Welding Processes 15

and protect it from atmosphere when solidification takes place, stabilizes the arc
and in some cases can add alloying elements to the weld metal.
Flux cored arc welding can be carried out in both semi-automatic and fully
automatic method. The flux cored arc process can be adopted with or without gas
shielding. The metal transfer is in the form of (a) globular, (b) spray or (c) short
circuiting. The flux in the core forms a molten slag as soon as the electrode
establishes an arc and subsequently a weld pool. The arc is shielded by a gas
evolved during the decomposition of the flux. A separate gas shield can also be
used which will ensure a positive shielding of the arc. DC is used for flux cored
wire. Constant voltage power with slope and inductance control is recommended
for this process. Flux wire process gives faster deposition rate and lowers welding
cost. Fully automatic welding can be made in vertical seam welding. It can be a
good substitute for electroslag or electrogas welding wherever the latter cannot be
used effectively.
FCAW has high deposition rate due to stub elimination. Flux cored wire gives
less spatter and improved weld finish due to arc stabilization and slag-forming
compounds at the core, which leads to less porosity. Flux core wires use standard
tube materials and the required chemistry is achieved through alloy powder
introduced into the core. Flux core wires have great advantage in continuous hard
facing work and also in welding steel pipes involving 360° welding.
The core will have various elements whose functions are different. The following
gives the important common core elements and their functions:
Ti, Si, Al and Zr — Deoxidiser
Calcium — Shielding and slag formation
Carbon — Hardness and strength
Chromium — Corrosion resistance
Iron — Base deposit
Manganese prevention — Deoxidiser, Hot shortness
Moly and Nickel — Alloy addition
Sodium, Potasium — Arc stabiliser and slag formation.
External shielding gases are also used in many FCAW processes. CO2 shielding
gas gives deep penetration and globular metal transfer across the arc. Alloying
elements like Cr, Ni, Moly in low alloy weld metals are not affected by the oxidizing
atmosphere of the CO2 gas. Deoxidising agents (Al, Ti, Zr and Si) are added to the
core to compensate for the oxidising effects of CO2. The level of oxidising agents
in the cored electrode is kept sufficiently high to avoid formation of CO which can
get entrapped in the weld deposit and form porosity. CO2 shielding will give greater
resistance to hot cracking. This is due to the reduction of hydrogen, phosphorus
and sulphur in the deposited weld by oxidation during welding. Weld metal ductility
and toughness are also improved with CO2 shielding. If argon is added to CO2, the
Ar/CO2 mixture gives a spray type metal transfer and penetration is moderate.
Generally Ar/CO2 mixture gives a higher tensile and yield strength of the weld
metal and is mainly used for out-of-position welding of pipes of low alloy steels,
because of better arc stability and manoeuverability.
Generally welding with self shielding method gives weld deposits with lower
ductility and impact strength than that with standard gas shielding method. This is