DEPARTMENT OF MECHATRONICS ENGINEERING
MATERIAL & MANUFACTURING PROCESS
Assignment 3
M.Hammad Umer
180862
BEMTS-IV-B
Welding , Brazing , Soldering and Adhesive Bonding
INRODUCTION:
Welding , Brazing , Soldering and Adhesive Bonding all are different ways for
making a joint,and each has its own properties and importance in engineering.
A brief review of all these joining methor is below
WELDING:
Welding is a common process for joining metals using a large variety of
applications. Welding occurs in several locations, from outdoors settings
on rural farms and construction sites to inside locations, such as factories
and job shops. Welding processes are fairly simple to understand, and
basic techniques can be learned quickly.Welding is the joining of metals at
a molecular level. A weld is a homogeneous bond between two or more
pieces of metal, where the strength of the welded joint exceeds the
strength of the base pieces of metal.
Welding Phenomena:
At the simplest level, welding involves the use of four components: the
metals, a heat source, filler metal, and some kind of shield from the air.
The metals are heated to their melting point while being shielded from the
air, and then a filler metal is added to the heated area to produce a single
piece of metal. It can be performed with or without filler metal and with or
without pressure
Types:
There are several types of welding that are used today.
Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) or MIG,
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) or TIG,
Flux Core Arc Welding,
Stick Welding.
Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) or MIG:
Gas metal arc welding (GMAW), also called metal inert gas (MIG) welding, is an
arc welding process in which the heat for melting the metal is generated by an
electric arc between a consumable electrode and the metal. The electrode is a solid
wire, fed continuously through the arc into the weld pool, which ultimately
becomes the filler metal at the weld. The wire type is selected to match the weld
metal strength with the base metal strength.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding:
Gas tungsten arc welding, also known as tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding, is
an arc welding process that uses a nonconsumable tungsten electrode to produce
the weld. The filler metal is added from an external source, usually as bare
metal filler rod. The weld pool area is protected from the atmosphere and possible
contamination by a shielding inert gas, such as argon. A filler metal normally is
used, although some welds, known as autogenous welds, do not require it.
Stick Welding:
Stick welding is technically defined as “Shielded Metal Arc Welding”. The term
“stick welding” is a common slang term that the welding industry has adopted
becuse the electrode that welds the metal comes in the form of a “Stick”. The
simplest explanation of how stick welding works. Stick welding is a form of
welding that uses electricity to melt a metal filler rod/electrode/stick (electrode is
the proper term) that melts both the metal joint and electrode all at once to fuse two
pieces of metal together and fill the joint with filler metal at the same time.
Stick welders can be both AC and DC power depending on the electrode type used.
For most heavy industrial jobs or hobbyists a DC power supply can do just about
anything. It’s very rare to use AC. Stick welding power supplies are constant
voltage or CV and that means the voltage stays the same while welding and the
amperage fluctuates depending on your arc length when welding.
Termonologies and their Meanings:
Arc Burn:
Arc burn is a metallurgical notch caused by ground clamps or striking an arc
on the base metal at any point other than the weld groove or immediate area
that will be covered with the weld cap.
Base Metal:
The base metal is the metal that is to be welded or cut. It is commonly referred
to as the workpiece.
Plug Weld:
Plug welding is filling a hole or gap in one piece with weld or filling a hole
and attaching the piece with the hole to the surface of another base piece.
Spot Weld:
Spot welding is the process in which the weld pieces are pressed together with
pressure, then a current is passed through them in a small spot and the two
pieces are melted together at that location. Spot welding can be performed on
metals from 0.5 to 3 mm.
Butt Weld:
A butt weld is a joint between two workpieces that are aligned on the same
plane.
Brazing:
Introduction:
Brazing is a welding process that is used to join two pieces of base metal using
melted filler which flows across the joint. When the filler metal cools, it creates a
solid weld between the two pieces of metal. The process of brazing is similar in
nature to that of soldering, and brazing forms a very strong welded joint which tends
to be stronger than either of the base metals on their own. Brazing allows welders to
create a strong weld and does not cause the base metals to melt or lose their shape
while the process is being completed. The process of brazing is commonly used
when the welder needs to create a joint that is invisible to the naked eye, yet strong
enough to hold up in a variety of temperatures. Joints that are created using the
brazing technique are often pliable and can withstand jolts and twisting.
How Brazing is Done:
The technique of brazing is somewhat similar to that used in soldering except that
the temperatures that can be used with either method differ. Brazing can be used to
join pipes, rods, metals of a flat nature or any other shape of metal as long as the two
pieces being joined fit snugly against each other without any large gaps. Brazing can
also be used to join unusual combinations that feature linear joints.
Once you have thoroughly cleansed the metal pieces you will be working with, you
will need to gather the tools you will be working with. This includes preparing your
work area and preparing your torch and the braze alloy you will be using. The torch
that is used in brazing can use gases like acetylene and hydrogen to produce an
extremely high level of heat typically between 800 and 2000 degrees Fahrenheit. It
is important that the temperature be low enough not to melt the base metal but hot
enough to melt the filler metal being used to create the joint. The temperature of
your torch can be adjusted using the controls to reach the correct temperature.
After you have cleaned the base metals and set your torch at the appropriate
temperature, you are now ready to begin brazing. Braze can be purchased in either a
stick, disc or wire form. Depending on which type you prefer to work with or the
shape of the joint you will be creating, there is a form of braze that will work. Once
you have heated the base metals near the location of the joint you will be forming
you will want to bring the wire to the hot pieces and allow the braze to melt and flow
around the joint. The term flow refers to the braze penetrating the joint and settling
into all areas of the joint. When a braze is done in the correct way, the result will be
a bond that is virtually indestructible.
Advantages:
There are many advantages to using brazing over spot welding or soldering. A
brazed joint tends to be smooth and complete and creates an airtight and watertight
bond. Brazed joints can also conduct electricity in the same manner that the base
metals were able to. Brazing can also be used to join metals that are dissimilar in
nature.
Precautions:
Before beginning to braze a welder must clean the entire area of the metals that are
going to be joined, otherwise the melted brazing mixture will become lumpy and not
flow as it should which will result in the formation of an inconsistent joint. To avoid
the formation of inconsistent joints, you should clean the surfaces of the metals and
then apply melted flux. Flux is used to remove oxides and prevent further oxidation
while the brazing is being performed. Flux also smoothes the surface to allow the
braze to easily flow over the joint.
Soldering:
WHAT IS SOLDERING?
For our purposes, soldering is the process of joining electrical components
together by melting solder to make an electrical connection. Soldering
should NOT be relied on as a robust mechanical connection.
HOW DOES SOLDERING WORK?
Electronic parts are made with metal coatings on specific surfaces. By
putting two or more of these surfaces near each other and adding heat, we
can melt the surface coatings together to form a new, continuous,
conductive, metal path for the circuit. Because the metal coatings aren't
very thick, we also need to add more metal (called solder) to help form a
strong electrical connection. This connection is called a "solder joint," and is
a mixture of the metals from surface 1, surface 2, and the solder all melted
together.
WHAT IS SOLDER?
Solder itself is also a mixture (alloy) of different metal elements chosen for
their conductivity and low melting temperature properties. Solder comes in
a variety of different shapes, sizes, and types.
WHAT ARE OXIDES AND WHY ARE THEY REALLY IMPORTANT
FOR SOLDERING?
As you may know, metals can react with oxygen in the air to form OXIDES (like
rust). Oxides are usually thermally and electrically insulating, meaning it will be
nearly impossible for us to melt all the metals together in order to solder unless we
have a method to get rid of the oxides on each of the metal surfaces.
Solder Flux is used to address the oxide problem during soldering. Flux is a
chemical that, when heated above a certain temperature, will breakdown the metal
oxides formed on the surfaces we want to solder. However, once the oxides are
broken down, it is a race against time before they form again (seconds) that is also
accelerated at higher temperatures.
Adhesive Bonding:
Introduction to Adhesive Bonding:
Adhesive bonding is a process of joining materials in which an adhesive is placed
between the faying surfaces of the components called adherends. Adhesive bonding
is similar to soldering and brazing of metals in that a metallurgical bond does not
take place though the surfaces being joined may be heated but they are not melted.
An adhesive may be a cement, a glue, a mucilage (sticky liquids from plants), or a
paste. Though natural adhesives both of organic and inorganic origins are available,
synthetic organic polymers are usually employed to adhesive bond metals.An
adhesive in the form of a liquid or a tacky solid is placed between the surfaces, to be
joined, which are then mated and heat or pressure or both are applied to accomplish
the joint.
:
Advantages:
The advantages of adhesive bonding include bonding of dissimilar materials at low
processing temperatures of 65 to 175°C. Thin gauge materials can be bonded
effectively. Adhesive joints can provide thermal and electrical insulations with
smooth surface appearance resulting in uniform stress distribution.Good vibration
and sound damping can be achieved by adhesive bonding. Adhesive bonds result in
significant weight saving and simplification of design.
Nature of Adhesive Joints:
An adhesive bond is affected by the attractive force, generally of physical nature,
between an adhesive and the base material. The adhesive bond is caused either by the
polar forces between the adhesive and a relatively brittle oxide film (diepole bond) or
by Van der Waals forces between the adhesive and the unfilmed or clean metal.
The dipole bond is a pair of equal and opposite forces that hold two atoms together
and results from a decrease in energy as two atoms are brought close together. The
Van der Waal bond is defined as a secondary bond caused by the fluctuating diepole
nature of an atom with all occupied electron shells filled.
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