726 Chapter 30 Welding Processes +g _Hightrequency ‘oll Formed tubo ‘Squeeze ‘ol Direction of travel © FIGURE 30.20 Welding of tube seams by: (a) hightrequency resistance welding, and (b) high-frequency induction welding. induction welding (HFIW), the heating current is induced in the parts by a high- frequency induction coil, as in Figure 30.20(b). The coil does not make physical contact with the work. The principal applications of both HFRW and HFIW are continuous butt ‘Welding of the longitudinal seams of metal pipes and tubes. 30.3 OXYFUEL GAS WELDING ‘Oxyfuel gas welding (OFW) is the term used to describe the group of FW operations that ‘burn various fuels mixed with oxygen to perform welding. ‘The OFW processes employ several types of gases, which is the primary distinction among the members of this group. ‘Oxyfuel gas is also commonly used in cutting torches to cut and separate metal plates and. other parts (Section 26.3.5), The most important OFW process is oxyacetylene welding 30.3.1. OXYACETYLENE WELDING Oxyacetylene welding (OAW) is a fusion-welding process performed by a high-tempera- ture flame from combustion of acetylene and oxygen. The flame is directed by a welding torch, A filler metal is sometimes added, and pressure is occasionally applied in OAW between the contacting part surfaces. A typical OAW operation is sketched in Figure 30.21 J+ Mixture of CH, + Op Direction of travel FIGURE30.21 Atypical oxyacetylene welding operation (OAW). Molton wold metalFIGURE 30.22 The neutral lame from an oxyacetylene torch, Indicating temperatures achieved. Example 30.3 Heat Generation in Oxyacetylene Welding Section 30.3/Oxyfuel Gas Welding 727 J Outer envelope, 1260°C (2300°F) \— inner cone, 3480°C (6800°F) ‘When filer metal i used, itis typically in the form of a rod with diameters ranging from 1.6 10 9.5mm (1/16-3/8 in). Composition of the filler must be similar to that ofthe base metals, The filler is often coated with a flux that helps to clean the surfaces and prevent oxidation, thus creating a better weld joint ‘Acetylene (C,H,) is the most popular fuel among the OFW group because it is capable of higher temperatures than any ofthe others— up to 3480°C (6300°F). The flame in OAWis produced by the chemical reaction of acetylene and oxygen in two stages. The first stage is defined by the reaction CoH + 0; +2CO + Hh + heat (30.4a) the products of which are both combustible, which leads to the second-stage reaction 2CO +H; +150; -+2CO; +H,0 + heat (30.46) The two stages of combustion are visible in the oxyacetylene flame emitted from the torch. When the mixture of acetylene and oxygen is in the ratio I:1, as described in Eq, (30.4), the resulting neutral flame is shown in Figure 30.22. The first-stage reaction is seen as the inner cone of the flame (which is bright white), while the second-stage reaction is exhibited by the outer envelope (which is nearly colorless but with tinges ranging from blue to orange). The maximum temperature of the flame is reached at the tip of the inner cone; the second-stage temperatures are somewhat below those of the inner cone. During welding, the outer eavelope spreads out and covers the work surfaces ‘being joined, thus shielding them from the surrounding atmosphere Total heat liberated during the two stages of combustion is 55 x 10° Jim’ (1470 Btu! £t') of acetylene. However, because of the temperature distribution in the flame, the way in which the flame spreads over the work surface, and losses to the air, power densities and heat transfer factors in oxyacetylene welding are relatively low: fi — 0.10 to 0.30. An oxyacetylene torch supplies 0.3 m’ of acetylene per hour and an equal volume rate of, oxygen for an OAW operation on 4.5-mm-thick steel. Heat generated by combustion is transferred to the work surface with a heat transfer factor f; = 0.20. If 75% of the heat from the flame is concentrated in a circular area on the work surface that is 9.0 mm in diameter, find (a) rate of heat liberated during combustion, (b) rate of heat transferred to the work surface, and (c) average power density in the circular area Solution: (a)’The rate of heat generated by the torch is the product of the volume rate of acetylene times the heat of combustion: Ruy = (0.3m"/ax) (55 x 108 Vm’) = 165 x 10° Ihr or 4583 /s (b) With a heat transfer factor f; = 0.20, the rate of heat received at the work surface is J, Ru = 0.20(4583) = 917 1/s (©) The area of the circle in which 75% of the heat of the flame is concentrated is xo A=T) 636mm"ns Chapter 30/Welding Processes ‘The power density in the circle is found by dividing the available heat by the area of the circle: 0.75(917) 2 pp = TRE) — 30.8 w/in . Tae combination of acetylene and oxygen is highly flammable, and the environ- ment in which OAW is performed is therefore hazardous. Some of the dangers relate specifically to the acetylene. Pure CH is a colorless, odorless gas. For safety reasons, commercial acetylene is processed to have a characteristic garlic odor. One of the physical limitations of the gas is that it is unstable at pressures much above 1 atm (0.1 MPa or 15 Ibjin”). Accordingly, acetylene storage cylinders are packed with a porous filler material (such as asbestos, balsa wood, and other materials) saturated with acetone (CH,COCH,). Acetylene dissolves in liquid acetone; in fact, acetone dissolves about 25 timesits own volume of acetylene, thus providing a relatively sale means of storing this welding gas. The welder wears eye and skin protection (goggles, gloves, and protective clothing) as an additional safety precaution, and different screw threads are standard on the acetylene and oxygen cylinders and hoses to avoid accidental connection of the wrong gases. Proper maintenance of the equipment is imperative. OAW equipment is relatively inexpensive and portable, It is therefore an economical, versatile process that is well suited to low-quantity production and repair jobs. Itis rarely used to weld sheet and plate stock thicker than 6.4 mm (1/4 in) because of the advantages of arc welding in such applications. Although OAW can be mechanized, itis usualy performed manually and is hence dependent on the skill of the welder to produce a high-quality weld joint 30.3.2 ALTERNATIVE GASES FOR OXYFUEL WELDING Several members of the OFW group are based on gases other than acetylene, Most of the alternative fuels are listed in Table 30.2, together with their burning temperatures and. combustion heats, For comparison, acetylene is included in the list. Although oxy- acetylene is the most common OFW fuel, each of the other gases can be used in certain applications —typically limited to welding of sheet metal and metals with Iow melting “Temperature® “Heat of Combustion Fuel fa ¥ Mim? Brute Acetylene (Gli) 30875589 81470 MAPP® (C\H,) 2927 5301 O17 2460, Hydrogen (112) 2660 4820 121 325 Propylene® (CyH,) 2900-5250 3942400 Propane (C;Hs) 2526 4579 93.1 2498 Natural gas* 2538 4600 373 1000 Compiled from [10] “Neutral flame temperatures are compared since this the flame that would most ‘commonly be used for welding SMAPP isthe commercial abbreviation for methylacetylene-propadiene ‘is used primarily in ame culting, are based on methane gas (CH,);natural gas consists of ethane (Ci!) as well as methane; flame temperature and heat of combustion vary with composition,Section 30.4/Other Fusion-Welding Processes 729) GH, + Op mixture Torch withdrawn : Torch Flame heating of surfaces Clam | — Upsetng Upseting force >| force: >] <— ® ©) FIGURE30.23 An application of pressure gas welding: (a) heating of the two parts, and (b) applying pressure to form the weld, temperatures, and brazing (Section 31.1). In addition, some users prefer these alternative gases for safety reasons ‘The fuel that competes most closely with acetylene in burning temperature and heating value is methylacetylene-propadiene. Its a fuel developed by the Dow Chemical ‘Company sold under the trade name MAPP (we are grateful to Dow for the abbreviation), MAPP (CsH,) has heating characteristics similar to acetylene and can be stored under pressure as a liquid, thus avoiding the special storage problems associated with C:H,. When hydrogen is burned with oxygen as the fuel, the process is called axy- hydrogen welding (OMW), As shown in Table 30.2, the welding temperature in OHW is below that possible in oxyacetylene welding, In addition, the color of the flame is not affected by differences in the mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, and therefore it is more difficult for the welder to adjust the torch. Other fuels used in OFW include propane and natural gas. Propane (CH) is more closely associated with brazing, soldering, and cutting operations than with welding, Natural gas consists mostly of ethane (C3H) and methane (CH,). When mixed with oxygen it achieves a high temperature flame and is becoming more common in small welding shops. Pressure Gas Welding This is a special OFW process, distinguished by type of application rather than fuel gas. Pressure gas welding (PGW) is a fusion-welding process in which coalescence is obtained over the entire contact surfaces of the two parts by heating them with an appropriate {uel mixture (usually oxyacetylene gas) and then applying pressure to bond the surfaces. A typical application illustrated in Figure 30.23. Parts are heated until melting begins on the surfaces. The heating torch is then withdrawn, and the parts are pressed together and held at high pressure while soliditica- tion occurs. No filler metal is used in PGW. 30.4 OTHER FUSION-WELDING PROCESSES Some fusion-welding processes cannot be classified as arc, resistance, or oxyfuel welding. Each of these other processes uses a unique technology to develop heat for melting; and. typically, the applications are unique, Electron-Beam Welding Electron-beam welding (EBW) is a fusion-welding process in which the heat for welding is produced by a highly focused, high-intensity stream of730 Chapter 30/Welding Processes clectrons impinging against the work surface. The equipment is similar to that used for electron-beam machining (Section 26.3.2). The electron beam gun operates at high voltage to accelerate the electrons (e.g., 10-150 kV typical), and beam currents are low (measured in milliamps). The power in EBW is not exceptional, but power density is. High power density is achieved by focusing the electron beam on a very small area of the work surface, so that the power density PD is based on pp Lith 05) where PD = power density, W/mm? (W/in?, which can be converted to Btw/sec-in* by dividing by 1055,); fi = heat transfer factor (typical values for EBW range from 0.8-0.95 [9]): E = accelerating voltage, V: = beam current, A; and A = the work surface arca on which the electron beam is focused, mm” (in’). Typical weld areas for EBW range from 13 x 1073 to 2000 x 10-3 mm? (20 x 10° to 3000 x 10° in’), The process had its beginnings in the 1950s in the atomic power field, When first developed, welding had to be carried out in a vacuum chamber to minimize the isruption of the clectron beam by air molecules, This requirement was, and stills, a seriols inconvenience in production, due to the time required to evacuate the chamber prior to welding. The pump-down time, as it is called, can take as long as an hour, Gepending on the size of the chamber and the level of vacuum requited. Today, EBW technology has progressed to where some operations are performed without a vacuum, Three categories can be distinguished: (1) high-vacuum welding (EBW-HV), in which welding is carried out in the same vacuum as beam generation; (2) medium-vacuum welding (EBW-MV), in which the operation is performed in a separate chamber where only a partial vacuum is achieved; and (3) nonvacuum welding (EBW-NV), in which ‘welding is accomplished at or near atmospheric pressure. The pump-down time during wworkpart loading and unloading is reduced in medium-vacuum EBW and minimized in nonvacuum EBW, but there isa price paid for this advantage. Inthe latter two operations, the equipment must include one or more vacuum dividers (very small orifices that impede air flow but permit passage of the electron beam) to separate the beam generator (which requires a high vacuum) from the work chamber. Also, in noavacuum EBW, the work must be located close tothe orifice ofthe electron beam gua, approximately 13 mm (05 in) ot les. Finally, the lower vacuum processes cannot achieve the high weld qualities and depth-to-width ratios accomplished by EBW-HY. ‘Any metals that ean be are welded can be welded by EBW, as well as certain refractory and difficult-to-weld metals that are not suited to AW. Work sizes range from thin foil to thick plate. EBWis applied mostly in the automotive, aerospace, and nuclear industries. In the automotive industry, EBW assembly includes aluminum manifolds, steel torque converters, catalytic converters, and transmission components. In these and other applications, electron-beam welding s noted for high-quality welds with deep and/ ‘or narrow profiles, imited heat-affected zone, and low thermal distortion, Welding speeds are high compared to other continuous welding operations. No filler metal is, used, and no flux or shielding gases are needed. Disadvantages of EBW include high equipment cost, need for precise joint preparation and alignment, and the limitations associated with performing the process in a vacuum, a8 we have alzcady discussed. In addition, there are safety concerns because EBW generates X-rays from which humans rust be shielded. Laser-Beam Welding _Laser-beam welding (LBW) is a fusion-welding process in which coalescence is achieved by the energy of a highly concentrated, coherent light beam. focused on the joint to be welded. The term laser is an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation. This same technology is used for laser-beam. machining (Section 26.3.3). LBW is normally performed with shielding gases (¢..,FIGURE 30.24 Electroslag welding (ESWh: (a) front view with mold- ing shoe removed for clarity; (b) side view showing schematic of ‘molding shoe. Setup is similar to electrogas welding (Figure 30.7) except that resistance heating of molten slag is Used to melt the base and filler metals. Section 30.4/Other Fusion-Welding Processes 731 Electrode (consumable) Molding shoe Consumable guide tube (both sides) Molten slag (matted = Cooling water 2 —by resistance heating) — | Motton weld metal — Solidied wold metal @ CO) helium, argon, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide) to prevent oxidation. Filler metal is not usually added, LBW produces welds of high quality, deep penetration, and narrow heat-alfected zone, These features are similar to those achieved in electron-beam welding, and the two processes are often compared. There are several advantages of LBW over EBW: no vacuum chamber is required, no X-rays are emitted, and laser beams can be focused and. directed by optical lenses and mirrors. On the other hand, LBW does not possess the capability for the deep welds and high depth-to-width ratios of EBW. Maximum depth in. laser welding is about 19 mm (0.75 in), whereas EBW can be used for weld depths of 50 mm (2 in) or more; and the depth-to-width ratios in LBW are typically limited to around 5:1. Because of the highly concentrated energy in the small area of the laser beam, the process is often used to join small parts. Electroslag Welding _Thisprocess uses the same basic equipment asin some arc-welding, operations, and it utilizes an arc to initiate welding. However, itis not an AW process because an arcis not used during welding. Electroslag welding (ESW) is a fusion-welding, process in which coalescence is achieved by hot, electrically conductive molten slag acting ‘on the base parts and filler metal. As shown in Figure 30.24, the general configuration of ESWis similar to electrogas welding. Its performed in a vertical orientation (shown here for butt welding), using water-cooled molding shoes to contain the molten slag and weld ‘metal. At the start of the process, granulated conductive flux is put into the cavity. The consumable electrode tipis positioned near the bottom of the cavity, andan arcis generated, for a short while to start melting the flux, Once a pool of slag has been created, the arc is extinguished and the current passes from the electrode to the base metal through the conductive slag, so that its electrical resistance generates heat to maintain the welding process. Since the density ofthe slagis ess than that of the molten metal, it remains on top to protect the weld pool. Solidification occuss from the bottom, while additional molten metal is supplied from above by the electrode and the edges of the base parts. The process gradually continues until it reaches the top of the joint. ‘Thermit Welding ‘Thermit is a trademark name for thermife, a mixture of aluminum, powder and iron oxide that produces an exothermic reaction when ignited, Itis used in incendiary bombs and for welding. As a welding process, the use of Thermit dates from. around 1900, Thermit welding (TW) is a fusion-welding process in which the heat for coalescence is produced by superheated molten metal from the chemical reaction of ‘Thermit. Filler metal is obtained from the liquid metal; and although the process is used. for joining, it has more in common with casting than it does with welding. Finely mixed powders of aluminum and iron oxide (in a 1:3 mixture), when ignited at a temperature of around 1300°C (2300°F), produce the following chemical732 Chapler 30 Welding Processes FIGURE 30,25 Thermit welding: (1) Thermit ignited; (2) crucible tapped, superheated metal lows into mold (3) metal solidifies to produce weld joint. oem a, Thermit reaction ‘Crucible —sieg “wert cf WG ‘Mold Weld a (3) BAI+3Fe,0. — 9Fe + 4Al,05 + heat (30.6) ‘The temperature from the reaction is around 2500°C (4500°F), resulting in superheated. molten iron plus aluminum oxide that floats to the top as slag and protects the iron from, the atmosphere. In Thermit welding, the superheated iron (or steel if the mixture of powders is formulated accordingly) is contained in a crucible located above the joint to be welded, as indicated by our diagram of the TW process in Figure 30.25. After the reaction is complete (about 305, irrespective of the amount of Thermit involved), the crucible is tapped and the liquid metal flows into a mold built specially to surround the weld joint. Because the entering metal is so hot, it melts the edges of the base parts, causing coalescence upon solidification. After cooling, the mold is broken away, and the gates and risers are removed by oxyacetylene torch or other method, ‘Thermit welding has applications in joining of railroad rails (as pictured in our figure), and repair of cracks in large steel castings and forgings such as ingot molds, large diameter shafts, frames for machinery, and ship rudders, The surface of the weld in these applications is often sufficiently smooth so that no subsequent finishing is required. 30.5 SOLID-STATE WELDING Insolid state-welding, coalescence of the part surfaces is achieved by (1) pressure alone, or (2)heat and pressure. Forsome solid-state processes, time is also a factor. Ifboth heat and. pressure are used, the amount of heat by itself is not sufficient to cause melting of the work. surfaces. In other words, fusion of the parts would not occur using only the heat that is externally applied in these processes, In some cases, the combination of heat and pressure, ‘or the particular manner in which pressure alone is applied, gencrates sufficient energy to cause localized melting of the faying surfaces. Filer metal is not added in solid-state welding 30.5.1 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS IN SOLID-STATE WELDING Inmost of the solid-state processes, a metallurgical bond is ereated with little or no melting, of the base metals, To metallurgically bond two similar or dissimilar metals, the two metals must be brought into intimate contact so that their cohesive atomic forces attract each other. In normal physical contact between two surfaces, such intimate contact is prohibited, by the presence of chemical films, gases, oils, and so on. In order for atomic bonding to succeed, these films and other substances must be removed. In fusion welding (as well as other joining processes such as brazing and soldering), the films are dissolved or burned.