GAS TUNGSTEN ARC WELDING.

INTRODUCTION

POWER SOURCE

APPLICATION

ADVANTAGES

LIMITATIONS

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION

ELECTRODES

SHIELDING GASES

ADVANCED DEVELOPMNT

Presented / Designed by
Sudhir Sahu
Craft Training Center
Reliance, JERP
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
Introduction:
Tungsten Inert Gas Welding or Gas Tungsten Arc Welding is an arc welding process in which the
source of heat is an electric arc, is established between the non consumable tungsten electrode and
the part to be welded .The arc zone is filled with an inert gas to protect the tungsten electrode and
the molten metal from oxidation. The inert gas also acts as a conducting medium for the arc
current. Welding can be carried out with or without addition of filler metal. The need to add of
filler metal depends upon the thickness and type of the joint.

The rate of adding filler metal is independent of the arc energy.

But the maximum rate of filler wire addition is limited by the arc energy also.

History of Process Development

GTAW process was first developed in the year of 1940 and it was used successfully for Welding
stainless steel and magnesium thin gauge sheets by using D.C. power source.
In 1946, Aluminum was also successfully welded by using AC power source. Since that time the
GTAW process has been refined and has been used to weld almost all metals and alloys.
Equipment Requirement
1. Welding power source with high frequency unit
2. GTAW Torch with tungsten electrode.
3. Supply of inert gas.

TOUTCH SETUP
Electrodes for GTAW Process

Pure Tungsten electrode (EWP)

¾ This electrode is identified by green color band.

¾ The purity level of pure tungsten electrode is 99.5%.

¾ It has lower current carrying capacity than the alloyed tungsten electrode, and has low
resistance to contamination. Pure tungsten is least expensive.

Thoriated Tungsten Electrode (EwTh-1, and EwTh-2)

¾ These electrodes are identified by the color bands as detailed below

¾ 1% thoriated tungsten electrode --Yellow

¾ 2% thoriated tungsten electrode – Red

¾ 0.4% thoriated tungsten electrode - Blue

¾ Tungsten electrode containing 1 or 2% thoria have greater electron emissive property than pure
tungsten electrode. Therefore greater current carrying capacity and longer life.

¾ Arc starting is easier and arc is more stable which helps to make them more resistance to
contamination from the base metal.

Zirconiated Tungsten Electrode (Ew zr)

¾ This electrode is identifying by brown color band.

¾ It has properties between those of pure tungsten and thoriated tungsten electrode regarding arc
starting and current carrying capacity.
¾ High resistance to contamination. It remains the balled end during welding.
Shielding gases
Shielding gas provides the suitable ionizing atmosphere for the arc and protects the weld pool
from air contamination. Inert gases argon and helium are used for TIG welding.

COMPARISON OF SHIELDING GASES

GAS
ATOMIC DENSITY ARC HEAT
GAS FLOW SUITABILITY COST
WT % OF AIR VOLTAGE INPUT
RATE
130 10-12
Argon 40 1 time Low Thin metals 1 time
LPM
4 25-35
Helium 13 1.7 time High Thick metals 3 times
LPM

Argon

¾ Low arc voltage: This results in less heat. Hence suitable for manual welding of thickness less
than 1.5mm.
¾ Good cleaning action: Preferred for metals with refractory oxide skin and ferrous alloys
containing high percentage of aluminum.
¾ Easy arc starting: Important for welding thin metals and welding in vertical and over head
position.
Helium:

¾ High arc voltage: This results in better arc. Favorable for welding thick metals with high heat
conductivity.
¾ Small heat affected zone: With high heat input and greater welding speeds HAZ can be kept
narrow. Deeper penetration is possible.

Minimum purity requirements of argon

Co2 ppm Moisture

Argon % O2 ppm max N2 ppm max H ppm max
max Mg/litre
99.967 300 0.005
10 5 5

Gas mixtures used in GTAW

In tungsten arc welding the physical characteristics of the gas, like conductivity, ionization and
dissociation, influence the arc geometry and heating efficiency. The composition of the gases
which determines these physical characteristics will be arrived after a close study is made on their
behavior with the parent material.
 Gas or Gas mixture Application
Almost all materials
Argon 99.5% pure
Stainless steel, Nickel and Nickel
Argon+5%H2(occasionally up to alloys
15%H2)
Aluminum alloys
Argon+Helium(75%Ar+25%He)
Almost all material
Helium 99.99%

Argon + Copper and some of the copper alloys

Nitrogen(85%Ar+15%N2)

¾ In stainless steel welding with Ar+H2 shielding gas, the hydrogen helps increasing the arc
heating efficiency, and also reducing the amount of oxides formed with stainless steels.

¾ In the case of GTA welding of aluminum, if a gas shield containing hydrogen would be
unsuitable, because a high percentage of hydrogen would be dissolved in the molten aluminum
and gets trapped giving rise to porosity.

Effect of Welding Current Type on Penetration for GTAW

POWER SOURCE

¾ Direct current power source. (Constant current type)

¾ Alternative current power source

DC POWER SOURCE WITH HIGH FREQUENCY UNIT

¾ Suitable for welding almost all metals and alloys (Except aluminum and its alloys) in DCEN
mode.

¾ Magnesium and its alloys can be welded by DCEP mode.

AC POWER SOURCE WITH HIGH FREQUENCY UNIT

¾ Best suitable for welding aluminum and its alloys and other ferrous alloys containing high
percentage of aluminum.

¾ Magnesium and its alloys.

¾ Some copper alloys.

TORCHES

¾ Gas cooled torches The heat developed in the tungsten electrode is transferred to the inert gas
while it flow through the gas passage in the torch .

¾ Water cooled torches: Designed for continuous duty cycle with higher current. In this torch
cooling takes place by the water circulation arrangement in the torch.

High Frequency Unit

¾ High Frequency Unit is needed to initiate the arc in GTA welding when DC is used. Once the
arc is struck the HF super imposition would be cut-off

¾ In the case of AC used in GTA welding, HF super imposition is required continuously to strike
the arc at every off cycle

DC Suppressor is connected in series in the output to improve arc stability.

APPLICABILITY

¾ Where high quality weld is very much required.

¾ Welding root process on Carbon and low alloy steel piping.

¾ Welding reactive and refractory metals such as Titanium, Zirconium and Columbium by multi
pass GTA welding.

¾ Suitable process for welding thin sheets and foils.

¾ Root pass welding in pressure application parts and critical areas.

ADVANTAGES

¾ Very high quality weld can be made

¾ Very thin foils can be welded
¾ Filler metal addition is independent of the arc current.
¾ No spatter

LIMITATIONS

¾ Low filler metal deposition

¾ Requires greater skill
¾ More costly when compared to other arc welding processes

DEVELOPEMENT IN GTAW

Many developments have been established in GTA welding field. A few of them are stated here:

¾ Pulsed GTAW
¾ Hot wire GTAW
¾ Orbital GTAW

PULSED GTAW

In this process the current is modulated in the form of pulses. The magnitude of the current
oscillates between high level (Peak current ) and low level (background current). The magnitudes
of these levels and pulsing time can be controlled.
The molten weld pool can be manipulated against fluidity during background current period results
in low heat input and defect free weld. There is no need of weaving because the pulsed current is
sufficient to melt the required base metal.

Pulsed arc GTA welding is not as fast as the GTAW because of the travel speed is synchronized to
the pulsed frequency.
Applications:

¾ To do root run on tubes and pipes

¾ Welding thin plates & foils and the critical areas.

ORBITAL TIG

¾ Orbital GTAW machine is developed for circumferential seam welding of pipes and tubes
automatically.

¾ Pulsed current power source with programmed control for position welding such as flat, vertical
up, vertical down and overhead is enables to make the process automatic.

HOT WIRE GTAW

¾ Hot wire GTAW is a developed process over the conventional GTAW process.

¾ Here, the equipment and the welding sequence are the same as conventional GTAW, but the
filler wire is pre-heated either by resistance or induction heating before reaching the arc zone.

¾ For proper fusion the electrical circuit should always be completed i.e. the feed wire should
always be in contact with the weld puddle.

APPLICATIONS AND ADVANTAGES

¾ Radiography quality welds can be obtained at a higher deposition rate. The rate can be varied by
adjusting the heating current.

¾ Higher deposition at a lower dilution level is the main characteristics of the hot wire process.
Hence this can be used as a major tool for surfacing applications.

¾ Hot wire technique gives an increasing production rate by 3 to 4 times.

 PROCESS APPLICATIONS

POWER
SOURCE& ELECTRODE BACKING
SHIELDING GAS
MOC POLARITY TYPE GAS

Carbon steel Argon DCEN EWTH-2 NO NEED

EWTH-2 NITROGEN OR
Low alloy steel Argon DCEN ARGON
Argon or EWP OR
Aluminum & its 75%Ar+25%He AC OR DCEP EWZR ARGON
alloys
Argon or NITROGEN OR
Stainless steels Ar+5%H2 DCEN EWTH-2 ARGON
Argon or
Nickel & its Ar+5%H2 DCEN EWTH-2 ARGON
alloys

Copper & its Argon or DCEN EWTH-2 NITROGEN OR

alloys Ar+15%N2 ARGON
Argon or EWP OR
Magnesium & 75%Ar+25%He AC OR DCEP EWZR ARGON
its alloys

Reactive metals
like titanium, Argon DCEN EWTH-2 ARGON
zirconium &
columbium

THE END