UNIT-II

ELECTRIC WELDING

KUMAR SALIGANTI
Assistant Professor (C)
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering

JNTUH College of Engineering Manthani

CONTENTS:
 Introduction-welding

 Advantages and disadvantages of welding

 Types of welding
 Electric welding equipment
 Comparison between A.C. and D.C. welding
 Classification of electric welding
 Resistance welding – types
 Arc welding - types
WELDIN
G:
 The Welding is a process of joining two or more, similar or
dissimilar metals by heating them to a suitable temperature , with
or without the application of pressure, filler materials and flux.
 Welding is used for making permanent joints.
ADVANTAGES OF WELDING:
o Welding is the most economical method to permanently join two metal
parts.
o It provides design flexibility.
o Welding equipment is not so costly.
o It joins all the commercial metals.
o Both similar and dissimilar metals can be joined by welding.
o Portable welding equipments are available.
DISADVANTAGES:
o Welding gives out harmful radiations and fumes.
o Welding needs internal inspection.
o If welding is not done carefully, it may result in the distortion of
workpiece.
o Skilled welding is necessary to produce good welding.
TYPES OF
WELDING:
1. Plastic Welding or Pressure Welding:
The piece of metals to be joined are heated to a plastic state and
forced together by external pressure.
(Ex) - Resistance welding
2. Fusion Welding or Non-Pressure Welding:
The material at the joint is heated to a molten state and allowed to solidify.
(Ex) - Arc welding, Gas welding
ELECTRIC WELDING EQUIPMENT:
Electric welding accessories required to carry out proper welding
operation are:

1. Electricwelding power sets.

2. Electrode holder to hold the electrodes.
3. Welding cable for connecting electrode and workpiece to the supply.
4. Face screen with colored glass.
5. Chipping hammers to remove slag from molten weld.
6. Wire brush to clean the weld.
7. Earth clamp and protective clothing.
ELECTRIC WELDING EQUIPMENT:
COMPARISON BETWEEN AC AND DC WELDING
CLASSIFICATION OF ELECTRIC WELDING
RESISTANCE WELDING:
It is the process of joining two metals
together by the heat produced due to the
resistance offered to the flow of electric
current at the junctions of two metals.

The heat produced by the resistance to

the flow of current is given by:

H = I2Rt
Advantages:
 Welding process is rapid and simple.
 Localized heating is possible, if required.
 No need of using filler metal.
 Both similar and dissimilar metals can be welded.
 Comparatively lesser skill is required.
It can be employed for mass production.
Dis-advantages:
 Initial cost is very high.
 High maintenance cost.
 The work piece with heavier thickness cannot be welded, since it requires
high input current.

Applications:
 It is used by many industries manufacturing products made up of thinner gauge
metals.
 It is used for the manufacturing of tubes and smaller structural sections.
Types of resistance welding
The resistance welding is classified as:
1. Spot welding
2. Seam welding
3. Projection welding
4. Butt welding
(i) Spot welding:
Spot welding means the joining of
two metal sheets and fusing them
together between copper electrode
tips at suitably spaced intervals by
means of heavy electric current
passed through the electrodes.
 When voltage applied across the electrode, the flow of
current will generate heat at the three junctions, i.e., heat
developed, between the two electrode tips and work
piece, between the two work pieces to be joined.

The generation of heat at junctions 1 and 3 will effect

electrode sticking and melt through holes, the prevention
of electrode striking is achieved by using water-cooled
electrodes.
By avoiding the heating of junctions 1 and 3 electrodes
in which cold water circulated continuously.
Fig 2. Water cooled electrode
Applications:
Spot welding is widely used for automatic welding process, for joining
automobile parts, joining and fabricating sheet metal structure, etc.
(ii) Seam welding:
Seam welding is nothing but the series of continuous spot welding. If number spots obtained
by spot welding are placed very closely that they can overlap, it gives rise to seam welding.

Seam welding is obtained by keeping the job under

electrodes. When these wheel type electrodes travel
over the metal pieces which are under pressure, the
current passing between them heats the two metal
pieces to the plastic state and results into continuous
spot welds.
In general, it is not satisfactory to make a continuous weld, for
which the flow of continuous current build up high heat that
causes burning and wrapping of the metal piece. To avoid this
difficulty, an interrupter is provided on the circuit which turns on
supply for a period sufficient to heat the welding point.

Applications:
It is usually employed in welding of pressure tanks, transformers,
condensers, evaporators, air craft tanks, refrigerators, varnish
containers, etc.
(iii) Projection welding:
It is a modified form of the spot welding. In the
projection welding, both current and pressure are
localized to the welding points as in the spot welding.
But the only difference in the projection welding is the
high mechanical pressure applied on the metal pieces to
be welded, after the formation of weld. The electrodes
used for such welding are flat metal plates known as
platens.
The two pieces of base metal to be weld are held together
in between the two platens, one is movable and the other
is fixed.
As current flows through the two metal parts to be
welded, which heat up and melt. These weld points soon
reach the plastic state, and the projection touches the
metal then force applied by the two flat electrodes forms
the complete weld.
The projection welding has the following advantages over the spot welding.
 Simplicity in welding process.
 It is easy to weld some of the parts where the spot welding is not possible.
 It is possible to join several welding points.
 Welds are located automatically by the position of projection.
 As the electrodes used in the projection welding are flat type, the contact
area over the projection is sufficient.

Applications:
 Projection welding is used extensively by auto manufactures for joining
nuts,
 bolts
This and studsis to
process steel plates
especially in carfor
suitable bodies.
metals like brass, aluminum and

 copper etc. mainly

The projection due toistheir
welding high thermal
particularly conductivity.
employed for mass production work,
i.e.,
welding of refrigerators, condensers, crossed wire welding, refrigerator
racks,
grills, etc.
(iv) Butt welding:
Butt welding is similar to the spot welding; however, the
only difference is, in butt welding, instead of electrodes
the metal parts that are to be joined or butted together are
connected to the supply.
Butt-welding is an economical and reliable way of
joining
without using additional components.
The three basic types of the butt welding process are:
1. Upset butt welding.
2. Flash butt welding.
3. Percussion butt welding.
Butt welding machine
(a) Upset butt
welding:
In upset butt welding, the two metal parts to be welded are
joined end to end and are connected across the secondary of a
welding transformer.

When current is made to flow through the two electrodes, heat

will develop due to the contact resistance of the two pieces and
then melts.
By applying high mechanical pressure either manually or by
toggle mechanism, the two metal pieces are pressed. When
jaw-type electrodes are used that introduce the high currents
without treating any hot spot on the job.

Applications:
This type of welding is usually employed for welding of
rods, pipes, and wires and for joining metal parts end to
end.
(b) Flash butt welding:
Flash butt welding is a combination of resistance, arc, and
pressure welding. This method of welding is mainly used in
the production welding.
In this method of welding, the two pieces to be welded are
brought very nearer to each other under light mechanical
pressure. These two pieces are placed in a conducting
movable clamps.
When high current is passed through the two metal pieces
and they are separated by some distance, then arc
established between them.
This arc or flashing is allowed till the ends of the
workpieces reach melting temperature, the supply will be
switched off and the pieces are rapidly brought together
under light pressure. As the pieces are moved together,
the fused metal and slag come out of the joint making a
good solid joint.
Following are the advantages of the flash butt welding over the upset
welding.
o Less requirement of power.
o When the surfaces being joined, it requires only less attention.
o Weld obtained is so clean and pure; due to the foreign metals
appearing on the surfaces will burn due to flash or arc.
(c) Percussion welding:
It is a form of the flash butt welding, where high current of short duration is employed
using stored energy principle. This is a self-timing spot welding method.

Percussion welding arrangement consists of one fixed holder and the

other one is movable. The pieces to be welded are held apart, with the
help of two holders, when the movable clamp is released, it moves
rapidly carrying the piece to be welded.

There is a sudden discharge of electrical energy, which establishes an

arc between the two surfaces and heating them to their melting
temperature, when the two pieces are separated by a distance of 1.5 mm
apart.

As the pieces come in contact with each other under heavy pressure, the
arc is extinguished due to the percussion blow of the two parts and the
force between them affects the weld. The percussion welding can be
obtained in two methods; one is capacitor energy storage system and
the other is magnetic energy storage system.
The capacitor ‘C’ is charged to about 3,000 V from a controlled rectifier. The
capacitor is connected to the primary of welding transformer through the
switch and will discharge. This discharge will produce high transient current
in the secondary to join the two metal pieces.

Applications:
o It is useful for welding satellite tips to tools, sliver contact tips to copper,
cast
iron to steel, etc.
o Commonly used for electrical contacts.
o The metals such as copper alloys, aluminum alloys, and nickel alloys are
percussion welded.
 ARC WELDING
PRODUCTION OF ARC :
 An electric arc is formed whenever current is passed between two metallic
electrodes separated by a short distance.
 Whenever electrode first touches the plate,a large short circuit flows and as it
withdrawn later,current continues to flow in the form of spark across the air gap.
 Due to this spark,air gets ionized and air becomes conducting and so,current is
able to flow across the gap.

Temperature of arc
welding flame is about
3100°c.
 Types of arc welding:
 Unshielded arc welding:When a large electrode or filler rod is used for welding,
it is said to be un- shielded arc welding.
 Shielded arc welding: When the welding rods coated with fluxing material are
used, then it is called shielded arc welding.
 Electrodes
An electrode is a tool used in arc welding to produce electric arc.
 Based on their characteristics, arc welding electrodes can be broadly classified
into two types. They are:
 Consumable Electrode:
 If the melting point of an arc welding electrode is less, it melts and fills the gap
in the workpiece. Such an electrode is called consumable electrode.
 Non-consumable electrode:
 If the melting point of the arc welding electrode is high, it does not melt to fill
the gap in the workpiece. Such an electrode is called non-consumable electrode
 Coated electrodes
 coated electrodes are being extensively used for shielded arc welding. They
consist of a metal core wire surrounded by a thick flux coating applied by
extrusion, winding or other processes.
 Electrode coating contributes a lot towards improving the quality of the weld.
 The principal advantages of using electrode coating are as under :
 1.It stablizes the arc because it contains ionizing agents such as compounds
of sodium and potassium.
 2. It fluxes away impurities present on the surface being welded.
 3. It forms slag over the weld which (i) protects it from atmospheric
contamination (ii) makes it cool uniformly thereby reducing the changes of
brittleness and (iii) provides a smoother surface by reducing ‘ripples’ caused
by the welding operation.
 Arc blow
 Arc blow is the, usually unwanted, deflection of the arc during arc welding.
 There are two types of arc blow commonly known in the electric welding
industry: magnetic and thermal.
 Magnetic arc blow or "arc wander" : It is the deflection of welding filler material
within an electric arc deposit by a buildup of magnetic force surrounding the weld
pool.
 Arc blow tends to occur if the material being welded has residual magnetism at a
certain level, particularly when the weld root is being made, and the welding
current is direct current (DC positive or negative).
 This is due to interaction between the directional magnetic field of the welding arc
and the directional field of the residual magnetism.
 Magnetic arc blow is popularly attributed to a change in the direction of current as
it flows into and through the workpiece.
 It is experienced most when using currents above 200 A or below 40 A.
 Thermal arc blow: It is widely attributed to variations in resistance within the base
metal created by the weld pool as it is moved across the workpiece.
 Thermal arc blow can occur because of:
 1.Improper surface preparation
 2.Improper travel speed
 Due to arc blow, heat penetration in the required area is low which leads to
incomplete fusion.Hence it is needed to be suppressed.
 Measures to avoid arc blow:
 Arc blow can be avoided by using a.c. rather than d.c. welding machines because
reversing currents in the welding leads produce magnetic fields which cancel each
other out thereby eliminating the arc blow.
 Reducing the rate of travel of the electrode.
 Shortening the arc column length etc.
 Carbon arc welding
 Carbon arc welding was the first electric welding process.
 It’s difference is that it uses non- consumable carbon or graphic electrodes
instead of the consumable flux-coated electrodes.
 Graphite electrodes are harder, more brittle and last longer than carbon
electrodes. They can withstand higher current densities but their arc
column is harder to control.
 The main advantage of this process is that the temperature of the molten
pool can be easily controlled by simply varying the arc length.
 Since arc serves only as a heat source, it does not transfer any metal to help
reinforce the weld joint.
 The major disadvantage of the carbon-arc process is that blow holes occur
due to magnetic arc blow especially when welding near edges of the
workpiece.
 Common types of arc welding used in practice:

 Shielded metal arc welding:

 Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), also known as manual metal arc
welding (MMA or MMAW), flux shielded arc welding or informally
as stick welding, is a manual arc welding process that uses a
consumable electrode covered with a flux to lay the weld.
 Gas Shield Arc Welding:

 In this fusion process, welding is done with bare electrodes but

weld zone is shielded from the atmosphere by a gas which is piped
to the arc column. Shielding gases used are carbon dioxide, argon,
helium, hydrogen and oxygen. No flux is required.
 Resistance welding
 It is fundamentally a heat and squeeze process. The term ‘resistance welding’
denotes a group of processes in which welding heat is produced by the
resistance offered to the passage of electric current through the two metal
pieces being welded.
 These processes differ from the fusion processes in the sense that no extra
metal is added to the joint by means of a filler wire or electrode.
 Advantages: Some of the advantages of resistance welding are as under :
 Heat is localized where required
 No filler material is needed.
 Requires comparatively lesser skill
 Parent metal is not harmed
 Only disadvantage is with regard to high initial as well as maintenance cost.
 Plasma Arc Welding :
 Basic Principle is It consists of a high-current electronic arc which is forced
through a small hole in a water cooled metallic nozzle.
 The plasma gas itself is used to protect the nozzle from the extreme heat of
the arc.
 The plasma arc is shielded by inert gases like argon and helium which are
pumped through an extra passageway within the nozzle of the plasma torch.
 As seen, plasma arc consists of electronic arc, plasma gas and gases used to
shield the jet column.
 Disadvantages:
 Since it uses more electrical equipment, it has higher electrical hazards.
 Laser Welding:
 It uses an extremely concentrated beam of coherent monochromatic light i.e.
light of only one colour (or wavelength).
 It concentrates tremendous amount of energy on a very small area of the
workpiece to produce fusion.
 Some of the advantages of laser welding process are as follows :
 1. It does not require any electrode.
 2. It does not heat the workpiece except at one point. In fact, heat affected
zone is virtually non-existent.
 3.Liquidus is reached only at the point of fusion.
4.It produces minimal thermal distortion and shrinkage because area of
heat-affected zone is the minimum possible.