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UEE

CHAPTER 2

Electric welding:

It is the process of joining two similar or dis-similar metals by application of heat with or
without application of pressure and addition of filler material.

Definition:

The processes in which two metal parts to be welded are brought to a molten state and then
allowed to solidify is called as arc welding or stick welding.

i) Resistance Welding:

 Spot welding
 Seam welding
 Projection Welding
 Butt Welding
 Simple butt welding
 Flash butt welding

ii) Arc welding:

 Carbon Arc Welding:

 shielded welding
 unshielded welding
 Metal Arc Welding:
 shielded welding
 unshielded welding

Advantages of electric welding:

 It requires less time for joining (welding) two metals.

 Two similar and dissimilar metals can be welded.
 Control of current (temperature) and welding time can be controlled accurately and
automatically.
 More perfect (sound) and uniform weld is obtained.
 Properties of weld and joining material remain same.
 It is more reliable.
 Welding process is clean
 Easy to operate and handle.
 Welding equipment’s are portable.
 No Standby losses. So high efficiency.
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Factors to be considered while selecting electrical welding system.

1) Type of Material: Whether similar metal is to be welded or dis-similar metal is to be welded.

2) Property of Material: Whether ferrous or non-ferrous metal is to be welded.

3) Thickness of job: It is also depending on thickness of job to be welded. e.g. for thick material- Arc
welding is used. And for thin material – Resistance welding is used.

4) Temperature required: Whether job required high or low temperature to weld the job. e.g. For high
Temperature - Arc welding is used. And for low Temperature – Resistance welding is used.

5) Pressure required: If job is need of pressure at the time of welding in that case resistance welding is
used. And if pressure is not required Arc welding is used.

6)Type of Supply Available: Whether AC or DC or both supplies are available.

7) Application: In case of mass production, resistance welding is used & for repair work Arc welding
is used.

Requirements of good welding

 Welding joints must be strong and reliable

 Joint (welding) is made by proper welding technique.
 Welds should have a reasonably smooth, uniform & consistent appearance.
 Welding Should be free from any type of welding defects
 To avoid oxidation welds should have an adequate shielding from the atmosphere (Oxygen)
 Welding should be done by only skilled welder
 Correct welding technic should be used
 The joint preparation of work pieces to weld should be done properly.
 The electrode of correct type and size should be used
 According to the nature of job welding current should be selected.
 In case of pressure welding, pressure should be correctly control in time.
 In case of arc welding proper arc length should be maintained.

Safety features to be observed in welding work

 Select clothing to welder to provide maximum protection from spark & hot metals
 Flame proof skull cap.
 Hand held helmet with filter lens.
 Safety shoes (Leather)
 Fire resistant hand gloves.
 Clean fire resistance clothing:
 Shirt full sleeves
 No pockets
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 Collar buttoned
 Long pants with no cuff
 Leather Apron
 Dust Musk
 Hearing Protection
 PPE (Personal Protective equipment)
 First aid kit
 Class ‘C’ fire extinguishers
 Other equipment’s like small hammer, file, small metal wire brush etc. are essential during
welding.
 Earthing clamp and proper earthing arrangement

Welding equipment and Accessories used for protection and safety

 Series reactor: To stabilize the arc in case of metal arc welding series reactor is used.
 Electrode holder: Well insulated electrode holder is used to grip electrode. This holder is in
operator’s hand.
 Earthing clamp: It is essential to complete electric circuit and safety purpose.
 Welding helmet and face shield: Helmet is used for protection purpose and face shield protect
face and eyes from rays of arc which contains UV and infra-red rays.
 Other: Hand gloves, shoes, apparan, small hammer, file, small metal wire brush etc are essential
during welding

Safety equipment’s

 Welding shield (hood): This is the mask which is worn to protect the person welding from the
bright flash of the arc, and from sparks being thrown during welding and also protect face and
eyes from rays of arc which contains UV and infra-red rays.
 Welding gloves: These are special, insulated leather gloves that reach about 6 inches (15.2 cm)
above the wrists, and protect the hands and lower arms of the welder (the person welding).
 Welding leathers: This is an apron like leather jacket that covers the shoulders and chest of the
welder, used for overhead work where sparks might ignite the welder's clothing, or cause burns.
 Work boots: The person welding should wear at least a 6 inch (15.2 cm) lace-up type boot to
prevent sparks and hot slag from burning his feet. These boots should have insulating soles made
from a material which does not melt or burn easily.

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Resistance welding:

In this process welding is obtain by heating the metallic part to a plastic state & then joining
them together by applying external pressure is known as resistance welding. This type of welding is
done without adding external filler material.

Principle of operation resistance welding:

In resistance welding, sufficiently heavy current at low voltage is passed directly through two
metals in contact to be welded.

Heat is produced due to I2R losses where ‘R’ is the contact resistance. This heat is utilized to
obtain welding temperature (to become a plastic state)

When welding temperature is reached supply is cut down and external pressure is applied
simultaneously across the job to complete weld.

According to joules law,

Heat produced H =I2 R t …………….. Watt-sec

From this equation it is clear that heat produced depends on

 Square of current (I2)

 Contact resistance (R)
 Duration of current (t)

Hence to obtain more heat in less time high current is necessary.

Spot Welding:

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Construction:

Spot welding means the joining of two metal sheets at suitable spaced interval. It consists of:

 Transformer used for spot welding is designed for low voltage and high current secondary.
 Transformer is oil cooled and portable
 There are two electrodes one is fixed and other is movable
 The electrodes are hollow and water cooled.
 Electrodes are made from copper or copper alloys and tips of electrodes are made from Cd-Cu or
Cr-Cu.

Working:

 As shown in fig. Job to be welded is placed one over the other between two electrodes under
pressure
 Sufficiently heavy current at low voltage is passed directly through two metals in contact to be
welded.
 Heat is produced due to I2R losses where ‘R’ is the contact resistance.
 This heat is utilized to obtain welding temperature (to become a plastic state)
 When welding temperature is reached supply is cut down and external pressure is applied
simultaneously across the job to complete weld.
 Magnitude of current varies from 1000A to 10000A.and the voltage between electrodes is
usually less than 2V.
 The period of flow of current and magnitude of current depends upon thickness of sheet (job) to
be welded.

Applications of spot welding

 Joining of automobile body section.

 Joining sheet metal structure.
 It is used for automatic welding process.
 For spot welding to GI sheets, MS sheet, tinned, lead-coated sheets.
 For spot welding to non-ferrous material such as brass, bronze, nickel, Cu,Al,etc.
 In fabrication workshop for different applications.

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Seam Welding

Construction:

Seam welding is nothing but series of continuous spot welding It consists of:

 Transformer used for seam welding is designed for low voltage and high current secondary.
 Transformer is oil cooled
 There are two electrodes in this type beam or roller type electrodes are used.

Working:

 Job is kept in between two electrodes under pressure. This pressure is kept constant throughout.
 In this type intermittent current is used, it means current is ON for definite time and OFF for
another time interval with the help of timer.
 If current is continuously passing then heat produced may cause burning of job.
 Heat is produced due to I2R losses where ‘R’ is the contact resistance.
 This heat is utilized to obtain welding temperature (to become a plastic state)
 When welding temperature is reached supply is cut down and external pressure is applied
simultaneously across the job to complete weld.

Advantages of seam welding over spot welding

 Due to seam welding we get continuous weld which is air-tight

 Gas tight as well as liquid tight joints can be made.
 The Overlap is less than spot or projection welding.
 The production of single seam weld and parallel seams can be got simultaneously.
 Efficient energy use.

Applications of Seam welding

It gives leak-proof joints.

 Hence used for welding of various types of containers,

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 Pressure tank
 Tank of transformer,
 Gas line,
 Air craft tank,
 Condenser,
 Evaporator
 Refrigerator

There are three types of seam welding:

 Lap seam welding

 Mesh seam welding
 Metal finished seam welding

Projection Welding:

Construction:

It is modified form of spot welding, before welding projections are made to job on both or one part
to be welded by mechanical means. Hence it is called as a Projection Welding. It consists of:

 Transformer used for projection welding is designed for low voltage and high current secondary.
 Transformer is oil cooled
 There are two electrodes. In this type flat electrodes are used as shown in figure.
 Therefore, it is possible to join several welding points (spots) simultaneously

Working:

 Job is kept in between two electrodes under pressure. This pressure is kept constant throughout.

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 Sufficiently heavy current at low voltage is passed directly through two metals in contact to be
welded.
 Heat is produced due to I2R losses where ‘R’ is the contact resistance.
 This heat is utilized to obtain welding temperature (to become a plastic state)
 When welding temperature is reached supply is cut down and external pressure is applied
simultaneously across the job to complete weld.

Upset Butt Welding

Explanation:

 Transformer used for welding is designed for low voltage and high current secondary.
 Transformer is oil cooled
 The job is clamped as shown in fig. two parts which are to be welded are brought together
 Sufficiently heavy current is passed through joints by welding transformer,
 which creates necessary heat at joints due to I2R
 When welding temperature is reached supply is cut down.
 And external pressure is applied simultaneously across the job to complete weld

Flash Butt welding:

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Explanation:

 The job is clamped as shown in fig. two parts which are to be welded are brought near to each
other by keeping small air gap,
 When welding transformer is made ON, due to heavy currents flash (arc) is produced between
joints.  This arc will produce heat which will create welding temperature.
 When welding temperature is reached, supply is cut down and at the same time mechanical
pressure is applied for final weld.

Advantages:

 Due to flash (arc) surface to be welded becomes clean and pure.

 Weld obtained is better than butt welding.
 It requires less power than butt welding.

Application Flash Butt welding:

 For welding rod.

 For weld shaft
 Rail, ends
 For welding chains

Butt welding

Explanation:

 Transformer used for welding is designed for low voltage and high current secondary.
 Transformer is oil cooled
 The job is clamped as shown in fig. two parts which are to be welded are brought together
 Sufficiently heavy current is passed through joints by welding transformer,
 which creates necessary heat at joints due to I2R
 When welding temperature is reached supply is cut down.
 And external pressure is applied simultaneously across the job to complete weld

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Application Butt Welding:

 For welding rod, wire, pipe etc

 For joining thick metal plates or bars at end

Arc Welding

Electric arc welding:

 The processes in which two metal parts to be welded are brought to a molten state and then
allowed to solidify is called as arc welding or stick welding.
 At the time of welding external filler material is required. No mechanical pressure is required, so
this type of welding is also known as non- pressure welding.
 Melting of metal is obtained due to heat developed by an arc struck between an electrode and
metal to be welded (job)
 Temperature obtained by arc is very high (35000C to 60000C)

How arc is formed

a) By applying High Voltage:

Operation:

 When very high voltage is applied across any two electrodes separated by small air gap then air
between two electrodes gets ionized and ionized air is conducting, so current starts flowing from
one electrode to another electrode in the form of spark (arc).
 This arc produces heat energy which is utilized for melting the charge.
 High Voltage is required to produce arc and to maintain arc high voltage is not necessary.
 Once arc is struck between two electrodes then low voltage is sufficient to maintain the arc

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b) By Separation of two current carrying electrodes suddenly:

Operation:

 Another way to produce arc is to short circuit two current carrying electrodes as shown in fig (a)
and suddenly withdraw them, then there will be spark between two electrodes as shown in figure
(b)
 This arc then produces heat energy which is utilized for melting the charge.
 In this method high voltage is not necessary to produce the arc.

Characteristics of Arc:

 Arc is conducting.
 Arc has negative temperature coefficient of resistance.

Metal arc welding

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Operation of Metal Arc Welding:

The process in which two metal parts to be welded are brought to a molten state and then
allowed to solidify is called as arc welding. Melting of metal is obtained due to heat developed by an arc
struck between an electrode (Filler material) and metal to be welded (job)

 Type of supply used:

 Both AC/DC Supplies can be used but generally A.C. Supply is used because it has more
advantages.
 Supply Equipment used: Welding Transformer designed for low voltage high current secondary.
 Arc Stability: Series Reactor is used for arc stability.
 Temperature obtains: Less as A.C. supply is used.
 Possibility of arc blow is less.
 Capital Cost: Less since welding transformer is used as a supply equipment.
 Running cost: Less
 Maintenance cost: Less
 Stand by losses: Less
 Efficiency: More
 Voltage required: 72-to-100-volt A.C
 Types: Shielded & unshielded welding

Applications of Arc welding:

 Extensively used in the construction of steel structures

 In industrial fabrication
 In manufacturing industry
 In maintenance and repair industry
 This method is used for welding ferrous metals (Iron , Steel , Stainless Steel ) as well as for
welding nonferrous metals (Aluminium , Nickel , copper alloys)

Carbon arc welding:

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Principle of arc welding:

The process in which two metal parts to be welded are brought to a molten state and then
allowed to solidify is called as arc welding. Melting of metal is obtained due to heat developed by an arc
struck between carbon electrode and metal to be welded (Job) and the additional metal is deposited in
the weld from a filler rod.

Carbon arc welding is explained on following points:

 Type of supply used: Only DC supply is used.

 Type of Electrode: Carbon Electrode are used.
 Supply Equipment used: D.C Differential component Generator or Rectifier
 Arc Stability: D.C Differential component. Generator has dropping characteristics.
 Temperature obtains: More
 Possibility of arc blow is: More
 Capital Cost: More
 Running cost: More
 Maintenance cost: More
 Stand by losses: More
 Efficiency: Less
 Voltage required: 50-to-60-volt D.C
 Types: Flux is used and flux is not used
 Application: For welding nonferrous metals
 Limitation: Not suitable for overhead welding

Application of Carbon arc welding:

 For welding nonferrous metals

Precautions are taken for ill effects due to negative resistance characteristics of an electric arc in
electric arc welding

Effect of characteristics:

 Characteristics of Arc: Arc is conducting and it has negative temperature coefficient of

resistance. i.e. its resistance decreases as temperature increases.
 Effect of characteristics: This decreasing resistance will increase current further due to this arc
blow increases i.e.arc does not remain steady. It goes on increasing and increasing. Due to this
job may burn.

Precautions:

 In case of D.C Welding Stability of Arc: To stabilized arc D.C differential compound generator
is used. It has dropping voltage characteristics, i.e, as load increases voltage suddenly decreases.
Due to this characteristics arc remains steady.
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 In case of A.C Welding Stability of Arc: To stabilize the arc in case of metal arc welding series
reactor is used.

Ultrasonic welding

Working Principle:

A high frequency (20 kHz to 40 kHz) ultrasonic vibration is used to join two plastic pieces
together. The high frequency vibration generates heat energy at the interface of the two pieces and melts
the material. The melted material fused with each other to form a strong weld on cooling and
solidification.

Application:

 It is most commonly used to weld thermoplastic materials and dissimilar materials.

 Metal with thin section can also be welded.

Methods of current flow control in welding transformer

 Tapped Choke (Reactor) method

 Moving coil method
 Magnetic shunt method
 Moving core method
 Saturable reactor method

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Tapped chock (Reactor) method

 In this method tapping on reactor in the secondary circuit.

 Use a tapped reactor, which does not give a continuous current output demands for certain
important applications.
 The limited number of tapes restricts the values of output current available.
 However, this system is relatively efficient and suitable general fabrication and repair work.

Moving coil method

 In this method changing magnetic coupling between primary and secondary by physically
changing the position of coil.
 Change the reactance of the transformer by changing the relative position s of the coils.
 Moving one coil away from the other increases the amount of leakage flux flow between them,
thereby increasing the leakage reactance of the coils. This reduces the current output.
 The change in positions of coils is brought about by a lead screw which facilities continuous
adjustment of current.
 With such a design, the coils may at times loosened and vibrate when the transformer is in use,
causes noise.
 The connections to coils may also create service problem because continues flexing.

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Magnetic shunt method:

 In this method changing magnetic coupling between primary and secondary by putting a
movable magnetic shunt.
 In this method uses a different principle of changing the reactance of the coils.
 It employs path which diverts part of total lines of force linking with the secondary coils.
 The movement of this magnetic shunt causes the leakage flux to vary and thereby adjusts the
output current.
 This method also gives rise to vibration of movable parts with attendant noise if the parts wear
out and become loose in service.
 Sometimes mechanical parts such as the lead screw can dirty and difficult to move.
 These drawbacks can be taken care of through carefully assembly and efficient workmanship in
manufacture and through good maintenance at the user ends.
 On large machines, movement of magnetic shunt can be conveniently motorized.

Moving core method

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 In this method moving the iron core in the reactance instead of in the main core.
 The moving core changes the air gap which changes the reactance.
 The larger the air gap, the smaller the impedance and higher the output.
 This method also gives rise to vibration of movable parts with attendant noise if the parts wear
out and become loose in service.
 The inside of the typical core moving transformer show in above figure.

Saturable reactor method

 In this method putting saturable reactor unit secondary circuit.

 In this Method eliminates all the moving parts is with their service problems, but is more
expensive.
 In this system, secondary reactor impedance is controlled by regulating the saturation level of the
core electrically.
 The system uses a rectifier bridge and a rheostat to control the DC current in the control coil.
 When there is no DC current flowing through the control winding, the impedance is maximum
and the output is minimum. Reverse is the case when the maximum DC current is flowing in the
control winding.
 With this method, remote control of welding current is possible, i.e. the reactor current
adjustment can be located near the welder by using an extension cord. The adjustment can be by
the welder's hand or foot.
 Electrical circuit diagram of a typical heavy-duty welding transformer having maximum
continuous hand welding current of 300 Amps. at 60% duty cycle is shown in above figure.
 This machine uses moving core magnetic shunt method of current control.

Use of saturable reactor to control the magnitude of welding current.

A saturable reactor in electrical engineering is a special form of inductor where the magnetic
core can be deliberately saturated by a direct electric current in a control winding. Once saturated, the

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inductance of the saturable reactor drops dramatically. This decreases inductive reactance and allows
increased flow of the AC current.

Saturable reactors often have multiple taps, allowing a small inductance to be used with a large
load or a larger inductance to be used with a smaller load. In this way, the required magnitude of the
control current can be also held roughly constant, no matter what the load.

Tapped Reactor method for current control in Welding Transformer

Working:

 Reactor is used, to stabilize the arc. Arc has negative temperature co-efficient of resistance i.e. its
resistance decreases as temperature increases. So arc does not remain stable. To stabilize the arc
reactor is connected in series with arc furnace which control rise in current hence arc.
 Series reactor also serves as safety device by limiting current in circuit when there is short
circuited.

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Prof. Sudarshan G. Hadkar (for online classes Diploma, BE, ME Electrical Engineering contact 8459362092)