Welding and its different ways
Welding is the art of joining metal pieces together by melting them using pressure and heat. Different sources of energy are used to produce heat; such as gas flame, electric arc, laser, electron beam, friction and ultrasound. Welding can be done on land in open air, under water and even in outer space. Due to its dangerous nature it is considered as hazardous to health and users have to undertake precautions to avoid injuries that can arise easily from this activity. Injuries that occur are burns, electric shock, vision damage, inhalation of lethal gases, fumes , exposure to ultraviolet radiation.
There are many types of welding : forge welding was the only welding process known in the 19th century, then came oxyfuel welding, arc welding, electric resistance welding. Due to the advancement of technology during the world wars in the 20th century other types of welding soon got developed such as shielded metal arc welding, submerged arc welding, gas metal arc welding, electroslag welding. After more developments came flux corded arc welding, friction stir welding, laser beam welding, electromagnetic pulse welding, and now the latest is robot welding. There is still research going on developing better ways to weld metal. This article deals with three types of welding : tig welding, mig welding, stick welder.
TIG welding stands for tungsten inert gas welding. This is a manual welding process done via a nonconsumable tungsten electrode with an inert or semi inert gas mixture and a separate filler material. This type of welding is used mostly for thin materials. This method is known for its distinct character due tot eh stable arc and high quality welds it uses. This method relies on a significant operator skill and can be achieved only at low speeds.
MIG welding stands for Metal Inert Gas welding which can be a semi automatic or automatic process where a continuous wire feed is used as an electrode with an inert or semi inert gas mixture to prevent the weld from getting contaminated. Here as the electrode is continuous the welding speed is much higher. Stick welding is one of the most common types of welding. It is also known as manual metal arc welding. Here electric current is used to strike an arc between the base material and the consumable electrode rod. The electrode core acts as a filler material thus taking away the need for separate filler.