Welding can be described as a method of fabricating materials. This involves heating the parts to melt them together, and cooling them until they fuse. Welding is different from soldering and brazing, which melt the base metal (parent) at lower temperatures. To melt the base material, a filler is often added to the joint. The pool of molten metal (the weldpool), cools and forms a joint that can be used to determine the weld configuration (butt (full penetration), fillet, etc. It can also be stronger than base metal. You can also use pressure alone or in combination with heat to create a welding joint. A shield is required to protect filler metals, melted metals, and prevent them from becoming contaminated or oxidized during welding.
The embrittlement effect of impurities or, in the case of body-centred cubical metals, a decrease in temperature can also cause a decrease in fracture toughness. Metals, and especially steels, have a range of transitional temperatures where the metal's notch-ductility is acceptable above which the material becomes brittle below. The materials' behavior within this range is unpredictable. A decrease in fracture toughness can be accompanied by a change of fracture appearance. The fracture appearance is fibrous when it rises above the transition. The fracture will display cleavage features when temperatures drop. These appearances can be seen by the naked eye. Under a microscope, chevron marks may be visible from steel plates with brittle fracture. These arrow-shaped ridges at the crack surface indicate the source of the fracture.
Welding refers to a process of joining materials, often metals and thermoplastics. It involves using high heat to melt parts together and then cooling them to cause fusion. Welding differs from other lower-temperature techniques like brazing or soldering that do not melt the parent metal. A filler material is usually added to the joint to melt the base metal. This pool of molten materials (the weldpool) cools to form the joint. It can be based on the weld configuration (butt or full penetration, fillet etc. The base metal can be stronger than the filler material. To create a weld, pressure can be combined with heat or used by itself. To prevent filler metals and melted metals being oxidized or contaminated, welding requires some form of shield.
The heat affected zone (HAZ), is an area surrounding the weld that alters the heat treatment properties of the alloy due to the combination of uneven heating and cooling. The effects of welding on the material surrounding the weld can be detrimental--depending on the materials used and the heat input of the welding process used, the HAZ can be of varying size and strength. The thermal diffusivity, or heat exchange rate, of the base materials plays an important part in the HAZ. High diffusivity material will cool faster and have a lower HAZ. A lower diffusivity means slower cooling and an increased HAZ. Heat injected by welding processes plays an important part. Processes such as oxyacetylene-welding have unconcentrated heat inputs and increase the HAZ. Laser beam welding, for example, produces a very concentrated and limited amount heat. This results is a low HAZ. Arc welding falls somewhere between these extremes. The heat input for each individual process can vary slightly. Here is a formula that can be used to calculate the heat input needed for arc welding.
How many hours do welders work a day?
Heat-affected zones (HAZ) are a region around the weld where the temperature of the welding process combined with the stresses from uneven heating or cooling alter the heat-treatment characteristics of the alloy. The effects of welding on the material surrounding the weld can be detrimental--depending on the materials used and the heat input of the welding process used, the HAZ can be of varying size and strength. The material's thermal diffusivity plays an important role. A high diffusivity will result in a high material cooling rate and a small HAZ. A low diffusivity will result in slower cooling and a higher HAZ. It is also important to consider the heat that is injected during welding. Oxyacetylene welding, for example, has a large heat input but it is not concentrated. This can increase the HAZ size. Laser beam welding produces a concentrated heat input, which results in a smaller HAZ. Arc welding is somewhere in between these extremes. Each process will have a different heat input. The following formula can be used to calculate heat input for arc welding processes:
To supply the electrical power necessary for arc welding processes, a variety of different power supplies can be used. The most common welding power supplies are constant current power supplies and constant voltage power supplies. In arc welding, the length of the arc is directly related to the voltage, and the amount of heat input is related to the current. Constant current power supplies are most often used for manual welding processes such as gas tungsten arc welding and shielded metal arc welding, because they maintain a relatively constant current even as the voltage varies. This is important because in manual welding, it can be difficult to hold the electrode perfectly steady, and as a result, the arc length and thus voltage tend to fluctuate. Constant voltage power supplies hold the voltage constant and vary the current, and as a result, are most often used for automated welding processes such as gas metal arc welding, flux-cored arc welding, and submerged arc welding. In these processes, arc length is kept constant, since any fluctuation in the distance between the wire and the base material is quickly rectified by a large change in current. For example, if the wire and the base material get too close, the current will rapidly increase, which in turn causes the heat to increase and the tip of the wire to melt, returning it to its original separation distance.
Many welding processes require specific joint designs. Other welding techniques, such as shielded-metal arc welding are very versatile and can be used to weld any type joint. Multipass welding, where one weld cools and another weld follows, can also be done. This allows for welding thick sections in a single-V joint. You can identify a number distinct areas in the weld zone after welding. The fusion zone, or the location where the metal filler was laid during welding, is what is known as the weld itself. The properties of a fusion zone are largely determined by the filler material used and their compatibility with base materials. It is surrounded with the heat affected zone, an area whose microstructure was altered and whose properties were changed by welding. These properties are determined by how heat affects the base metal. This area often contains more metal than the base material and fusion zone. Additionally, residual stresses are common.
Explosion welding is another popular process. It involves the joining together of materials by pushing them together at extremely high pressure. The impact heat creates heat, but the energy of the impact plasticizes and welds the materials. This is a common way to weld disparate materials. It can bond aluminum to carbon and steel in ship hulls as well as stainless steel or titanium carbon steel in petrochemical pressurized vessels. Two electrodes are used to apply pressure and current to weld metal sheets. Seam welding is similar to spot welding. Instead of having pointed electrodes wheel-shaped, electrodes that roll along and feed workpieces often make it possible for long continuous welds. This method was originally used in the manufacturing of beverage cans. But its applications are now more limited. Other resistance welding options include butt welding (flash welding), projection welding, and upset welding.