WHAT IS
TIG WELDING?
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TIG WELDING: CLEAN SEAMS, STABLE CONNECTIONS
  • Tungsten inert gas welding (TIG welding) is a gas shielded welding process and is one of the fusion welding processes. It is used wherever optimum quality and spatter-free weld seams are required. TIG welding is suitable, among other things, for stainless steels, aluminum and nickel alloys as well for thin sheet metal made of aluminum and stainless steel. It is used in pipeline and container construction, in portal construction and in aerospace applications.
TIG WELDING: THIS IS HOW IT WORKS

In TIG welding, the required current is supplied via a tungsten electrode, which is temperature-resistant and does not melt. This electrode emits an arc that heats up and liquefies the material. There is a nozzle for shielding gas around the electrode. This protects the heated material from chemical reactions with the ambient air. The noble gases argon, helium or mixtures thereof are used for this purpose. The inert, i.e. non-reactive, gases prevent chemical reactions with the liquid weld pool and the heated material. This ensures high-quality weld seams.

As the tungsten electrode does not melt, in TIG welding the filler material is fed in by hand or in mechanized form by an external wirefeeder.

THE TUNGSTEN ELECTRODE

Pure Tungsten Green(WP/EWP):

Non-Radioactive. Good for use in AC for aluminum alloys and magnesium alloys in low to medium amperage applications. Balls easy, tends to spit at higher amperages. Used for non-critical welds only.

2% Thoriated Red(WT20/EWTh-2):

Radioactive. Best for use in DC applications. Best for use on non corroding steels, titanium alloys, nickel alloys, copper alloys. Good D/C arc starts and stability, medium erosion rate, medium amperage range, medium tendency to spit.

2% Lanthanated Blue(WL20/EWLa-2):

Non-Radioactive. Best general purpose electrode for both AC or DC applications. Good for low-alloyed steels, non corroding steels, aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, titanium alloys, nickel alloys, copper alloys. Good arc starts and stability, medium to high amperage range, low erosion rate.

2% Ceriated Gray(WC20/EWCe-2):

Non-Radioactive. Best for use in AC or DC applications. Good for low-alloyed steels, non corroding steels, aluminum alloys, magnesium alloys, titanium alloys, nickel alloys, copper alloys. Good ignition and re-ignition properties, long service life, excellent arc stability. Low erosion rate, best at low amperage range, no spitting, good D/C arc starts and stability.

0.8% Zirconiated White(WZ8/EWZr-8):

Non-Radioactive. Best for use in AC for aluminum alloys and magnesium. Balls well, handles higher amperage than pure tungsten with less pitting, better arc starts and arc stability than pure tungsten.

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
  • No formation of welding spatter
  • Particularly high optical quality of weld seams
  • All welding positions are possible
  • Very high weld seam quality
  • Requires high degree of skill
  • Low welding speeds
  • Rust must be removed without fail when preparing the weld seam
  • Not suitable for thick workpieces
PROCESS VARIANTS OF TIG WELDING

COLD WIRE TIG WELDING:


A cold-wire feed increases productivity: The welding speed increases and the filler metal is fed precisely and evenly to the weld pool. This allows even less-experienced welders to achieve outstanding results.

TIG HOT-WIRE WELDING:


  • TIG hot-wire welding was developed from cold wire TIG welding. In TIG hot-wire welding, the filler metal is heated. This has various advantages: The deposition amount and rate increase, the welding speed rises and the fusion is reduced.

CLADDING:


Cladding is a process in which the components are coated with special alloys in order to extend their service life significantly. This coating is carried out through mechanized electro-surfacing. Fronius Speed Cladding makes the coating process up to three times faster and more efficient.

ORBITAL WELDING:


  • The basic setup of orbital welding equipment includes a fixed pipe and a moveable TIG welding torch/welding head that moves around the pipe. The moveable orbital welding head is also referred to as a spot welding gun. The orbital welding technique is useful wherever consistent seam qualities must be attained under controlled conditions. Consequently, the main usage areas for this welding technology are pipeline construction, the food industry, and the chemical industry. With the orbital technique, it is not only possible to produce pipe-to-pipe connections, but also to weld pipes into pipe baseplates.
WHICH MATERIALS ARE SUITABLE FOR TIG WELDING?

The most widely used materials in TIG welding include stainless steels, aluminum and nickel alloys and thin sheets of aluminum and stainless steel. With a mechanized wirefeeder, cost-effective welding speeds can be achieved for sheet thicknesses of less than 4 mm. For thicker sheets the cost-effectiveness decreases, and the TIG process is recommended for welding the root pass only. More powerful processes such as MIG/MAG or submerged arc welding are suitable for welding the filler beads.



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