NIRMA UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

B.Tech. Semester- VI (Institute Elective), January 2013 2EE002: ELECTRICAL POWER UTILIZATION AND SAFETY HANDOUT on Electric Welding

INTRODUCTION
Electric welding is defined as that branch of welding in which electric current is used to produce the large heat required for joining together into firm union two pieces of metal. Electrically welded joints are being used to replace riveted bolted joints in the construction of ships, bridges steel frames, structures, tanks, pipe lines and for so many other purposes. In electric welding heat is produced either by striking an arc between an electrode and the metallic joint or by passing a heavy current through the joint. The former method is called Arc Welding and the later Resistance Welding.

CLASSIFICATION OF ELECTRIC WELDINGS

(1) RESISTANCE WELDING A) butt B) flash C) spot D) projection E) seam (2) ARC WELDING A) metal arc B) carbon arc C) atomic hydrogen D) helium or argon

POWER SUPPLY FOR ARC WELDING

Both dc and ac are used for electric arc welding each having its particular application; in some cases either is suitable. The electric properties of the arc determines the requirements that should met by source of power supply for arc welding. To initiate an arc, a higher voltage is required than to maintain it under normal conditions. For the reason the open circuit voltage of the power supply source must be higher than the arc or closed circuit voltage.

ELECTRIC WELDING EQUIPMENTS

The electric welding sets may be either dc or ac type. (1) DC WELDING SETS Generator type welding set consists of namely a differential compound dc generator, giving drooping volt-ampere characteristic, driven by type of prime mover. Another type of dc welding set is dry type rectifier used in conjunction with a multiphase high leakage reactance transformer. Many of these rectifier type welders use selenium rectifier which are forced air coaled. (2) AC WELDING SETS Ac welding sets arc 1 or 3 phase step down transformers which provide low voltage power for welding with some means of output control. In transformer type welding machines the current control is achieved by using (a) Magnetic shunt (b) A choke coil or reactor placed in series with windings (c) Tap changing switch in the primary winding.

Welding Accessories:
1. One electrode holder, fitted with a length of flexible cable for current to plant. 2. One length of flexible cable, for connecting the job to the plant. 3. One face screen complete with colored glasses. 4. Observers face screen with colored lasses. 5. One pair of leather gloves. 6. One chipping hammer to remove slag from weld. 7. One wire brush to clean the weld after chipping. ARC WELDING WITH DC AND AC The advantages of arc welding with dc lie in the higher arc stability and the degree to which the work is heated. It is best suited for thinner sheet metal and also for welding non-ferrous metals. Ac welding due to the absence of arc blow is considered superior for production welding involving large size electrodes. Ac welding has a number of economic advantages such as given below: 1) As power supply in factories is usually ac so a rotating dc generator or a rectifier is required for dc welding whilst for ac welding only transformer is required which is relatively cheaper in initial cost. 2) Maintenance of a transformer is less difficult and expensive than that of a dc generator. 3) Operating cost of ac equipment arc also lower than those of dc equipment.

COMPARISON BETWEEN DC AND AC WELDING

S.No. 1 Point of A.C.Welding Comparison Wear and Tear A.C. welding plant has no rotating plant so wear and tear is less. Efficiency A.C. welding transformer has very high efficiency. Arc Blow The problem of arc blow is not much because it is controlled automatically. Arc Stability Arc is not at all stable. Cost of Equipment required is cheap. equipment Electrodes Only flux coated electrodes can be used. Energy Energy consumption is low as consumption welding is always intermittent in nature. Distribution of In case of A.C. welding heat is heat equal in both poles. Uniformity of The heat produced is not heat production uniform because current passes twice through zero value. Risk of Shock There is always danger of shock to operator due to high O.C. voltage (100 V required for striking the arc). Effect of In case A.C. welding the 1supply voltage phase transformer causes unbalance in 3 phase supply system. D.C.Welding D.C. welding plant has both generator and motor and has rotating parts so wear and tear is more. M.G. set has low efficiency. Problem of arc blow is very swear and can not controlled easily. Arc is more stable. Equipment required is costly. Any type of electrode can be used. Energy consumption is more because M.G. set is required to run continuously. Heat distributed is different at two poles. Heat produced is uniform. There is no danger of electric shock to operator due to low operating voltage As M.G. Set uses 3 phase I.M. which is balanced load hence no unbalance in 3 phase system is created.

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BASIC FEATURES OF AN ARC WELDING

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Good Forceful Weld arc is easy to hold once it is obtained A good way to weld aluminum There is an absence of arc blow The most popular application is production welding on heavy gauge steel

Advantages of short Arc 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Maximum penetration Slight overlap Maximum strength of weld Minimum porosity in the weld Maximum ductility in the weld Makes it possible to use alloy electrodes

Disadvantages of long Arc 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Minimum penetration Excessive overlap Minimum Strength Minimum Ductility Maximum Porosity Uncontrolled Deposit

Advantages of Resistance welding 1. 2. 3. 4. It is a quick method of joining two pieces. There is very little wastage of the metal. The process can be accurately controlled. The welds are consistently uniform.

REQIREMNENTS OF A GOOD WELD

1. 2. 3. 4. Uniformly rippled surface of the weld Even countor of the weld Even width of the weld Absence of surface defects like overlap, undertake, crack, crater and surface porosity. Absence of internal defects like blow holes, inclusion and incomplete penetration.

Methods of obtaining Drooping Characteristics:

The high open circuit or striking voltage and the low arc voltage is obtained by means of equipment designed to give a drooping characteristic. In this way the high voltage is available to enable the arc to be struck but as a result of the current flowing the voltage drops to the arc voltage.

1. Standard Method for D.C. Generators The Standard method of obtaining drooping characteristics from a D.C. Generator is based on reversed series winding. In this method the series coils are wound in a reverse direction to the shunt coils and therefore, the field created by the series field is in opposition to that created by shunt field. 2. Use of Reactance coil for A.C Equipment The drooping characteristics are obtained in case of A.C. equipment by means of a reactance coil in series with the arc. The voltage at the secondary side of transformer remains constant almost and is available for striking the arc but as the current flows the voltage drop across the reactance coil reduces the voltage at the arc to the required value. The reactance coil also controls the flow of current.