What is Welding?

Welding is the joining of metals. What welding does is join metals or other materials at their molecular level with the technology we have at the moment. I say at the moment because welding technology is always changing, and with so many military forces relying on it to make their defense products, there are welding processes we are yet to hear about. What we know about modern welding is that there are four components to a weld. The four components are the metals themselves, a heat source, filler material, and some kind of shield from the air. The welding process works like this. The metal gets heated to its melting point, at the same time there is some sort of shielding from the air to protecting it, and then a filler metal is added to the area that needs to be joined ultimately producing a single piece of metal. Back in the day, when the bronze and iron ages began using metals more productively, they would use a direct casting process. The casting process would be done by making a sand mold of the piece to be added. Once the mold was made you simply put it on top of the metal piece you wanted to add a part to, and fill it with hot molten metal, after which you wait for it to cool. Another way metal was joined was by putting two pieces of metal together and damming any open sides. Once the area was leak free you simply poured molten metal to fill the joint.

The Industrial Revolution and Welding

When the Industrial Revolution began around 1750 AD a process known as forge welding was used. Its a very simple process that takes two or more pieces of metal and the joint areas are heated. When the metal is hot enough you simply hammer them together until they fuse. This all worked well enough until 1886. In1886 an inventor who was awarded over 700 patents by the name of Elihu Thomson came up with resistance welding. He was someone whom the modern world should be thankful to! Not only did he make resistance welding possible, but we still benefit from many of his other electrical inventions. This was the start of the modern welding age sparking inventors minds on how to join metals in different ways. This was the beginning of the end for the mass use of rivets, screws, and bolts to join metals. What many people dont know is how important these new welding processes were to the military at the time. At the end of the First World War new welding techniques were a closely guarded secret to the ship repair industry. Even today the welding technology used by military contractors and the new alloys produced are a closely guarded secret! It is a simple process that the industrial revolution needed and without it many of the things we take for granted would not be here! Welding is a major need for most manufacturing industries. Almost any industry that works with metal cannot survive without welding. Welding, in a big way, is the back bone of all metal products. Every industry, from underwater construction to space explorations, relies on welding. Just look around right now how many things around you are made of metal? If its made of metal there is a good chance it was welded.

Shielded Metal Arc Welding / Stick welding / SMAW

Shielded metal arc welding / Stick welding / or SMAW uses a rod or in the technical terms it is called an electrode that has a powder coating (technically a flux) on it that burns or melts to create a shield from oxygen, and some rods have filler metal added to the coating to speed up the welding process. On a scale of 1 to 3 for difficulty, SMAW is a 2. Stick welding is the most common, but from a visual point of view it is harder to determine how much filler metal is added to the joint because the shielding on the rod produces a slag that does not allow you to see the weld directly while welding. Afterwards, you chip off the slag to see the weld. Stick welding is also the best process to weld out doors with. The flux shields the weld from oxygen and is exceptionally good when its windy.

MIG / Metal Inert Gas Welding / Gas Metal Arc Welding / GMAW
Metal inert gas welding / MIG is a process that uses a wire spool to feed wire to the joint and has a bottle of gas that flows from the machine to the welding handle to protect the weld from the air around it. The best description in a comparison point of view is a bicycle brake cable that has a wire running through that feeds continuously to the joint. But this cable also has a gas flowing through it that shields that weld from the air.

On a scale of 1 to 3 for difficulty while MIG welding it is a 1. Machine set-up is a 2. MIG is an easy process to weld with but machine set-up can be difficult. When MIG welding the size of the weld is what you see and it is basically a point and shoot operation. The down side is it is a terrible welding process if you are out doors due to the shielding coming from a bottle of gas that the wind can just blow away at any moment.

Flux Core Arc Welding / FCAW

Flux core arc welding / FCAW is the same machine as the MIG welder but the difference is it either uses just the wire with a flux in the center of it or a combination of the flux in the center of the wire and a shielded gas from a bottle. On a scale of 1 to 3 for difficulty FCAW is a 2. Flux core welding is mostly used outside when there are heavy production demands for the amount of weld done per hour. This is commonly used in shipyards where a lot of weld is required and it is windy.

TIG / Tungsten Inert Gas Welding

Tungsten arc welding / TIG is a torch that has a gas flowing through it with a non consumable rod made of tungsten that heats the metal and the filler metal is held in the other hand and manually added when needed. The non-consumable rod is only a rod that creates the arc to heat the metal. It does not add to the welding filler material itself.

On a scale of 1 to 3 for difficulty TIG is a 3. You are heating the joint with one hand and the other needs to add the filler metal. The huge upside is total control of the weld and it is the process of choice for exotic metals and joints that needs the best weld possible.

Differences in These Welding Processes

With all popular welding processes its pretty much the same basic principle, heat, shielding from the air, and filler metal added to the joint! There are two main differences with todays welding processes.

Difference in electrodes
The first main difference is that some processes feed the filler metal with some sort of wire using a mechanical feed like a wheel or spool of wire. These are considered semiautomatic. The second is an electrode that burns down until it is finished or the processes that filler metal is added manually with the other hand. These are considered manual processes.

Difference in Shielding
The second difference is the way the shielding from oxygen is created. MIG, sometimes Flux Core, and TIG use a bottle of gas usually containing all or a percentage of argon gas. While stick welding uses a chemical powder on the rod or electrode that burns and shields the weld. Also, this same chemical powder may contain filler metal to make a faster weld.

Welding Production Speed

When it comes to welding production, meaning how many pounds of wire is applied in a day, MIG and Flux Core take the prize. Second is Stick welding. Finally, there is TIG for totally precise welds that can be done on any weldable metal Many manufactures who are metal fabricators choose the proper welding process by weighing the minimum quality of the weld they need, versus how fast a weld can be made. Yeah, money, money, money!

Choosing a Welding Process

With MIG or Flux Core (most common in welding shops and shipyards), welding of the metals is very fast because the metal comes on a spool and they are machine driven as fast as needed. Unfortunately, because the wire is feed through a cable much like the brakes of a bicycle, there is a limit how far you can go with the welder distance wise. The further you go from the wire feed, the more friction the wire passing through the cable has. This causes some unavoidable problems. When it comes down to the most welds per hour, MIG and Flux Core welding take the prize! Secondly, Stick welding can be a fast-paced welding process if the welding rod is big enough or has filler metal added to the coating. The main attraction of Stick welding is that it works great outdoors and requires no bottles of gasses to shield the weld. Additionally, Stick welding machines have long cords and can weld as long as the cord is long, and short enough to keep the electricity at the proper level. Stick welders are the most cost efficient for someone who just needs to do some metal repairs or enjoys welding is their hobby. Stick welding is the most trouble free and easy to set up. Finally TIG welding, the most respected and valued of all welding processes, is slow but the best for weld quality wise. TIG has the flexibility to take the TIG torch as far as you can go with it just like a stick welder. The down side is you need a bottle of gas to make it work and wind can cause trouble. Typically, many Stick welding machines are also TIG welders. You can simply add a TIG torch and bottle of gas to use it as a TIG welder. The upside is the best quality weld with any metal.

Welding Polarity and Voltage Type

Understanding welding polarity and voltage type is important since the most popular welding process today use electricity to produce the heat needed. Welding also uses different types of electricity depending on the welding process itself and what the welding filler material manufactures recommendations. There are two types of electricity used in welding D/C (direct current) like your car battery, and A/C (alternating current) like the power in your home. There are three types of welding polarity.
D/C electrode positive where the electrode is positive, the electricity flows from the metal to the welding rod. D/C electrode negative (the most common) when the electrode is negative and the electricity flows from the rod to the metal. A/C alternating current where the polarity changes from positive to negative many times in a second. Some welding machines offer A/C current, but it is the least commonly used in the welding field.

Weld ability of metals

Almost any metal can be welded depending on the process and conditions. The people who determine what and how the metals can be welded are called metallurgists or welding engineers depending on whom you ask. The three most commonly welded metals are steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.
Steel is the easiest to weld and has the least amount of problems. Stainless steel welds very well, but requires a lot more skill and preparation than steel. Aluminum is on the more difficult side to weld. Aluminum welds easily with the TIG and MIG processes, but can also be welded with the other processes.

Outside of the more common metals that are welded there is an almost endless variety of metals produced that can be welded. The cost of these metals can be very expensive and they are considered exotic, such as Titanium that is used in the aerospace industry, Nickel-based alloys used in nuclear power plants, and endless combinations of different metals specifically engineered for a variety of purposes.

Welding as a Career Choice

If you are thinking about a career in weldingthere are many types of welding and welding related positions. Welding skills are in high demand and with the world becoming environmentally friendly, it is only going to create more demand. Welding jobs have so much variety its almost endless. Some jobs can be very dirty, while others are done in an environment almost like a sterile operating room. Most welders go to work to the same place every day, while others travel around the country doing industrial shut downs earning six figures a year allowing them to take a lot of time off. Actually, there is a nick name for these folks Road Warriors. An elite few welders work at the bottom of the ocean and a select few in outer space. Many welding jobs are more than just welding. Outside of a strictly being a welder, the industry has a strong demand for people who are good at solving problems and who are good at math. Having a welding background opens many more career options and opportunities.

List of AWS Documents on Structural Welding Designation Title D1.1/D1.1M Structural Welding CodeSteel D1.2/D1.2M Structural Welding CodeAluminum D1.3 Structural Welding CodeSheet Steel D1.4/D1.4M Structural Welding Code Reinforcing Steel D1.5/D1.5M Bridge Welding Code

D1.6 Structural Welding Code Stainless Steel D1.8/D1.8M Structural Welding Code Seismic Supplement D1.9/D1.9M Structural Welding Code Titanium (publication pending)

WPS vs PQR WPS (Welding Procedure Specification) and PQR (Procedure Qualification Record) are documents that refer to the practice of welding. WPS is a set of welding instructions. It aids in planning and ensuring quality control of the welded product as well as future reproductions of the product. Welding parameters, such as joint design, position, base metals, electrical characteristics, filler metals, technique, shielding, preheat, and post-weld heat treatment are all detailed in the WPS document. WPS further explains the rules and details of the test and how the pieces should be assembled. Simply put, a WPS is like a blueprint for welders to produce the same quality of welded product over and over again. Product Qualification Record is another type of document that also refers to welding. However, unlike WPS, the PQR documents purpose is to serve as a checklist or record of compliance regarding the standard requirements of an appropriate welding procedure. The PQR form covers all the welding parameters in the WPS document. In addition, it also includes some observations or other matters regarding welding procedures and specific tests like tensile tests and guided bend tests. It may also show the visual inspection and fillet weld test results. Another important component of the PQR is the disclosure of relevant information, such as the welders name and the name of the person who did the inspection, and even the dates with the acknowledgment of the manufacturer or contractor.

The PQR is prepared by a qualified or licensed individual and submitted to the people concerned. The inspector will then endorse the company and its product to the industry and market. A PQR is seen as complementary to a WPS because there are times when the PQR document is used to make a WPS document. Summary: 1. Both Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) and Product Qualification Records (PQR) are important documents in welding. Both documents are not the same but are closely related to one another. You might say they even complement each other. 2. Each document, while closely related, comes with a different purpose. WPS serves as a blueprint for a written instruction or guide on how to create a welded product based on a certain standard and quality. Meanwhile, PQR is a document that checks whether the standard is being followed by inspecting and answering the document regarding specific areas and tests. 3. The Welding Procedure Specification and Product Qualification Record documents have similar items in their body, specifically the welding parameters. In a WPS, the welding parameters are explained in the context of instructions. The purpose is to make the welder reproduce the product with a particular quality and standard. On the other hand, PQR uses these welding parameters as a checklist to see if the standard is met or not. 4. The PQR is a standard document, but the people who use it may not necessarily come from the same background. Welders and engineers who create the welded product often peruse a WPS to make the product comply with the standard quality. In contrast, the PQR is often associated with inspectors, manufacturers, or contractors who use the document for testing and verification purposes. 5. Another difference is the orientation of the documents contents. A WPS is usually filled with numerous texts, images, and sentences in accordance to its being an instructional guide. On the other hand, a PQR is like a checklist with blank lines and spaces for written notes that will be filled out by the inspector during the inspection. 6. Before the inspection, the WPS document is the object of attention of the welders. Meanwhile, during and after the inspection, the PQR is the document of concern for inspectors, contractors/manufacturers, and welders.

Read more: Difference Between WPS and PQR | Difference Between | WPS vs PQR http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/industrial/differencebetween-wps-and-pqr/#ixzz2QEX4WuGm

WPS is welding procedure specification while PQR is procedure qualification records is all about welding and denotes design when it comes to WPS and Mechanical testing of the design when it comes to PQR. WPS is the design of welding joint, process of welding, welding position, steel shape and material symmetry, speed of welding, welding electrodes and filler and many more welding

parameters while PQR is a complimentary to WPS. PQR will be the one to be tested mechanically and will finally validate if the WPS viable design of welding.

A Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) is a formal written document describing welding procedures, which provides direction to the welder or welding operators for making sound and quality production welds as per the code requirements . The purpose of the document is to guide welders to the accepted procedures so that repeatable and trusted welding techniques are used. A WPS is developed for each material alloy and for each welding type used. Specific codes and/or engineering societies are often the driving force behind the development of a company's WPS. A WPS is supported by a Procedure Qualification Record (PQR or WPQR). A PQR is a record of a test weld performed and tested (more rigorously) to ensure that the procedure will produce a good weld. Individual welders are certified with a qualification test documented in a Welder Qualification Test Record (WQTR) that shows they have the understanding and demonstrated ability to work within the specified WPS.

Welding Procedure Specification is a procedure/plan of steps written to welding before welding Proedure Qualification Record is a record of welding while welding,

Peter S. PQR = Procedure Qualification Record i.e. it's a record of all the testing done to prove that the weld procedure meets the requirements from the customer. WPS = Weld Procedure Specification i.e. what the welders should be doing and what was qualified by the PQR. I would think that the inspectors should be checking that your welders are using the right WPS and that they've followed it correctly.

WPS: a formal document describing welding procedures. The purpose of the document is to guide welders to the accepted procedures so that repeatable and trusted welding techniques are used. A WPS is developed for each material alloy and for each welding type used. PQR: A written document that records the results of a weld that has undergone weld testing and inspection. WPQ: A test administered to a welder to determine the welder's capacity to perform a specific welding application. Welding performance qualification tests are specific to a WPS.