1) heat dissipation rate from the arc, region should be equal to that
of heat generated to maintain the temperature of the arc
• (2) number of electrons produced should be equal to that of
electrons lost to the work piece and surroundings.
• In case of direct current, magnitude and direction of current does not
change with time hence maintaining the flow of electrons and so the arc
becomes easy
• In case of alternating current (A. C.) both magnitude and direction
change with time and for a moment flow of current becomes zero. This
makes re-ignition of an electric arc with AC somewhat difficult and
therefore it needs extra precautions and provisions.
• There are two commonly used methods for maintaining the arc in A.C.
welding: (1) use of low ionization potential elements in coatings flux and
(b) use of low power factor power source.
Low Ionization Potential Elements
• Power factor is defined as ratio of actual power drawn from the
power source to perform the welding and apparent power drawn into
the welding circuit line.
Arc Forces and Their significance on Welding
Effect of polarity
Arc Blow
• Arc blow is basically a deflection of a welding arc from its intended
path i.e. axis of the electrode.
• Deflection of arc reduces the control over the handling of molten
metal
• severe arc blow increases the spattering and decreases the deposition
efficiency of the welding process.
• According to the direction of deflection of arc - forward or backward
arc blow.
Causes of arc blow
Arc blow is mainly encountered during DC arc welding due to interaction between different
electromagnetic fields in and around the welding arc. Incidences of interaction between
electromagnetic fields mainly occur in areas where these fields
• Effect of ground connection on arc blow is called ground effect.
• Ground effect may add or reduce the arc blow, depending upon the
position of arc and ground connection. In general, ground effect
causes the deflection of arc in the direction opposite to the ground
connection.
• Arc blow occurring due to interaction between electromagnetic field
around the arc and that of localized electromagnetic field near the
edge of the plates, always tends to deflect the arc away from the edge
of the plate.
• So the ground connection in opposite side of the edge experiencing
deflection can help to reduce the arc blow.
Arc blow can be controlled by:
• Reduction of the arc length so as to reduce the extent of
misplacement of molten metal
• Use ground effect
• Shifting to A. C. if possible so as to neutralize the arc blow occurring in
each half
• Directing the tip of the electrode in direction opposite to the arc
blow.
Arc Efficiency
• consumable arc welding processes (SMAW, SAW, GMAW) use heat
generated both at cathode and anode for melting of filler and base
metal
• non-consumable arc welding processes (GTAW, PAW) heat generated
at the anode only is used for melting of the base metal
• consumable arc welding processes offer higher arc efficiency than
non-consumable arc welding processes.
• (SMAW, SAW) heat generated is more effectively used because of
reduced heat losses to surrounding as weld pool is covered by molten
flux and slag.
• arc efficiency = total heat used / total heat generated in arc
• Welding processes in ascending order of arc efficiency are GTA, GMA,
SMA, and SAW.
• GTAW offer's lower arc efficiency (21-48%)
• SMAW/GMAW (66-85%)
• SA welding (90-99%).
Metal Transfer
Metal transfer refers to the transfer of molten metal from the tip of a consumable
electrode to the weld pool
• Short Circuit Transfer
• welding current is very low but high enough to have stable arc and arc
gap is small.
• molten metal droplet grows slowly at the tip of the electrode and
then as soon as drop touches weld pool, short-circuiting takes place
Globular Transfer

• Globular metal transfer takes place when welding current is low (but
higher than that for short circuit transfer) and arc gap is large enough.
• molten metal droplet can grow slowly (at the tip of the electrode)
with melting of the electrode tip
• Drop continues to grow until gravitational force on drop (due to its
own weight) exceeds the surface tension force other forces
• The transfer of molten metal drop normally occurs when it attains size
larger than the electrode diameter.
• No short-circuit takes place in this mode of metal transfer.
• Spray Transfer
• This kind of metal transfer takes place when welding current density
is higher than that is required for globular transfer.
• High welding current density results in high melting rate and greater
pinch force
• melting rate and pinch force are directly related with welding current
and are found proportional to square of welding current.
• At high welding current density, droplets are formed rapidly and
pinched off from the tip of electrode quickly by high pinch force even
when they are of very small in size.
• Another reason for detachment of small droplets is that high welding
current increases temperature of arc zone which in turn lowers the
surface tension force.
• The transfer of molten metal from electrode tip appears similar to
that of spray in line of axis of the electrode .
• This feature helps to direct the molten metal in proper place where it
is required especially in difficult to access areas.
Heat flow in welding
Weld Thermal Cycle
• Weld thermal cycle shows variation in temperature of a particular
location (in and around the weld) during the welding as a function of
welding time.
Factors influencing weld thermal cycle
• an increase in thickness of plate increases the rate of heat transfer from the weld
pool/heat affected zone to the base metal which in turn
a) decreases the high temperature retention time of HAZ, b) decreases the solidification
time and c) increases the cooling rate experienced by the HAZ and weld metal.

• Thermal properties of metal like thermal conductivity and specific heat also have
affect on weld thermal cycle similar to that of thickness of plates as they increase
the rate of heat transfer from the weld metal and HAZ.

• Preheating of the plates reduces the rate of heating and cooling and increases the peak

temperature and soaking period above certain temperature because preheating reduces

the rate of heat transfer away from the weld zone.

Calculations of cooling rate
to use thick or thin plate equation for calculating the cooling
rates and these are based on
• 1) number of passes required for completing the weld (no of passes
less than six)
• 2) relative plate thickness
Procedure to determine critical cooling rate
Procedure to determine critical cooling rate
• Where G is the temperature gradient in liquid near solid liquid metal
interface, R is growth rate of solidification front,
Gas metal reaction
•The basicity of a flux has a major effect on the weld metal properties, most importantly the
notch toughness. As a general rule the higher the basicity the higher the notch toughness.

•Neutral fluxes are designed to have little or no effect on the chemical analysis of the weld
metal and therefore on the mechanical properties. They contain low silica, calcium silicate
and alumina and do not add significant amounts of silicon and manganese to the weld.

•The acid fluxes contain substantial amounts of silica, silicates in the form of calcium and/or
manganese silicate and manganese oxide.

•These fluxes react with the weld pool and will raise both silicon and manganese content of
the weld together with a high oxygen content. The result of this is that the toughness of the
weld is poor but the fluxes will tolerate rusty surfaces, will detach easily and give a
good weld appearance.