ADVANCED

WELDING AND JOINING

TECHNOLOGIES
Chapter 1
Welding Processes and Equipment
First Edition

[Japanese Version]
Edited by
The Japan Welding Society

[English Version]
Translated and Prepared by
The Japan Welding Engineering Society
 [English Version]
Translated and Prepared by
The Japan Welding Engineering Society
(Supervision Committee)
Chairperson: Takayoshi Ohji

Advanced Welding and Joining Technologies

Published under the English translation rights authorized by the Japan Welding Society
Copyright © 2006 by the Japan Welding Society
1-11, Kanda Sakuma-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101-0025 Japan

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means including electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
and recording methods, without permission in writing from the copyright holders.
Preface

Welding technologies are indispensable for fabricating such structures in almost all
industries as steel buildings, ships and offshore structures, heavy machinery, pressure
vessels, and power generation machinery. The quality of welded structures is significantly
affected by the weld quality. This is obvious from many examples of damaged welded
structures. Welding personnel, therefore, are required to ensure sufficient weld qualities
for the first priority and to be cognizant of this thoroughly at all times.
In order to ensure weld qualities, of course, sufficient knowledge of welding
technologies and competence in actual implementation are required. To assure a sufficient
level of these knowledge and competence objectively, the welding personnel certification
schemes are available. Because the original standard of the ISO 9000 series defined the
welding process as “a special process” and then ISO 3834 defined quality requirements for
welding, welding technologies and certification of technical levels have been recognized to
be more important.
The Japan Welding Engineering Society (JWES) has continued the certification scheme
of welding coordination personnel in accordance with WES 8103 since 1983. This has
contributed by a great amount to the improvement in welding technologies and to the
certification of technical levels in Japan. In addition the JWES has made efforts
continuously for the education in terms of welding technology, putting a high priority on
the technology. In overseas countries, too, the maintenance of the technical level of
welding personnel had early been taken as an important matter due to the significance of
the welding technology. Particularly in the EU countries, the need of international
certification of welding personnel was emphasized, and the significance of developing an
internationally consistent certification scheme for the welding personnel levels was
pointed out. As a result the European certification scheme for the international welding
personnel levels was established and has been developed. This scheme has been
transferred to the International Institute of Welding (IIW) to realize the international
certification scheme. In Japan, based on this international scheme, the internationally
viable certification scheme for welding personnel was established in 2000, which was
organized putting the JWES at the main position.
In the IIW scheme the need of sufficient education of welding personnel in accordance
with the adequate syllabus has been recognized in order to improve their welding
knowledge and competence including the capability of application and development. The
JWES examined to develop and employ an education system based on this syllabus for the
education per WES 8103. In 1999 the welding coordination personnel certification scheme
of the JWES was accredited by the Japan Accreditation Board (JAB). This scheme
classified the levels of welding coordination personnel into Level 2, Level 1, and Senior
Level (corresponds to traditional SWE) and achieved the consistency with the IIW scheme,
taking into account the feature of the Japanese traditional scheme. Lately, as per the WES
8103:2008, the names of levels have been changed respectively to “Associate Welding
Engineer,” “Welding Engineer“ and “Senior Welding Engineer.”
For the education of welding coordination personnel of individual levels, the special
teaching materials for Welding Engineer and Associate Welding Engineer have been edited
and used, for example, for training courses implemented by the JWES. These special
teaching materials have also been used as valuable reference books by general welding
personnel. By contrast, for Senior Welding Engineer, no special teaching material has
been edited but various separate teaching materials have been used. To develop a special
teaching material for Senior Welding Engineer that is consistent with the IIW scheme, the

i
Education Committee of the JWES commissioned the Japan Welding Society.
In this course the series of teaching materials has been developed, achieving the
consistency with the IIW syllabus, as the special materials for Senior Welding Engineer
(corresponds to the highest level of IWE as per the IIW scheme). The teaching materials
have been developed so as to fulfill the whole part of welding technologies, which are
suitable not only for Senior Welding Engineer but also for Welding Engineer.
The teaching books consist of six chapters. Chapters 1 thru 4 contain such fundamental
and practical welding technical knowledge as welding processes and equipment, materials
and their behaviour during welding, design and construction, and fabrication and
application engineering. Chapters 5 and 6 detail the knowledge of welding design and
fabrication of frame structures and vessels, which will be useful for welding coordination
personnel who are engaged in the fabrication of these structures and vessels.
These books have been developed as the teaching materials for the Senior Welding
Engineer applicants, which are edited so as to be easy to study indispensable knowledge
for the high level welding coordination personnel. The knowledge for Welding Engineer is
of course contained, too; these books therefore are useful for a wide scope of welding
coordination personnel. I hope these books will contribute to the maintenance and
development of welding coordination personnel of Senior Welding Engineer and Welding
Engineer.
You may think that welding technologies have been matured through significant
development during the last more than half centuries; however, they have been still
advancing day by day for higher efficiency with the sufficient quality of welding
constructions. These books contain the fundamentals that can be a basis for technical
advancement as well as state-of-the-art welding and joining technologies. I hope the
series of books will be useful for applicants for welding coordination personnel.

October 2008

Past Chairperson: Masao Toyoda

Education Committee
Japan Welding Engineering Society

ii
 Overall Contents

Chapter 1
Welding Processes and Equipment
Pages 1-1 thru 1-85

Chapter 2
Materials and their Behaviour during Welding
Pages 2-1 thru 2-92

Chapter 3
Design and Construction
Pages 3-1 thru 3-66

Chapter 4
Fabrication and Application Engineering
Pages 4-1 thru 4-104

Chapter 5
Welding Design and Fabrication of Frame Structures
Pages 5-1 thru 5-58

Chapter 6
Welding Design and Fabrication of Vessels
Pages 6-1 thru 6-64

iii
 Contents

Chapter 1: Welding Processes and Equipment

1.1 Welding processes 1-1

1.1.1 Definitions of welding and classification of welding processes 1-1
1.1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of welding 1-2
1.1.3 Fundamentals of arc welding 1-3
1.2 Arc welding phenomena 1-5
1.2.1 Arc characteristics 1-5
1.2.2 Welding arc phenomena 1-6
1.2.3 Melting of consumable electrodes and molten metal transfer modes 1-10
1.2.4 Weld penetration and formation of weld bead 1-12
1.2.5 Output characteristics of arc welding power sources and arc characteristics 1-14
1.3 Arc welding equipment 1-15
1.3.1 Kinds and features of welding power sources 1-15
1.3.2 Structure and performance of arc welding power sources 1-16
1.3.3 Configuration of arc welding equipment 1-22
1.4 Handling of arc welding equipment 1-23
1.4.1 Installation of arc welding power sources 1-23
1.4.2 Maintenance of arc welding equipment 1-24
1.5 Various arc welding processes 1-26
1.5.1 Shielded metal arc welding 1-26
1.5.2 Gas shielded arc welding 1-27
1.5.3 Self-shielded arc welding 1-35
1.5.4 Submerged arc welding 1-36
1.5.5 Electrogas arc welding 1-39
1.6 Other welding processes 1-41
1.6.1 Electroslag welding 1-41
1.6.2 Electron beam welding 1-44
1.6.3 Laser beam welding 1-46
1.6.4 Resistance welding 1-49
1.6.5 Friction welding 1-53
1.6.6 Other pressure welding 1-54
1.6.7 Brazing and soldering 1-55
1.6.8 Diffusion welding 1-57
1.7 Applicability of welding processes and highly efficient welding procedures 1-59
1.7.1 Applicability of welding processes 1-59
1.7.2 One-sided welding 1-61
1.7.3 Narrow groove welding 1-63
1.8 Automatization of arc welding by welding robot 1-66
1.8.1 Classification of arc welding robots 1-66
1.8.2 Welding sensors 1-66
1.8.3 Teaching operation 1-69
1.8.4 Systematic procedures 1-70
1.8.5 CAD/CAM systems 1-70
1.8.6 FA/CIM systems 1-71
1.9 Overlay welding and surface modification methods 1-72
1.9.1 Overlay welding 1-72
1.9.2 Thermal spraying 1-75
1.9.3 Other surface modification methods 1-78

iv
1.10 Cutting processes 1-79
1.10.1 Gas cutting 1-79
1.10.2 Plasma cutting 1-82
1.10.3 Laser cutting 1-83
1.10.4 Water jet cutting 1-84

v
 Chapter 1

Welding Processes and Equipment

1.1 Welding processes

1.1.1 Definition of welding and classification of welding processes

The joining methods can broadly be classified into three categories by the joining mechanism:
“mechanical joining” by means of such mechanical methods as riveting and bolting, “adhesive bonding” by
using glues or plastics, and “welding” by means of metallurgical bonding. These methods can further be
classified as shown in Fig. 1.1.

Gas welding
Fusion Shielded metal arc welding
welding TIG welding
Arc welding Plasma arc welding
MIG/MAG welding
Self-shielded arc welding
Submerged arc welding
Electrogas arc welding
Stud welding
Electroslag welding
High energy beam welding Electron beam welding
Thermite welding Laser welding
Metallurgi-
cal joining Forge welding Spot welding
(welding) Electric Projection welding
resistance Seam welding
Pressure welding Upset welding
welding Flash welding
Friction welding
Explosion welding
Joining Pressure gas welding
Ultrasonic welding
Cold welding
Brazing and Brazing
Soldering Soldering
Diffusion welding
Chemical Adhesive bonding
joining Weld bond method
(adhesive Deposition method
bonding)
Riveting and bolting
Mechanical Folding and roll-in fastening
joining Screwing and key joining
Shrinkage fitting

Fig. 1.1 Classification of joining methods

In Fig. 1.1, the metallurgical joining (welding) methods can be classified by the joining mechanism into
fusion welding (can be referred to as welding in the narrow sense), solid phase joining (e.g. pressure welding),
joining by liquid-solid phase reaction (e.g. brazing and soldering), and diffusion welding [Ref. 1]. Figure 1.2
shows schematics of principles of typical welding processes.

1-1
 Molted part
Groove face (weld metal) Liquid phase
Pressure-welded interface

Pressure

Fusion welding Pressure welding Brazing

Fig. 1.2 Schematics of principles of typical welding processes

As Fig. 1.2 implies, welding can be defined as “the operation that produces coalescence of two or more
members by applying heats or pressure or both, with or without the use of filler metal.”
In fusion welding, members to be joined (base metals) are heated to melt with or without the use of filler
metal (e.g. covered electrode), and then the molten parts produce coalescence of the base metals, followed
by solidification.
In pressure welding, the joining parts are given the thermal energy by friction or gas flame, and then
mechanical pressure is applied to complete the welding process.
In brazing or soldering, the brazing filler metal or solder that has a lower melting point than the base
metal is fused, without melting the base metal, and then the fused filler metal is distributed between the
closely fitted faying surfaces of the joint by capillary action. The brazing process uses a brazing filler metal,
and the soldering process uses a solder with a relatively lower melting point.
Of these metallurgical joining processes, the fusion welding process, particularly the arc welding process
that uses the arc discharge for the heat source, is most widely used.

1.1.2 Advantages and disadvantages of welding

Welding is a metallurgical joining process and possesses the following advantages over other joining
processes.
① Simple joint configuration
② Economical due to possible material savings
③ High joint efficiency and excellent leak tightness
④ Almost unlimited thickness for joining
⑤ Less noise during welding work
On the other hand, the following disadvantages can be cited.
① Higher tendency to cause distortion due to local heating and cooling
② Higher tendency to generate residual stresses which adversely affect fatigue strength and stress
corrosion cracking
③ Higher tendency to degrade the characteristics of the base metal being affected by the welding heat,
possibly causing weld cracks and reduced toughness and corrosion resistance
④ Higher possibility of brittle fracture of the whole structure caused by a crack, without arresting the
crack at the weld joint
⑤ Special consideration is required about the weld metal which has different properties from the base
metal.
⑥ Not easy to confirm weld qualities because of strong dependence on the skill of welding personnel.
These matters are described in detail in relevant Chapters. It is imperative to learn the fundamentals of a
wide scope of welding technologies in this book to learn the measures to overcome the disadvantages of
welding as much as possible and to produce weld joints utilizing the inherent advantages of welding
sufficiently.

1-2
1.1.3 Fundamentals of arc welding
Fusion welding is often applied for welding structurally important parts. Generally, when two steel plates
are arc-welded, the welded part can be categorized as shown in Fig. 1.3 into weld metal, heat-affected zone,
and heat-unaffected zone (base metal). The welded part is the coalescence of metals which has different
qualities from the base metal. To make a sound weld joint, the specific characteristics of weld metals should
be considered in design and fabrication procedure, and the welding should be carried out carefully.

Weld metal (WM)

Groove (machined before welding)

Base metal (BM) Heat-affected zone (HAZ)
(hardened in steel and
softened in aluminum in general)

Fusion line
(possible to become brittle)

Fig. 1.3 Categories of a weld

Figure 1.4 shows the shielded metal arc welding process, a popular welding process that has been used
from old times. With this typical welding process the fundamentals of arc welding are explained in the
following.

Electrode holder
g e
c
n
i r
d
l u
eo Electrode connection
wsr
c e
rw
Aop
Workpiece connection

(a) Secondary circuit connection

Core rod

Covered electrode
c
i e
t
s c
ir
r u Covering (flux)
e
t o
c s
a
r r
e
a
h w
cop
Crucible
g
n g Molten metal droplet
i
p n
i Shielding
o d
l atmosphere Molten slag
o
re
Dw
Solidified slag
Arc Weld metal

Weld pool
Base metal

(b) Schematic view of welding process

Fig. 1.4 Shielded metal arc welding

1-3
 As shown in Fig. 1.4, the voltage of alternating current (AC, popular in Japan) or direct current (DC)
applied across the core rod (coated with flux) of the covered electrode and the base metal generates an arc.
The tip of the covered electrode is melted by the arc heat (5000-6000K), generating molted droplets that
transfer to the weld pool. The transferred molten droplets coalesce with the molted part of the base metal
fused by the arc heat, fill the opening (welding groove), and solidify to become the weld metal. This welding
process is also known as “manual arc welding” because a welder carries out holding the electrode holder.
Oxygen and nitrogen in weld metals can cause reduced toughness and form blowholes (porosity). During
arc welding the coating flux of a covered electrode is decomposed by the arc heat and stabilizes the arc,
generates gases and slag to shield the weld pool and weld metal, thereby preventing oxygen and nitrogen
from dissolving into the weld metal. Many kinds of covered electrodes having different properties with
different compositions of the covering fluxes are produced. With an appropriate covered electrode selected,
out-of-position welding can be carried out as shown in Fig. 1.5.

Top
Overhead

n
w
o
d
p l
u a
c
l
a i
t
c
i r
e
t
r V
e
V
Horizontal

Horizontal fillet Flat Bottom

Fig. 1.5 Main welding positions

The metal active gas (MAG) welding process shown in Fig. 1.6 uses, instead of the covered electrode as
in shielded metal arc welding, the welding torch through which a welding wire is fed continuously to
generate an arc between the wire and the base metal. Carbon dioxide or Ar-CO2 mixture gas is supplied
from the nozzle of the welding torch to shield the weld pool and weld metal from the air. This welding
process is also known as semiautomatic welding because the welding wire is fed automatically while the
torch is handled by the welder.

1-4
 Feeding motor

Feeding roller

Wire spool
Nozzle
Contact tip
Shielding gas
Welding
power Wire
source
Arc
Base metal

Weld pool
Weld metal

Fig. 1.6 MAG welding

The shielding of high temperature weld metal from the air is very important to prevent the occurrence of
welding defects such as blowholes. In shielded metal arc welding and submerged arc welding, the weld pool
and weld metal are shielded mainly with slag. In MAG welding, metal inert gas (MIG) welding, and tungsten
inert gas (TIG) welding, the weld pool and weld metal are shielded with shielding gases.

1.2 Arc welding phenomena

1.2.1 Arc characteristics

As shown in Fig. 1.7 an arc voltage consists of the cathode (negative pole) voltage drop, the anode
(positive pole) voltage drop, and the arc column voltage drop between cathode and anode. The arc column
is composed of neutral particles, such as atoms and molecules, and charged particles such as ions and
electrons that are generated by ionization of neutral particles. The arc column is characterized by “thermal
equilibrium” and “electric neutrality.” The gas in this condition is called ionized gas (plasma).
Arc currents are carried mostly (more than 99.9%) by electrons. That is, while particular numbers of
electrons are emitted from cathode into the arc column, the same numbers of electrons are absorbed by
anode. An arc is a high temperature conductive gas which can carry considerable amounts of currents. The
ionization degree of an arc is maintained by the electric power (the energy produced by the product of arc
voltage and current) supplied to the arc.
An arc column is maintained at a high temperature of between 5000-50,000K, though it depends on
electric current, the kind of arc gas, and the shape of the arc [Ref. 2]. In the case of shielded metal arc
welding of mild steels, the temperature of the arc becomes lower (approximately 6000K) because the arc
contains a large amount of metal vapors that are apt to be ionized.

1-5
 Electrode Electrode Arc

Separation Generation of arc

Short-circuited

Anode Cathode
voltage drop voltage drop Cathode (W)

Arc column
voltage drop
Temperature
(104 K)

Arc length:
10mm

Arc voltage
Anode

Arc discharge: Ar, approximately 1000hPa (1 atm.), 200A-14.2V

Fig. 1.7 Generation of arc and its characteristics

1.2.2 Welding arc phenomena

The relation between arc voltage and current for a direct current TIG arc is shown in Fig. 1.8. In the low
current range the arc voltage decreases as the current increases; this is called the negative resistance
characteristic. In the high current range, the arc voltage gradually increases as the current increases; this
is called the ascending characteristic. At a particular amount of current the arc voltage increases with a
longer arc length because the arc column voltage drop increases.

TIG arc (argon)

Th-W, 3.2φ, copper anode Arc length

)
V
(
e
g
a
t
l
o
v
c
r
A

Arc current (A)

Fig. 1.8 Voltage-current characteristics in TIG arc welding

1-6
 As shown in Fig. 1.9 the current of an alternating current (AC) arc becomes zero in each half cycle, and
thus the arc is distinguished instantaneously, but it will be reignited in the next half cycle with the opposite
polarity. The voltage P at this moment is called reignition voltage and it is generally higher than the voltage
QRS at the time of quasi-steady discharge. Therefore, in order to maintain the AC arc, the power source
voltage P0 (no-load voltage) at the moment of reignition must be higher than the reignition voltage P, as
shown in the figure. In the case of AC arc, the phase of welding current must be later (with a lower power
factor) than the phase of the no-load voltage of the power source. With a higher no-load voltage, the arc
can ignite more stably.
In direct current (DC) arc welding, the covered electrode (or welding wire) may be connected to the
anode terminal and the base metal is connected to the cathode terminal, or vice versa. The former polarity
is called DC electrode positive (DCEP) or DC＋, and the latter polarity is called DC electrode negative
(DCEN) or DC－.

No-load voltage
(Open circuit voltage)
Current:

Time

Arc voltage:

Fig. 1.9 Voltage and current waveforms of AC arc

(1) Electric potential gradient and thermal and electromagnetic pinch effect
The voltage drop per unit arc column length is called electric potential gradient. This value varies
depending on type of gases, current intensity and so on; it is normally around 0.3-5V/mm.
The high temperature portion of an arc column becomes thinner to contract its cross section when its
perimeter is cooled rapidly. This is called “thermal pinch effect.” When the arc becomes thinner, its
electric resistance increases, and thereby the electric potential gradient is increased. This arc phenomenon
is substantially the same as the phenomenon in which the arc with the carbon dioxide gas shielding becomes
thinner than the arc with the argon gas shielding with the same arc current. Carbon dioxide gas, which is a
molecular gas, needs dissociation energies to become an ionized gas; this is why the arc shielded with this
gas is cooled much more.
When the same directional electric currents flow in two parallel conductors, the attracting force is
generated between the conductors by electromagnetic force. Since an arc column is a gaseous aggregate of
parallel conductors, the cross section of an arc column is constricted by the attracting force induced
between individual conductors. This is called “electromagnetic pinch effect,” and the force that constricts
the cross section of an arc is called electromagnetic pinching force.
When electric currents flow in the axially symmetrical molten metal at the tip of the welding wire, the
cross section of the molten metal is constricted and squeezed by the electromagnetic pinching force
generated by the electric current, as shown in Fig. 1.10. This is a very important phenomenon to
understand the mechanism of molten metal transfer.

1-7
 Wire electrode

Pinching force
Molten metal
Molten metal
Arc Pinching force
Weld pool

Current

(a) Pinching force and detachment (b) Breakage of short-circuit by

of molten metal droplet pinching force

Fig. 1.10 Electromagnetic pinching force acting on molten

metal at the tip of a wire electrode

(2) Plasma jet, stiffness of arc, and magnetic arc blow

In the case of arc welding where an arc is generated between a thin electrode and a flat base metal, the
arc current path expands along the arc column from the electrode towards the base metal, as shown in Fig.
1.11. This is why the electrode pinching force at the vicinity of the electrode is stronger than that at the
vicinity of the base metal; i.e. the pressure at P is higher than the pressure at Q in the figure. This pressure
difference causes an aerodynamic gas flow called “plasma jet.” The flowing speed of the jet can be as high as
100m/s [Ref. 3], which accelerates the molten metal transfer and increases weld penetration. In a case
where the shielding effect is insufficient, the air can be sucked into the arc.
Even when the welding electrode is inclined during arc welding, the arc
tends to direct along the extended path of the electrode due to the effect of
the plasma jet. This phenomenon is known as the stiffness of an arc.
The phenomenon of arc blow is discussed below. The specific force, as Electrode
discussed above, arises between the parallel conductors where electric
currents flow, which is the electromagnetic force generated between the
Plasma jet
magnetic field induced by one of the electric currents and the other current.
When the magnetic field generated by the electric current or the residual Arc
magnetism of the base metal acts on the arc column in a remarkably
asymmetric way, the arc may be deflected. This is called arc blow, which
tends to occur especially at the start and end of the welding joint when DC Base plate

arc welding is carried out on the root of a welding groove and on a T joint
(Fig. 1.12). Fig. 1.11 Plasma jet
This phenomenon can occur even on a nonmagnetic base metal, and it
becomes much stronger on a magnetic base metal. In order to prevent an arc blow, such measures as
prevention of magnetization of the base metal, demagnetization treatment of the base metal, adoption of
multiple work lead connections, and appropriate positioning of work leads are effective. In the case of AC
arc welding, the arc blow phenomenon is rather difficult to occur because the electromagnetic force
becomes zero instantaneously in reaction to the alternating current waveform.

1-8
 Current

Direct current

Magnetic field Arc Arc

Magnetic field

Base metal Base metal

Fig. 1.12 Arc blow phenomenon

(3) Cathodic cleaning action

In arc welding with the polarity of DCEP and a shielding gas of argon or other inert gas, the arc has the
effect of removing the oxide film of the base metal surface. This is called the cathodic cleaning action.
If you observe an arc carefully, you will see many small luminescent points (cathode spots) moving around
on the base metal surface of negative pole. These cathode spots tend to be formed at the edges of the oxide
film, at which electric current concentrates causing rapid evaporation of the oxide film, resulting in the
removal of the oxide film. Because this phenomenon takes place continuously removing the oxide film, the
trace of the arc travel exhibits the brighter metallic surface where the oxide film is removed completely on
the base metal. The cleaning action is effective to prevent weld imperfections in the welding of aluminum
alloys.

(4) Spatter generation

In arc welding, small particles of molten metals are emitted from the electrode tip and the weld pool,
which are called spatter. Spatter not only degrades the welding performance remarkably but also requires
considerable work to remove from the weld, thereby reducing the welding work efficiency markedly.
Figure 1.13 [Ref. 4] shows variations in the spatter generation mechanisms. The type (b) is common in
shielded metal arc welding, and (c) and (d) are common in gas metal arc welding with the CO2 gas shielding.

(a) Ejection of gas bubble (b) Gas explosion (c) Arc force (d) Arc recovery

Fig. 1.13 Variations in spatter generation mechanisms

1-9
1.2.3 Melting of consumable electrodes and molten metal transfer modes
The melting rate of a welding wire in consumable electrode welding is governed by the arc heat the wire
tip undergoes and the resistance heat (Joule heat) generated in the wire extension. The former is almost
proportional to the welding current, and the latter is proportional to the square of the welding current.
As shown in Fig. 1.14, the electrode melting rate can be varied depending on such factors as wire
diameter, welding current, the type of shielding gas, and polarity. In submerged arc and MAG/MIG welding,
the effect of the resistance heat of the wire extension on the melting rate cannot be negligible because the
welding wire of large electric resistivity is used with high current density.

Submerged arc welding

) CO2 arc welding

.
n
i with flux-cored wires
m
/
m
c
( MIG welding with solid wires
e
t
a
r
g
n
i
t
l
e
M

Arc current (A)

Fig. 1.14 Wire melting rates with various welding processes

In the DCEP welding conditions, the contribution ratio of the electric resistance heat to the melting rate
is a few percent or less for aluminum alloy wires, while as high as 40-70% for mild steel and stainless steel
wires.
The metal transfer from the tip of an electrode takes various modes depending on the welding process
and parameters. The metal transfer modes can be classified according to the size and shape of a molten
metal droplet and the transfer mechanism, as shown in Table 1.1. When the size of a drop of molten metal
transferring from the electrode tip is excessively big or irregular, the arc becomes unstable because the arc
length fluctuates largely during the droplet transfer.
Typical metal transfer modes are discussed shortly in the following.

(a) Globular transfer

Globular transfer can be defined as a metal transfer in which the molten metal drops with the size equal to
or larger than the electrode diameter transfer, which can be seen in shielded metal arc welding with
low-hydrogen electrodes, CO2 gas metal arc welding, MAG welding, and MIG welding with a low current.
Typically, large amounts of spatter generate.

(b) Short circuiting and bridging transfer

In this transfer mode the molten metal at the tip of an electrode bridges with the weld pool, and then the
molten metal bridge is squeezed and pinched off by the electromagnetic pinching force and the surface
tension to transfer the molten metal to the weld pool. In MIG/MAG welding with low currents this short

1-10
circuiting transfer mode takes place with low arc voltage (short arc length). This is called short-circuit arc
welding, which is characterized by shallow penetration and is suitable for sheet metal welding and
out-of-position welding.

(c) Spray transfer

In spray transfer the molten metal drops with the size smaller than the electrode diameter flies through
the arc to transfer. This transfer mode can be observed in relatively high current MAG welding (in the use
of a shielding gas mixture with 80% or higher argon), MIG welding, and shielded metal arc welding with the
high titanium oxide type covered electrodes. Typically, this transfer mode offers low spatter and stable arc.
In MIG welding and MAG welding with a shielding gas mixture containing 80% or higher argon, the transfer
mode becomes globular with low currents, but it changes to the spray transfer with high currents over the
critical current relevant to the shielding gas composition.

Table 1.1 Classification of molten metal transfer modes

Transfer mode Typical welding process Typical profile
(1) Globular transfer
① Drop transfer Low current GMA
② Repelled transfer CO2 arc

Arc Arc

(2) Spray transfer

Free transfer

① Projected transfer Medium current GMA

② Streaming transfer Medium current GMA
③ Rotating transfer High current GMA Arc

(3) Explosive transfer Shielded metal arc

Gas

(4) Short-circuit transfer CO2 arc

Weld
pool Arc Arc
Contact transfer

(5) Bridging transfer Filler wire

(6) Wall surface transfer Submerged arc

(Submerged arc type)
Flux
Transfer in flux crucible

Arc

(7) Wall surface transfer Shielded metal arc

(Shielded metal arc type) Flux

Arc

1-11
1.2.4 Weld penetration and formation of weld bead
The ratio of the thermal energy transferred to the base metal to the energy (power) supplied to generate
the arc is called thermal efficiency. The energy that is not transferred to the base metal is radiated into the
air and is conducted to the torch. As shown in Fig. 1.15 [Ref. 5] the thermal efficiency in arc welding varies
markedly from 21-99% depending on the type of base metal and the welding process.
The weld penetration in arc welding can be affected by the shape of the arc, welding current, and the
convection of molten metal in the weld pool. It is known that the convection of molten metal is affected by
plasma jet, surface tension, and the content of such microelements as sulfur, oxygen, and aluminum in the
molten metal.

TIG: Mild steel, AC SAW

TIG: Mild steel, DCEN

TIG: Aluminum, AC

TIG: Tin, AC
MIG: Mild steel
SMAW
MIG: Aluminum MIG

SMAW: Mild steel, AC

SMAW: Mild steel, DCEN

SMAW: Mild steel, AC, deep penetration

SAW: Mild steel, AC
)
s
/
J
k
(
l
a TIG: Mild steel, Aluminum
t
e
m
e
s
a
b
o
t
n
i
t
u
p
n
i
t
a
e
H

TIG: Tin

Electrical input into arc (kJ/s)

Fig. 1.15 Thermal efficiency of welding arc

1-12
 There are many factors that influence the shape of the penetration; particularly, heat input into the base
metal and its distribution, the characteristics of the base metal, and the groove configuration are the
essential factors. Figure 1.16 [Ref. 6] shows a comparison of the penetration in the high-current MIG
welding of heavy plates, which reveals that copper with high heat conductivity makes smaller penetration
than steel. Figure 1.17 shows the effect of the welding position on the penetration. In uphill welding the
molten metal flows backwards from the weld pool by the gravity force and thus the bottom of the weld pool
is exposed directly to the arc; consequently, the base metal is melted in the gouging condition, and thereby
the penetration becomes deeper.

(a) Aluminum (b) Copper (c) Steel

Fig. 1.16 Penetration shape versus type of base metal (MIG welding)

(a) Uphill (b) Flat (c) Downhill

Fig. 1.17 Bead shape versus slope of base metal (MAG welding)

The effect of the shielding gas on the penetration shape cannot simply be expressed, because the
penetration shape can also be affected by the molten metal transfer mode in such a way that a change in the
molten metal transfer mode affects the shape of the arc and the intensity of the plasma jet, and thereby the
distribution of heat input and the depth of the heating point from the surface can be changed. However, in
the cases of MIG and MAG welding of steels, the effect of the shielding gas on the penetration shape can
conceptually be illustrated as in Fig. 1.18.

(a) CO2 (b) Ar + CO2 (c) Ar

Fig. 1.18 Penetration shape versus shielding gas (MIG/MAG welding)

As the welding speed increases the weld pool becomes longer, thereby causing undercut. When the
welding speed is increased excessively, the weld bead becomes a humping bead which exhibits an irregular
appearance where the quantity of weld metal changes cyclically in the direction of the welding line.

1-13
1.2.5 Output characteristics of arc welding power sources and arc characteristics
The characteristic curve that shows the relation between the output voltage and current of welding
power sources is know as the output characteristic curve, which can be classified as shown in Fig. 1.19 into
(a) the drooping characteristic (including the constant current characteristic shown with a broken line) and
(b) the constant voltage characteristic (including the shelving drooping characteristic shown with a broken
line).

e e
g
g
a a
t t
l
l
o o
v v
d d
a
a
o o
L Constant current L
characteristic

Load current Load current

(a) Drooping characteristic (b) Constant voltage characteristic

Fig. 1.19 Output characteristic curves of arc welding power sources

(1) Drooping characteristic power source and arc

The PQRS curve in Fig. 1.20 shows the drooping characteristic of a power source; P shows no-load
voltage and S shows short circuit current. The L1 and L2 curves show the arc characteristic curves for the
two arc lengths (L2 > L1), respectively. In this case the arc with the length L1 or L2 is maintained at the
operation point R1 or R2 respectively where both the output characteristic of the welding power source and
the arc characteristic are satisfied at the same time.

External characteristic of welding power source

e
g Arc characteristic
a
t curves
l
o
v
c
r
A

Welding current

Fig. 1.20 Arc operation points with drooping characteristic power source

It is obvious in Fig. 1.20 that welding current changes slightly when the arc length changes somewhat
with a drooping characteristic welding power source. Especially, with a DC arc welding power source of the
constant current characteristic, the welding current does not change at all. Therefore, the drooping
characteristic welding power sources are suitable for shielded metal arc welding and manual TIG welding,

1-14
because even if the welder jerked the covered electrode or the welding torch during welding the welding
current does not change largely, thereby maintaining the arc stable.
With the drooping characteristic welding power sources, the arc voltage feed-back control (AVC) system
which feeds back the arc voltage to control the torch stand off distance and the wire feed rate is suitable to
keep the arc length stable. This system is used for automatic TIG welding and other automatic welding (e.g.
submerged arc welding) in which the current density of the wire electrode is not so high.

(2) Constant voltage power source and arc

In MIG/MAG automatic and semi-automatic welding where the current density of the wire electrode is
high, the welding wire is fed at a high constant speed with DC arc welding power sources of the constant
voltage characteristic. In this case, the relation between the output characteristic of the welding power
source and the arc characteristic is as shown in Fig. 1.21.
In a case where the arc length changes from L1 to L2 by any reason, the welding current changes largely
from I1 to I2, and in turn the wire melting speed changes instantly. Because the wire is fed at a constant
speed, the arc length is recovered soon. This mechanism is called the self-correction mechanism of the power
source for automatic regulation of the arc length.

Arc characteristics

e Stable operation points

g
a External characteristic
t
l of welding power source
o
v
c
r
A

Uｎstable operation points

Arc current

Fig. 1.21 Arc operation points with constant voltage power source

1.3 Arc welding equipment

1.3.1 Kinds and features of welding power sources

There are many kinds of the output modes of welding power sources such as alternating current (AC),
direct current (DC), drooping (constant current) characteristic, constant voltage characteristic, pulsed
current, and non-pulsed current, which are used for different applications appropriate to individual modes.

(1) AC arc welding power sources

AC power sources are used for shielded metal arc welding and submerged arc welding in which the
re-ignition voltage is reduced by using specific fluxes, for electroslag welding in which the resistance heat of
the slag is used as the heat source, and for TIG welding of aluminum alloys in which both the cathodic
cleaning action and better tungsten electrode capacity are required.

1-15
 In recent years, inverter-type AC power sources that can control the weld penetration by adjusting the
polarity which affects the heat input characteristics have been developed and utilized.

(2) DC arc welding power sources

DC power sources are mainly used for consumable electrode gas shielded arc welding (MIG/MAG
welding) using thin wires, for electrogas arc welding, and for TIG welding of steels. For the two former
welding processes, the constant voltage characteristic is suitable, and for TIG welding the drooping
(constant current) characteristic is suitable.
DC power sources are also used for self-shielded arc welding, plasma welding and cutting, shielded metal
arc welding with special electrodes, air arc cutting, stud welding, and submerged arc welding with thin
wires.
Table 1.2 shows a comparison of characteristics between AC and DC power sources.

Table 1.2 Comparison between AC and DC arc welding power sources

DC arc welding power source AC arc welding power source
Item
Single phase Inverter
Thyristor controlled Inverter controlled transformer controlled
No-load voltage Low High Low

Arc stability Good Excellent Slightly inferior Superior

Variable polarity
Polarity selection Possible Impossible ratio
Arc blow Easy to occur hard to occur
Load balancing in Possible Impossible Possible
three phase
Power factor High Extremely high Low Extremely high
Extremely
Mechanism Slightly complicated Complicated Simple complicated
Price Slightly lower Slightly higher Lower Higher

1.3.2 Structure and performance of arc welding power sources

The structures of the welding power sources have significantly been evolved in tandem with the progress
in electronics. The following sections discuss typical structures.

(1) AC arc welding power sources

AC welding power sources can be classified into the transformer type, thyristor type, and inverter type.

(a) Movable-shunt type

The transformer type can be classified into the movable-shunt (movable-core) type and the movable-coil
type, and the former is mainly used. The output characteristic of this power source is limited to the
drooping characteristic but it is inexpensive and, therefore, it is used for shielded metal arc welding and
submerged arc welding. The principles of the movable-shunt type are shown in Fig. 1.22. The movable iron
shunt M3 is positioned between the main iron core M1 and M2. By moving the iron shunt M3 by the adjusting
wheel, the amount of magnetic leakage flux or the reactance can be increased or decreased. As a result, the
output volt-ampere curve changes and thereby the welding current can be adjusted as shown in Fig. 1.23.
This mechanism can be understood in such a way that the drooping characteristic is established basically
by using the voltage drop provided by the reactor that is connected in series to the AC power source. The
structure of this type of power source is simple and durable, and the movable iron shunt makes its
maintenance easy.

1-16
 Primary coil Secondary coil

Electrode holder
y
l
p
p
u
s
r
e Moving
w direction
o
p
C
A Base metal

Main iron core: M1, M2 Movable iron shunt: M3

Fig. 1. 22 Movable-shunt welding power source

Leaked magnetic flux

Little
e
g
a
t
l
o Much
v
c
r
A

Welding current

Fig. 1.23 Variations of volt-ampere output curves versus

amounts of magnetic leakage flux

(b) Thyristor type

AC welding power sources of thyristor type control the welding current by altering the firing phase angle
of the thyristor. AC-TIG welding power sources use superimposed high frequency wave to prevent the arc
from being extinguished at the moment that the direction of the welding current alternates.

(c) Inverter type

AC welding power sources of inverter type feature the specific circuitry built in such a manner that
another inverter is connected to the output of the inverter type DC welding power source (refer to Fig.
1.25). This type has a complicated structure and needs many electronic parts, thereby causing high prices.
Nevertheless, this type of power source offers high performance due to the output characteristic of less
ripples and rectangular waveform, which enables to eliminate superimposed high frequency wave for TIG
welding. In addition, the polarity ratio can easily be changed with this type of power source; therefore, it is
possible to reduce the duration of the electrode positive period during which the tungsten electrode tends
to be consumed considerably, without losing the effect of the cleaning action in TIG welding of aluminum
alloys. Furthermore, by utilizing such effect of polarity that the direction of current affects the melting
characteristics of wire electrode and the base metal, specific MIG and MAG welding power sources that can
control the weld penetration have been developed and put into practical uses.

1-17
(2) DC arc welding power sources
DC arc welding power sources can be classified into the engine-driven type and the rectifier type. The
rectifier power sources include the tapped transformer type, sliding transformer type, thyristor type, and
inverter type.

(a) Engine-driven type

Many of the welding power sources of this type that directly drives a DC generator by engine feature the
drooping characteristics, whose mechanism is such that the excitation magnetic flux decreases in response
to an increase in the welding current and the electromotive force decreases. The engine-driven type is
excellent in mobility because it eliminates the primary electric power supply; however, care must be taken
for its maintenance because its main components of rotary parts can cause the problems of vibration and
noise.

(b) Tapped transformer type and sliding transformer type

While the tapped transformer type adjusts the output voltage by tap selection, the sliding transformer
type adjusts the output voltage by using the sliding contact point. Although these types offer simple
structures and low prices, remote controls and fine adjustment cannot be done.

(c) Thyristor type

The configuration of a thyristor-type DC welding power source is shown in Fig. 1.24. With the thyristor
type, the power supply voltage is stepped down to an appropriate voltage for welding by using the welding
transformer and then is rectified by the thyristor and is smoothed by the DC reactor for the output currents.
The output voltage is adjusted by changing the firing timing (the firing phase angle) of the thyristor. This
type is broadly used because its structure is relatively simple, remote controls and fine adjustment can be
done, and its durability is excellent without a rotating part.

(d) Inverter type

Inverter-type DC welding power sources have been developed with the progress in electronics including
practical application of high-capacity transistor, which have made it possible to improve welding
performance and to reduce the size of the power source.
The configuration of an inverter-type power source is shown in Fig. 1.25. The AC current with
commercial frequency is rectified to a DC, and the DC is changed to a high frequency AC of 3-20 kHz by
the inverter that uses a transistor as the switching element and the AC is applied to the transformer. The
voltage is reduced by the transformer to an appropriate voltage for welding. The AC current is rectified
again to a DC, and then the DC is smoothed by the reactor. The output voltage is adjusted by controlling
the pulse width of the inverter.
The inverter type has a complicated circuit and is relatively expensive, but enables fast-speed, precise
controls of current waveform in response to a change in the welding condition, and thereby the welding
current and arc voltage can be stabilized, spatter can be decreased (refer to Figs. 1.39 and 1.40), and the
arc starting can be easier.
Furthermore, the transformer is located in the high frequency circuit but not in the primary circuit, and
the reactor size can be smaller. Consequently, this type of power source can be smaller and lighter by less
than half, better in portability, and less in footprint as compared with the thyristor type. Because there is
no transformer in the input circuit of the power source, the power factor is high, the input power loss is low,
and thereby electric cost savings can be realized.

1-18
 As mentioned above, inverter-type welding power sources have many advantages; therefore, they are
broadly used in recent years.

Commercial
power supply
Transformer Thyristor DC reactor

AC AC DC DC
Power output

（Voltage (Rectification) （Smoothing of ripples)

transformation)

50/60Hz DC DC

Fig.1.24 Configuration of a thyristor-type DC welding power source

Primary Secondary
rectifier Capacitor Inverter Transformer rectifier DC reactor Power output
H
i
g
h-n

Commercial
H
i
g
he

f
r
eeA

power supply
f
r
e
q
uA
n
c
y

q
u
c
y

50/60Hz
C

DC DC DC DC
AC

(Rectification) (Smoothing (Converting to (Voltage （Rectification) （Smoothing

of ripples) high frequency AC) transformation) of ripples)

50/60Hz DC Converted AC DC DC

Fig. 1.25 Configuration of an inverter-type DC welding power source

(3) Accessories of power sources

(a) Voltage reducing device
When an energized AC arc welding power source is in the no-load condition, there is a danger of electric
shock because high, no-load voltage (up to 95V) is applied across the electrode holder and base metal (or
ground). This is why the use of a voltage reducing device is required when welding in a confined space and
at a 2 meter or higher place in accordance with the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health of Japan.
The voltage reducing device reduces, when the arc is halted, the voltage between the electrode holder
and base metal to be 25V or less (Fig. 1.26).

1-19
 In accordance with JIS C 9311 (Voltage Reducing Device for AC Arc Welding Machines), the starting
time from starting an arc until applying no-load voltage is required to be 0.06 second or shorter, and the
delayed time from cutting the arc until reducing the no-load voltage to the safety voltage of 25V or less is
required to be 1.0±0.3 second. The delayed time is specified taking into account the workability in such
specific work, using an intermittent arc, as crater treatment and tack welding.
The purpose of equipping this device is for the safety of welders, so the predetermined checking of the
device must absolutely be conducted.

Nw
o
-
l
o
a
dg
v
o
l
t
a
g
es
o
fu
e
u

e
l
d
i
n
p
o
w
e
r
o
r
c
e
l
a
v
e
v
i
t
c
e Arc Arc
f
f ignition
e
(
extinguishing
e
g
a No-load voltage of （Arcing duration)
t
l
o
v voltage reducing
C device
A Arc
voltage No-load voltage of
voltage reducing device

Time
Starting time Delayed time
(Approx. 1.0 sec.)

Fig. 1.26 Output control with voltage reducing device

(b) Arc ignition device

The arc ignition device applies a high frequency wave (0.1-5 MHz) or a high DC voltage (several kV)
across the electrode and base metal to cause a spark discharge, providing the ionized atmosphere with
conductivity, and thereby generating a welding arc. This device is indispensable for igniting an arc in TIG
welding to prevent the tungsten electrode from damage.
High frequency discharge can cause the noise problem for the surrounding electric devices, so protective
measures should be taken.

(c) Capacitor for improving power factor

Because the power factor of AC arc welding power sources is low, the phase advance capacitor with an
appropriate capacity is used to improve power factor.

(d) Power-controlling devices

Power sources for the consumable electrode (e.g. wire) welding processes are equipped with specific
devices to control the welding conditions. In the case of the drooping characteristic power sources for
submerged arc welding, the arc voltage-controlling circuit is installed, which detects a fluctuation in arc
voltage and, according to the fluctuation, changes the wire feed speed. In the case of the constant voltage
power sources for MIG/MAG welding, the constant-speed-feeding circuit is installed, which controls the
arc length by increasing or decreasing the welding current while controlling the wire feed speed to be
constant. Both types of power sources are equipped with specific circuits for setting and adjusting the arc
voltage and welding current.
In MAG/MIG welding, the arc voltage is adjusted by shifting the output volt-ampere curve, for example,
from E1 to E2 as shown in Fig. 1.27 by using the voltage adjusting dial. Welding current is basically adjusted
by changing the wire feed speed by using the current adjusting dial. The relationship between the welding
current and the arc voltage with a constant wire feed speed (e.g. V1) is the melting characteristic curve of a
wire (the solid line for the wire feed speed V1 in Fig. 1.27).

1-20
 By changing the wire feed speed from V1 to V2, the welding current can be increased from I1 at the point
R1 to the value corresponding to the point R2. In this case, the arc length changes from L1 to L2. To cancel
this change in the arc length, the arc voltage is adjusted to be the proper value (E2) for the welding current
(I2) at the point R3 by changing the output voltage from E1 to E2, using the voltage adjusting dial. With an
advanced electronic circuit, the arc voltage and welding current can simultaneously be adjusted by using a
single dial with a volt-ampere auto-adjustment type welding power source.
On the dial for adjusting the welding current by changing the wire feed speed, amperes are indicated as a
guide. However, care should be taken of selecting an ampere read because the melting characteristic curve
of a wire can be varied depending on the material, diameter, and wire extension (refer to Fig. 1.14).
A remote controller is a device for welder to change the welding condition at a remote place away from
the welding power source. In the case of AC arc welding power source, the welding condition can be
adjusted by a remote-controlled electric motor instead of a manual adjusting wheel. For driving the motor,
the wireless type uses the welding cable for the controlling cable while the wire type uses a separate cable
for the driving cable. The remote controller for automatic and semi-automatic welding power sources has
the adjusting dials.
TIG welding power sources are equipped with specific controlling circuits for supplying the cooling water
and shielding gas, for generating a high frequency wave, and for the crater treatment at the end of the weld
bead.

Melting characteristic of a wire

Arc characteristic
Arc voltage ( E )

Output characteristic of
a welding power source

Welding current ( I )

Fig. 1.27 Relation between arc operating point, output characteristic of

a welding power source, and melting characteristic of a wire in MAG welding

(e) Wire feeders

The wire feeding systems for automatic and semi-automatic welding machines include the push type, pull
type, and push-pull type.
Figure 1.28 shows examples of wire-feeding systems for MAG welding. The push type is equipped with a
feeding motor near the wire reel. This type is suitable for steel wires which are hard to buckle and has
excellent operability with a light welding torch. The pull type is equipped with a feeding motor near the
torch.

1-21
This type is suitable for thin wires and soft wires, but the conduit cable can not be very long. The push-pull
type is a combined system of the push type and the pull one, which is equipped with a constant speed motor
on the one side and a constant torque motor on the other side for feeding a wire. This type enables to feed
a soft wire and to use a longer conduit cable. In the case of the welding robot system, there is an example of
controlling the wire feed speed synchronously with constant speed motors equipped on both sides.

Wire reel
Flexible conduit
Wire

Base metal
Wire feeder
(a) Push-type

Wire reel
Flexible conduit
Wire

Wire Wire feeder Base metal

(b) Pull-type

Wire reel
Flexible conduit
Wire

Pulling feeder Base metal

Pushing feeder
(c) Push-pull type

Fig. 1.28 Feeding systems of wire feeders

1.3.3 Configuration of arc welding equipment

The semi-automatic or automatic arc welding equipment typically consists of a welding torch, a wire
feeder, a control device, a welding power source, and accessories. For example, Fig. 1.29 shows a typical
type of MIG/MAG semi-automatic welding equipment. In typical automatic welding, a carriage is used for
the travel of the welding torch, but recently, automatic welding systems combined with industrial robots are
used considerably.
In both semi-automatic and automatic welding, the welding wire is fed automatically. But a different point
between them is that the welding torch is manipulated manually by a welder in the former, but it is carried
mechanically in the latter.

1-22
 Gas pressure regulator

Welding
power source

r
e
d
n
i
l
y Controller
c
s
a
G Wire feeder

Welding torch

Remote controller Base metal

Fig. 1.29 Configuration of MIG/MAG semi-automatic welding equipment

1.4 Handling of arc welding equipment

1.4.1 Installation of arc welding power sources

The ratio of the output power to the input power (kW) of an AC arc welding power source is defined as
the efficiency of the power source. The ratio of the input power (kW) to the apparent input (kVA) is defined
as power factor, which is equal to the cosine (cosθ) of the phase difference (θ) between the input current
and voltage. In the case of AC arc welding power source, the power factor is necessarily low due to the
reactance loading. In other words, a higher input (kVA) is necessary than the arc electric power. Therefore,
sufficient care should be taken for the capacity of the access to electricity when planning plant facilities. In
order to improve the power factor, available is a special power source that is equipped with a built-in
capacitor connected in parallel.

(1) Duty cycle of welding power sources

The duty cycle of an AC welding power source is the proportion of the loading time against the whole
working time. In accordance with JIS C 9300 (General Rules for Arc Welding Power Sources), the rated
duty cycle is defined as the maximum duty cycle for 10 minutes at the rated secondary current. The
allowable duty cycle with a welding current different from the rated secondary current can be calculated by
Eq. 1.1.
2
Rated secondary current
Allowable duty cycle (%) = × Rated duty cycle (%) …… (1.1)
Actual welding current

For example, the allowable duty cycle can be calculated by Eq. 1.2 for a welding power source whose
rated secondary current is 500A and rated duty cycle is 60% when using the welding current 400A.
2
500
× 0.6 = 0.93 → 93% ………………………………………………………… (1.2)
400

1-23
 This equation, however, should be used only when the temperature elevation of the transformer is
concerned. In the case of specific power sources that use semiconductors such as thyristor or transistor for
the main circuit, welding currents higher than the rated secondary current should not be used even for a
short time because the thermal capacity of semiconductors is low.

(2) Frequency of electric power supply

AC arc welding power sources can be classified into two types according to the frequency of the electric
power supply: the one is for 50 Hz and the other is for 60 Hz. If a 60 Hz welding power source is used at a
50-Hz electric power supply area, the magnetic flux density of the iron core of the transformer can increase
to reach the magnetic saturation condition, thereby increasing the exciting current considerably.
Consequently, the temperature of the insulator becomes higher than the allowable limit, thereby damaging
the coil. Conversely, if a 50 Hz welding power source is used at a 60 Hz electric power supply area, the
reactance of the transformer increases, and thus the welding current cannot be increased up to the rated
secondary current.
In contrast to this, inverter-type AC power sources can be used with both 50- and 60-Hz electric power
supplies.

(3) Capacity of electric power supply

The capacity of electric power supply needed to use n units of arc welding power sources of the rated
primary input P (kVA) at a duty cycle of α and a load factor of β can be calculated by Eq. 1.3 shown
below.

n ⋅ α ⋅ 1 + ( n − 1)α ⋅ β ⋅ P ( kVA ) ………………………………………………… (1.3)

The load factor β means that a welding power source of the rated input P (kVA) is used in actual work
as a power source of β・P (kVA) on average. When n is big enough, the capacity can be obtained by n・
α・β・P (kVA).
When the load of each phase is balanced, the three-phase electric power can be √3 times each-phase
electrical power.

(4) Cable connection

When using multiple units of welding power sources with a single phase input, they should be connected
in such a way that individual loads on the three phases of the power source are balanced.
If the welding cable is excessively long or is wound in coil, the voltage drop of an AC arc welding power
source increases, and thus the output current decreases considerably. Because the high frequency applied
for starting and reigniting an arc tends to be attenuated in a conductor, it is desirable to use shorter
welding cables.
In a case where the welding cable has an inadequate cross-sectional area or is loose at the connecting
joints, the voltage drop in the conductor increases and fluctuates, and thus the arc becomes unstable and
the welding defects are likely to occur.
If several welding power sources are used with a shared work cable, the arc of a particular power source
can become unstable because the voltage drop at the work cable joint can change depending on whether or
not the welding currents of other power sources flow in the work cable.
It is necessary to use a welding cable with a sufficient cross-sectional area and to fasten it firmly at all the
connecting joints. The work cable should be installed for each power source.

1.4.2 Maintenance of arc welding equipment

(1) AC arc welding equipment
Although the AC arc welding equipment for shielded metal arc welding has a simple structure and

1-24
experiences less troubles, the following cares should be taken during use.
① Check that the movable iron core and the driving parts are not vibrating abnormally.
② Clean the interior of a power source as needed because dust accumulation can deteriorates the
air-cooling function and the insulation performance of the coil.
③ Lubricate the rotating part of the adjusting wheel and the sliding surfaces of the movable iron core to
prevent abrasion.
④ Measure the insulation resistance and the grounding resistance of the coil periodically to check that
they satisfy the requirements.

(2) TIG welding equipment

For the maintenance of TIG welding equipment, the following cares should be taken.
①The high frequency generator has spark discharge electrodes. Keep the facing surfaces of both
electrodes smooth, and adjust the gap appropriately.
② The nozzle is a very important element for gas shielding; therefore, sufficiently fasten it onto the
welding torch during use to prevent the suction of the atmospheric air in addition to taking care for
the prevention of damage.

(3) MIG/MAG welding equipment

Since there are many elements in the structure of automatic and semi-automatic MIG/MAG welding
equipment, not only the welding power source but also other elements such as wire feeder and the welding
torch need to be maintained carefully.
(a) Welding power source
The forced air cooling can cause the accumulation of dust in the interior of a welding power source.
Therefore it is often necessary to clean up the interior with sufficient care not to damage the controlling
cables and connectors.

(b) Wire feeder

The groove of the feeding roller must have a proper size matching the size of the wire to be fed. If the
feeding roller groove is worn, the wire cannot smoothly be fed because the wire can slip and, thus, the arc
becomes unstable. In addition, when the conduit tube is clogged or the feeding roller and the wire inlet
guide are misaligned, the wire feedability becomes irregular. In this case, an excessive pressure on the wire
can cause more rapid abrasion of the feeding roller groove; therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the causes
of the problem in feeding the wire in advance.

(c) Welding torch

The conduit cable is a very important part for feeding a welding wire, so care should be taken not to bend
it extremely or handle roughly. If it is clogged, flush away the clogged materials by using, for instance, a
carbon dioxide gas to clean it up.
The contact tip supplies the welding current to the wire, which can be worn by feeding the wire and thus
the arc becomes unstable.
If spatter adheres to the inside surface of the nozzle, the gas shielding effect will be reduced, and thus the
welding defects will tend to occur.

1-25
 1.5 Various arc welding processes

1.5.1 Shielded metal arc welding

(1) Principles and characteristics
Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) is generally called manual welding, which is broadly used for the
welding of steels such as carbon steels and alloy steels and nonferrous metals such as nickel alloys and
copper alloys. In SMAW, as shown in Fig. 1.4, an arc is generated by applying AC or DC currents across
the covered arc welding electrode (refer to as covered electrode hereinafter) which consists of a metallic
cored rod and its covering (flux), and the metal to be welded (base metal). The heat of the arc (approx.
5000-6000K) melts the covered electrode and base metal, forming the weld metal for joining the base
metal.
SMAW is easy-to-use because of simple equipment, and it can be used for wide applications. Therefore,
SMAW has been used as the main welding process for a long time. Nevertheless, the usage ratio of SMAW
has been reduced in Japan in tandem with the rapid expansion of the use of the CO2 gas arc welding process
which is superior to SMAW in the cost performance, since the 1980s.

(2) Power sources and covered electrodes

The drooping characteristic power sources are used in SMAW. Power sources used in Japan are mostly
AC power sources. DC power sources are used especially in cases where the arc stability is the primary
concern as in the welding of carbon steel and low alloy steel sheet metals and pipes and the welding of
stainless steels. By contrast, the usage ratio of DC power sources is high in Europe and the USA.
A covered electrode is held by the electrode holder to manipulate along the welding line. The covering flux
plays important roles in workability and the weld joint properties in SMAW (refer to Section 2.3.2 in
Chapter 2 for details). The function of the covering flux differs depending on the composition of the flux.
The covering flux is generally classified into low hydrogen type and non-low hydrogen type (ilmenite type,
lime titanium type, high titanium oxide type, etc.).

(3) Gravity welding

In gravity welding, as shown in Fig. 1.30, the electrode holder with a covered electrode slides down (from
O to O’) by its own weight along the inclined slide bar as the electrode consumes. With the progression of
welding, the tip of the covered electrode tracks on the welding line (from R to R’), keeping the constant
travel and work angles between the covered electrode and the base metal; therefore, this process needs no
electrode manipulation. Typically, this process is applied to fillet welding and offers high efficiency because
one worker can operate five or six units at the same time. Nevertheless, recently, the gravity welding has
mostly been replaced by MAG welding, so the application for this process is decreasing.

Slider (electrode holder)

Slide bar Covered electrode

Welding line

Fig. 1.30 Principles of gravity welding process

1-26
1.5.2 Gas shielded arc welding
Gas shielded arc welding progresses while the arc and molten metal are shielded from the air with a
shielding gases such as argon or carbon dioxide. Shielding gases include inert gases (such as argon and
helium) and active gases (such as carbon dioxide and Ar-CO2 mixture).
This process can be classified largely into the non-consumable electrode type, in which tungsten
electrode and filler wire are used, and the consumable electrode type, in which a welding wire electrode is
used. The former includes tungsten inert gas (TIG) arc welding and plasma arc welding (PAW), and the
latter includes metal inert gas (MIG) arc welding using an inert gas and metal active gas (MAG) arc welding
using an active gas.

(1) TIG welding

In TIG welding, as shown in Fig. 1.31, inert gas such as argon and helium is used for the shielding gas,
and an arc is generated between the non-consumable electrode of tungsten or tungsten alloy (alloyed with
1-2% of thorium oxide, cilium oxide, or lanthanum oxide) and the base metal.

Welding direction

Shielding gas (Ar, He)

Collet
Torch Cooling water

Tungsten electrode Gas nozzle

Filler rod
Shielding gas
Arc

Weld metal
Base metal

Weld pool

Fig. 1.31 Schematic of TIG welding process

A TIG arc is ignited by means of a high frequency discharge method, high DC voltage method, or arc
striking method. With the arc striking method, the electrode tends to be worn, but as with the high DC
voltage method, the noise induced by high frequency discharge is not generated. Hence, the arc striking
method is used for robotic welding. Where necessary, filler wire is applied manually or by using an
automatic feeding device into the arc.
TIG welding enables to control the welding heat input and deposition rate (or the feeding rate of filler
wire) independently, and thus all-position welding can be conducted easily. Additionally, the purity of the
weld metal is higher as compared with other arc welding processes, and thus the weld metal shows excellent
toughness, ductility, and corrosion resistance. Because the surface of the weld metal is hardly oxidized,
almost no slag is generated, and glossy weld bead can be obtained.
In contrast to the superiority in the weld joint quality, the welding efficiency is inferior. In order to
improve the welding efficiency, the hot wire method is used sometimes, which uses an auxiliary power
source to heat the filler wire by applying currents, thereby increasing the melting rate.
DC power sources of the drooping characteristic are generally used, while the welding of aluminum alloys
uses AC power sources.

1-27
 Figure 1.32 shows differences between the effects of the polarities of a power source on the melting
phenomenon. With tungsten electrode negative polarity (DCEN), narrow, deep penetration can be obtained
because the arc with high directivity concentrates on the base metal beneath the electrode. This polarity is
broadly used for welding of stainless steels and nonferrous alloys.
With tungsten electrode positive (DCEP) polarity, the penetration becomes wide and shallow because
cathode spots produced on the base metal surface move around rapidly, and thereby the heat convergence
becomes poor. The tip of the tungsten electrode tends to be fused because the heat input into the
electrode is big. Hence this polarity is almost not applied except for special applications.
Nevertheless, this polarity can be used for welding aluminum alloys because of the effect of the cleaning
action to remove the oxide film on the base metal surface. With this polarity, the heat input into the
electrode is higher with the same current as compared with DCEN polarity, thus the electrode is more likely
to be overheated. To overcome this problem, thicker electrode has to be used.

Tungsten electrode

Cleaning zone
Oxide film

(a) DCEN (b) DCEP （ｃ） AC

Fig. 1.32 Effects of polarity in TIG welding

A TIG arc with AC features the characteristics of the two polarities in DC, which is suitable for welding
aluminum alloys. Oxide cleaning action (Fig. 1.33) is indispensable for welding aluminum alloys because the
melting point and specific gravity of oxides (Al2O3) that covers the base metal surface are higher than those
of the base metal, and thus, if aluminum were welded without removing the oxide, the oxide would be
included in the weld pool, thereby causing welding defects.

Fig. 1.33 Cleaning action in aluminum welding (AC TIG welding)

TIG welding offers a stable arc and easier heat input control, and thus uniform penetration bead can be
obtained in butt welding. Hence, this process is applied for the root pass welding of thin pipe that can be
welded only from its outside, which is used for pipelines of electric power plant and chemical plant. For the

1-28
root pass welding of such a pipe joint, the inside of the pipe is purged with a back shielding gas such an
argon to prevent the oxidization of the penetration bead, though the back shielding is sometimes omitted
depending on the kind of steel.
In pulsed TIG welding, as shown in Fig. 1.34, the welding current is periodically changed. The effect of
pulsed current depends on the ratio of the peak current to the base current and the pulse frequency.

Peak current

Average current

Base current
Time

Fig. 1.34 Typical waveform of pulsed current

In TIG welding, the following pulse current frequencies are used depending on the application. With a low
frequency pulse current of 0.5-15 Hz, deep penetration can be obtained during the peak current period,
and solidification progresses during the time of base current. Hence this pulse current prevents the weld
metal from drooping and excessive melt-through and in turn provides good results in vertical and overhead
welding, the welding of a dissimilar-thickness joint with a large thickness difference, and the formation of
penetration bead.
With a high frequency pulse current, the cooling effect of the weld pool reduces, but the constriction of
the arc column can be sustained longer by the electromagnetic pinch effect at the peak currents and
thereby the directivity of the arc can be improved. In high-speed welding of sheet metals with low currents,
high-frequency pulse currents (5-15 kHz) are used with low heat input and a stable arc. TIG welding is
broadly applied for the welding of active metals such as aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, zirconium alloy, and
magnesium alloy as well as carbon steel, low alloy steel, and stainless steel.

(2) Plasma arc welding

Plasma arc for welding, cutting, and spraying can be classified into two types by its mechanism as shown
in Fig. 1.35. One is the transfer type (plasma arc) which generates plasma between the electrode and base
metal. The other one is non-transfer type (plasma jet) which generates plasma between the electrode and
the nozzle in the torch. The former is applied to welding and cutting, and the latter is also applied to cutting
nonmetallic materials and thermal spraying.
Plasma arc welding (PAW) uses for the heat source the transfer-type plasma arc which offers high energy
density due to the constriction of the arc by the constricting nozzle.
DC power sources of the drooping characteristic are used. The plasma torch with DCEN polarity is used
for welding steels. Argon or Ar-H2 mixture is generally used for orifice gas which generates plasma, and
inert gas such as argon is used as the shielding gas to shield the weld from the air.
In PAW, high-density energy is concentrated on the plasma arc column with a diameter of around 2-5
mm; thus the penetration is deep and narrow. Fig. 1.36 shows a comparison of a TIG arc to a plasma arc.

1-29
 Tungsten electrode

Orifice gas

Shielding gas High Pilot arc Plasma

frequency power power
generator source source

Cooling water
Constricting nozzle
Base metal

(a) Transferred plasma arc (plasma arc)

Tungsten electrode

Orifice gas
High Plasma
Shielding gas frequency power
generator source

Cooling water
Constricting nozzle

(b) Nontransferred plasma arc (plasma jet)

Fig. 1.35 Plasma arc generation mechanism

(a) Plasma arc （b) TIG arc

Fig. 1.36 Comparison of arc shape between plasma arc and TIG arc

In butt welding, it is difficult to form a weld pool because the arc force is stronger than in ordinary arc
welding. Hence, as shown in Fig. 1.37, constriction is produced by forming a keyhole-like
through-thickness hole in the base metal beneath the plasma arc. This keyhole technique is used for butt
welding of ordinary steels and stainless steels having relatively thin thicknesses less than 10 mm.

1-30
 Plasma torch

Plasma arc

Molten pool
Welding bead
Keyhole

Fig. 1.37 Keyhole technique

(3) MIG and MAG welding

The gas shielded arc welding process of the consumable-electrode type can be classified into MIG and
MAG welding processes. The two processes use the same configuration equipment but different kinds of
shielding gases. In MIG welding, inert gas is used, and in MAG welding, carbon dioxide gas or Ar-CO2
mixture gas is used. Especially, the MAG welding that uses a carbon dioxide shielding gas only is also
known as CO2 arc welding.

(a) Principles and characteristics

Figure 1.38 shows the principles of the MIG/MAG welding process. A welding wire is fed at a constant
speed by the wire feeding motor. When passing through the contact tip the wire receives the welding
current supplied by the power source to generate an arc between the tip of the wire and the base metal. The
wire and base metal melt together to produce a weld pool on the base metal; the weld pool becomes a weld
metal as it cools.

Feeding roller
Welding wire

Contact tip

Gas nozzle

Arc Shielding gas

Weld pool

Weld metal

Base metal

Fig. 1.38 Schematic of MIG/MAG welding process

(Spray transfer in MIG welding )

1-31
 Various shielding gases are used in MIG and MAG welding, which affect the molten metal transfer mode,
penetration, and metallurgical reaction.
The characteristics of MIG and MAG welding are described in the following.
① Highly efficient welding processes offering high deposition rates and deep penetration in the condition
of high current density and high current as compared with shielded metal arc welding.
② Continuous wire feeding by a mechanical means enables highly efficient continuous welding suitable
for automatic welding including robotic welding.
③ Compact, high-performance welding equipment enables automatic and semi-automatic welding.
④ Particularly, with solid wires, the cold crack susceptibility of the weld metal is low due to low amounts
of diffusive hydrogen in the weld metal.
⑤ Applicable to out-of-position welding in the flat, horizontal, vertical, and overhead positions.
⑥ Possible to monitor the welding condition because the arc is visible.
⑦ The shielding effect can be deteriorated by a cross wind, so protective measures are needed for
outdoor welding.
⑧ Magnetic arc blow tends to occur, thereby causing an irregular arc.

(b) Welding equipment

MIG and MAG welding equipment (refer to Fig. 1.29) consists of a welding power source, wire feeder, conduit
cable, welding torch, welding parameter controlling device, shielding gas system, and water cooling system; in
addition, a torch or work carriage may be added for automatic welding.
Constant-voltage DC power sources are widely used with DCEP polarity and constant wire feed speeds. With
this welding process, the arc length can be controlled by the self-regulation function of the power source. Hence,
if the arc length becomes longer due to some cause while the welding wire is fed at a constant speed, the welding
current decreases (thus the melting speed of wire decreases); consequently, the arc length becomes shorter to
recover to the normal arc length. If the arc length becomes shorter due to some cause, the self-regulation
function works in reverse so that the arc length recovers automatically to the normal arc length (refer to Fig.
1.21).

(c) Welding consumables

Solid wires are mainly used for MIG welding, and solid and flux-cored wires are used for MAG welding.
The solid wire has a solid, homogeneous section. Various sorts of wires with various chemical compositions
and diameters are produced. Solid wires for carbon steel and low alloy steel are coated with copper to
stabilize the welding current conductivity and protect the wire surface from rusting.
The solid wires for MAG welding of steels contain higher amounts of deoxidizing elements of silicon and
manganese to deoxidize the molten metal that is oxidized in the arc under the carbon dioxide shielding
atmosphere.
Flux-cored wires contain the arc stabilizer, slag former, deoxidizing agent, and metallic powder in the
inner part of the metal sheath, which are available for welding mild steel, high tensile strength steel, and
stainless steel, and for hardfacing. The cored fluxes can largely be classified into the slag type (rutile is the
main flux ingredient) which provides a smooth bead appearance similar to that obtained with shielded metal
arc welding electrodes and the metal type which provides high deposition rates. The applicability of these
wires for MAG welding is compared later in relation to kinds of shielding gases (refer to Section 1.7.1).

(d) Welding procedures

Typically, DCEP polarity is used in MIG welding because the solid wire arc can be more stable. MIG
welding is conducted commonly in the high current range to obtain the spray transfer of molten metal
droplet with low spatter. The shielding gases used for MIG welding are basically inert, hence oxidation
reaction is hard to takes place, and slag generates little.

1-32
 In aluminum alloy welding, pure argon is used for the shielding gas, and DCEP polarity is used to create
the cleaning action, thereby removing the oxides on the base metal surface. For welding carbon steels and
stainless steels, a gas mixture of argon with around 2% oxygen is often used to obtain more stable arcs than
with pure argon only.
MAG welding uses active gases such as carbon dioxide and Ar-CO2 gas mixture for the shielding gas, and
is applied to carbon steels, high tensile strength steels, and heat resistant steels.
Of MAG welding processes, CO2 arc welding with solid wire is a popular welding procedure and is broadly
used. This welding process offers higher efficiency as compared with shielded metal arc welding. On the
other hand, it has such inferior workability as lack of smoothness in the bead shape due to low amounts of
slag and large amounts of spatter. These disadvantages can be improved by taking the following measures.
These measures can be combined for better results.

① Use Ar-CO2 gas mixtures.

② Use flux-cored wires.
③ Use inverter-type power sources (refer to Fig. 1.39).
④ Use the short-circuiting process.
⑤ Use buried arcs.

Base metal: mild steel

Shielding gas: CO 2 , Ar + 20%CO 2 Thyristor (CO 2 )
Wire: mild steel, 1.2mmφ

)
.
n
i
m
/
g
(
r
e
t
t
a
p
s
f
o
t
n Inverter (CO 2 )
u
o
m
A

New type inverter (CO 2 )

New type inverter ( Ar + 20%CO 2 )

Welding current (A)

Fig. 1.39 Comparison of amounts of spatter

with different types of welding power sources

The molten metal droplet transfer mode in CO2 arc welding with high current is of the repelled transfer,
which causes much spatter. By contrast, the short-circuiting transfer (Fig. 1.40) with thin solid wires and
low currents of about 100A can results in low spatter. The short-circuiting transfer arc can prevent the
molten metal from drooping and offers a shallow penetration, which is suitable for all-position welding and
sheet metal welding.

1-33
 Current waveform control
Arc current in CO2 arc welding
t
n
e
r Average current
r
u
C

Short-
circuit Arc Short- Arc
circuit

Time

Arc
Short-circuit Pinching

Short-circuit transfer and typical spatter generation

Fig. 1.40 Current waveform and short-circuit transfer in CO2 arc welding
(Inverter type power source controls the current waveform as shown
with the dotted line to suppress spatter generation accompanied by short-circuit)

A buried arc can be obtained when the tip of the wire buries below the base metal surface with a low arc
voltage. The buried arc offers a good bead appearance at a high welding speed and low spatter adhered on
the base metal surface because spatter can be trapped by the weld pool and the welding groove.
With an Ar-20%CO2 mixture for the shielding gas, the molten metal transfer mode becomes the spray
transfer with high currents, which provides low spatter and fine weld ripples. If a pulsed power source is
used, the molten metal is transferred in the spray arc at the peak pulse current, resulting in sufficient
penetration, but at the base current, the molten metal is not transferred because of low current. If the peak
current, base current and pulse width are properly set up, one drop can be transferred per each pulse (Fig.
1.41 [Ref. 7]). In this case, the proper frequency ranges from 50 to 500 Hz.

Arc

Molten metal droplet

Peak current
t
n
(Pulse current)
e
r
r
u
C
Average current (IAV)

Base current
Time

Fig. 1.41 Relation between pulse current and metal transfer in pulsed arc welding

1-34
1.5.3 Self-shielded arc welding
Self shielded arc welding (self-shielded flux cored arc welding) is a kind of consumable electrode arc
welding, in which a specific welding wire that features the functions of shielding, strong deoxidizing and
denitrifying. With this process, automatic and semiautomatic welding can be conducted in the air without
using an external shielding gas. Figure 1.42 shows a schematic of this welding process.
In this welding process, flux cored wire which contains a flux inside a metal sheath is commonly used. The
weld metal contains higher amounts of gases from the air than in other arc welding processes, because the
molten metal drop made by the metal sheath tends to be exposed to the air. To overcome this problem, the
cored flux contains, other than alloying elements, arc stabilizers, and slag formers, gas generation agents
such as Mg-Al alloy, carbonate, and fluoride to shield the welding atmosphere from the air, and it also
contains deoxidizing and denitrifying agents such as aluminum powder to remove or fix the oxygen or
nitrogen infiltrated into the weld pool.
The self shielded arc welding process features the following useful advantages for field welding.
① Unnecessary to use an external shielding gas
② Hardly influenced by wind
③ Easy-to-use, light welding torch
④ Higher welding efficiency than in shielded metal arc welding
On the other side, the following disadvantages are recognized.
① Large amounts of fumes during welding
② Shallow penetration
③ Inferior in mechanical properties somewhat, such as toughness and ductility, and in porosity resistance
In order to produce a sound weld metal with this process, the arc length should be kept as short as
possible to assure the shielding effect, the wire extension should be as long as 30-50 mm (with 3.2-mm
diameter wire) to increase the deposition rate, and the back step technique should be used to re-melt
defects that tends to occur at the arc starting area. Typically, this process is used in the field welding of
steel frame constructions, steel towers, offshore structures, and steel pipe piles.

Wire feed motor

Wire feed rollers

Welding wire

Contact tip

Protective tube

Welding Fume, gas, vapor

power source

Molten slag
Welding arc
Solidified slag

Weld metal
Base metal Weld pool

Fig. 1.42 Schematically illustrated self-shielded arc welding process

1-35
1.5.4 Submerged arc welding
(1) Principles and characteristics
In submerged arc welding (SAW), as shown in Fig. 1.43, an arc is generated between the base metal and
the tip of the welding wire that is fed mechanically through the granulated flux burden. The flux distributed
around the arc and weld pool prevents the air infiltration. The flux fused by the arc heat becomes molten
slag, shields the weld pool from the air, refines the molten metal, and shapes the weld bead when the molten
metal solidifies. As mentioned above, the flux plays important roles in the welding process.

Welding wire
Granular Wire feed roller
flux
Welding direction
Granular flux
Flux Contact tip
feed (current supply part)
tube
Cavity
Solid slag

Base
metal

Backing metal Weld pool Weld metal Molten slag

Fig. 1.43 Schematically illustrated submerged arc welding process

SAW features the following advantages.

① Possible to obtain extremely high deposition rates with high welding currents and multiple electrode
technique (Fig. 1.44)
② Deep penetration with narrow grooves contribute to high welding efficiency
③ Less amounts of spatter, fume, and light
④ Less effect of wind
⑤ Possible to provide consistent bead appearance and weld joint quality regardless of the operator’s skill
if the welding conditions are properly set and controlled.
On the other hand, this process has the following disadvantages.
① Proper welding positions are limited to the flat and horizontal positions
② Difficult to apply to welding joints with complicated curvatures.
③ Necessary to supply fluxes and to collect fluxes and slag
④ The heat-affected zone can be softened and embrittled if the welding heat input is excessive.
As compared with MAG welding, SAW offers deeper penetration with higher welding currents and larger
deposition rates with one-pass weld, which contribute to higher productivity. On the other hand, it is
extremely difficult to apply to unmanned welding and robotic welding because SAW always requires the
work to control the conditions of molten pool and slag for obtaining consistent welding results and the work
for feeding fluxes and recovering fluxes and slag.

1-36
 Multi-power sources,
3.2-4.8φ,
tandem wires

2.4-4φwire,
parallel-connected
power sources

)
.
n
i
m
/
g
k
(
e
t
a
r
n Single-electrode,
o
i
t
i AC, 6.4-9.6φwire
s
o
2-2.4φwire,
p
e Semi-automatic,
D DC

Single-electrode,
automatic, DC,
2-6.4φwire

Mild steel

Shielded metal arc welding

Welding current (kA)

Fig. 1.44 Deposition rates in submerged arc welding

(2) Welding consumables

In SAW, welding wire and flux that are supplied separately are combined to use. Because the workability
and joint quality depend strongly on how to combine both of them, it is important to select a wire and flux
suitable for the required application and quality.
(a) Flux
SAW fluxes can broadly be categorized into fused flux and bonded flux depending on the production
process. The production process of fused flux consists of mixing raw ores, melting them, chilling the molten
flux to solidify, crushing, and adjusting the distribution of particle sizes. Fused fluxes are typically glassy
particles, and hence they offer low moisture absorption. On the other hand, it is impossible to add metallic
elements. This type of flux is suitable for high speed welding with relatively low deposition rates.
The production process of bonded flux consists of mixing ore powders, granulating the mixed flux,
backing the granular flux at a temperature of approximately 600℃, and adjusting the distribution of particle
sizes. Because the composition of a bonded flux can be designed with desired physical properties such as
melting point, viscosity, and basicity, it is possible to produce a specific flux that offers low hydrogen weld
metal, low oxygen weld metal, high welding currents, and high deposition rates. On the other hand, bonded
fluxes are apt to absorb moisture at higher rates than fused fluxes, and hence it is necessary to dry them at
300℃ for about 1 hour before use. This type of flux is suitable for one pass welding of thick carbon steel
plate and for welding of low alloy steels.
(b) Welding wire
Typically, solid wires with a diameter of 3.2-6.4 mm are used as electrode. Solid wires for mild steel, high
tensile strength steel and low alloy steel are generally copper coated to provide better electrical
conductivity and resistance to rusting.
As for special shape electrode, flux-cored wire and strip electrode are available. The former is a tubular
wire that consists of metal sheath in which several kinds of alloy powders are contained. The latter is a strip
electrode with a width of 25-150 mm. These are used mainly for wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant
overlaying.

1-37
 (c) Welding fabrication
It is important to set proper welding conditions suitable for the application and required quality in welding
fabrication, because welding conditions considerably influence bead appearance and shape, joint quality,
and welding efficiency. Table 1.3 shows how the tendency of the occurrence of weld defects changes when
individual welding parameters are changed from the proper conditions. Because actual welding conditions
can be changed in a wide range of currents from 300 to 2500A and travel speeds from 20 to 300 cm/min,
the most proper welding conditions should be set by individual factories in consideration of the relationship
between welding conditions and the occurrence of weld defects and the groove shape to be used.

Table 1.3 How changes in welding parameters affect the occurrence of weld defects
(In the case of double-side single-pass welding) 1)
Weld defect Lack of Excessive Excessive Lack of Overlap Undercut Lack of Solidifi-
Welding penetration melt- reinforce- reinforce- fusion cation
parameter through ment ment crack
Increase ◎ ◎ △ ◎ ●
Current
Decrease ◎ ◎ △
Increase ● △ ●
Voltage
Decrease ● ● ● ● △
Increase ● ◎ ● ● △
Speed
Decrease ● ◎ ●
Current Increase ● △ ◎
and voltage Decrease ● ● △ ●
Current Increase △ ◎ △ ◎ ◎
and speed Decrease ● △
Speed and Increase ◎ ◎ ● △
voltage Decrease ◎ ◎ ◎
Note 1) ◎：Greatly affected, ●：Intermediately affected, △：Slightly affected

The use of an increased current results in deeper penetration and thus provides a decrease in required
cross sectional groove area and an increase in deposition rate, and the synergy effect of them reduces the
number of passes considerably, thereby increasing welding efficiency. Figure 1.45 [Ref. 8] schematically
illustrates how the level of welding current affects the number of passes.

(a) Groove shape (b) Low current (c) Medium current (d) High current

Fig. 1.45 Schematic of number of passes for different levels of welding current

Multiple-electrode procedure is a highly efficient technique in SAW. The purposes of this procedure are
to increase welding speeds and to reduce the number of passes. As shown in Fig. 1.46 [Ref. 8], the upper
limit of welding speed that can produce sound weld bead increases in proportion to the number of
electrodes. In multiple-electrode high speed welding, the electrode-to-electrode distance and the
connection of individual power sources must be properly set to control the electromagnetic force between
the electrodes, and the welding current and voltage must be adjusted appropriately; and thereby the
electrodes can perform individual functions of good bead formation efficiently. The four-electrode
procedure used in steel pipe production is a typical application of this high speed welding process. The
reduction of the number of passes is realized typically in one-sided SAW of thick plate, the details of which
are described in Section 1.7.2.

1-38
 The application of SAW spans wide fields ranging from thin steel plate to heavy thick steel plate used in
shipbuilding, bridge construction, steel frame building, pressure vessel fabrication, and pipeline
construction. The consistency of joint quality is recognize in welding mild steels, high tensile strength
steels, heat-resistant steels, low-temperature steels, and stainless steels.

t Triple electrodes
i
m
i
l
r
e
p
p
u
d
e
e
p
Double electrodes
s
g
n
i
d
l
e
W

Single electrode

Welding current of each electrode

Fig. 1.46 Schematic diagram of relation between number of electrodes,

welding speed upper limit, and welding current

1.5.5 Electrogas arc welding

(1) Principles and characteristics
Electrogas arc welding (EGW) is a highly efficient automatic gas-shielded arc welding process in the
vertical position. As shown in Fig. 1.47, in this welding process, the welding groove is enclosed with a
couple of water cooled copper shoes set on the face and back sides of the joint, welding wire is melted by
the arc in the gas shielded atmosphere, and the molten metal dammed with the copper shoes is solidified to
form the weld metal continuously as the welding progresses to build the weld joint.
Carbon dioxide gas is generally used as a shielding gas. One variation of this welding process uses a
water-cooled copper shoe on the face side only and a stationary copper backing or molded flux backing on
the back side of the joint, which is also used increasingly due to easy-to-use equipment.

1-39
 Weld pool
Wire guide nozzle
(welding torch)

Wire feed rollers Base metal

Arc
Welding wire
CO2 gas CO 2 gas

Weld metal Cooling water

Copper shoe

Cooling water

Weld bead

Fig. 1.47 Schematic of electrogas arc welding process

This welding process has the following characteristics as compared with other arc welding processes.
① High welding efficiency with high currents and thus high deposition rate (Fig. 1.48)
② Less angular distortion due to a small number of welding passes
③ Relatively large allowance in the accuracy of groove width
④ The heat-affected zone can be softened and embrittled caused by the use of high welding heat input.
⑤ Preparation including the setting of the welding equipment takes long time.
⑥ In case the welding operation is intermitted, the repair of the weld takes much time.

Electrogas
arc welding
(Wire dia.: 1.6mm)

Electrogas
)
. arc welding
n
i (Wire dia.: 3.2mm)
m
/
g
(
e
t
a
r
n
o
i
t
i
s
o
p
e
Consumable nozzle type
D electroslag welding
(wire dia.: 2.4mm)

MAG welding (wire dia.: 1.2mm)

Shielded metal arc welding (electrode dia.: 5mm)

Welding current (A)

Fig. 1.48 Comparison of deposition rates between

various welding processes in vertical up position

1-40
(2) Welding fabrication
In this welding process, DC constant voltage or drooping characteristic power sources are commonly
used, and either flux-cored wire or solid wire is used as the welding electrode but flux-cored wire is more
common due to its better arc stability and bead appearance. As to the shielding gas, several different gases
are used depending on the type of the base metal; i.e. carbon dioxide gas is mainly used for welding
structural steels but mixed gases such as Ar-CO2 and Ar-O2 are also used depending on the application.
Argon or helium or their mixture is used for welding stainless steels.
EGW is conducted basically by one-pass welding using 10-35 mm thick steel plates. For thicker steel
plates, the electrode is oscillated or multiple-pass welding procedure is applied. Table 1.4 shows typical
welding conditions; I- and V-type grooves are typical for one-pass welding procedure. X-type groove is
applied for double-sided two-pass welding procedure which can reduce heat input to ensure high toughness
of the weld metal. In EGW, the backing material must be set so as to keep a close contact with the base
metal, otherwise lack of shielding which causes porosity, overlap, and molten metal dripping can be
occurred.
EGW is used for welding vertical butt joints of various structures including the hull plates of ships,
bridges, storage tanks, and pressure vessels.

Table 1.4 Typical welding conditions for electrogas arc welding

Welding Steel plate Shape and dimension of Welding Welding conditions 1)
wire Type of Thickness groove pass Current Voltage Speed Heat
steel (mm) (mm) input
(A) (V) (cm/min.)
(kJ/cm)

19 1st pass 420 40 12.5 81

JIS Z 3319 JIS G
YFEG-22C 3115 1st pass
1.6mm SPV 355 1st pass 410 40 11.0 89
38

2nd pass 2nd pass 410 39 11.5 83

Note 1) Shielding gas: CO2, 30 liter/min.

1.6 Other welding processes

1.6.1 Electroslag welding

(1) Principles and characteristics
Electroslag welding (ESW) was invented by the Patton Electric Welding Institute of the Ukrainian Soviet
Socialist Republic (former Soviet Union) in 1951, which is a vertical-up welding process. Figure 1.49 shows the
principle of ESW.
At the first stage of ESW, flux is melted by an arc to produce a slag bath in the groove. As soon as the
molten slag is produced, the arc is distinguished, and the molten slag is heated by the resistance heat
produced by the electric current flowing through the molten slag between the welding wire and base metal;
this resistance heat melts the wire and base metal to progress welding.
The molten slag and metal are dammed with water-cooled copper shoes put on the face and back sides of
the welding groove. The interfaces between the molten metal and copper shoes are covered with a thin slag
layer, and thus the molten metal do not come into contact with the copper shoe directly; therefore, the
weld bead ripples can be regular and smooth. The suitable welding position is limited to the vertical-up
position to prevent the molten metal from flowing out from the groove. ESW resembles EGW for the
mechanism, except for the heat source.

1-41
 Wire
Wire guide

Molten
slag

Weld pool

Water-cooled
copper shoe

Weld metal
Schematic of convecting
Base metal molten slag flow

Fig. 1.49 Schematic of electroslag welding process

ESW has the following advantages and disadvantages.

① High welding efficiency due to one-pass welding of a wide range of plate thicknesses
② Nearly 100% deposition efficiency due to no spatter generation
③ High heat efficiency
④ Easy groove preparation due to I-type groove
⑤ Excellent working environment due to no generation of arc, but a large amount of radiation heat.
⑥ Less angular distortion but large transverse shrinkage
⑦ Lower toughness of the weld metal and heat-affected zone because of high heat input
⑧ If the welding progression is interrupted, it takes much time to repair defects occurred in the start of
welding and crater.
One variation of ESW is consumable guide ESW as shown in Fig. 1.50. The consumable guide tube that is
insulated and stationed in the welding groove has two functions: one is the guide for the welding wire and
the other the electric contact tip. Steel is used for the core tube of the consumable guide, which melts off as
welding progresses vertically, becoming part of the weld metal.

Consumable guide
Welding wire

Retaining copper shoe

Molten slag

Weld pool

Weld metal

Retaining copper shoe

Base metal

Fig. 1.50 Schematic of consumable guide electroslag welding process

1-42
(2) Welding equipment and consumables
The ESW equipment typically has the mechanism of oscillating the electrode wire, with which one
electrode wire can weld plate thicknesses of up to 100 mm. The water-cooled copper shoes are slid
typically by the carriage device equipped on a large-scale stationary manipulator; however, a small-scale
portable device that can self-propel along the welding groove is used widely in recent years. As for power
sources, both DC constant voltage and AC drooping characteristic outputs can be used for ESW.
As to welding consumables, combinations of fused type SAW fluxes and arc welding solid wires of various
types are used. As compared with other welding processes, the ESW wire typically contains higher amounts
of alloying elements to ensure the strength of the weld metal, because the cooling rate in ESW is lower.

(3) Welding fabrication

Table 1.5 shows typical butt joint welding conditions for steel plates. I-type groove is suitable, and the
groove opening should be 15-30 mm depending on the plate thickness. Thick plates can be welded by
increasing the number of electrodes, and thicker plates can be welded by oscillating the electrodes. Most of
the applications are butt joints, but T joint and cruciform joint can also be welded by using a suitable copper
backing.
In ESW, a starting tab is used to eliminate lack of fusion at the starting part of the joint, and an ending
tab is used to eliminate the crater of the weld metal at the ending part of the joint. Although angular
distortion hardly occurs because of one-pass welding, transverse shrinkage is considerable especially at the
ending part of the joint. To overcome this problem, such preventive measures as a strong back and a groove
spacer are necessary.
The backing material must strictly be kept contact closely with the base metal; otherwise the molten
metal and slag may drip through the opening. To prevent this trouble, it is important to eliminate joint
misalignment and local deformation to ensure the accuracy of groove. The allowance of the tightness
between the backing material and the base metal should be less than 0.5 mm. When leak-proof clayey
material is used for filling up the gap, it has to be dried sufficiently before welding in order to prevent
defects caused by the moisture contained in the filling material.
It is especially important to control the slag bath depth during ESW. If the slag bath is shallow, spatter
generates and bead appearance becomes poor. By contrast, if the slag bath is deep the penetration into the
base metal reduces, and if excessively deep, lack of fusion may occur.
If an unpredictable interruption of welding occurs, incomplete fusion may occur in the restarting portion.
To prevent such an accident, all possible measures should be taken in advance for preparing a sufficient
amount of welding wires, maintaining welding equipment, and preparing welding procedures.

Table 1.5 Typical welding conditions for electroslag welding

Thickness Number of Root gap Welding Welding Slag bath Welding
(mm) electrodes (mm) current voltage depth speed
(A) (V) (mm) (m/hour)
12 1 15 380-430 30-35 30-40 3.7-4.6
16 1 18 380-450 35-40 35-45 2.8-3.8
22 1 20 400-550 38-40 40-50 1.3-2.7
32 1 20 450-650 38-42 40-60 1.1-2.6
50 1 20 450-700 40-44 40-60 0.8-2.1
100 2 25 450-700 40-45 40-60 0.7-2.1
200 3 25 450-700 40-45 40-60 0.5-1.6
300 3 30 450-700 40-48 40-60 0.3-0.9

1-43
1.6.2 Electron beam welding
(1) Principles and characteristics
In electron beam welding (EBW), as shown in Fig. 1.51, electrons emitted from the cathode heated in a
high vacuum chamber are accelerated by high voltage and converged by the magnetic coil to shape a high
density energy beam; this beam is focused on the workpiece to heat and fuse it for joining by converting the
electron kinetic energy into the heat energy.
This heat source offers the high energy density of up to 1000 times that of an arc (Table 1.6), rapid and
accurate control of beam impinging point, and extremely small beam spot.
The advantages and disadvantages of EBW are described below.
① One-pass welding of thick plates is possible with low heat input.
② The heat-affected zone is narrow and the base metal can be degraded to a lesser degree, but it is
necessary to take countermeasures against a decrease in the toughness of the weld metal caused by
rapid cooling.
③ Less welding distortion
④ Easy to weld the particular metals that have high melting points
⑤ Vacuum chamber is needed; hence the size of workpiece is limited.
⑥ If the workpiece is magnetized the beam deviates from the welding line.
⑦ High machining accuracy is needed for preparing the welding groove.
⑧ Expensive equipment

Power source for filament

Bias power source

Filament
(cathode)
Grid High voltage power source

Anode

Turbo molecular Focusing Power source for focusing coil

pump coil
Power source for deflection coil
Deflection
Oil rotation pump coil
Electron
beam
Wc
e
l
d
i
n
ge
h
a
m
b
r

Mechanical booster (for

soft vacuum) or oil diffusion
pump or turbo molecular
pump (for hard vacuum)
Workpiece
Oil rotation pump
X-Y table

Fig. 1.51 Schematic of electron beam welding equipment

1-44
 Table 1.6 Energy densities of various heat sources
Type of heat source Energy density (kW/cm2)
Oxy-acetylene flame Approx. 1
Gas flame
Oxy-hydrogen flame Approx. 3
Sunlight (1.6-3.6)×10-4
Concentrated sunlight beam
1-2
Light beam (1-100 kW)
Concentrated arc-light beam
1-5
（xenon lamp: up to 10 kW）
Open arc
Approx. 15
(Argon arc, 200A)
Arc
Plasma arc 50-100
Point arc Approx. 1000
Pulsed 10,000 or higher
Electron beam
Continuous 1000 or higher
Pulsed 10,000 or higher
Laser beam
Continuous 100 or higher

(2) Welding equipment

The output of electron beam ranges from 1 to 150 kW depending on the equipment. The low voltage type
(less than 80 kV) is popular for low outputs of less than 30 kW, and the high voltage type (up to 150 kV) is
popular for high outputs of more than 6 kW to obtain the sufficient beam convergence and stability.
The welding equipment can be classified by the degree of vacuum of the welding chamber into the
following three types. The application for atmospheric beam (non-vacuum EBW) is limited to a special case
because the beam energy rapidly attenuates until the beam reaches the base metal.
① High vacuum EBW in the vacuum range of approximately 1.3×10-2 to 1×10-3 Pa
② Soft vacuum EBW at a vacuum level of approximately 1.3 to 13 Pa
③ Non-vacuum EBW at atmospheric pressure
The scale of welding chamber can classify the EBW equipment into the mass production type of small
volume, the general-purpose type of medium volume, and the special type for large constructions. In the
case of EBW in a large welding chamber of more than 3 m on each side, the electron beam gun is of movable
type from the view point of higher welding efficiency.
As to auxiliary devices, systems for seam tracking, CNC system for welding, and monitoring the welding
situation by a TV camera are available.

(3) Welding conditions

The main welding parameters that influence the penetration depth are the accelerating voltage, beam
current, welding speed, and focal distance. As regards the accelerating voltage and beam current, the
penetration depth is prone to increase as the input increases. Figure 1.52 shows the relationship between
the focusing positions and penetration dimensions [Ref. 9].
EBW is basically conducted with one pass weld. Even in the same welding condition, the penetration can
change depending on the melting point and vapor pressure of the base metal, and hence the welding
parameters should be determined for each material and plate thickness. In the case of one pass welding of a
thick plate, horizontal welding provides deeper penetration than flat welding, and therefore the choice of
the horizontal position for general applications is one of the most important factors.
For industrial applications, this process had been taken as a high quality process to weld active metals
and precision parts, but nowadays this process is noted as a highly efficient welding process, and the
application field has been expanding from thin plates to heavy thick plates for various applications including
automotive parts, aerospace frames, and pressure vessels.

1-45
 ) ) Accelerating voltage : 150kV
2
m m Beam current : 20mA
m m
( ( Welding speed : 50cm/min.
d h
t Work distance : 150mm
a d
i
e
b w
f
o d
a
a e
b
e
r Penetration
a d
l n
a depth
a
n h
o
i t
p
t
c e
e d
s n
s
s o
i Cross sectional area of bead
o t
a
r r
t
C e
n
e
P
Bead width

Focusing position (mm)

Fig. 1.52 Relation between focusing position, penetration depth,

bead width and cross sectional area of bead

1.6.3 Laser beam welding

(1) Principles and characteristics
In laser beam welding (LBW), the laser generator produces a coherent light beam whose waves are in
phase, the beam is focused on extremely small spots by using a lens and mirrors and is irradiated on the
workpiece, and thus the beam’s energy is transferred to the workpiece, heating and melting it to join. In
the laser system, atoms (or molecules) in the medium are pumped to an excited energy level first, and then,
when they transfer into a lower energy level, the energy difference is emitted as laser light. In order to use
laser beam for welding, large output power is necessary, and hence CO2 gas and YAG lasers are employed
in industrial applications.
The energy density of a laser beam can be increased to be more than 1000 times that of a welding arc,
and hence laser beam resembles electron beam in terms of the heat source (refer to Table 1.6).
The advantages and disadvantages of LBW are described in the following.
① Possible to weld in the air with almost no attenuation of the laser power
② No deviation of laser beam by magnetic field
③ Possible to transfer the laser light by using mirrors or fibers and to weld in several places by timesharing
④ Narrow bead width and heat-affected zone, thus less welding distortion
⑤ Possible to weld high melting point materials and non-metallic materials (e.g. ceramics)
⑥ Possible to weld thin plates at high speeds
⑦ Necessary to machine and assemble the welding grooves with high accuracy
⑧ The laser beam absorption rate changes depending on the kind of material to be welded and its surface
condition, and thus the penetration depth can change. Highly conductive materials such as aluminum
feature low absorption rates, and hence LBW is difficult.
⑨ The shielding gas plasma and metal vapor decrease penetration.
⑩ Low efficiency of laser generation (power efficiency) and expensive equipment
⑪ Necessary to take a specific safety measure against the laser light

(2) Welding equipment

CO2 gas laser is an electric discharge pumped gas laser with a wavelength of 10.6μm, and it enables
pulsed or continuous generation with high output (Fig. 1.53). Laser gas that consists mainly of CO2, N2, and
He is excited by glow discharge in the pressure range from 40 to 120 Torr. After that, the laser gas is

1-46
cooled by a heat exchanger and recycled to reuse. This laser gas deteriorates as the operating time elapses;
hence the new laser gas is refilled to ensure stable output.

Discharge circuit (for excitation)

Output window
Laser oscillator
Reflector

Pressure in the oscillation tube: low (40-120Torr)

100% reflector Transmissive reflector
(resonator) (resonator)

Heat Circu- Focusing lens

Gas supply exchanger lation
pump
Partially evacuated gas

Workpiece

Fig. 1.53 Basic configuration of CO 2 gas laser equipment

YAG laser is a solid state laser of optically-pumped type. It enables pulsed and continuous generation
and the wavelength is as short as 1.06μm; hence the noticeable feature is that the YAG laser light can be
transferred by using an optical fiber. Figure 1.54 shows the configuration of the welding system in which
parallel beam emitted from the laser generator are focused on the workpiece for welding. The light beam is
transmitted from the laser generator to the workpiece by mirror transmission or optical fiber transmission.
Additionally, if necessary, such auxiliary devices as the shielding gas supply system, seam tracking system,
auto-focusing system, and welding wire feeding system are equipped.

Monitor
TV camera

Laser generator Guide laser

Laser head
resonator
Lamp Dichroic mirror
Mirror g
n e
i c
e
d
l s i
Mirror e s p
k
Focusing lens w a
l r
r g o
Lamp o
f n w
s o
i f
o
YAG laser rod n t
c
e
l e t
n
Cooling Driving Work g t
o i
o
device power source piece n
i r
p p
s
u s g
Optical fiber c n n
i
o e t
t
input terminal Optical outputF L e
S
system with
optical fiber

Optical fiber
output terminal Divergent angle

Fig. 1.54 Basic configuration of YAG laser equipment and

optic fiber transmission system

1-47
(3) Welding conditions
The capacity of laser generators has been increased; thus CO2 gas lasers with a capacity of up to 50 kW
are applied to laser welding, which are used mainly for high speed welding of sheet metals and high accuracy
welding. Figure 1.55 [Ref. 10] shows the relationship between output, welding speed, and penetration
depth.
LBW basically uses square-groove butt welding joints without root gap (opening). In a case where no
filler wire is used, the welding groove must be prepared accurately with a gap allowance of around 0.1 mm.
In LBW, the metal vapor, shielding gas, and air that are filled in the keyhole often cause porosity in the
weld metal. To prevent this defect, several preventive measures are taken: one is the use of a special
shielding gas mixture with an addition of N2 or O2 to improve the fluidity of the molten metal; another one is
the use of beam oscillation to expand the keyhole, thereby helping the metal vapor evacuate from the
keyhole.

)
m
m
(
h
t
d
i
w
d
a
e
B

Material
Focal length
Shielding gas He 80 l/min

)
m
m
(
h
t
p
e
d
n
o
i
t
a
r
t
e
n
e
P

Welding speed (m/min.)

Fig. 1.55 Relation between laser output, welding speed, and

penetration depth in CO2 laser welding

Applications for LBW include CO2 gas laser welding of plate joints of rolled coils in the steel making
process, transmission parts, engine parts, and tailored blank bodies in the automotive industry. CO2 gas
laser is also used for welding heavy electric machinery and aircrafts. YAG laser welding has been used
mainly for small parts such as electronic parts, but in tandem with the trend of increasing the laser output
power, it has been used for welding thicker constructions as with CO2 gas laser welding. In addition, such
hybrid processes combined with other heat sources as laser-arc hybrid and laser-high frequency resistance
heat hybrid are examined to employ for high speed welding of thick steel plates and for welding surface
treated steel plates.

1-48
1.6.4 Resistance welding
In resistance welding (RW), electric current is supplied to a welding joint to raise the temperature of the
joint mainly by electric resistance heat, and then pressure is applied onto the joint to produce coalescence
of the faying surfaces.
RW can broadly be categorized into lap RW and butt RW. In the former process, the faying surfaces of
workpieces are melted and the weld metal is held and solidified to join. By contrast, in the latter process,
most of the molten metal is forcibly expelled outside the joint, and then the faying surfaces (whose maximum
temperature is lower that that of the molten part) in the vicinity of the molten part are joined.
Lap RW includes resistance spot welding, projection welding, and resistance seam welding; butt RW
includes upset welding and flash welding.

(1) Resistance spot welding

In resistance spot welding (RSW), as shown in Fig. 1.56, a lap joint is clamped between electrodes which
apply force and conduct a high welding current for a short period of time to produce a spot molten part
called nugget by using resistance heats generated between the faying surfaces (where the welding current
concentrates) of the base metals between the electrodes.

Pressure
Current

Nugget

Distance

Temperature rise

Current

Electrode

Pressure

Fig. 1.56 Schematic of resistance spot welding process

RSW equipment, as shown in Fig. 1.57, consists of welding power source, the switching, controlling and
pressurizing devices, and electrodes. Welding power sources are mostly of single phase AC type, but the
three-phase frequency conversion type and three-phase rectification type are also used.
As for welding conditions, the main parameters are pressure, current, and welding time. Nevertheless,
the shape of electrode and the surface condition of the base metal are not negligible. Table 1.7 shows
typical proper welding conditions for several kinds of metals.
Welding defects may occur when the welding conditions are improper; the use of improper pressure may
cause molten metal flashes in all directions called expulsion, which causes the lower strength of the weld,
blowholes, and cracks. If the welding time is excessively long, the heat-affected zone expands and can
reduce the strength of the weld.
RSW can be applied for most metals; particularly, it is often used for thin plates of mild steel, high tensile
strength steel, low-alloy steel, stainless steel, and aluminum alloy.

1-49
 Electromagnetic valve
Pneumatic or
Compressed air hydraulic cylinder

Upper arm

Transformer Electrode holder

(welding power source)
Secondary conductor
Switch Electrode
(Thyristor)

Power supply

Foot switch
Lower arm
Power supply

Controller

Fig. 1.57 Stationary resistance spot welding equipment

Table 1.7 Variations of welding conditions for several base metals (for thickness of 0.8 mm)
Base metal Shape of Electrode Welding time Welding current
electrode tip pressure (N) (Cycle) (kA)
Stainless steel d<4.8 mmφ 2890 5 5
Low carbon steel ditto 1770 8 8
Nickel ditto 4020 4 15.4
Aluminum alloy 50R-F 2260 6 26

(2) Projection welding

Projection welding (PW) requires preparing a projection or small embossment on one contacting surface
of the lap joint base metal. The projection concentrates the current flow to weld one or several spots at the
same time.
The configuration of the PW equipment is almost the same as that of RSW equipment. But the
pressurizing system of the PW equipment requires better dynamic performance to follow the changes in the
shape of a projection during the period of supplying welding currents.
For welding fabrication, it is important to design the proper shape and dimension of a projection. In
welding dissimilar metals having different heat capacity, the projection must be prepared on the thicker
plate, the metal having higher thermal conductivity, and, in case the melting point is different, the metal
having a higher melting point. In the case of multiple-projection welding in which the distance between
projections is small, the pressure on each projection has to be higher than in single projection welding.

(3) Resistance seam welding

In resistance seam welding (RSEW), as shown in Fig. 1.58, a lap joint is moved between the rotating
wheel electrodes under pressure to produce coalescence of the faying surfaces of the base metals
progressively by supplying electric currents intermittently. In the case of high speed welding, electric
current is supplied continuously.

1-50
 In the case of continuous supply of electric current, welding parameters are the shape of the edge of
wheel electrodes, pressure, electric current, and welding speed. In the case of intermittent supply of
electric current, energized time and interrupted time are added to the parameters for the continuous
current supply mode. This welding process is widely applied for mild steel, heat-resistant steel, stainless
steel, rust-free steel, and aluminum alloy. Nevertheless, the proper parameter range for RSEW is narrower
than that for RSW.
Pressure

Wheel electrode

Welding transformer Cooling water

Base metal
Nugget

Moving direction
Current

Rotating
direction

Fig. 1.58 Schematic of resistance seam welding process

(4) Upset welding

The upset welding (UW) process, as
shown in Fig. 1.59, is a butt RW
process, in which the electrodes are Welding transformer
fixed on the base metals, the faying
surfaces of the base metals are prepared Base metal Clamp
Electrodes
so that they closely contact each other
to carry electric currents, and, when
the temperature of the faying surfaces
Current Movable electrode
reaches a proper temperature (normally Extension Upset force
Fixed electrode
a pressure welding temperature),
sufficiently high upset force (forge
force) is applied on the faying surfaces
to join. (a) Welding mechanism
The UW equipment is small and
simple, consisting of welding power Electrode Abutting position before welding
source, electrodes, clamping devices for
base metals, an upset force device, and
a current control device.
As for welding parameters, electric
current, welding time, upset force, and
extension of the base metal from the
electrode are important. UW is used for Fixed electrode Welded interface Electrode travel
small cross-section materials such as
(b) Welded joint
cylindrical rod with a diameter of 10 mm
or less because a large cross-section
workpiece is difficult to heat uniformly Fig. 1.59 Schematic of upset welding process
and is likely to cause welding defects.

1-51
(5) Flash welding
The flash welding (FW) process is substantially a pressure welding process, with which relatively heavy
section metals can be pressure welded with relatively low current densities by using both the resistance
heating and arc heating. As shown in Fig. 1.60, the joining process comprises three processes of preheating,
flashing, and upsetting.
In the preheating process, workpieces are repetitively brought into light contact with and drawn away
from each other to heat the faying surfaces until they become red. In the flashing process, short-circuiting
and arcing are repeated alternately to form a thin uniform molten layer on the faying surfaces by using the
contact-resistance heating and the arc heating. In the upsetting process, strong upset force is applied to
weld by pressure, ejecting most of the molten metal.
The basic configuration of FW equipment is almost the same as that of the UW equipment, but the
capacity of the welding power source must be higher, and the platen motion mechanism must be highly
accurate and quickly reactive. The quality of the weld by FW is more reliable than by UW. Pressure welding
of large cross-section workpieces such as rails, chains, and plates can be accomplished for a short time.
This process is applied to mild steels, low alloy steels, stainless steels, aluminum alloys, copper, and copper
alloys.

Power source

Movable side
Fixed side Electrodes

Setting of workpieces

Clamp

Switch on
Preheating
(moving forwards/backwards)

Flash

Moving forwards for flashing

Moving forwards for upsetting

Switch off

Weld

Fig. 1.60 Schematic of flash welding process

1-52
1.6.5 Friction welding
(1) Friction welding
In friction welding (FRW), two workpieces are butted, one of which is rotated; the abutting part is heated
by the friction heat generated at the faying surfaces; the two workpieces are compressed by the axial force;
and then the weld is completed accompanied by plastic deformation. Figure 1.61 shows basic steps in FRW.
One workpiece is rotated under the constant pressure (P1) as in Fig. 1.61 (a), and thus friction heat is
generated by mechanical energy in the faying surfaces. When both workpieces are appropriately softened as
in Fig. 1.61 (b), the rotary motion is quickly stopped and the axial force (P2) is applied to complete the
pressure welding as in Fig. 1.61 (c).
Figure 1.62 shows the axial cross section of the weld joint schematically. The heated faying surfaces of
the joint are expelled from the joint as flash by the compressed force, and, simultaneously, oxides and
foreign substances in the faying surfaces are expelled. In this process, the cast structure and coarse
crystals which are formed in fusion welding are not produced.
This process is mainly applied for butt welding of cylindrical parts. Once proper welding conditions have
been established, the weld joint can be produced with considerably high dimensional accuracy. Hence FRW
is often applied to machine tools and machinery parts. Furthermore, this process can be used for welding
dissimilar metals such as steel-titanium joints which cannot be fusion welded.

Fig. 1.61 Basic steps in friction welding process

① Frictional interface
② Heat-affected zone
③ Unaffected zone

Fig. 1.62 Schematic of axial cross section of joint welded

by friction welding

1-53
(2) Friction stir welding
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a new welding process developed by The Welding Institute (TWI) in the
early 1990s. The principles of this welding process are shown in Fig. 1.63 [Ref. 11]. The joining tool is
rotated being plunged into the abutting edges of the workpieces to generate the frictional heat by the rotary
motion, and thus the welding plates lose the resistance against plastic deformation, thereby generating the
plastic flow dragged by the rotating joining pin. As a result, the joining interface is stirred progressively to
produce a complete weld. As in the FSW of aluminum alloy, the weld can be completed at a temperature
lower than its melting point by approximately 100℃, the welding mechanism of this process is categorized
into solid-state welding.
The advantages and limitations of FSW are described in the following.
① No crack and porosity
② Less residual stresses and welding distortion
③ Excellent welding environment
④ Application is limited to simple joints with straight and circle welding lines.
⑤ At the end of each weld run a hole is left where the tool pin is withdrawn.
FSW can broadly be applied for all aluminum and magnesium alloys; also it is applied to other metals
including copper, titanium, zinc, and lead.

Joining direction

Workpiece

Joining tool

Joining pin

Backing metal

Fig. 1.63 Schematic of friction stir welding process

1.6.6 Other pressure welding

(1) Explosion welding
In explosion welding (EXW), the faying surfaces of workpieces are welded by their plastic deformation
caused by the detonation impact strength of explosive powder. The welding mechanism is believed to be
based on the fluidic behavior of the abutting materials at the collision interface. Figure 1.64 shows the
principles of this process. The upper plate (cladding metal) is kept in position above the base metal with an
appropriate clearance. On the upper plate, explosive powder is placed and exploded (explosion velocity:
approx. 2000 m/s) from one end of the joint to the other, and thereby the upper plate is caused to collide
onto the base metal to produce the weld progressively.
EXW is characterized by relatively simple procedure for welding dissimilar metals that are difficult to
weld by fusion welding, and the strength of the weld is fairly high. This process is applied typically to
production of titanium clad steel and copper alloy clad steel.

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 Detonator
Explosive Explosive
Buffer material Direction of
detonation
Upper plate (cladding metal)
Gap Jet
Joint interface
Base
metal
(a) Before explosion welding (b) Progression of explosion welding

Fig. 1.64 Schematic of explosion welding process

(2) Pressure gas welding

In pressure gas welding (PGW), as shown in Fig. 1.65, workpieces are butted and compressed with the
axial force, followed by heating the joining portion by oxyfuel gas flame to complete the pressure welding.
Depending on gas flame properties, this process can be the low- or high-reducing flame process. In the
latter, high reducing flame is used at the beginning of the pressure welding process, and when the opening
between the faying surfaces becomes zero, neutral flame is used for heating the workpieces. Depending on
the pressure type, this process can be categorized into the constant pressure method and variable pressure
method (two- and three-step upset methods).
PGW is characterized by the use of relatively simple, portable device and short operation time. This
method is applied mostly to steels; e.g. field welding of architectural reinforcing steels and rails.

Cleaning Holding pressure Initial pressure Main pressure

Flame
Flame Flame

Fig. 1.65 basic steps in pressure gas welding process

(3) Ultrasonic welding

In ultrasonic welding (USW), two lapped workpieces of similar or dissimilar metals are put on anvil, the
vertical pressure is applied on the faying surfaces, and then the ultrasonic vibration whose direction is
parallel to the faying surfaces is applied on the workpieces to produce the weld. The ultrasonic vibration
causes the friction between the two workpieces at first, and thus the faying surfaces are cleaned and
smoothened by destructing oxide film and contaminants on the faying metallic surfaces. Next, relative
motion takes place between the vibration tool and the workpieces, and the area of the faying surfaces are
expanded by plastic flow to produce the weld.
This welding process is suitable for thin plates and small parts, especially aluminum whose oxide film is
strong. USW is also applied to micro welding in the electronic field.

1.6.7 Brazing and soldering

(1) Principles and characteristics
Ancient humans discovered metals and developed the brazing and soldering process, the oldest joining
method, to make tools with metals. In this process, filler metals of pure metals or alloys having lower

1-55
melting points than the base metal are fused and poured into the gap between the members. Because the
base metal is not melted in this process, poor weldability materials, dissimilar materials, and nonmetallic
materials such as ceramics can be welded widely by this process. “Brazing and soldering” is the collective
designation of soldering which uses filler metals having lower melting points than 450℃ and brazing which
uses filler metals having higher melting points than 450℃.
In brazing and soldering, the “wettability” between filler metal and base metal is so important that the
quality of brazing and soldering significantly depends on whether or not filler metal sufficiently wets the
base metal. Wettability is defined typically as in Fig. 1.66. The angle of θ(flank angle or wetting angle) is
used to judge good or poor wettability, i.e. whether the angle is smaller or larger than 90 degrees.

Liquid

Solid

Fig. 1.66 Definition of wettability

The following are the characteristics of filler metals needed for brazing and soldering.
① Good wettability and appropriate fluidity
② Proper melting point and composition that minimizes separation of constituents (liquation) during
brazing and soldering
③ Less vaporizing constituents for the controlled atmosphere brazing and soldering.
④ Joint strength and corrosion resistance are sufficient for a specific application.
⑤ Good workability for plates or wires
The advantages of brazing and soldering are described in the following.
① Less heat affection on base metals
② Capability of precision welding of small parts and complicated shapes
③ It is easy to employ mass production and automation because feeding of filler metal and heating of
workpiece can be done separately, and thus a lot of joints can be welded at the same time.

(2) Brazing
Table 1.8 shows specifications of main brazing filler metals. Copper filler metal is used for brazing steels,
nickel-based alloys, and nickel-copper alloys, which has good wettability and can fill in closely fitted
surfaces. However, the brazing temperature is fairly high, and hence it is typically used in vacuum or the
reducing atmosphere to prevent the filler metal and base metal from oxidation.

Table 1.8 Main brazing filler metals and their specifications

Type of brazing filler metal Main Additional Melting point Relevant standard
composition composition (℃) 1)
Copper filler metal Cu - 1083 JIS Z 3262
Brass filler metal Cu, Zn Ni, Sn, Si 820-935 JIS Z 3262
Silver filler metal Ag, Cu, Zn Cd, Ni, Sn, Li 620-800 JIS Z 3261
P-Cu filler metal Cu, P Ag, Sn 720-925 JIS Z 3264
Cu-Mn filler metal Cu, Mn Zn 870(Cu-35%Mn) -
Nickel filler metal Ni, B, P Cr, Fe, Si 875-1135 JIS Z 3265
Gold filler metal Au, Cu, Ni Ag 890-1030 JIS Z 3266
Palladium filler metal 2) Pd, Ag Cu, Mn, Ni 810-1235 JIS Z 3267
Aluminum filler metal Al, Si Cu 580-615 JIS Z 3263
Note 1) The highest and lowest liquidus points of brazing filler metals specified in the JIS standard.
2) For this filler metal, the main element and additional element are not distinguished.

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 Brass filler metal is a copper-zinc alloy, which has been used from old times and is at low prices. This
filler metal is used for brazing steels, coppers, copper alloys, nickels, and nickel alloys.
Silver filler metal can be use for brazing a variety of metals including steels, coppers, and nickels, except
for aluminum and magnesium. A specific silver filler metal that contains titanium is used for brazing
nonmetallic materials such as ceramics and graphite.
Phosphorus copper filler metal is a copper-phosphorus alloy having a low melting point, which is used for
brazing coppers and copper alloys. With this filler metal, brazing can be conducted without flux because
phosphorus can reduce copper oxides.
Nickel filler metal is a nickel-chromium alloy with an addition of boron and phosphorus to lower the
melting point. With this filler metal the brazed joint has high-temperature strengths and performs excellent
oxidation resistance and corrosion resistance.
Brazing method can broadly be categorized by the joining condition into air brazing and controlled
atmosphere brazing. In the former, flux must be used to prevent the metallic surface from oxidation during
brazing. As for flux, chlorides such as lithium chloride, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride, and
fluorides such as sodium fluoride and lithium fluoride, and borate are used.

(3) Soldering
Soldering joins workpieces by using solders or filler metals with melting points of 450℃ or lower.
Soldering is performed at temperatures less than the melting point of the base metal. Solders are typically
Sn-Pb alloys; especially 60%Sn-40%Pb and 63%Sn-37%Pb whose compositions are close to the eutectic are
often used.
Soldering is an important means for joining electronic parts. Therefore, solders should have proper
performance that do not cause thermal damage on electronic parts and possess the following
characteristics.
① Good affinity with many kinds of metals, performing good wettability in use of less-active flux
② Good mechanical properties
③ Solder oxides do not cause defects such as poor wettability, void, and bridge.
④ Proper properties suitable for automated soldering
Flux for soldering should be selected taking into account the combination of solder and base metal.
Soldering fluxes can be categorized by flux composition into chloride type, organic type, and rosin type.

1.6.8 Diffusion welding

Diffusion welding (DFW) is a solid-state welding process in which workpieces are heated to a temperature
higher than recrystallization temperature in a controlled atmosphere and are pressurized to the extent that
does not cause macroscopic deformation, thereby causing thermal diffusion of atoms between the faying
surfaces.
The basic joining mechanism is believed such that clean, smooth faying surfaces are brought into close
contact so as to generate a cohesive force between the faying surfaces. Nevertheless, the actual faying
surfaces contain microscopic roughness and oxide layers, and hence the contacting area of the faying
surfaces is small; this is why pressurization is necessary at the early stage of joining.
Figure 1.67 [Ref. 12] shows basic steps in DFW in comparison with liquid phase diffusion welding (which
is described later) and brazing. As shown in Fig. 1.67 (a), when the area of contact increases adequately,
non-contact portions such as voids disappear by atomic diffusion. In order to improve the adhesiveness of
the faying surfaces and to promote atomic diffusion, insert material is sometimes used as in Fig. 1.67 (b).
Insert material is mostly foil, and sometimes the joining surfaces are coated by e.g. plating.
DFW is conducted by heating and pressurizing workpieces in vacuum or inert gases such as argon, and
hence the DFW equipment consists of the atmosphere controlling, heating, and pressurizing systems as
typically shown in Fig. 1.68.

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 Insert Insert
Before material material Brazing filler metal
contact (foil, plating) (foil, powder)

Contact Melting of Melting of

and Contact insert brazing filler metal
deformation material

Solidification of
Forming of Forming of brazing filler metal
grain boundary grain boundary Isothermal and
and diffusion and diffusion solidification heterogeneous
joint

Grain boundary
migration and Grain boundary Homogeneous
elimination of migration joint
void

(a) Diffusion welding (b) Diffusion welding (c) Liquid phase (d) Brazing
without insert material with insert material diffusion welding

Fig. 1.67 Joining processes of diffusion welding, liquid phase diffusion welding and brazing

Pressure Pressure

Press bar

Heater Workpieces
Vacuum chamber

Workpieces
Vacuum pump
Vacuum pump
Heater
Pressure Pressure supporting table
supporting
table

(a) Internal heating system (b) External heating system

Fig. 1.68 Diffusion welding equipment

This welding process is suitable for joining precision parts and materials that is difficult to fusion weld.
The geometrical change of a workpiece by DFW is small, and hence precision machinery parts after joining
can be assembled without postweld machining. This process is also suitable for joining dissimilar metals, but
in the case of joining a specific combination of metals whose diffusing capacities are different, void can be
generated in the weld. Additionally, it should be noted that specific metals (e.g. aluminum) whose oxide
layer is strong and difficult to dissolve is difficult to join.
Although the liquid phase diffusion welding process, as shown in Fig. 1.67(c), does not progress in solid
phase at its all stages, it is conducted typically so that the weld has the same composition and structure as
those of the base metal, and hence this method is often categorized into diffusion welding.
The insert material used in this process has a lower melting point than the base metal and is temporarily
melted at the joining temperature. After that, the process is finished through isothermal solidification; in

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addition, in order to make the weld structure the same as that of the base metal, diffusion heat treatment is
further applied to obtain a homogeneous weldment in general. Isothermal solidification is the phenomenon in
which a metal is kept at a constant particular temperature during which the metal changes its chemical
composition caused by the diffusion of the alloying elements, and thereby the melting point of the metal
increases, and thus the metal is solidified. In contrast to this, typical solidification of a metal takes place
during which the temperature of the metal reduces as the cooling progresses.
More precisely, the liquid phase diffusion welding process can be defined as the intermediate process
between diffusion welding and brazing.

1.7 Applicability of welding processes and highly efficient welding procedures

1.7.1 Applicability of welding processes

On the occasion of selecting a proper welding process for a particular welding fabrication, many factors
have to be taken into consideration: i.e. required quality, costs, shipping date, work volume, equipment,
number of workers, workshop, health, and safety. For this purpose, it is significant to understand the
aforementioned characteristics of individual welding processes sufficiently to assess the applicability of a
particular welding process correctly taking into account the specific fabrication conditions. Table 1.9 shows
a macroscopic comparison of the applicability of various welding processes that are broadly used for
structural thick steel plates.

Table 1.9 Applicability of various welding processes for thick steel plates
High welding 2) 2)
High weld quality Applicable welding positions
efficiency 2)
Butt joint Fillet joint
Applicability to narrow groove welding
Realization of high deposition rate

Realization of high speed welding

Applicability to robotic welding

Realization of high toughness

Realization of high strength

1)
Welding process
Bead appearance
Crack resistivity

Horizontal

Horizontal
Overhead

Overhead
Vertical

Vertical
Flat

Flat

MAG CO2 gas △ ○ ◎ ◎ △ ○ ◎ △ ◎ ○ △ ○ ◎ ○ △ ○

(solid wire) Ar+CO2 gas △ ○ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ○ ◎ ○ △ ○ ◎ ○ △ ○
MAG CO2 gas △ ○ ○ ○ △ ○ ○ ○ ◎ ◎ ○ ○ ◎ ◎ ○ ◎
(flux -cored
wire) 3) Ar+CO2 gas △ ○ ○ ○ ◎ ◎ ○ ◎ ◎ ◎ ○ ○ ◎ ◎ ○ ◎
SAW ◎ ◎ × ○ ◎ ◎ ○ ◎ ◎ × × ○ ◎ × × ◎
ESW ◎ × × × × × ○ ◎ × ◎ × × × △ × ×
EGW ○ × × × △ △ ○ ○ × ◎ × × × △ × ×
TIG × △ ○ ○ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ◎ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
Note 1) MAG: Metal active gas arc welding, SAW: Submerged arc welding, ESW: Electroslag welding,
EGW: Electrogas arc welding, TIG: Tungsten inert gas arc welding
2) ◎： Superior, ○： Good, △： Slightly inferior, ×： Inferior,
3) Rutile type

1-59
 MAG welding offers higher welding efficiency as well as wide applicability for various welding positions
and welding joints as similar to shielded metal arc welding. The MAG welding process is most suitable for
robotic welding and narrow groove welding, and hence it provides an effective heat source to promote labor
savings, though it cannot increase the deposition rate per a unit of time as much as that with submerged arc
welding (SAW). In addition, depending on the combination of wire and shielding gas, workability, joint
quality, and cost effectiveness with this process can vary, so the most appropriate combination should be
selected for a particular welding application.
The SAW process enables to improve welding efficiency by employing such various ways as high current
procedure and multiple-electrode procedure, although applicable welding position is limited. Furthermore,
by selecting an appropriate combination of flux and wire, high quality weld can be obtained easily, and
hence this process can be applied to various kinds of materials.
The electrogas arc welding (EGW) and electroslag welding (ESW) processes select the material of
workpieces to obtain adequate quality welds; on the other hand, their high welding efficiency with high
deposition rates is the significant feature as dedicated vertical welding processes. In vertical-up welding,
MAG welding limits the deposition rate per one pass because it uses the multiple-pass welding technique to
ensure the soundness of the weld; in contrast to this, EGW and ESW offer one-pass welding with copper
backing plates.
The TIG welding process is suitable for the joints of high tensile strength steel and high-alloy steel due
to high quality weld. Also the weld pool is stable, thus this process is advantageous especially in the
overhead and vertical-up welding positions.
Automatization of welding is progressed to realize highly efficient performance and less skill demanding
procedures. Automatic welding can be carried out with the specific equipment that does not need full-time
operations by operators. Such equipment can broadly be categorized into welding robot and automation
welding machine; the former can be defined as a computer-controlled automated welding device that
possesses the degree of freedom corresponding to five or larger axes of motion, a teaching system, and the
storage playback function; the latter can be defined as an automated welding device except for welding
robot [Ref. 13].
Table 1.10 shows typical automated welding applications in the fields of shipbuilding, bridge construction,
and steel frame building categorized by welding process, type of joint, and working place.

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 Table 1.10 Automated welding application for several types of joints
Applied work Shipbuilding Bridge construction Steel frame building
Joint/process 1) In factory Outdoor In factory Outdoor In factory Outdoor
Corner
Automated Joining plates Joining blocks Joining plates Joining blocks joints of square
SAW welding machine column
Welding
robot
Automated column to
Joining plates Joining blocks Joining plates Joining blocks
welding machine beam joint
Sub-assembling
MAG and assembling column to
Butt/ Welding Joining plates Joining plates connections for column joint
corner robot column and
joint beam
Joining
Automated Column to
longitudinal
welding machine diaphram joint
ESW members
Welding
robot
Automated Joining blocks Joining blocks
EGW welding machine
Welding
robot

Web to flange Web to flange

Automated joint of plate joint of column
welding machine
SAW girder and beam

Welding
Fillet robot
joint Assembling of Web to flange
Automated box girder,
Assembly joint of column
welding machine Box girder and beam
panel
MAG
Plate girder
Welding Assembly, panel,
robot Sub-assembly Box girder
panel
Note 1) Automated welding machine: Automatic welding devices such as a traveling carriage (except for welding robot).

1.7.2 One-sided welding

In butt joint welding of thick plates, workpieces are welded typically from the face side and backside of
the groove in the flat position by turning over the workpieces, or where the workpiece cannot be turned
over the backside groove is welded in the overhead position. In contrast to this, in cases where the welding
can be completed from the face side only in the flat position, the procedure can lead to savings in working
time and facilities to a great extent in addition to improving welding efficiency through omitting the work for
turning over the workpieces. Consequently, the procedure leads to tremendous improvement in
productivity.
One-sided welding method by TIG welding that uses a copper or flux backing has been used in industry
mainly for thin steel plates from fairly long time ago. Nevertheless, it was not until around 1965 that
one-sided welding method was noted as a highly efficient welding method when one-sided submerged arc
welding method was developed for shipbuilding. In one-sided submerged arc welding, as shown in Table
1.11, several different backing methods are used. The technical key point in one-sided welding is how to
produce sound and consistent penetration beads by using a suitable backing method.
The requirements for the backing material are
① Sufficient ability of contacting the backside of the base metal to support the molten metal, i.e. the
flexibility of a backing material
② Suitable shape, sufficient rigidity, and adequate heat resistance for producing penetration beads.
For example, the flux-copper backing method offers the flexibility and flowability of the backing flux and
the rigidity of the copper backing plate.

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 Table 1.11 Variations of backing methods for submerged arc welding
Classification Backing method Application
Backing flux distributed on copper Joining plates in a
Backing flux plate is kept contact with steel sub-assembly workshop
Flux-copper Copper plate workpieces by using a simple means in shipbuilding;
Stationary type

backing method Air hose such as air hose. Joining plates in

bridgework
Special flux containing
Backing flux thermosetting resin is put in a
Flux backing Underlaid flux
groove-shaped or bucket-shaped
method Backing jig
Air hose flux bag and pressed to contact with
a steel workpiece by air pressure.
Short, light, flexible backing Joining plates of curved
Glass tape
Solid flux materials are continuously put in blocks in shipbuilding;
Glass
Refractory contact with the backside of steel Joining blocks in the
tape-refractory Cardboard pad
workpieces by using magnetic erection field in
Portable type

backing Magnetic clamp

clamps. shipbuilding;
Joining blocks of steel
A long glass tape put on short, thin plate floor in
Glass tape copper plates is brought into a bridgework
Glass tape–copper Copper plate
Wedge close contact with the backside of
backing L-piece clamp steel workpieces by using magnets
or clamping pieces.

The typical application of one-sided welding is plate-to-plate welding in shipbuilding in which

flux-copper backing is used. Table 1.12 shows typical welding conditions for this method. The butt joint of
thick steel plates can be welded with one pass by using multiple electrodes and high heat inputs.

Table 1.12 Typical welding conditions for one-sided welding of butt joint
(Flux-copper backing method)
1)
Thickness and groove Electrode Current Voltage Distance between Speed
preparation (A) (V) electrodes (cm/min.)
(mm) (mm)

L 1170 38
110 52
T 870 43

L 1400 35
35

T1 1170 42 43

110
T2 1230 48

Note 1) L: Leading electrode; T: Trailing electrode

In plate-to-plate one-sided welding of long welding length in shipbuilding, the weld end cracking caused
by rotational distortion is an issue to be addressed in terms of weld quality. Some preventive measures are
proposed mainly from the viewpoint of mechanics, but it is difficult to solve this problem radically. To
overcome this problem, the new welding procedure has been developed from practical perspective, in which
a particular length of restraining bead is laid on the edge portion of the workpiece but no penetration bead
is produced on the edge portion.
In fabrication of rectangular cross sectional pipes for the columns of high rise buildings, four thick steel
plates are assembled by corner welding using the one-sided submerged arc welding process with steel
backings (Fig. 1.69). This welding procedure is categorized into one-sided welding by its welding

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mechanism in which one-pass welding can be performed for the plate thicknesses of up to 60 or 70 mm with
high currents more than 2000A (Table 1.13), though no penetration bead is produced.

Fig. 1.69 Typical multi-electrode single pass weld

(40-mm thickness, corner welding)

Table 1.13 Typical welding conditions for corner joint of heavy thick square pipe column
1)
Thickness Groove preparation Electrode Current Voltage Speed Heat
(mm) (A) (V) (cm/min.) input
(kJ/cm)

L 2300 37
60 21 490
T 1800 48

Note 1) L: Leading electrode; T: Trailing electrode

With the MAG welding process, a portable, simple backing material is used for one-sided welding of
relatively short length joints. In this case, multiple-layer welding is applied in general. As compared with
submerged arc welding, the process equipment is smaller and more portable, and hence more suitable for
welding at confined places and field welding.

1.7.3 Narrow groove welding

In the butt welding of thick plates, the smaller the groove cross sectional area, the higher the welding
efficiency, because the amount of welding consumables can be reduced and the total welding time can be
shortened. Narrow groove welding can typically be defined as an arc welding method in which thick plates
are prepared with a narrow groove similar to a square groove and the groove is welded with multiple layers
consisting of 1 or 2 passes for each layer. This process was developed by the Battelle Memorial Institute in
the United States in the late 1960s and has since been further innovated, particularly in Japan, through the
development of several variations for industrial utilization.
The technical key point in narrow groove arc welding is to ensure complete fusion of groove faces that
are almost upright, hence the MAG welding process, which can easily employ an oscillation mechanism, is
often used. Other than the MAG welding process, the submerged arc welding and TIG welding processes
are used for narrow groove welding in industry.
Table 1.14 [Ref. 14] shows variations of narrow groove MAG welding processes that have been developed
in Japan. Every process enables to weld narrow grooves with a width of 20 mm or narrower by employing a
specific shape of electrode or electrode oscillation mechanism so that the arc directs the groove faces.
Table 1.15 [Ref. 15] shows typical welding conditions for the wavy-wire type, which can be used in
various welding positions. Typical applications include pressure vessels and oil hydraulic cylinders with
heavy thickness.

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 Table 1.14 Variations of MIG/MAG narrow groove welding systems

System (a) Wavy wire (b) Bent tip (c) Bent wire (d) High speed rotating wire

Wire reel Forming gears

Wire Wire Wire Motor
Wire
Welding head
Motor Contact
Bending roller tip Bearing
Bent wire block
Wire-feed roller Nozzle
Mechanism Secondary
of system shielding Electrode
Secondary nozzle nozzle
shielding box Contact
tip
Narrow groove
torch Contact tip
Contact tip
(Width: 6mm)

Groove Groove width: 9 (8-14) mm Groove width: 16 (15-20) mm Groove width: 11-13mm Groove width: 12-18mm

1-64
width Torch: 6mmt – 35mmw Nozzle: φ8mm Torch: 8mmt – 65mmw Nozzle: φ８mm

Wire diameter: 1.2mm Wire diameter: 1.2mm Wire diameter: 1.2mm Wire diameter: 1.2mm
Typical
Arc current: 240A, Pulsed Arc current: 110-180A, Pulsed Arc current: 260-270A, Pulsed Arc current: 300-350A
welding
Welding speed: 210mm/min. Welding speed: 150-180mm/min. Welding speed: 210mm/min. Welding speed: 220-300 mm/min
conditions
Shielding gas: Ar-20%CO2 Shielding gas: Ar-20%CO2 Shielding gas: Ar-20%CO2 Shielding gas: Ar-20%CO2

Arc
0.5-1.5Hz 0.2-0.6Hz 4-15Hz 150Hz max.
oscillating
Easy to adjust the weaving width Easy to adjust the weaving width Wire bending width: 2-4mm Rotation radius: 7.6mm
frequency

Accurate control realizes the

Arc is oscillated transversely at a skilled worker’s performance. Simple and highly reproducible Easily track the groove by
Feature
low speed Operated with push angle or drag oscillating mechanism detecting arc voltage
angle
 Table 1.15 Welding conditions for narrow groove MAG welding and
typical groove preparation in flat position 1)
Welding
position
Welding Flat Horizontal Vertical-up Overhead
conditions

Number of passes in
1 2 1 2
a layer
Girth joint:
180-220
Welding current (A) 180-220 140-180 130-180
Seam joint:
220-270
Girth joint:
27-29
Welding voltage (V) 27-29 20-24 19-24
Seam joint:
29-33
Welding speed
180-220 150-240 60-100 60-100
(mm/min.)
Groove width at the
9 (8-12) 12 (10-14) 18 (16-21) 12 (11-15)
bottom (mm)
Note 1) Wire diameter : 1.2mm; Shielding gas : Ar-20% CO2

Narrow groove submerged arc welding is applied to square grooves with a width of 12-15 mm. Although
this process does not employ the oscillation of the electrode, it ensures the complete fusion on the groove
faces by using high currents around 600A with one or two passes per one layer in general. The technical key
point of this process is a specific flux that offers good slag detachability, and this process is applied, for
instance, to pressure vessels.
Narrow groove TIG welding is excellent in the quality of the weld, although the welding device is
complicated due to the specific filler wire feeding mechanism. This method is applied increasingly to high
alloy steels such as high-chromium steel and stainless steel.

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 1.8 Automatization of arc welding by welding robot

Robotic welding is an automatic welding method that uses industrial robots. It was around 1982 that arc
welding robot was first used for general applications, and the year is called the first year of growth of
welding robot. Welding robots were employed mainly in the automobile industry at first in Japan and has
spread for many fields such as steel frame building, bridge construction, and shipbuilding where the
application of welding robot was thought to be unfavorable.

1.8.1 Classification of arc welding robots

Arc welding robots can be classified by two viewpoints of control system and motion mechanism (Table
1.16). Control systems can be largely classified into the playback type and numerical control type, and
motion configurations can be broadly classified into the articulated type and rectangular coordinated type.

Table 1.16 Classification of arc welding robots

▪ All the motions of the revolute joints Up and down
Bending
are composed of two
orthogonal-oriented rotation axes.
▪ Work envelope is wide for the Twisting
installation space. Forward
Classification by motion mechanism

Articulated type and

▪ Applicable to complex shape backward
workpieces.
Rotation

▪ The positioning is made with Forward

and
straight-moving joints ( x, y, z), and a backward
welding torch is positioned by Bending
additional revolute joints mounted at
the tip of the arm. Up and down
Rectangular
coordinated type ▪ It requires a large installation space for
the work envelope. Left and right Twisting
▪ Suitable for relatively simple shape
workpieces.

▪ An operator manipulates an actual robot or the manipulator on a graphic

Classification by control

display to teach welding position, sequence, and welding conditions

Playback type
beforehand.
▪ Applicable to complex shape workpieces.
system

▪ A robot is not moved but its positions and sequence are commanded via
numerical input.
Numerical control type ▪ Suitable for relatively simple shape workpieces.

1.8.2 Welding sensors

In order to automate an arc welding process, it is necessary to accommodate cutting error, assembly
error, groove preparation error, and welding thermal deformation to modify the welding torch position and
to adjust welding conditions properly.
In response to these needs, arc welding sensors are used in robotic welding for the following specific
purposes.
① Positioning of the welding torch from the starting point to the ending point
② Control of groove tracking of the welding torch
③ Adjustment of welding conditions

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④ Supervision and monitoring of the welding progression
Arc welding sensors can be categorized into the contact type and non-contact type. Table 1.17 shows
the classification of sensors. Of these various types, electrode contact sensor (wire-touching sensor) and
arc phenomenon sensor (arc sensor) are broadly used.

Table 1.17 Classification of sensors for arc welding

Type of sensors Components of sensor
Contact probe Micro contact, potentiometer, differential transformer
Contact-detecting voltage or current that is supplied to the welding wire or
Contact Electrode contact
tungsten electrode.
type
Thermocouple, thermistor, optical temperature gauge, infrared temperature
Temperature
gauge
Welding current, arc voltage, wire feeding rate, short-circuiting cycle,
Arc phenomenon
number of abnormal peak current occurred
Non-contact Electromagnetic Detection of eddy-current magnetism, hall element that detects magnetism
type Point sensor (phototransistor, photodiode), linear sensor (CCD, MOS,
Light
PSD), area (image) sensor (CCD, MOS, PSD, ITV)
Sound Probe that detects audible sound pressure or ultra-sonic sound pressure

(1) Wire-touching sensor

Wire-touching sensors recognize the position of the base metal by detecting a change in current or
voltage when the welding wire tip touches the base metal. In the typical sensing procedure, as shown in Fig.
1.70, the touching motion is repeated several times to detect particular positions such as the groove and
edge of a workpiece.

Welding wire

Welding torch Power source

for detecting
circuit

Detecting circuit

Fig. 1.70 Principles of wire-touching sensor

(Typical sensing procedure for fillet welding)

(2) Arc sensor

In arc welding with consumable electrode wire, a change in torch standoff distance (or wire extension)
causes a change in welding current (or arc voltage). Arc sensors use this phenomenon to detect the welding
line. By weaving or rotating the welding torch in robotic welding, as shown in Fig. 1.71 [Ref. 16], a change
in the groove center line position can be detected, and thereby the welding torch positioning can
automatically be modified.

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 The arc length varies The arc current varies Torch position is
The weaving center differently in the differently in the modified in the
deviates from rightward and leftward rightward and leftward rightward and leftward
the welding line. weaving weaving directions

Arc current

Weaving position

Fig. 1.71 Principles of arc sensor

(3) Light sensor

Light sensors such as light-section method sensors (Fig. 1.72) that use a laser slit light and visual
sensors for direct looking by CCD camera (Fig. 1.73) are used for welding-seam tracking control and
welding-condition adjusting control.
Visual sensors corresponding to human’s eye detect the shape and position of the electrode, arc, and
weld pool by directly treating visual graphics to control welding conditions. With this method, extremely
much information can be obtained, but countermeasures against disturbances to the arc and how to get the
welding phenomenon information are issues for the future. This method is expected to be a basic technology
for artificial-intelligence welding.

Areal sensor Signal treatment device

（camera) Robot
controller
Slit light

Monitor TV

Fig. 1.72 Light-section method sensor

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 Signal treatment
Areal sensor device
(camera) Robot
Welding torch controller

Monitor TV

Workpiece

Fig. 1.73 Direct-view visual sensor

1.8.3 Teaching operation

The teaching is to teach an arc welding robot how to operate. With the teaching-playback system, the
teaching of operation sequence is provided directly for a robot. In this case, welding is intermitted when the
teaching operation is provided for a robot, hence welding work cannot be performed during the teaching
operation.
The off-line-teaching system has solved this problem, with which the teaching operation is provided for
the simulated robot on the CRT of the computer (Fig. 1.74). The teaching data input in the computer are
transmitted to the actual robot via a floppy disk or a local area network (LAN) to operate the robot
according to the teaching data. With this system, the uptime of a robot can be improved greatly.
For further innovation in robotic welding, the non-teaching technique has been in practice, by which the
robot motion can directly be programmed by using CAD data. Furthermore, the automatic interference
simulation technique has been developed, by which the teaching program provided for a robot can be
checked on the computer whether or not the interference between the workpiece and the robot motion
exists.

Work transfer Control panel for

command work transfer
Host computer Work transfer equipment
system equipment

Name of work,
Name of robot to which
data must be sent Robotic system
control panel

Motion command
Teaching

Off-line Multiplexer
teaching system
Robotic welding system

Fig. 1.74 Conceptual diagram of off-line teaching system

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1.8.4 Systematic procedures
An arc welding robot is not used alone but used combined with such peripheral devices as positioner,
shuttle or transporter, and clamping jig.

(1) Positioner
The positioner is a rotating device that clamps and holds a workpiece in position so that welding can be
done easily. Positioners can be classified into the constant positioning type that stops at a predetermined
position (angle) and the optional positioning type that can stop at any position according to the teaching
data. The latter is easier to use for welding.
Also the specific positioner that uses an articulated robot with the functions of positioning and clamping
is available. In this case, two robots of work-clamped robot and welding robot perform a coordinated motion
to control the inclination of the welding surface, the angle between the welding surface and the welding
torch, and the relative velocity between the welding surface and the welding torch (i.e. welding speed). For
instance, TKY joints of steel pipes, the welding seam position of which is changed three-dimensionally in a
complicated manner, can be welded in the flat position continuously, thus consistent quality weld joints can
be obtained. The coordinated motion control enables to use a welding robot for these applications.

(2) Robot transporters

The transporter or shuttle is a transporting device that transports a robot back and forth, side to side,
and up to down in a case where the work envelope of a robot is insufficient. Of transporters, the constant
positioning type and optional positioning type are available.

(3) Clamping jig

The clamping jig is a fixing tool that fixes a workpiece on a positioner or surface plate, the types of which
include the manual clamping type (fixed with a screw or toggle clamp), pneumatic clamping type, and
hydraulic clamping type. The proper type should be selected depending on the weight of a workpiece and
the level of automatization.
The selection of peripheral device significantly affects the performance of a welding system, hence careful
consideration is necessary.

1.8.5 CAD/CAM systems

The use of CAD/CAM welding robot system has been expanding rapidly in the shipbuilding and bridge
construction fields, and many types of systems are reported. This section describes an example of
CAD/CAM robot system for welding parts on coils for boilers for a heat power plant in the heavy electric
industry.
As shown in the equipment configuration in Fig. 1.75, the drafts of coil body and the attaching parts are
retrieved in the form of CAD file format, and the data of the attaching positions of parts, material, and
shape are retrieved in the form of text data, from the CAD data developed by the design section. From
these data, the CAM data of the basic position and the controlled variables of equipment are automatically
produced by the production engineering section.
The production section produces the final CAM data by using an editing personal computer, by adding
such production data as the presence or absence of welding work, welding sequence, and applicable area of
robotic welding. The CAM data are simulated to verify or to modify them for use in welding work. The
Y-axis carriage that moves a robot and the X-axis conveyer that moves coils can be verified after moving
the robot and coils respectively by using the special detecting mechanism equipped respectively to correct
positional deviation. For a welding robot, the basic teaching from the basic point of the CAD data is
conducted for every attaching part only once. After that, welding is performed, receiving the basic teaching
number and the information of relative position between parts from the CAM data by means of data
communication.

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 Design section Production engineering section

Work station Personal computer

Production section
Cc
oa Welding robot
mt
mo
u
n
i
-
i
n

Robot
control
General panel
controller
(FA computer)

Y-axis robot carriage control

X-axis transport conveyer control Coil component
(tube)

Fig. 1.75 An example of CAD-CAM system configuration

1.8.6 FA/CIM systems

The level of production system upgrades from the Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS), Factory
Automation (FA), and Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) in this order.
The FMS is a production line that can conduct production flexibly. This type of production line is
equipped with a work transportation line employing carriages and conveyers (e.g. added to the production
system discussed in the section above) and the line control that can respond to flexible production (e.g.
multi-product production).
The FA leads to a fully automated factory with the addition of the designing and production management
function to a production line that consists of the welding, cutting, tacking, drilling, and machining lines.
The CIM can control the factory activities from the producing process to the product shipment in the
light of the management and sales information. As shown in Fig. 1.76, the CIM system consists of Office
Automation (OA) that controls management, finance, sales, and resource information; the management
information system of FA; the technical information system of CAD/CAM, Computer Aided Engineering
(CAE), and Computer Aided Testing (CAT); and the production system including assembly, processing,
and process control. Individual elements involved in the entire activities from sales to production are
integrated by computer.

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 Sales office Part/material manufacturer

Sales management Management/production plan

Stock management
CAE, CAD Production Logistics
management

CAM
CAT

Process control
Assembly Processing

Fig. 1.76 An example of integrated production management system configuration

1.9 Overlay welding and surface modification methods

Overlay welding and thermal spraying are broadly used in various industrial fields as techniques to
improve the performance of the surface of structural materials. The component parts of machinery and
equipment used in production and construction activities must have wear resistance, corrosion resistance,
and heat resistance depending on the application for the parts. The shape and dimensions of the parts are
various, so the method of and material for overlay welding and thermal spraying should be selected taking
into account the application.

1.9.1 Overlay welding

(1) Basic characteristics
Overlay welding is a surfacing method that deposits a 1 mm or thicker weld metal on the surface of a base
metal. The characteristics of overlay welding are described in the following.
① Overlaid weld metal is sufficiently fused with the base metal to make metallurgical bonding;
consequently, the bonding strength between the weld metal and base material is high.
② Deposition rate and welding efficiency are high, and overlaid weld metal can be thicker if needed for the
application.
③ Overlaid weld metal is produced by metallurgical reaction and has high quality.
④ The dimension of overlaid weld metal is limitless for larger substrate workpiece; on the other hand
overlay welding is difficult for small and complicated-shape substrate workpiece.
⑤ The contraction stress accompanied by melting and solidification of overlaid weld metal causes the
distortion of the base metal.
⑥ As penetration becomes deeper, the dilution by the base metal increases, thus the properties of the
weld deteriorate.
The objectives of overlay welding can be broadly categorized into corrosion resistant overlay welding and
wear resistant overlay welding (or hardfacing). Table 1.18 shows the features of and applications for each
overlay welding objective.

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 Table 1.18 Features of heat resistant and wear resistant overlay welding

Category Features Examples of applications

Applied to the surfaces of carbon steels and low-alloy steels that Nuclear pressure vessels,
Corrosion contact corrosive substances. Desulfurization equipment for
resistant Higher adaptability to various shapes of parts as compared with clad heavy oil, Chemical reactors,
overlay steels or linings; it is easy to cope with various corrosive environments Storage tanks and towers
welding by selecting the suitable welding consumable.
Suitable for repair to reuse parts, or for improving the performance of Steel mill rolls,
Wear
new parts. By selecting the welding consumable, the weld metal can be Construction machinery
resistant
heat resistant and corrosion resistant as well as wear resistant. It is parts, Crushers
overlay
possible to deposit thick, hard layers in industry by field welding.
welding

(2) Varieties of overlay welding methods

The important things for overlay welding are reduction of dilution to improve the weld quality and
increase of deposition rate to improve the welding efficiency. Table 1.19 [Ref. 17] shows the basic
characteristics of various welding processes and their variations for overlaying.

Table 1.19 Basic characteristics of various welding processes and their variations for overlaying
Deposition Dilution
Basic welding
Variations Principles rate ratio
process
(kg/h) (%)
Gas welding - - 1.0 -
Shielded metal
- - 2.0 20
arc welding
- - 6.0 30
Submerged arc Series arc method A serial arc generated by two welding wires is used. 12.0 15
welding Oscillating method Oscillating motion is added to welding wire. 6.8 20
Band arc method Strip electrode is used. 36.0 10
- - 1.5 20
TIG welding
Hot wire method Filler wire is heated by resistance heating. 7.0 25
MIG welding Pulsed arc method Pulsed current is used for the arc current. 5.5 30
Short-circuit arc Molten metal droplets are transferred by the
CO2 arc welding 3.0 10
method short-circuit transfer mode.
- - 3.2 15
Hot wire method Filler wire is heated by resistance heating. 20.0 15
Hot wire method
The resistance heating of filler wire is combined with
combined with melting 30.0 10
Plasma arc the arc heat melting of wire.
wire method
welding Powder welding method Powder is used as filler material. 5.0 10
DCEP polarity method DCEP polarity arc is used. 3.2 0.1
DCEP polarity method
DCEP polarity arc and the resistance heating of filler
combined with hot wire 15.0 0.1
wire are used
method
Electroslag Multiple-electrode 15 per
- -
welding method electrode

(a) Gas welding

Gas welding (oxyfuel gas welding) can produce overlay weld metals that have low dilution ratios, though
the welding efficiency is low. This method is applied to overlaying cobalt base alloys on carbon steels.

(b) Shielded metal arc welding

Shielded metal arc welding is applicable to the overlay welding of complicated shape workpieces, though
deposition rate is low. As compared with other welding processes, the choice of a welding consumable
suitable for a particular application is easier because a variety of welding consumables are available. This
process is often used for repair welding at field because the welding equipment is excellent in portability.

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 (c) Submerged arc welding
The submerged arc welding process is used for a broad field of applications including overlaying
hardening alloy steels, stainless steels, and superalloys. This process has the following advantages.
① Possible to obtain high deposition rates with high currents
② Consistent overlay weld metal with high quality
③ Suitable for long and wide workpiece
④ Excellent in the welding environment because of invisible arc
On the other hand, this process has such a disadvantage that the penetration line contains ridges and
valleys due to deep penetration.
The strip electrode (band arc) overlay welding process is a variation of the submerged arc welding
process, in which a wide strip electrode is used as shown in Fig. 1.77. With this process, penetration is
shallow, thus the penetration line becomes regular, and a wide and smooth surface weld bead can be
obtained, improving the disadvantage of wire electrode submerged arc welding. This process is used widely
due to its superior quality and efficiency.

Power Controller
source Strip electrode
0.4×75mm
Motor
Welding direction
Welding
direction:
at right angle
to this paper
Flux
Weld metal

Base metal

Fig. 1.77 Schematic of strip electrode submerged arc (band arc) overlaying process

(d) Gas shielded arc welding

TIG welding can produce high quality welds with shallow penetration because the arc is soft and stable,
which is applied to overlaying nonferrous metals and superalloys.
Plasma arc welding offers high quality overlay welds like TIG welding. To improve the welding efficiency,
hot wire plasma arc overlaying and plasma powder overlaying are available. With the plasma powder overlay
welding process, a DCEN polarity plasma arc is generated between the electrode and base metal while
powder filler metal is fed into the plasma arc in an argon or helium gas stream. This process enables to use
a powder filler metal mixture composed of more than two kinds and a hardening alloy powder filler metal that
cannot be formed into wire, offering shallow penetration.
MIG welding is used for overlaying copper alloys or high nickel alloys, and MAG welding is used for
overlaying hardening low alloy steels.

(e) Electroslag welding

In electroslag welding, the surface for overlaying is enclosed with water-cooled copper backing to dam
molten metal and slag, and welding is progressed in the vertical position. This process is applied to the
overlay welding on the surface of rolls, which is suitable in terms of weld quality for welding cast irons and
high carbon steels due to low cooling velocity, offering high welding efficiency.
Recently, electroslag overlay welding in the flat position is used in industry. The mechanism of overlaying
is similar to that of strip electrode submerged arc overlay welding shown in Fig. 1.77, but the tip of the

1-74
electrode is dipped in the molten slag and is melted by the resistance heat of the molten slag. Although the
welding environment with this process becomes a high temperature state because the molten slag is
exposed to the air, a wider strip electrode can be used resulting in higher welding efficiency and more
consistent bead appearance as compared with submerged arc welding. In use of wide strip electrode of
around 150-200 mm, the molten metal flow is controlled by electromagnetic force to control the shape of
overlay weld metal. This technique is applied to lining the inner surface of pressure vessels for nuclear
power generation facilities.

1.9.2 Thermal spraying

(1) Basic characteristics
In thermal spraying, the molten droplets of spray material are sprayed at a high velocity onto the surface
of a substrate to form layers of coatings accompanied by the droplet deformation on collision. By using a
spray material with wear resistance, corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, or thermal and electrical
insulation properties, it is possible to improve the performance of the substrate or to highly functionalize
the substrate.
As compared with overlay welding, thermal spraying is superior in that it can be applied to much more
kinds of substrates by using much more kinds of spray materials, and the substrate is less heat-affected. On
the other hand, thermal spraying is inferior in terms of the peel resistance and density of the coating except
for some particular alloys such as self-fluxing alloys.

(2) Types of thermal spraying methods

Main thermal spraying methods can be categorized by the heat source as shown in Fig. 1.78.

Wire flame spraying

Flame spraying Ceramic rod flame spraying

Combustible gas
spraying
Powder flame spraying
Detonation flame spraying

Thermal spraying
Electric arc spraying
Electrical power Plasma spraying
spraying
Wire explosion spraying

Fig. 1.78 Classification of thermal spraying processes

(a) Flame spraying

Flame spraying can be categorized by the shape of material into wire flame spraying, ceramic rod flame
spraying, and powder flame spraying.
In wire flame spraying, wire is continuously fed into and melted by a burning flame with a gas mixture such
as oxygen and acetylene, the molten wire is sheared into fine droplets by a stream of compressed air to have
them adhering onto a substrate, building up layers of coatings on the substrate.
Flame spray system consists of torch, operation gas feed device, wire feed device, and compressed air
feed device. Fig 1.79 shows an example of the cross sectional structure of a torch nozzle.

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 Substrate

Sprayed coating

Compressed air
Oxygen + acetylene gas
Spray material (wire)
Gas nozzle

Air cap Burning gas flame

Air jet Spray stream

Fig. 1.79 Cross section of wire flame spray torch nozzle

This method is applied to the following applications: corrosion prevention of steels by using spray
materials such as aluminum, zinc and their alloy; the forming of wear resistant coating by using spray
materials such as molybdenum and high carbon steel; and the shape recovery of the worn parts of various
equipment and devices. This method is also applied to spraying plastics that can be processed into a wire.
In ceramic rod flame spraying, a rod of spray material (with a diameter of approximately 3 mm and a
length of approximately 300 mm) that is made by sintering fine powders of ceramics such as alumina and
chromium oxide is fed into the burning flame for spraying. With this method, such spray materials as
ceramics and plastics that are difficult to process into wire can be used for forming spray coatings.
In powder flame spraying, a powder of spray material is fed into the burning flame to melt, and the molten
powder is propelled to form a coating on a substrate. Although many kinds of spray materials such as metals,
ceramics, and cermets can be sprayed with this method, the travel velocity of spray particles is relatively
low, and thus the coatings formed on the substrate tend to be porous.

(b) Detonation flame spraying

In detonation flame spraying, a gas mixture of oxygen and fuel gas such as acetylene the composition of
which is adjusted so as to burn explosively is fired to produce a high-temperature high-velocity flame for
the heat source for spraying. This is also known as the detonation gun method or the D-gun method. The
detonation flame spray device is an interlocking system that consists of slim, cylindrical barrel, operation
gas feed part, igniter, and inlet for powder. Fig 1.80 shows a schematic view of the main part of the device
in operation.

Spark plug Substrate

Spray material
(powder)

Nitrogen gas
Oxygen gas

Barrel

Acetylene gas

Fig. 1.80 Cross section of detonation flame spraying torch

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 One operation cycle of the detonation flame spraying process consists of the following steps.
① Specific amounts of oxygen and fuel gas are supplied to the gas burning part in the barrel.
② A powder of spray material is fed in a nitrogen gas stream.
③ The mixture of the operation gas and the powder is fired by the sparking plug to have the gas mixture
burning explosively, thus the powder is melted and propelled at a high velocity to form coatings on the
substrate.
④ Residual gas after explosion is purged from the barrel by nitrogen gas.
These steps are generally performed at the rate of 3 or 4 times per second. The thickness of the coating
produced by one spray cycle is around 6μm. By repeating these steps, the coating can be built up to have
a thickness of 0.015-0.25 mm.
Powder materials suitable for detonation flame spraying are tungsten carbide combined with cobalt
powder, chromium carbide combined with nickel-chromium alloy powder, aluminum oxide, and chromium
oxide.

(c) Electric arc spraying

In electric arc spraying, an arc is generated between the tips of two wire electrodes, the tips of the wires
are melted by the arc, and the molten droplets are sheared and propelled by a compressed air jet to form
coatings on the substrate. This method offers highly efficient spraying because the spray material is melted
by the arc; hence it is suitable for forming coatings on the surfaces of large parts and for the overlay
spraying of worn parts.

(d) Plasma spraying

Plasma spraying is the main spraying method among all the spraying methods used today. As shown in the
typical cross sectional diagram of the spraying torch in Fig. 1.81, an arc is generated between the tungsten
electrode (connected to cathode) and copper nozzle (connected to anode), an argon gas is ionized by the
arc to become plasma, a spray material is fed in a gas stream into the plasma jet expelled from the nozzle
and is melted, and the molten particles are propelled to cause impingement onto a substrate, forming layers
of coatings thereon.

Water and
power supply

Plasma jet
Plasma orifice gas

Spray material
(powder)

Fig. 1.81 Cross sectional structure of plasma spraying torch

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 The plasma jet has an extremely high temperature and velocity around the exit of the nozzle. Therefore,
it enables to spray high-melting-point metals such as molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten and
high-melting-point ceramics such as zirconia, magnesia, silicon carbide, and titanium carbide as well as
nickel, carbon steel, and stainless steel. As regards the substrate to be coated by this method, many kinds
of materials such as metallic, organic, and inorganic materials are available. Additionally, complicate-shape
substrates can be coated by this method; hence this method is applied to many industrial products such as
aircrafts, general machinery parts, electronic device parts, and electrical device parts.

(e) Wire explosion spraying

Wire explosion spraying is a technique in which high voltage and high current are applied instantaneously
on a metal wire to melt explosively, and the molten particles fly apart towards a substrate to form coatings
thereon. Only conductive materials can be sprayed by this method; on the other hand, this method is
superior in workability for coating the inner surface of a cylindrical workpiece because fine molten particles
fly in all directions at a high velocity. This method is used for coating molybdenum on the inner surface of
the cylinder of an engine in order to improve the wear resistance.

1.9.3 Other surface modification methods

Table 1.20 shows main surface modification techniques except for thermal spraying. Vacuum deposition
method is one of the Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) methods, and the heat CVD method is one of the
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) methods. PVD methods include the ion plating method, and CVD
methods include plasma CVD method.

Table 1.20 Main surface modification techniques

Method Principles and characteristics Applications
Various car components,
This method makes carbon (for carburization) or nitrogen (for nitriding) Gears, Various components
Diffusion diffuses onto a work surface to form a hardened layer. of pumps
coating ・The bonding interface between the base metal and the hardened layer
has very good properties, and thick hardened layer can be formed.

The work surface (steel material) is heated and quenched to cause Steel mill rolls, Gears,
Heating and martensitic transformation and hardening. Various tools, Dies
quenching ・Hardness can be adjusted by tempering. Thick hardened layer can be
formed.
Steel sheets,
This method forms a metal coating on a work surface by electrolytic Food utensils,
reaction or by dipping a work in molten metal pool of low melting point. Various rolls,
Plating
・The coating has a good contact with the substrate, and many kinds of Pump shafts
metals can be coated.

Deposition material is evaporated by heating in vacuum and is Antireflection film on the

Vacuum photographic lens,
condensed on a work surface.
deposition Crystal oscillators,
・ This deposition method can be applied to nonconducting base
method Electric circuit components
materials as well and can be done at low temperatures ( 500℃ or lower)
Chemical reaction of the source gases is made at a high temperature Various tools,
(800-1100℃), and the produced material is built up on a work surface. Semi-conductors , Dies
・Uniform coatings can be formed and the use of high temperature
Heat CVD
assures a high contact strength between the coating and the base
method
metal.
・The different types of coatings can be built up only by changing source
gases.

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 1.10 Cutting processes

A variety of cutting processes are used in industry to cut structural materials. Figure 1.82 shows
categorized main cutting processes used in industry. While thermal cutting processes melt the work locally
to cut, non-thermal cutting processes cut the work by using energy sources except for heat without
melting.

Gas cutting, powder cutting

(Use of thermal energy produced by oxidative reaction)

Plasma cutting
(Use of thermal energy produced by arc discharge; Oxidative reaction is also accompanied)
Thermal cutting
Laser cutting
(Use of thermal energy of light; Oxidative reaction is also accompanied)

Cutting processes Wire-cut discharge cutting

(Use of thermal energy of discharge)
Water-jet cutting
Non-thermal (Use of the kinetic energy of water and hard micro-particles)
cutting
Mechanical cutting (e.g. sawing machine)
(Use of mechanical energy)

Fig. 1.82 Classification of cutting processes

1.10.1 Gas cutting

(1) Principles and characteristics
Gas cutting (oxyfuel gas cutting) is used most broadly for cutting ordinary steels such as carbon steels,
because the cutting device is simple and the cutting cost is low. The most significant feature of the gas
cutting process is that the thermal energy for melting the cutting portion is provided by the heat of
oxidation reaction of the steel to be cut.
As shown in the cutting mechanism in Fig. 1.83, the starting portion of a work to be cut is heated to a
burning temperature around 900℃ by gas flame called the preheating flame, and then oxygen gas is blown
out from the torch to burn (by intense oxidation reaction) the cutting portion, and simultaneously the
molten metal is blown away to be cut.

Cutting oxygen
Preheating gas

Cutting tip
Cutting direction

Preheating flame

Cutting oxygen stream

Cutting material
Drag line
Preheated zone
Reaction zone

Slag

Fig. 1.83 Schematic of gas cutting process

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 For fuel gas for preheating the cutting material, acetylene is used in general; also other combustible
gases such as propane, propylene, ethylene, butane, and their mixtures are used.
Although gas cutting is a superior method for cutting steels, its usefulness depends on whether the
oxidation reaction is sufficient or not. The gas cutting process requires metals including steels to possess
the following properties.
① The combustion temperature of a cutting metal is lower than its melting point.
② The melting point of oxidation product is lower than the temperature of the molten metal.
③ Molten slag has good fluidity and flows away easily from the cutting metal without thickly covering the
reaction surface.
④ The cutting metal contains less amounts of noncombustible elements.
⑤ The diffusion velocity of metallic elements contained in the cutting metal is sufficiently high in molten
oxides.
⑥ The cutting jet has a high velocity and can remove molten substances at the cutting reaction portion.
Carbon steel satisfies these requirements sufficiently. If carbon and alloying elements increase in metals,
such metals cannot satisfy the above-mentioned requirements, thus gas cutting becomes difficult for such
metals as stainless steel and cast iron.
For a metal that is difficult to gas cut, powder cutting, a variation of gas cutting, can be used. This
method uses fine pure iron powders mixed into the cutting oxygen to add the oxygen-iron reaction heat and
to modify the composition of the cutting oxides, thereby enabling the cutting of stainless steels. Such iron
powder may be mixed with aluminum powder.
In gas cutting, distortion can be occurred as in welding, because the cutting portion undergoes
high-temperature heating resulting in thermal expansion and then contraction when cooling. Also the
vicinities of the cutting surfaces change their structure and hardness caused by the cutting heat.
Gas cutting can be applied to a wide range of mild steel plates with thicknesses ranging from
approximately 5 mm to 100 mm or thicker. Only this method is practical as a thermal cutting method that
can be applied to thick plates of 50 mm or bigger.

(2) Cutting devices

The gas cutting system consists of gas supply devices, pressure regulator, safety device, rubber hose,
cutting torch, and cutting tip. These devices and tools should be selected taking into account the kind,
pressure, and flow rate of gases used, gas leakage, and operation safety.
(a) Pressure regulator
Figure 1.84 shows the principles of a
Pressure adjusting bar
pressure regulator. In order to control the
secondary pressure at the constant value
against variation in the primary pressure and
flow rate, it is more effective to use the Larger spring
diaphram having a larger area and the larger
Secondary pressure meter
spring having a smaller spring constant. Diaphragm

Valve Primary pressure meter

(b) Safety device seat Valve
The safety device used in gas cutting is Gas outlet

flashback arrester. Two types of the arresters,

the water seal type and dry type, are available. Primary chamber Gas inlet

The water seal type arrester can be Smaller spring

Secondary chamber
categorized, by the pressure of fuel gas used,
into the low pressure type of 7 kPa (0.07 Fig. 1.84 Principles of pressure regulator
kgf/cm2) or lower and the medium pressure
type of 7 kPa-13 MPa (1.3 kgf/cm2).

1-80
 In accordance with the Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health of Japan, more than two safety devices
are required to be equipped by connecting them in series on the pipings between the gas concentration
equipment and all the cutting torches. The Ordinance also specifies to check the water level of the water
seal type safety device more than once a day. The dry type safety device offers small sizes and the superior
flashback arresting function and needs no water, which is often used at a low-flow-rate piping outlet and
single-use gas container.

(c) Rubber hose

In accordance with the JIS standard, rubber hoses for gas cutting are identified by color according to the
application: blue for oxygen gas hoses; red or red and orange for acetylene gas hoses; orange or orange and
red for liquefied petroleum gas hoses (refer to Section 4.9.3 (2) in Chapter 4 for details). The rubber hoses
for oxygen gas should be handled carefully because a contaminant of minimal amount of oil or grease on the
inner surface of the gas hose can cause fire or explosion. As regards the rubber hoses for acetylene gas, the
hose joints must not be made of a material that contains copper of higher than 70%.

(d) Cutting torch

Cutting torches can be categorized by the pressure of fuel gas to be used into the low pressure type and
medium pressure type.
The former is equipped with the injector with which fuel gas can be drawn into the torch by a stream of
preheating oxygen; hence low-pressure fuel gas can be burnt securely. With this type of torch,
medium-pressure fuel gas can also be used by adjusting the fuel gas valve.
By contrast the medium-pressure torch is not equipped with injector; hence medium-pressure fuel gas
must be used. If the pressure of a fuel gas reduces, oxygen for the preheating flame can flow upstream into
the fuel gas pipe causing flashback, so it is extremely dangerous.

(e) Cutting tip

Cutting tips can be categorized into three types by the mixing position of fuel gas and preheating oxygen,
as shown in Fig. 1.85. The torch-mixing type is used for low-pressure torch, and the tip-mixing type and
outside-mixing type are used for medium-pressure torch.
Typically, the torch-mixing type and tip-mixing type are used for manual gas cutting; the tip-mixing type
is used for automatic gas cutting. With the outside-mixing type, no flashback can occur because mixed gas
does not exist inside the tip; hence this type is used for cutting high temperature materials in steel mills.

Cutting oxygen Cutting oxygen Cutting oxygen

Preheating oxygen Fuel gas
Mixed gas Preheating oxygen
Fuel gas

(a) Torch-mixing type (b) Tip-mixing type (c) Outside-mixing type

Fig. 1.85 Classification of gas cutting tips by gas-mixing position

1-81
 In order to improve the gas cutting speed and the quality of the cutting surfaces, it is necessary to jet
high purity oxygen (99.5% or higher) at a high speed and to prevent an irregular stream of oxygen. To
realize this condition, the shape of the cutting oxygen nozzle is important; two types of nozzles shown in
Fig. 1.86 are used in industry.
Straight nozzle has a simple shape but is not applicable to high-speed cutting because the velocity of gas
flow cannot be increased much. Nevertheless, this type of nozzle offers easier maintenance, control, and
handling. By contrast, with divergent nozzle a stream of gas can flow expanding towards the exit of the
nozzle; hence the velocity of oxygen gas flow can be increased up to a supersonic speed; this type of nozzle
is applicable for high-speed automatic cutting.
As described above, cutting tips govern the cutting efficiency and the quality of the cutting surfaces;
therefore, they have to be handled carefully so as not to cause cut and contamination on their surfaces.

(a) Straight nozzle (b) Divergent nozzle

Fig. 1.86 Shape of cutting nozzles

1.10.2 Plasma cutting

In plasma cutting the arc energy constricted by the nozzle is concentrated to melt the cutting portion of
a material, and then the molten part is removed by a high speed gas flow to cut the material. The basic
configuration of the plasma cutting system consists of plasma torch, power source, and high-frequency
generator.
At the first step of plasma cutting (Fig. 1.87), a pilot arc is generated between the electrode (cathode)
and the nozzle (anode) in the torch. When the orifice gas is ionized by the arc to become conductive, it jets
through the nozzle and reaches the cutting workpiece to cause the main arc generated between the
electrode in the torch and the cutting workpiece connected to the plus terminal of the plasma arc power
source, thereby cutting the workpiece. As to the electrode material, tungsten is used when the orifice gas is
non-oxygenated, and zirconium or hafnium embedded water cooled cupper sheath is used when the orifice
gas is oxygenated.

Electrode

Orifice gas
High
Plasma arc Pilot arc frequency
Power source power source Liner
generator (gas distributor)

Nozzle (tip)

Arc Current passage

Cutting workpiece

Fig. 1.87 Schematic of plasma arc cutting process

1-82
 As for orifice gas, various sorts of gases are used as shown in Table 1.21. With argon, hydrogen, and
nitrogen, only the arc heat is used as a cutting heat source. With oxygen and air, the cutting efficiency can
extremely be higher because the oxidation reaction heat can also be used as a cutting heat source in
addition to the arc heat. In the case of the latter, the electrode tends to be consumed by oxidation.
However, recently, the electrode material has been improved and, consequently, oxygen plasma cutting and
air plasma cutting with relatively small current have been widely used in industry.
In plasma jet cutting (refer to Fig. 1.35 (b)), the high-temperature arc plasma produced in the torch is
emitted from the nozzle to the cutting material. This process can be applied, for example, to non-metallic
materials such as concrete.

Table 1.21 Examples of combinations of orifice gas and cutting material in plasma arc cutting
Gas Gas flow rate Cutting material
Ar + H2 Ar: 30 l/min, H2: 10-20 l/min Stainless steel, Aluminum
Ar + N2 Ar: 30 l/min, N2: 5-10 l/min Stainless steel
Ar + H2 + N2 Ar: 30 l/min, H2: 10-20 l/min, N2: little Stainless steel
N2 80-１00 l/min Stainless steel
Air 35-50 l/min Mild steel
O2 35-50 l/min Mild steel
N2 + H2O N2: 80-100 l/min, H2O: 2.0 l/min Stainless steel, Aluminum, Mild steel

1.10.3 Laser cutting

When laser beam is focused on the localized area of a cutting workpiece by using lenses and mirrors, the
cutting workpiece absorbs the light energy, and thus the temperature at the cutting portion increases
locally, and thereby the cutting portion is melted. And then a jet of high-pressure gas (assist gas) is applied
onto the molten part to blow away the molten substance. Consequently, the cutting portion can be cut with
a narrow kerf width with extremely high accuracy. Fig 1.88 shows a schematic diagram of laser cutting
process.

Reflecting mirror

Cooling water
Beam radius : α
Focusing lens

Assist gas

Kerf width : W
Cutting speed : v

Thickness : t

Cutting workpiece

Fig. 1.88 Schematic of laser cutting process

The assist gas improves the cutting efficiency using the oxidation reaction heat, removes molten

1-83
materials from the kerf, and protects the focusing lens from spatter. These functions of assist gas as well as
the light beam properties are significant for laser cutting. The assist gas can be oxygen to use its oxidation
reaction or can be argon or nitrogen. With the former, the cutting surface is tarnished by the produced
oxide layer, but this method is broadly used for cutting carbon steels due to high efficiency. The latter is
used for many kinds of materials such as stainless steel, aluminum alloy, and titanium alloy.
Laser cutting has the following features provided by the characteristics of the heat source.
① Possible to cut materials regardless of the hardness and rigidity of the material
② Possible to cut materials with less heat influence, less deformation, and high precision,
③ Possible to cut materials with narrow kerf width at a high speed
④ Possible to cut complicate-shape and small parts
As described above, laser cutting is the most appropriate method for thin plates, for which gas cutting
and plasma cutting are relatively unsuitable, and parts that require high accuracy and quality. In the thin
plate cutting field such as the sheet metal processing, laser cutting is broadly used because it does not need
a mold which is needed in punching process, and is cost effective in cutting parts of relatively small
production. The output of laser in practice is around 6 kW. In the case of laser cutting of steels with a
thickness of up to around 30 mm, the cutting accuracy is extremely high with the absence of dross or slag;
thus this process is also applied to materials used in bridge construction and shipbuilding.
On the other hand, the equipment for generating laser energy has a complicate configuration and is
expensive, and the energy conversion efficiency is low. Hence reduction of the cutting cost, which depends
on the uptime ratio, is important for further expansion of the use of the laser cutting technique.

1.10.4 Water jet cutting

Water jet cutting uses a jet of water, which can cut materials under high pressure of approximately
100-600 MPa. Water jet cutting methods can be categorized into straight water jet method that uses a jet
of water only, and abrasive-jet method that uses an abrasive mixed in water jet stream (Fig. 1.89).

High pressure water High pressure water

Water nozzle

Water jet

Abrasive

Mixing chamber

Abrasive nozzle

Jet stream
Jet stream with abrasive

(a) Straight water jet method (b) Abrasive-jet method

Fig. 1.89 Typical water jet cutting torches

Water jet cutting, as shown in Table 1.22, can be used for most materials including papers, rubbers, and

1-84
metals. In abrasive-type water jet cutting, the cutting material is abraded by collision of the abrasive
accelerated by water jet stream onto the cutting material; this method is used for cutting metals. The
cutting velocity with this method is considerably low for metals such as steel; on the other hand, this
method is suitable for cutting combined materials such as reinforced concrete. Additionally, it is a
significant feature that the cutting material is not heat-affected.

Table 1.22 Variations of water jet cutting methods and applicable materials
Method Pressure (MPa) Applicable materials
Straight water jet 200-600 Rubber, leather, plastics, FRPs, papers, frozen foods, lumber
Dry-type abrasive jet 100-300 Metals, ceramics, glass, concrete, rocks, FRMs
Slurry-type abrasive jet 100-300 Thin plates, ductile metals that produce burrs by the dry-type
abrasive-jet cutting

< Chapter 1 Bibliographies >

[1] Edited by The Japan Welding Society: Welding and Joining Handbook, Maruzen Co., Ltd (1990), P. 187
[2] Ando and Hasegawa: Welding Arc Phenomenon, Sanpo Publications Inc. (1973), P. 39
[3] Ando and Hasegawa: Welding Arc Phenomenon, Sanpo Publications Inc. (1973), P. 170
[4] Edited by The Japan Welding Society: Welding and Joining Handbook, Maruzen Co., Ltd (1990), P. 195
[5] N. Christensen, et al: British Welding Journal, 12 (1965), P. 54
[6] Wakino: Welding Technology, 26-6 (1978), P. 57
[7] Sakai and Watanabe: Introduction to MAG/MIG Welding, Sanpo Publications Inc. (1992), P. 54
[8] Akahide: JSSC, 26 (1997), P. 41
[9] Arata: Research on Ultra-High Temperature, 11-11 (1974), P. 35
[10] Edited by the Japan Welding Society: Welding and Joining Handbook, Maruzen Co., Ltd (1990), P. 360
[11] Koga: Journal of The Japan Welding Society, 69-3 (2000), P. 18
[12] Edited by The Japan Welding Society: Welding and Joining Handbook, Maruzen Co., Ltd (1993), P. 110
[13] Edited by the Technical Committee on Welding Processes of The Japan Welding Society: Arc Welding Automatization
Technology, Kuroki Publications Inc. (1995), I-60
[14] Hori and Hada: Journal of The Japan Welding Society, 68-3 (1999), P. 48
[15] Hori and Hada: Journal of The Japan Welding Society, 68-3 (1999), P. 49
[16] Edited by The Japan Welding Society: Welding and Joining Handbook, Maruzen Co., Ltd (1990), P. 608
[17] Edited by The Japan Welding Society: Welding and Joining Handbook, Maruzen Co., Ltd (1990), P. 694

< Chapter 1 Reference Books >

1) Edited by The Japan Welding Society: Outline of Welding and Joining Technology, Sanpo Publications Inc. (1997)
2) Edited by The Japan Welding Society: Welding and Joining Technology, Sanpo Publications Inc. (1993)
3) Arata and Nishiguchi: Fundamentals of Welding Processes (Complete Book of Welding-Series 2), Sanpo Publications Inc. (1979)
4) Edited by The Japan Welding Society: Welding and Joining Handbook, Maruzen Co., Ltd (1990)
5) Kiyohara and Owa: Fusion Welding Equipment (Complete Book of Welding-Series 6), Sanpo Publications Inc. (1979)
6) Onzawa and Tanaka, Matsu: Introduction to Brazing and Soldering, Sanpo Publications Inc. (1983)
7) Hashimoto and Okamoto: Solid Phase Welding, Brazing (Complete Book of Welding-Series 9), Sanpo Publications Inc. (1979)
8) Nakanishi and Maruo: Flame Processing and Thermal Cutting (Complete Book of Welding-Series 10), Sanpo Publications Inc.
(1979)

1-85
 API 579…6-54
Index API 580…6-54
API 650…6-30
API (standard)…6-1, 6-30
[A] Application Standard for High Tensile Strength
Steels…6-27
arc blow…1-8, 6-35
A1 transformation…2-4
arc column voltage drop…1-5
A3 transformation…2-4
arc eye…4-82
A5083 (A5083-O)…2-70, 6-33, 6-35
arc ignition device…1-20
A5183-WY…2-74, 6-35
arc sensor…1-67
A5356-WY…2-74, 6-35
arc time ratio…4-32, 4-41
ability of radiation transmission and absorption…6-15,
arc voltage feed-back control (AVC) system…1-15
6-35
abnormal preheating flame…4-86 articulated type…1-66
abrasive-type water jet cutting…1-85 ASME Code…6-1
absorbed energy (Charpy)…3-13 ASME Code Sec. VIII Div. 1…6-3
AC arc welding power source…1-15, 1-16, 1-23 ASME Code Sec. VIII Div. 2…6-3
AcC steel…2-13 ASME Code Sec. XI…6-53
accidents in confined (narrow) spaces, assembly…4-47
prevention…4-87 assessment of welding productivity…4-36
acicular ferrite…2-45 assist gas (laser cutting)…1-83
acoustic emission (AE)…4-103 austenite…2-1
AC-TIG welding…2-76 austenitic stainless steels…2-59
active gas…1-27 austenitic-ferritic stainless steel (duplex stainless
active path corrosion…6-47 steel)…2-59, 2-67, 2-88
adjusting mask (RT)…6-15, 6-35 automatic pulsed TIG welding…6-38
aged structures…6-53 Automatic Voltage Reducing Device for AC Arc
Welding Power Source…4-84
air arc gouging…6-13
automatic welding…1-22, 4-63
air carbon arc gouging…4-56
automation welding machine…1-60
air plasma cutting…1-83
AWS D1.1…5-6
alkali embrittlement crack…6-49
allowable defect size…6-53
[B]
allowable duty cycle (power source)…1-23
allowable stress (value)…3-51, 5-12, 5-13, 6-4
back gouging…4-55, 6-13, 6-34
allowable stress for welded joint…3-52, 5-17
back shielding…2-80, 6-39, 6-40, 6-61
allowable tensile stress…6-3, 6-5
backing materials…4-50
Al-Mg alloy…2-71, 6-33
backing method…1-61
alternative methods for PWHT…6-57
backside welding…4-55
aluminum alloys…2-70, 6-35
backstep sequence (deposition sequence)…4-53
aluminum-killed steel (for low temperature)…2-16,
baking (baked)…1-61, 4-44, 5-42
6-33
α iron…2-1 bainitic transformation…2-5
α+β phase titanium alloy…2-79 battering method…4-73
α phase titanium alloy…2-79 bend test…3-15
ammonia leakage test…6-16 β phase titanium alloy…2-79
angle beam ultrasonic test (UT)…4-99, 4-100 Bi-bearing flux-cored wire…2-64, 6-44
angular distortion (by welding)…3-28, 6-28, 6-50 Bi-free flux-cored wire…2-64, 6-44
annealing…2-6 B-joint…6-7
annular plate…6-29, 6-50 blister…6-46
anode…1-5 block sequence (deposition sequence)... 4-53
anode voltage drop…1-6 blowhole (aluminum)…2-72, 5-36, 6-36
blowhole (carbon steel)…4-74, 5-35

Index-1
boiler tube…6-41 chipping with a chisel…4-55
boiling water reactor (BWR)…6-20 chloride SCC…2-88, 6-48
bonded flux…1-37, 2-44 chromium carbide…2-63, 2-86
bottom-reflected wave (UT)…6-15 circumferential joint…6-26, 6-52
boxing weld…4-57, 5-19 Cl-…2-88, 6-48
brass crack…6-42 clad steel…2-68, 6-22
brass filler metal…1-57 classification of welded joints by location (pressure
brazing…1-56 vessel)…6-7
brazing and soldering…1-1, 1-55 cleaning action…1-9, 1-28, 1-33, 2-76, 6-36
Brinell hardness test…3-15 cleaning of welding groove…4-46
brittle fracture…3-8, 3-20, 6-13, 6-49, 6-52 CO2 gas laser…1-46
buckling distortion…3-28 coarse grain HAZ…2-24
Building Standard Law…5-5 coarse grain zone…2-21
buildup welding…3-43 CO-CO2-H2O SCC…2-85, 6-48
buried arc…1-34 coefficient of linear thermal expansion…2-61, 2-82,
butt groove joints with permanent backing plate…6-31 3-25
butt joint…3-38 cold crack…2-32, 3-19, 4-69
butt RW…1-49 cold forming…6-9
butt welded joint of dissimilar-thickness members…6-8 cold working…4-45
buttering…3-43, 5-57, 6-40 color code of gas container (Law)…4-87
color code of rubber hose (JIS standard)…4-87
[C] commercial pure titanium (CP-Ti)…2-77
compression…3-1
C-0.5Mo steel…6-21, 6-44 Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)…1-71
CAD/CAM welding robot system…1-70 confirmation of the base metal properties…4-43
calculated length of shell…6-5 constant voltage characteristic (power source)…1-14
calculated thickness of shell…6-5 consumable guide ESW…1-42
calculation of strength of welded joint…3-53, 5-21 contact tip…4-63
capacitor for improving power factor…1-20 contamination by air (titanium)…5-36
capacity of electric power supply…1-24, 4-32 contamination embrittlement (titanium)…2-79
carbide precipitation zone (stainless steel)…2-86, 6-47 contract review…4-11, 5-30
carbon equivalent…2-27, 4-69 contrast meter…4-96
carbon migration (dissimilar metal joint)…6-40 control and record of welding results…4-57
carburized layer…6-47, 6-61 control of diffusible hydrogen in weld metals…5-42
cascade sequence (deposition sequence)…4-53 control of ferrite content (stainless)…6-48
catalytic hydrodesulfurization reactor…6-51 controlled deposition technique…6-58
cathode…1-5 converted weld length…4-38
cathode reaction…2-83 cooling rate…2-18, 4-58, 5-40
cathode voltage drop…1-6 cooling rate at 540℃…2-18
cause-and-effect diagram (weld quality)…4-28 copper alloy…2-80
cause-and-effect diagram for weld quality…4-29 copper filler metal…1-56
causes and ranges of damaging and cracking…4-78 corner joint…3-38
caustic alkali crack…2-85, 6-49 corrosion cell…2-83, 6-47
CCT diagram for welding…2-24 corrosion fatigue…3-12
cementite…2-1, 2-4 corrosive environment…2-85, 6-56
ceramic rod flame spraying…1-75 corrugation (membrane)…6-34, 6-36
certification system for welding coordination countermeasures to bad weather…6-29
personnel…4-25 covered electrode for shielded metal arc welding…2-37
Charpy impact test…3-13 crack tip opening displacement (CTOD)…3-34, 3-35
checking or reviewing of materials and welding cracking in steel welds…2-30
consumables…5-32 cracking parameter, PC…2-34
cracks by quenching…2-5

Index-2
crater crack…2-61 diffusion welding…1-57
crater treatment…6-35, 6-36, 6-61 dilution ratio…2-68, 6-22
Cr-depleted zone…2-86, 6-47 dimensional accuracy and correction of the welding joint
creep…3-12 configuration…4-49
creep embrittlement…2-56, 6-41 dimensional accuracy of a welding groove…4-49, 5-45
creep cracking…2-56 direct desulfurization reactor vessel…6-58
creep damage…6-41 disbonding…6-22, 6-46, 6-52
creep strength…2-50 dissimilar material joint…3-25
crevice corrosion…2-88 dissimilar metal joint…2-68, 6-39
critical stress for the crack initiation…2-33 distance amplitude curve (UT)…4-102
Cr-Mo steel…2-50, 6-12, 6-13, 6-39 distance between adjacent longitudinal welded
cruciform joint…3-39 joints…6-8
cutback…6-22, 6-58 divergent nozzle (gas cutting)…1-82
cutting (process)…1-79, 4-44, 6-9 double integrity design…6-34
cutting accuracy…4-42, 4-44 double-shielding nozzle (torch)…5-36, 6-36
cutting torch…1-81 double-groove full penetration weld (pressure
cyclic loading…3-10 vessel)…6-13
cylindrical shell…6-6 drooping characteristic (power source)…1-14
dry method (MT)…4-93
[D] ductile fracture…3-8
ductility…3-8, 3-31
damage by service environments…6-47 ductility-dip crack... 2-30, 2-81, 2-83
DC arc welding power source…1-16, 1-18 duplex stainless steel…2-59, 2-67
DC electrode negative…1-7 duty cycle (power source)…1-23
DC electrode positive…1-7 dynamic load…3-1
dead load…3-1
decarburized layer (dissimilar metal joint)…6-40 [E]
defect ratio…3-19
delayed (crack) cracking…2-32, 2-66, 4-69, 6-46 edge joint…3-38, 6-38
delayed time (voltage reducing device)…1-20 effective length (weld bead)…3-55, 5-20
DeLong diagram…2-62 effective throat thickness…5-14
demagnetization…1-8, 5-32, 6-35 800 to 500℃ cooling time…2-18
deposition sequence…4-51, 4-53 elasticity…3-2
depreciation…4-40 electric arc spraying…1-77
design of weld joint strength…5-14 electric eye inflammation…4-82
design plate thickness…6-57 electric potential gradient…1-7
design of structure…3-1, 5-12 electric shock…1-19, 4-84
design pressure…6-5, 6-50, 6-52 electrode holder…4-84
design review…4-11, 5-31 electrode melting rate…1-10
Design Standard for Steel Structures…3-49, 5-6 electrode-to-electrode distance…1-38
design stress…3-51 electrogas arc welding…1-39, 1-60, 6-30
design stress intensity…6-3, 6-4 electromagnetic pinch effect…1-7
design temperature…6-3 electron beam welding…1-44, 6-4
detonation flame spraying…1-76 electroslag overlay welding…1-74
developer (PT)…4-94 electroslag welding…1-41, 1-60
dew point (shielding gas)…5-43, 6-36 elongation…3-8
δ iron…2-1 energy density (welding heat source)…1-45
δ ferrite…2-1, 2-61, 6-41 energy release rate…3-34
ΔG…2-35, 6-24, 6-29 energy transition temperature…3-15
Δt8/5…2-18, 4-58 engine-driven type (power source)…1-18
diffusible hydrogen (content)…2-32, 2-39, 4-43 enhancement of productivity…4-41
essential confirmation item…4-30

Index-3
essential variables…4-19, 4-30 FP-joint (pressure vessel)…6-7
ethylene manufacturing equipment…6-60 fracture accidents…6-49
Euro Norm (EN) for the European Communities fracture accident of welded structures…5-56
(EC)…6-1 fracture appearance transition curve…3-14
eutectoid steel…2-4 fracture appearance transition temperature…3-15
examples of failure…3-60 fracture mechanics…3-32
explosion welding…1-54 fracture parameter…3-32
explosive limits of fuel gas density…4-86 fracture toughness…3-35
extra-low hydrogen type (covered electrode)…2-38, fracture toughness test…3-13
6-27 fracture toughness testing methods…3-36
extra-low yield point steel…2-15 frequency of electric power supply…1-24
friction stir welding (FSW)…1-54
[F] friction welding…1-53
front fillet welded joint…3-43
fabrication accuracy…5-45 FSR (final stress relieving)…6-23
fabrication error…6-28, 6-31 ○Ｆ STBA 28…6-18
Factory Automation (FA)…1-71 full annealing…2-6
false pattern (MT)…6-16 full penetration welding…3-39
fatigue…3-10 fumes (welding)…4-82
fatigue design…3-58, 5-24 functions of the covering flux…2-37
fatigue limit…3-11 fused flux…1-37, 2-44
fatigue strength…3-11, 3-22, 4-57, 5-26 fusion line…2-18
fatigue strength of weld joints…5-24 fusion welding…1-2
fatigue test…3-10 FW-joint…6-7
Fe3C…2-1
Fe-C phase diagram…2-1 [G]
ferrite…2-1
ferritic stainless steel…2-58,2-65 galvanizing-crack (carbon steel)…2-14
FFS (Fitness for Service)…6-54 galvanizing-induced crack…5-10
filler metal (brazing)…1-56 galvanizing crack susceptibility carbon equivalent,
fillet welding…3-39, 3-43 CEZmod…2-15
filter lens…4-82 γ iron…2-1
filter plate…4-82 Gas Utility Industry Law…6-2
fine grain HAZ…2-24 gas cutting…1-79, 4-44
fine grain zone…2-21, 2-22 gas explosion…4-85
finishing of welds…4-57 gas leakage test…6-16
fire resistant steel…2-14 gas shielded arc welding…1-27
Fire Defence Law…6-2, 6-50 gas tightness test…6-16, 6-52
fitness-for-service assessment…3-32 general corrosion…2-83
fitting accuracy…6-28 globular transfer…1-10
fitting jig…6-26 grinding…5-24
flame spraying…1-75 granular pearlite zone…2-21
flank angle…3-22, 5-24 graphite…2-1
flare welding…3-39 gravity welding…1-26
flash welding…1-52 groove preparation…6-12
flashback…1-80, 1-81 groove quality control…4-49
flaw echo (UT)…4-100 groove welding…3-39, 5-14
Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS)…1-71, 4-64
flux (SAW)…1-36, 2-44 [H]
flux-cored wire…1-32, 2-40
475℃ embrittlement…2-65, 2-67 H2S concentration…6-46
four laws for pressure vessels…6-2

Index-4
100% radiographic test…6-3, 6-7
half-bead method…4-80, 5-57, 6-58
hard toe…5-28
hazardous gases (during welding)…4-84
header…6-18
heat exchanger tube…6-17, 6-59
heat sink welding process (HSW)…6-48
heat treatment after welding…4-60
heat-affected zone…2-18, 3-17
heat cycle…2-18
heat cycle, control…5-40
heat input…2-18, 6-35, 6-50
heat input, limitation…6-27
heat input, maximum…2-30, 5-40
heat-resistant alloy…6-18
heat-treatable alloy (aluminum)…2-70
heel crack…2-32
high cycle fatigue…3-11
high density energy beam…1-44
high frequency pulse…1-29
High Pressure Gas Safety Law…6-2, 6-55
high-current MIG welding (aluminum)…6-36
high heat input resistant steel…2-11, 2-14, 2-30, 6-29
high-mix low-volume production…5-55
high-place work (safety)…4-87
high-purity ferritic stainless steel…2-88, 6-48
high-strength Cr-Mo steel…2-50, 6-18
high-temperature high-pressure environment…6-56
high-temperature high-pressure hydrogen
environment…6-44
high temperature strength…2-50, 6-17
high tensile strength steel…2-8
horizontal submerged arc welding…6-30, 6-35
hot crack (aluminum)…2-71, 6-36
hot crack (carbon steel)…2-30, 4-70
hot crack (Ni alloy)…2-83, 6-35
hot crack (stainless steel)…2-61
hot forming…6-9
hot wire (method, effect)…1-27, 6-33
hot working…2-13, 4-46
hot working steel…2-15
how to handle materials…6-9
HW-grade steel…2-10
hydraulic pressure test…6-16
hydrogen attack…2-56, 6-44
hydrogen damage…6-44
hydrogen embrittlement…2-56
hydrogen embrittlement cracking…3-12, 6-25, 6-47
hydrogen-induced cracking (HIC)…6-46
hypereutectoid steel…2-4
hypoeutectoid steel…2-4
Index-5
[I]
IIW qualification system for international welding
personnel…4-21
ilmenite type (covered electrode)…2-37
immediate postheating…2-53, 4-61, 5-43
incomplete fusion (lack of fusion)…4-76
incomplete joint penetration…4-76
induction heating stress improvement method
(IHSI)…6-48
Industrial Safety and Health Law…4-81, 6-2
inert gas…1-27
influence of residual stress…3-27
insert material (diffusion welding)…1-57
in-service inspection…6-53
inspection of repair weld…4-79
intensifying screen…4-97
interference of residual stresses…6-8
intergranular corrosion…2-86, 6-47, 6-48
intergranular crack…6-28, 6-42, 6-48
intergranular SCC (IGSCC)…6-48
intermediate stress relieving (ISR) (pressure
vessel)…6-23
intermediate structure…2-26
intermetallic compound…6-41, 6-42
interpass temperature…2-40, 4-58, 5-41
interruption and resumption of welding…6-13
invar…6-34
inverter type (power source)…1-17, 1-18
investigation and analysis of failure…3-64
investigation of fracture…3-64
ionized gas…1-5
iron-induced rusting (rouging)…4-43, 4-46, 5-33
irradiation embrittlement (neutron)…6-49
ISO 13916…4-60
ISO 14731…4-24
ISO 3834…4-24
ISO 9000…4-5
ISO 9606…4-34
[J]
Japanese Society for Non-destructive Inspection…4-35
Japan Welding Engineering Society…3-22
J-factor…2-55, 6-41
jig…4-33, 4-47, 6-61
J-integral…3-35
JIS B 8265 (pressure vessel)…6-2, 6-3
JIS B 8266 (pressure vessel)…6-3, 6-14
JIS C 9300 (welding power source)…4-84
JIS G 3129 (High Tensile Strength Steel for
Tower)…2-15, 5-10
JIS G 3136 (SN-grade steel)…2-7, 4-73 L-joint (pressure vessel)…6-7
JIS Z 3158 (y-Groove Weld Cracking Test)…2-36 LNG storage tank…6-33
JIS G 3474 (High Tensile Strength Steel Pipes for load factor (power source)…1-24
Tower)…5-10 local brittle zone…2-24
JIS T 8141 (Eye Protectors for Radiations)…4-82 local heating (spot heating or linear heating)…3-31
JIS T 8142 (Helmet Type and Handshield Type localized corrosion…2-83
Protectors for Welders)…4-82 local PWHT…6-14
JIS Z 2305 (NDT―Qualification and Certification of long-time-heating embrittlement…6-40
Personnel)…4-35 longitudinal bending distortion…3-28
JIS Z 3101 (Testing Method of Maximum Hardness in longitudinal crack…2-31
Weld Heat-Affected Zone)…2-36
longitudinal shrinkage…3-28
JIS Z 3400 (Quality Requirements for Welding)…4-7
low alloy steelｓ and high chromium steelｓ for high
JIS Z 3703 (Guidance on the Measurement of
temperature services…2-50
Preheating Temperature)…4-60, 6-13
low cycle fatigue…3-11
JIS Z 3801 (Qualification Procedure for Manual Welding
low frequency pulse…1-29
Technique)…6-12
low temperature annealing…2-6
JIS Z 3841 (Qualification Procedure for Semi-Automatic
Welding Technique)…4-63 low temperature brittleness…3-10
JIS Z 3861 (Qualification Procedure for Radiographic low temperature steel…2-16
Testing Technique of Welds)…4-35 low temperature stress relieving…3-30
joining tool (FSW)…1-54 low temperature tank…6-56
joint efficiency…3-18, 5-14, 6-7 low yield point steel…2-15
JPI standard (maintenance standard)…6-55 low-carbon type stainless steel…2-64
JSME standard (maintenance standard)…6-55 lower bainite…2-5
low-hydrogen type (covered electrode)…2-39
[K] LPG storage tank…6-32, 6-33

keyhole technique…1-30 [M]

knife line attack…2-87
MA constituent…2-24, 2-30
[L] macro corrosion cell…2-83
MAG welding…1-31, 1-60, 2-40
lamellar tear…2-13, 2-35, 4-71 Magnetic Control (MC) TIG welding…6-33
lap joint…3-39, 5-18, 6-38 magnetic flux…4-91
lap RW…1-49 magnetic particle pattern…4-91
Larson-Miller parameter…2-56 magnetic particle testing (MT)…4-91, 6-15
laser beam welding…1-46 magnetic transformation…2-4
laser beam cladding process…6-48, 6-59 maintenance…6-53
laser cutting…1-83 maintenance engineering…6-53
laws and ordinances applied in Japan for industrial maintenance inspection…4-103
accident prevention…4-81 maintenance standards…6-53
leak test (LT)…4-103, 6-16, 6-61 markings shall be shifted…6-9
light sensor…1-68 martensite…2-4
light water reactor nuclear power plant…6-20 martensitic stainless steel…2-58, 2-65
lime-titania type (covered electrode)…2-37 martensitic transformation…2-5
lining…6-21 matching welding consumables…5-38
liquation crack…2-30, 2-71, 2-83 material control…4-42
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)…6-32 material strength…3-6
liquid ammonia SCC…2-85, 6-48 maximum hardness…2-26
liquid metal embrittlement…6-42 mean stress (fatigue)…3-11
liquid penetrate testing (PT)…4-94, 6-15 mechanical correction method (welding distortion)…
liquid phase diffusion welding…1-58 4-66
mechanical method, reducing residual stresses…3-30

Index-6
mechanical testing of weld joints (pressure non-thermal cutting…1-79
vessel)…6-16 non-thermal-refined steel…2-9
melt-through welding…4-55 normal strain…3-3
membrane (storage tank)…6-32 normal stress…3-3
metal fever (safety)…4-83 normalizing…2-6
metal type (flux-cored wire)…2-40 notch brittleness…3-10
methane bubble…2-56, 6-44 notch toughness…2-11, 3-15, 6-10
method of improving metallic microstructure (repair notch extension crack…6-31
welding)…6-57 notes on repair welding…4-79
MIG welding…1-31 nuclear pipe weld…6-48
misalignment…3-25, 4-49, 6-8, 6-28, 6-39 numerical control type…1-66
misalignment correction jig (dog piece)…4-47
MnS…2-35, 4-71, 6-46 [O]
modification coefficient for plate thickness…6-6
modified 9Cr-1Mo steel…2-50, 6-18 off-line-teaching…1-69, 5-56
modified Goodman diagram…3-11 offshore structures…5-4
modulus of longitudinal elasticity…3-4 oil storage tank…6-29
modulus of rigidity…3-4 one-sided penetration welding…6-36, 6-39
modulus of shear elasticity…3-4 one-sided submerged arc welding…1-61, 1-62
moisture absorption, prevention…4-43, 5-38 orbital automatic welding machines…6-39
moisture content in the covering flux…2-39 Ordinance on Prevention of Anoxia…4-87
molded weld tab…4-49 output characteristic curve (power source)…1-14
molten metal transfer mode…1-10 overhaul inspection…6-31, 6-52, 6-56
movable-coil type (power source)…1-16 overlay welding…1-72, 6-22, 6-47
movable-core type (power source)…1-16 overmatched welded joint…3-19
movable-shunt type (power source)…1-16 overstraining…3-30
multiple-electrode high speed welding…1-38 oxidation resistance (high temperature)…2-50
oxide film (aluminum)…2-75, 6-36
[N] oxyfuel gas gouging…4-56
oxygen content of the weld metal…2-47
narrow groove MAG welding…1-63 oxygen plasma cutting…1-83
narrow groove submerged arc welding…1-65
narrow groove TIG welding…1-65 [P]
narrow groove welding…1-63, 6-4, 6-18, 6-21, 6-39
Nb-bearing welding consumables (stainless)…2-67 Paris law…3-35
Nelson diagram…6-44, 6-45 partial penetration welding…3-39
neutron irradiation…6-49 passive film…2-59, 2-85, 2-89
New Aseismic Design Method (building)…5-5 Pc…2-34, 6-27
9% nickel (Ni) steel…2-16, 6-33 PCM…2-34, 6-27
9-12% Cr ferritic steel…2-50 pearlite…2-4
nickel-based alloy…2-82 pear-shape bead crack…2-31, 4-70
Ni-alloy welding consumables…6-35 peening…5-24
nickel filler metal…1-57 penetrameter (RT)…4-96
nickel steel…2-16 penetrant (PT)…4-94
no-load voltage…1-14 penetration bead…1-61
noise (echo) (UT)…6-16, 6-35 penetration welding…6-40, 6-61
nominal stress…3-8 percent brittle fracture…3-14
non-consumable electrode…1-27 permissible limit of welding fume density…4-83
nondestructive testing (inspection)…4-89, 6-15 phase transformation…2-1, 6-42
nonheat-treatable alloy (aluminum)…2-70 phosphorus copper filler metal…1-57
non-low hydrogen type (covered electrode)…1-26, physical properties of aluminum…2-71
2-37

Index-7
physical properties of copper…2-80 pressure test (PRT)…4-103, 6-16, 6-49
physical properties of typical nickel-based alloys…2-82 pressure welding…1-1
physical properties of stainless steels…2-59 pressurized water reactor (PWR)…6-20, 6-59
physical properties of titanium and titanium Preventive Maintenance (PM)…4-32, 4-64
alloys…2-77 preventive measures against hazards in
pipe welding (boiler)…6-18 high-temperature high-humidity environments…4-88
pitting corrosion…2-88 primer…4-46
plane strain fracture toughness…3-35 probe (UT)…4-99
planning of time schedule…4-30 processing of materials…4-44
planning of welding equipment…4-31 prod method (MT)…4-92
planning of welding personnel…4-33 Product Liability (PL)…5-30
plasma arc gouging…4-56 production test…6-16
plasma arc welding…1-29 progressive sequence (deposition sequence)…4-53
plasma cutting…1-82 projection (projection welding)…1-50
plasma jet…1-8, 1-29, 1-77, 1-83 projection welding…1-50
plasma powder overlay welding…1-74 protection against hazards of laser beam…4-88
plasma spraying…1-77 protection against noise…4-88
plastic constraint…3-19 protective glasses…4-82
plastic deformation…3-2, 6-41 PSR…2-35, 6-29
plastic working…4-45 pull type (wire-feeding device)…1-21
plasticity…3-2 pulsed TIG welding…1-29
plate-welded shells…6-18 push type (wire-feeding device)…1-21
playback type…1-66 push-pull type (wire-feeding device)…1-21
plug welding…3-43
pneumatic pressure test…6-16 [Q]
P-number…6-14
polarity…1-7, 6-36 QLT, heat treatment…2-16
polythionic acid SCC…6-48, 6-51 QT high tensile strength steel…6-25
porosity (carbon steel)…4-74 quality assurance…4-3
porosity (copper)…2-81 quality management…4-1, 4-3
porosity (titanium)…2-79 quality record…4-13, 5-58
positioner…1-70, 4-47, 5-46
Post Construction Code (PCC)…6-55 [R]
postheating…6-23
postweld heat treatment (PWHT)…2-53, 2-65, 2-67, radiograph (RT)…4-96
3-30, 4-45, 4-60, 4-61, 6-13, 6-40, 6-47, 6-59 radiographic test (RT)…4-95, 6-15
powder flame spraying…1-75 rated secondary current…1-23
PP-joint (pressure vessel)…6-7 ratio of radiographic testing (pressure vessel)…6-3,
preflow…5-38, 6-36 6-7
preheat temperature…2-34, 2-53, 4-58, 5-41 ratios of testing samples…6-8
preheating…2-33, 2-66, 4-48, 4-58, 6-12 reactor pressure vessel (RPV)…6-20
preheating area…4-60, 6-13 rectangular coordinated type…1-66
preheating flame (gas cutting)…1-79 reduction of area (tension test)…3-8
preheating method…4-60 reheat crack…2-35, 2-54, 4-71, 6-28, 6-44
preheating temperature…6-12, 6-27 reignition voltage…1-7
prequalification (WPS)…5-34 remote controller…1-21
presetting method…3-31, 4-65 removal of defects…4-78
press working (forming)…6-26, 6-28 removal of temporary attachments…4-51
Pressure Equipment Directive (PED)…4-21, 6-1 repair procedure…6-57
pressure gas welding…1-55 repair of a longitudinal crack…4-79
pressure member…6-9 repair of transversal crack…4-79
pressure regulator (gas cutting)…1-80 repair welding…4-77, 5-57, 6-55

Index-8
repair welding procedure specification…4-77 σphase…2-58, 6-24, 6-41
repair welding record…4-77 σphase embrittlement…2-64, 2-65, 2-67, 6-41
residual magnetism…1-8, 6-35 skew fillet welded joint…3-43
residual plastic strain…3-24 SL3N 440…2-16, 6-34
residual stress…3-24, 6-13 SL9N 590…2-16, 6-33
resistance heat (electroslag welding)…1-41 slag inclusions…4-75
resistance seam welding…1-50 slag type (flux-cored wire)…2-40
resistance spot welding…1-49 SLA-grade steel…2-16, 6-33
resistance welding…1-49 sleeve method (repair)…6-48, 6-59
restraint stress…3-31, 4-51 SL-grade steel…2-16
risk-based inspection…6-55 slot welding…3-43
root crack…2-32 SM-grade steel…2-7
rotational distortion…3-30 S-N curve…3-11
roundness of shell…6-10 SN-grade steel…2-7, 4-73
soft toe…5-28
[S] solder…1-57
solder embrittlement…6-42
safety device (acetylene)…1-80 soldering…1-57
safety factor…3-51, 5-12, 6-3 solid solution heat treatment…2-64, 4-61
safety measures for robotic welding…4-88 solid wire (welding wire)…1-32, 1-37, 2-40
scallop…4-52 solidification crack (aluminum)…2-71
scattered waves generated at the flaw (UT)…6-15 solidification crack (carbon steel)…2-30, 4-70
SCC in high-temperature pure water…6-47 solidification crack (Cu alloy)…2-80
Schaeffler diagram…2-62, 2-68 solidification crack (Ni alloy)…2-83
segregate…6-16, 6-40 solidification crack (stainless steel)…4-71
segregation of Bi at grain boundaries…6-44 spacer…4-47
selection of the type of joint…3-50 spatter…1-9, 1-33
selective corrosion…2-83 specific strain…3-24
self-correction mechanism…1-15 specific strength…2-71
self-shielded arc welding…1-35 Specifications for Highway Bridges…5-6
semi-automatic welding…1-22, 4-62 spherical shell…6-5
sensitization…2-63, 2-86 spliced joint…3-39
sensitizing temperature…6-48 spot radiographic examination…6-8
set-in welding…4-53 spray transfer…1-11
70Ni-15Cr-10Fe type, welding consumables of…6-34 SPV490…6-50
70Ni-20Mo-3W type, welding consumables of…6-34 SR cracking…2-35, 6-26, 6-28
shade (RT of stainless steel weld)…6-16 stabilization heat treatment (stainless steel)…2-87
shear…3-1 stabilized stainless steels…2-64, 2-87, 6-48
shear strain…3-3 stainless clad steel…6-22
shear stress…3-3 standard filter numbers and applicable types of
shelf energy (Charpy)…3-15 work…4-82
shell plate…6-26 Standard for Spherical Storage Tanks for High Pressure
shielded metal arc welding…1-26 Gases…6-50
Shielding effect in MAG welding…4-75, 5-35 standards of The Japan Welding Engineering
shielding gas…1-31, 2-44, 2-76 Society…6-25
ship classification societies…5-6 starting time (voltage reducing device)…1-20
short-circuit arc welding…1-11 steam generator (SG)…6-20, 6-59
short-circuiting (transfer)…1-10, 1-33 steam oxidation…6-17
side fillet welded joint…3-43 steel backing… 1-62, 4-50
size and length of fillet weld…3-50 step-cooling heat treatment…2-55, 6-40
skip sequence (deposition sequence)…4-53 stiffness of arc…1-8
stophole…4-79, 5-57

Index-9
straight nozzle (gas cutting)…1-82 thermal spraying…1-75
strain…3-3 thermal stress…3-3, 3-24
strain aging…4-45, 6-9 thermo-crayon…4-60, 6-13
strain hardening…3-6 thickness-wise reduction of area…2-13
stress…3-2 13Cr-Al…6-51
stress amplitude (fatigue)…3-11 36Ni-Fe…6-34
stress concentration…3-4, 3-17, 5-26, 6-4 3Cr-1Mo steel…2-50, 6-18, 6-24, 6-40
stress concentration factor…3-5 3.5% nickel (Ni) steel…2-16, 6-34
stress corrosion cracking (SCC)…2-85, 2-88, 3-12, three main factors (cold crack)…2-32, 4-69
6-47, 6-59 throat cross section…3-53
stress improvement method (of residual throat thickness…3-20, 3-53
stresses)…6-48 thyristor type (power source)…1-17, 1-18
stress intensity factor…3-34 TIG welding…1-27, 1-60
stress ratio (fatigue)…3-11 titanium alloy…2-79
stress relief annealing…4-60 T-joint…3-38
stress relieving (SR)…6-13, 6-48 TMCP steel…2-12, 6-33
strip electrode…1-37 toe crack…2-32
strip electrode (band arc) overlay welding…1-74 TOFD method…6-15
strongback…4-47 total elongation…3-8
structural discontinuities…5-24 traceability…4-13, 4-42, 4-58, 6-57
subcritically reheated coarse grain HAZ…2-24 trailing gas shielding…2-80, 5-36
submerged arc welding…1-36, 1-60, 6-30 transformer type (power source)…1-16
sulfide stress cracking (SSC)…2-85, 6-25, 6-46 transgranular crack…6-48
surface defect…4-66, 6-16 transgranular SCC (TGSCC)…6-48
surface thermometer…6-13 transition piece…6-40
SUS304…2-58, 6-33, 6-36 transverse bending distortion…3-28
SUS405…6-51 transverse shrinkage…3-28
SUS444…6-48 true stress…3-8
symmetrical sequence (deposition sequence)…4-53 2.25Cr-1Mo steel…2-50, 6-18, 6-24, 6-40
20% radiographic test…6-8
[T] two-electrode TIG welding…6-35
types and indexes of welding productivity…4-37
tack welding…4-47 types of welded joint…3-38, 6-7
tandem technique (UT)…4-102
target of quality…6-3 [U]
teaching…1-69
teaching playback…1-69 ultrahigh tensile strength steel…2-8
temper bead (method)…4-79, 6-28, 6-57 ultrasonic test (UT)…4-99, 6-15
temper embrittlement (parameter)…2-55, 6-40 ultrasonic welding…1-55
tempered martensite…2-6 ultra-supercritical-steam-condition (USC)…6-17
tempering…2-6 underbead crack…2-32
temporal backing…6-36 underclad cracking (UCC)…6-24
tensile strength (of weld joint)…3-7, 3-18 undercut…3-23, 4-76, 6-16
tension test…3-6 underground tanks…6-32, 6-36
testing method of maximum hardness…2-36 undermatched (welded joint)…3-19
testing pressure…6-16 undermatching (welding consumables)…5-38
theoretical throat…3-53 upper bainite…2-5
thermal correction method (welding distortion)…4-66 upset welding…1-51
thermal cutting…1-79, 4-44, 6-9 USC boiler…6-17
thermal pinch effect…1-7
thermal refined Mn-Mo-Ni steel…6-21 [V]
thermal refined steel…2-9

Index-10
variables of welding procedures…6-11 welding operator…6-12
vertical joint (storage tank)…6-26, 6-49 welding practitioner…4-34
Vickers hardness test…3-15 welding preparation…4-46
visual testing (VT)…4-90, 6-15, 6-52 welding procedure approval record (WPAR)…4-14
void (creep)…6-41 welding procedure control…4-42
voltage reducing device…1-19, 4-84 welding procedure qualification record (WPQR)…6-10
vTrs (vTs)…3-15, 6-52 welding procedure qualification test (WPQT)…4-15,
5-34, 6-10
[W] welding procedure specifications (WPS)…4-13, 4-29,
6-10
waiting for welding (wait to weld)…4-52 welding robot…1-60, 4-64, 5-55
warm forming…6-9 welding sequence…4-51, 5-45
warming-up…4-58 welding symbols…3-44
water jet cutting…1-84 welding torch…1-25
water-cooled copper shoe…1-39, 1-41 welding wires (submerged arc welding)…1-37, 2-44
weaving…1-67 welding workability…2-37
weld cracking parameter of steel plates, PCM…2-34 WES…6-25
weld decay…2-64, 2-87, 6-47 WES 2801 (Quality of Gas-Cut Surfaces)…4-45
weld defects…4-66 WES 2805 (Assessment for Defects)…3-22
weld defects, prevention…4-68 WES 3001 (Weldable High Strength Steel
weld interface…2-18 Plates)…2-10, 6-25
weld interface embrittlement…2-29 WES 8701 (Corporations for NDI of Welded
Constructions)…4-35
weld joint accuracy…4-49, 5-44
wet fluorescent magnetic particles…6-16
weld penetration…1-12
wet hydrogen sulfide environment…6-46
weld quality…4-26
wet method (MT)…4-93
weld reinforcement…4-91, 6-13
wettability (brazing)…1-56
weld tab…4-48
wind (wind protection)…4-75, 5-35, 6-30, 6-36
weldability…2-17
wire explosion spraying…1-78
welder…4-34, 6-12
wire extension…4-62
welding cable…1-24, 4-85
wire feeder…1-21, 1-25
welding conditions…4-54
wire flame spraying…1-75
welding consumables, control…4-43
wire-touching sensor…1-67
welding consumables, selection…2-37, 6-10
work hardening…3-6
welding consumables, storage…4-33
work instruction…6-10, 6-57
welding consumables of aluminum and aluminum
working strain…4-45
alloys…2-74
welding coordination personnel…4-21, 4-26 WPAR (ISO)…4-17
welding coordination personnel, tasks and WPQR (ASME)…6-10
responsibilities…4-24, 4-34, 6-10
welding costs…4-36 [X]
welding design…3-49, 5-12, 6-3
welding (weld) distortion…3-24, 3-28, 4-64, 6-38 X-ray film…4-96
welding distortion, correction…4-66
welding distortion, prevention…3-31, 4-65 [Y]
welding environment…5-34
welding fabrication planning…4-26 Y308 (filler wire)…6-38
welding groove…3-39, 6-12 Y308L (filler wire)…6-38
welding inspection personnel…4-35 YAG laser beam…6-48, 6-59
welding of clad steels…2-68, 6-22 y-groove weld cracking test…2-36
welding of dissimilar metal joints…2-68, 6-39 yield point…3-6
welding of piping…6-39 yield ratio…2-8, 2-11, 3-8
welding of the cladded side…2-68, 6-22 yield stress or 0.2% proof strength…3-8

Index-11
yoke method…4-92, 6-16
Young’s modulus…3-4

[Z]

zinc embrittlement cracking…5-5

zinc embrittlement cracking (stainless steel)…6-42
zinc liquation cracking…5-5

Index-12