AJM & NDT - Module - 1
AJM & NDT - Module - 1
Types of Welding: Forge welding, Electro Slag Welding, Electron Beam Welding, Plasma arc Welding,
Laser Beam Welding, Explosion Welding, Diffusion Welding, Ultrasonic Welding, Friction welding.
Welding and Cladding of Dissimilar Materials: Overlaying and surfacing, different methods and
applications, thermal –Spray coating or metalizing.
Welding is a process of joining two metal pieces as a result of significant diffusion of the atoms of the
welded pieces into the joint (weld) region. Welding is carried out by heating the joined pieces to melting
point and fusing them together (with or without filler material) or by applying pressure to the pieces in cold
or heated state.
Advantages of welding
Strong and tight joining
Cost effectiveness
Simplicity of welded structures design
Welding processes may be mechanized and automated.
Disadvantages of welding
Internal stresses, distortions and changes of micro-structure in the weld region
Harmful effects: light, ultra violate radiation, fumes, high temperature.
Applications of welding
Buildings and bridges structures
Automotive, ship and aircraft constructions
Pipe lines
Tanks and vessels
Rairoads
Machinery elements.
Forge welding
Welding can be achieved through forging, by heating up both pieces to very high temperatures (white heat
indicator colour) and then ‘hammering’ them together. Mild steel requires a slightly lower temperature,
yellow heat approaching white heat. Getting the temperature right is very important. If the temperature is
even slightly lower than it should be, hammering will not produced a welded joint. However, if the
temperature is too high, the metal will be damaged through burning.
It is important to use flux on the surfaces to be welded together. The flux prevents oxidisation taking place,
by providing a protective coating called ‘slag’, with prevents oxygen in the air reaching the metal’s surface.
Borax is used as a flux for mild steel and sand for wrought iron.
The fire in the Blacksmith’s hearth, must be carefully maintained, in order to achieve the high temperatures
required for welding. Also, the heart of the fire must be free of ‘clinker’ (the waste produced by heating
coke).
The welding process starts at the centre of the joint, with the Blacksmith working outwards. This displaces
any slag / impurities. Working from the outside of the joint inwards, has the potential to lock in any
impurities / slag, as hammering progresses. This could lead to poor and weak welded joint.
It may appear that the butt weld is the easiest to carry out. However, this is not the case. Both surfaces must
be forced together whilst hammering takes place, all at the same white heat.
The ‘scarf weld’, is the most popular way of joining two pieces of metal. The ends to be joined are prepared
carefully by ‘upsetting’. They are then heated to yellow/white heat, sprinkled with flux (borax for mild steel)
and placed on the face of the anvil.
Hammering starts at the centre of the joint, forcing impurities / slag out of the joint.
Once the joint is made, the Blacksmith concentrates on shaping / forming the joint, so that it is accurate and
smooth.
Steps
1. Getting the Materials Ready
Welding heat differs depending on the metal type you’re using. Ensure that you double-check the forging
temperature before heating your metals. Make sure they turn yellow when exposed to high heat in your
forge. The carbon in the metal begins to oxidize and destroys your metal if you heat beyond this point. Over
time, the temperature and the color of the forge weld will become more acquainted.
2. Fluxing
Move your materials away from the forge and sprinkle them using flux. The forged section of the crucible
utilizes borax as a flux. Flux acts as glassy protection that stops the corrosion of steel. Flux is a reducing
agent that prevents oxidation.
Oxidation leads to scales or slag on the surface that can stop your metal from welding. Any contaminated or
soiled metal will form a feeble joint and increase the metal’s melting temperature. When forge welding, flux
is necessary, particularly as a beginning if you’re in a blacksmith’s shop.
3. Heating
After you’ve completed applying flux, put the metal back in the forge. Heat it until it turns radiant yellow.
Don’t let it stay in the forge for long because your metal may spark, which implies that your metal is
contaminated.
Don’t forget that every metal has a different welding temperature. Therefore, before you begin the
procedure, it’s a good idea to examine your metals.
4. Connecting and Hammering
When your metal piece glows radiant yellow, take it out of the forge. You must perform forge welding to
stop your material from becoming too soft. You can use metal wires to attach your parts until the main weld
is created.
To join the weld seam, take your piece to the hydraulic press or power hammer. Make sure that you don’t
hammer the metal too hard to slip the weld seam out of position. Repeat it until you have a clean-finished
weld that doesn’t have weld lines.
Applications
It is used to join steel or iron.
It is used to manufacture gates, prison cells etc.
It is widely used in cookware.
It was used to join boiler plates before introduction of other welding process.
It was used to weld weapon like sword etc.
Used to weld shotgun barrels.
Advantages
It is simple and easy.
It does not require any costly equipment for weld small pieces.
It can weld both similar and dissimilar metals.
Properties of weld joint is similar to base material.
No filler material required.
Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, UBDTCE – Davanagere. Page 4
AJM & NDT Module – 1 ` 18IP821
Disadvantages
Only small objects can be weld. Larger objects required
large press and heating furnaces, which are not economical.
High skill required because excessive hammering can damage the welding plates.
High Welding defects involve.
It cannot use as mass production.
Mostly suitable for iron and steel.
It is a slow welding process.
------------*-------------*-------------
Electro Slag Welding
Electro slag welding (ESW) is a highly useful, a single-pass welding process for thick (more prominent than
25 mm up to around 300 mm) materials in a vertical or near vertical position. (ESW) is like electro-gas
welding, yet the primary contrast is the arc starts in an alternate area. An electric arc is initially struck by
wire that is taken care of into the ideal weld location and afterward, flux is added. Extra flux is added until
the molten slag, reaching at the tip of the electrode.
The wire is then constantly taken care of through a consumable guide tube into the surfaces of the metal
work pieces and the filler metal is then liquefied utilizing the electrical opposition of the liquid slag to cause
coalescence. The wire and cylinder then climb along the work piece while a copper holding shoe that was
put into the place prior to starting is utilized to keep the weld between the plates that are being welded.
ESW welding is utilized primarily to join low-carbon steel plates and additionally segments that are
extremely thick. It can likewise be utilized on structural steel assuming specific insurances are observed, and
for large cross-section aluminum bus bars.
The slag reaches a temperature of about 3500°F (1930°C). This temperature is sufficient for melting the
consumable electrode and work piece edges. Metal droplets fall to the weld pool and join the work pieces.
2. Filler Wire
A filler wire is utilized as another electrode, it is utilized to create an arc while coming in contact with the
flux. There is a continuous supply of filler wire utilized in the ESW welding process.
The filler wire is directed to the right position utilizing a consumable guide tube. The carbon rate in the filler
wire is not exactly that of base metal this forestalls cracking of the weld because of the high carbon
percentage.
3. Base Plate
The base plate goes about as one of the electrodes utilized in ESW welding. The Power supply from one
terminal is further connected to the base plate. It is otherwise called the starter plate. It additionally supports
the entire setup of ESW welding.
4. Workpieces
Work-pieces are the metals to be welded together, the two work-pieces are held upward in an ESW welding
arrangement. The welding activities occur in an upward direction.
The fact that floats over the flux make slag the waste material. The flux utilized in ESW welding should
have the accompanying properties.
It should change electrical energy to heat energy in its molten state.
It should protect the weld from atmospheric gases.
It must conduct the electricity simultaneously and should offer sufficient resistance to generate heat.
Step-by-step Working
At first, the flux is fed inside the cavity then the power supply is started.
At the point when the filler wire touches the base plate through the flux, there is the generation of arc
because of a short circuit between the filler electrode and the base plate.
This arc produces heat that is adequate to melt the flux. This is the principle of arc welding utilized
in ESW welding.
After the arc is produced and the flux is melted the weld progresses in the upward direction.
More flux is added from the top, now the heat generation happens because of the resistance offered
by the molten flux and the process seems to be like resistance welding.
This helps in fusing the walls of the work-piece and the consumable wire. Thus a weld is formed
between the two work-pieces.
The weld formed is because of the molten filler wire, molten flux as well as fusing of the walls of the
work-piece.
Utilization of ESW Welding of construction, hardware, ships, pressure vessel, and projecting.
Applicable to long butt weld.
Welding of construction, apparatus, ships, pressure vessel, and projecting.
D) Minimum Slag
Slag is the waste product produced during the process involved with welding. Slag may weaken the welding
regions. ESW welding advances low slag deposition than traditional welding techniques.
E) High Productivity
Productivity and efficiency is a significant perspectives while working in any manufacturing industry. The
process of ESW welding can be made self-automatic which might help in faster welding of the work-piece.
C) Restricted Position
The ESW welding process happens just in the upward direction. Horizontal welding is beyond the realm of
possibilities as the molten metal pool is large and won’t spread uniformly.
E) High Cost
The overall expense of the equipment and the cost of running both are high for ESW welding when
compared to traditional welding techniques. The filler wire and flux requirement are a lot higher than other
welding processes.
------------*-------------*-------------
The first practical electron beam welding machine was developed by a German physicist Karl-Heinz
Steigerwald in 1958. In order to prevent the distortion of the electron beam, the electron beam welding is
performed in vacuum.
For a typical electron beam welding machine, the diameter of the beam spot is about 0.2 mm. The electron
beam welding allows less distortion, as the heat applied to the area around the weld is low.
EB welding fires a high velocity beam of electrons at a weld joint – usually within a vacuum chamber.
The electron-beam is generated by an electron gun: constituting a high voltage power supply that feeds
energy into an incandescent cathode, which in turn expels high-speed electrons. The beam is then focused
and accelerated through a series of anodes and a focusing coil – which concentrates the beam by means of
an electri0-magnetic field.
The energy intensity of EBW is 100-1000 times greater than Arc welding, as a result the beam vaporises a
hole into the parent metal resulting in a deep, narrow weld and a weld speed 10-50 times faster. This also
produces narrow Heat affected Zones (HAZ) and very low distortion.
The Electron Beam position is normally fixed and the components moved under the beam by conventional
rotary and linear movement systems, with power and weld speed controlled by programmable systems.
There are many different varieties and sizes of electron-beam welding machine, but most follow a similar
Operating process:
1. The two parts are cleaned thoroughly to remove contaminants and demagnetised if ferrous based
metals. This ideally should be done by the welder or contractor.
Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, UBDTCE – Davanagere. Page 10
AJM & NDT Module – 1 ` 18IP821
2. The parts are secured to their fixtures and attached to the welding machine’s CNC operated work
movement system. This can be programmed to manoeuver the parts into position and make adjustments
during the process.
3. The vacuum chamber is sealed and a vacuum created by expelling air from the chamber. Some
materials, e.g. Titanium, require a higher level of vacuum for welding
4. The electron beam is aligned with the joint then generated to the appropriate power. Beam parameters
can be manually or CNC adjusted during the cycle to maintain consistent weld quality.
5. The electron beam welding cycle is initiated.
6. After welding is complete, the vacuum chamber is re-pressurised, so it can be opened and the joined
part removed.
7. Fixtures are removed, after which the part is subjected to a thorough inspection process. Non-
destructive Fluorescent Penetrant crack testing is the most common quality control method. This is
often used in tandem with visual inspection and/or radiography.
Plasma Arc Welding is essentially an extension of Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). Like GTAW, a
non-consumable electrode is used in Plasma Arc Welding (PAW). However, a different technique is used to
deliver the heat for welding in Plasma Arc Welding (PAW).
The welding torch used in Plasma Arc Welding (PAW) contains two nozzles an inner nozzle for orifice gas
and an outer nozzle for shielding gas (see Figure 1(b)).
The inner nozzle contains orifice gas which surrounds the electrode. The orifice gas is a neutral gas that gets
converted into a plasma state (the fourth state of matter) when an arc is ignited in the chamber. The arc heats
the orifice gas to a temperature at which the electrons present in the atoms of orifice gas leave their orbit,
due to which, the orifice gas becomes ionized. The ionized gases come out from the orifice of the nozzle as a
“plasma jet stream”. Plasma is a good conductor of electricity.
Plasma emanates from the nozzle of the orifice at a temperature of about 16,700°C (30,000°F), creating a
narrow, constricted arc pattern that provides excellent directional control and produces a very favorable
depth-to-width weld profile.
The outer nozzle contains shielding gas like Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). The shielding gas covers
the area of arc plasma impingement on the workpiece to avoid contamination of the weld. Shielding gas may
be the same as the orifice gas or it may be different from orifice gas.
1. Power Source: The power source used for plasma arc welding is similar to that used for TIG
welding (GTAW). Both GTAW as well as PAW processes use constant-current power sources and a
high-frequency source for arc starting.
2. Welding Torch: A Plasma Arc Welding (PAW) torch has the following features:
3. Plasma Control Console: The crucial control systems of plasma arc welding are encompassed in a
plasma console also known as plasma control console or console. The console is generally integrated
with the primary power source, but it can also be available as a separate stand-alone unit. A typical
plasma control console includes controls for the following;
Plasma gas flow
Shielding gas flow
The pilot arc current
4. Gases (Orifice gas/Shielding gas): Selection of gases for plasma arc welding depends on the
following criteria;
welding position
joint configuration
Base metal
Shielding gas is often the same as the orifice gas for many plasma arc welding applications. However, some
advantages can be observed when a different gas is used for certain applications.
5. Orifice Gas: The orifice gas should be inert with respect to the electrode to avoid the rapid
deterioration of the electrode. To enhance the electrode life 99.99% pure orifice gas must be used.
Flow rates for orifice gases are generally between 0.1 liters per minute (L/min) to 5 L/min. The
most commonly used orifice gases are;
Argon
Argon – Hydrogen Mixture
6. Shielding Gas: Generally inert gases are used as shielding gas. However, an active gas can also be
used for shielding if it is not considered to adversely affect weld properties. Following gases are used
for shielding the weld pool;
Argon
Argon – Hydrogen mixture
Argon-helium mixture
Carbon Dioxide
7. Coolant System: Plasma Arc Welding requires a cooling system. A cooling system should consist of
a coolant reservoir, radiator, pump, flow sensor, and control switches. Corrosion-resistant materials
are used for the construction of the liquid-contacting surfaces.
8. Electrodes: Like GTAW, tungsten electrodes are used in Plasma Arc Welding (PAW). Tungsten
electrodes with small additions of thorium, lanthanum, or cerium can be used for PAW with straight
polarity (DCEN). Pure tungsten and zirconiated electrodes are seldom used in plasma arc welding
because the electrode tip geometry cannot be maintained.
9. Filler Metal: The filler metal is added externally (if required). In the case of manual welding, filler
metal in form of rods is used. Whereas, filler metal in wire form is used for mechanized or robotic
welding. Filler metal specification is the same as that used in gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW).
ARC MODES:
Two types of arc modes are used in plasma arc welding, these are;
------------*-------------*-------------
It is a very efficient welding process and can be automated with robotics machinery easily. This welding
technique is mostly used in the automotive industry.
Main Parts
The main parts or equipment of laser beam welding are:
1. Laser Machine: It is a machine that is used to produce a laser for welding. The main components of
the laser machine are shown below.
2. Power Source: A high voltage power source is applied across the laser machine to produce a laser
beam.
3. CAM: It is a computer-aided manufacturing in which the laser machine is integrated with the
computers to perform the welding process. All the controlling action during the welding process by
laser is done by CAM. It speeds up the welding process to a greater extent.
4. CAD: It is called as Computer-aided Design. It is used to design the job for welding. Here computers
are used to design the workpiece and how the welding is performed on it.
5. Shielding Gas: A shielding gas may be used during the welding process in order to prevent the w/p
from oxidation.
4. The depth of penetration of the LBW depends upon the amount of power supply and location of the
focal point. It is proportional to the amount of power supply. When the focal point is kept slightly
below the surface of the workpiece, the depth of penetration is maximized.
5. Pulsed or continuous laser beams are used for welding. Thin materials are weld by using
millisecond-pulses and continuous laser beams are used for deep welds.
6. It is a versatile process because it is capable of welding carbon steels, stainless steel, HSLA steel,
aluminum, and titanium. Due to the high cooling rate, the problem of cracking is there when welding
high-carbon steels.
7. It produces high-quality weld.
8. This welding process is most popular in the automotive industry.
Working
First, the setup of welding machine at the desired location (in between the two metal pieces to be
joined) is done.
After setup, a high voltage power supply is applied to the laser machine. This starts the flash lamps
of the machine and it emits light photons. The energy of the light photon is absorbed by the atoms of
ruby crystal and electrons get excited to their higher energy level. When they return back to their
ground state (lower Energy state) they emit a photon of light. This light photon again stimulates the
excited electrons of the atom and produces two photons. This process keeps continue and we get a
concentrated laser beam.
This high concentrated laser beam is focused to the desired location for the welding of the multiple
pieces together. Lens is used to focus the laser to the area where welding is needed. CAM is used to
control the motion of the laser and workpiece table during the welding process.
As the laser beam strikes the cavity between the two metal pieces to be joined, it melts the base metal
from both the pieces and fuses them together. After solidification, we get a strong weld.
This is how a laser Beam Welding Works.
Advantages
Disadvantages
The initial cost is high. The equipment used in LBW has a high cost.
High maintenance cost.
Due to the rapid rate of cooling, cracks may be produced in some metals.
High-skilled labor is required to operate LBW.
The welding thickness is limited to 19 mm.
The energy conversion efficiency in LBW is very low. It is usually below 10 %.
Application
Laser beam welding is dominant in the automotive industry. It is used in the area where large volume
production is required.
Explosion Welding
Explosive Welding (EW) is a solid state welding process i.e. this process does not include molten state
during welding the different parts of metal which have to be welded. This method was developed in the
decades after the World War II. Dupont applied for the patent of this welding process in 1962 which was
granted on June 23, 1964.
It is the process in which two or more dissimilar metals are joined by accelerating one part at high speed by
the use of chemical explosions through controlled detonations or explosion. This welding is considered as a
cold welding process which allows metal to be joined without losing their pre-bonded properties. This
process does not require any filler material to weld metals. This process is too advantageous like it does not
affect the properties of the metal and does not melt etc.
Working Principle:
Explosive welding is basically based on metallurgical bonding that is the bonds between dissimilar metals.
In this process controlled explosions are done which generates a high quantity of pressure which results in
deformation of metal workpiece plastically, this deformation results in metallurgical bonding between the
metal parts. These detonations occur for a very short period of time due to which neither the metal gets
damaged nor the properties of the metal get altered. The metallurgical joints or bonds are stronger than the
original metal bonds.
1. Base plate (Backer): This plate remains stationary it provides support and it helps in reducing or
minimizing the damage at the time of detonation.
2. Flyer plate (Clad): This plate gets welded on the base plate. It is situated at the parallel of the base
plate or at the angle at which the base plate is inclined.
3. Standoff distance: It is a very important factor considered for EW. It is the distance between the
flyer plate and the base plate. Generally, standoff distance is taken as double thickness of it.
4. Buffer plate: This plate is used to reduce the effect of the explosion on the upper surface of the flyer
plate. This protects the flyer plate from any damage due to explosion.
5. Explosives: they are placed on the buffer plate or directly on the clad. It produces an explosion for
the welding.
Types
Basically it can be categorized in two categories on the basis of the apparatus set up for the process which is
as follows:-
1. Parallel EW:
In this method of welding, thick and large plates are used and joined. There is a standoff distance between
the plates.
2. Oblique EW:
In this process, the base plate is fixed and the flyer plate is inclined at an angle to the base plate. This setup
is used to join small and thin plates.
1. Firstly the metal parts or plates should be cleaned thoroughly; no rust should remain on them which
may lead to some problem in the welding process.
2. Now according to the type of explosive welding, setup should be kept like as follows:-
If it is parallel EW then the base plate and flyer plate will be parallel to each other as the name
suggests.
And if it is oblique EW then the base plate have to be fixed on anvil and flyer plate will make
angle according to the base plate.
3. The prepared explosives are placed in box of same size as of surface to be welded which is placed
over the buffer plate which protects the flyer plate below it.
4. Now the explosives are ignited.
5. On igniting the explosives, a high pressure is created which deforms the plates.
6. These plates get plasticized and form metallurgical bonds which are stronger than the original metal
bonds.
Advantages
It is able to weld many dissimilar metals, normally the metals which are not able to be welded by any
other method.
This process is very simple; no high skills are required to operate it.
Extremely large surfaces can be bonded or welded.
There is no effect on parent properties of the metal after welding, they are unchanged.
Very small quantity of explosives is used in explosive welding process.
No part of the workpiece gets heated like in other methods of welding.
In this process no molten state of metal is included; metal is only plasticized to join other part.
Disadvantages:
Applications:
Diffusion bonding is a solid-state joining process capable of joining a wide range of metal and ceramic
combinations to produce both small and large components. The process is dependent on a number of
parameters, in particular, time, applied pressure, bonding temperature and method of heat application. Other
examples of solid-state joining include cold pressure welding, friction welding, magnetically impelled arc
butt (MIAB) welding and explosive welding.
Diffusion bonding itself can be categorised into a number of variants, dependent on the form of
pressurisation, the use of interlayers and the formation of a transient liquid phase. Each finds specific
application for the range of materials and geometries that need to be joined.
Process mechanism
In its simplest form, diffusion bonding involves holding pre-machined components under load at an elevated
temperature usually in a protective atmosphere or vacuum. The loads used are usually below those which
would cause macrodeformation of the parent material(s) and temperatures of 0.5-0.8Tm (where Tm =
melting point in K) are employed. Times at temperature can range from 1 to 60+ minutes, but this depends
upon the materials being bonded, the joint properties required and the remaining bonding parameters.
Although the majority of bonding operations are performed in vacuum or an inert gas atmosphere, certain
bonds can be produced in air.
An examination of the sequence of bonding (Fig.1) emphasises the importance of the original surface finish.
To form a bond, it is necessary for two, clean and flat surfaces to come into atomic contact, with
microasperities and surface layer contaminants being removed from the bonding faces during bonding.
Various models have been developed to provide an understanding of the mechanisms involved in forming a
bond. First they consider that the applied load causes plastic deformation of surface asperities reducing
interfacial voids. Bond development then continues by diffusion controlled mechanisms including grain
boundary diffusion and power law creep.
. (d) (e)
Bonding in the solid phase is mainly carried out in vacuum or a protective atmosphere, with heat being
applied by radiant, induction, direct or indirect resistance heating. Pressure can be applied uniaxially or
isostatically. In the former case, a low pressure (3-10MPa) is used to prevent macro deformation of the parts
(i.e. no more than a few percent). This form of the process therefore requires a good surface finish on the
mating surfaces as the contribution to bonding provided by plastic yielding is restricted. Typically surface
finishes of better than 0.4µm RA are recommended and in addition the surfaces should be as clean as
practical to minimise surface contamination.
In hot isostatic pressing, much higher pressures are possible (100-200MPa) and therefore surface finishes
are not so critical, finishes of 0.8µm RA and greater can be used. A further advantage of this process is that
the use of uniform gas pressurisation allows complex geometries to be bonded, as against the generally
simple butt or lap joints possible with uniaxial pressurisation.
Where dissimilar materials need to be joined in the solid phase (and in particular metal to ceramic joints), it
is possible to introduce single or multiple interlayers of other materials to aid the bonding process and to
modify post-bond stress distribution.
This technique is applicable only to dissimilar material combinations or to 'like' materials where a dissimilar
metal insert is used. Solid state diffusional processes lead to a change of composition at the bond interface
and the bonding temperature is selected as the temperature at which this phase melts.
Alternatively, with the dissimilar metal insert, it melts at a lower temperature than the parent material. Thus
a thin layer of liquid spreads along the interface to form a joint at a lower temperature than the melting point
of either of the parent materials. A reduction in bonding temperature leads to solidification of the melt, and
this phase can subsequently be diffused away into the parent materials by holding at temperature, below Fig.
This technique has been developed specifically within the aerospace industry, and its industrial importance
is such that it should be considered separately here. The process is used commercially for titanium and its
alloys, this material being one that exhibits superplastic properties at elevated temperatures within defined
strain rate conditions. These conditions of temperature and pressure coincide with the conditions required
for bonding, and therefore the two processes have been combined into one manufacturing operation either in
sequence or together. The process (known as SPF/DB or more correctly DB/SPF) is used to produce stiff
sandwich structures for airframe parts, or the wide chord, hollow fan blades for aeroengines. Both these
involve skins with internally bonded structures as reinforcing elements.
The diffusion bonding method can be used wildly, joining either similar or dissimilar materials and
also important in processing composite materials.
The process is not extremely hard to approach and the cost to perform the diffusion bonding is not
high.
The diffusion bonding process is able to produce high quality joints in which no discontinuity and
porosity exist in the interface.
It is used in joining of high-strength and refractory metals based on titanium in aerospace and nuclear
industries.
Diffusion welding is most commonly used to join sheet metal structures in nuclear and electronics
industries.
Ultrasonic Welding (USW) is a welding technique that uses ultrasonic vibration of high frequency to weld
the two pieces together. It is most commonly used to weld thermoplastic materials and dissimilar materials.
Metal with a thin section can also be welded with USW.
Working Principle
A high frequency (20 kHz to 40 kHz) ultrasonic vibration is used to join two plastic pieces together. The
high-frequency vibration generates heat energy at the interface of the two pieces and melts the material. The
melted material fused with each other to form a strong weld on cooling and solidification.
Main components
1. A Press: It is used to apply pressure on the two plastic pieces to be joined. It may be of pneumatic or
electric driven type.
2. Nest or anvil or fixture: It is a clamping device that is used to hold and clamp the two plastic pieces
together. It allows the high-frequency vibration directed to the interface of the two pieces.
3. An Ultrasonic Stack: It consists of the three components, a converter or piezoelectric transducer, a
booster and a horn or sonotrode. These three elements are tuned to work on resonate frequency of 15
kHz, 20 kHz, 30 kHz, 35 kHz or 40 kHz.
Converter: It converts the electrical signals into high-frequency mechanical vibration. And it
does so through the piezoelectric effect.
Booster: It modifies the amplitude of vibration mechanically. In some standard systems, it is
used to clamp the stack in the press.
Horn or Sonotrode: It vibrates at high frequency and transmits the mechanical vibration to
the two pieces to be welded. It also modifies the amplitude mechanically. It takes the shape of
the part. The horn is made of titanium or aluminum.
4. An Ultrasonic Generator: It generates and delivers high-frequency electrical signals matching the
resonance frequency of the stack.
5. Controller: It is used to control the movement of the press and delivery of the ultrasonic energy.
Application
It is mostly used in computer and electrical, aerospace and automotive, medical, and packaging industries.
1. Computer and Electrical Industries: Here it is used to join wired connections and to create
connections in small delicate circuits.
2. Aerospace and Automotive Industry
In automotive industries, it is used to assemble large plastic and electrical components such
as door panels, instrument panels, air ducts, lamps, steering wheels, and upholstery and
engine components.
In aerospace, it is used to join thin sheet gauges and lightweight materials like aluminum.
3. Medical Industry
It does not introduce any contaminants or degradation into the weld. That’s why it is used in
medical industries.
Items such as anesthesia filters, arterial filters, blood filters, dialysis tubes, pipettes, blood/gas
filters, cardiometry reservoirs, etc. can be made using ultrasonic welding method.
4. Packaging Industry
It is used to package different materials in food industries.
It is used for packaging dangerous materials like explosives, fireworks, and chemicals.
Advantages
Disadvantages
It cannot be used to produce large joints (greater than 250 x 300 mm).
It requires specially designed joints, so it can make tip contact during the welding process.
High tooling cost for the fixtures.
The ultrasonic welding process is restricted to the lap joints.
Friction welding
Friction welding is a solid state welding process. Solid state welding are those welding process in which no
external heat is applied or no molten or plastic state involves. In this type of welding, welding occurs due to
external pressure applied into the solid state. In friction welding process, both the plates or work piece to be
joint are in either rotating or moving relative to one another. This relative movement produces friction which
displaces material plastically on contact surface. A high pressure forced applied till completed the weld.
This welding is used to joint steel bars, tubes up to 100 mm diameter.
Principle:
Friction welding works on basic principle of friction. In this welding process, the friction is used to generate
heat at the interference surface. This heat is further used to join two work pieces by applying external
pressure at the surface of work piece. In this welding process, the friction is applied until the plastic forming
temperature is achieved. It is normally 900-1300 degree centigrade for steel. After this heating phase, a
uniformly increasing pressure force applied until the both metal work pieces makes a permanent joint. This
joint is created due to thermo mechanical treatment at the contact surface.
Working:
There are many types of friction welding processes which works differently. But all different these processes
involves common a working principle which can be summarize as follow.
First both the work pieces are prepared for smooth square surface. One of them is mounted on a rotor
driven chuck and other one remains stationary.
The rotor allows rotating at high speed thus it makes rotate mounted work piece. A little pressure
force is applied on the stationary work piece which permits cleaning the surface by burnishing
action.
Now a high pressure force applied to the stationary work piece which forces it toward rotating work
piece and generates a high friction force. This friction generates heat at the contact surface. It is
applied until the plastic forming temperature is achieved.
When the temperature is reached the desire limit, the rotor is stopped and the pressure force is
applied increasingly until the whole weld is formed.
This welding is used to weld those metals and alloys which cannot be welded by other method.
Types:
This welding is same as we discussed above. In this welding process, the rotor is connected with a band
brake. When the friction crosses the limit of plastic temperature, the band brake comes into action which
stops the rotor but the pressure applied on the work piece increasingly until the weld is formed.
In this type of friction welding the band brake is replaced by the engine flywheel and shaft flywheel. These
flywheels connect chuck to the motor. In the starting of the welding, both flywheels are connected with one
another. When the speed or friction reaches its limit, the engine flywheel separated from the shaft flywheel.
Shaft flywheel has low moment of inertia which stops without brake. The pressure force is continuously
applied to the work piece until the weld is formed.
Application:
Gear levers, drill bits, connecting rod etc. are welded by friction welding.
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
This is mostly used only for round bars of same cross section.
Non-forgeable material cannot be weld.
Preparation of work piece is more critical
High setup cost.
Joint design is limited.
Weld Overlay (WOL), also known as cladding, hard facing, weld cladding, or weld overlay cladding, is a
process where one or more metals are joined together via welding to the surface of a base metal as a layer.
This is normally done to improve the material by adding either a corrosion-resistant or hard facing layer to
it. Surfaces prepared in this way can even be highly customized by layering and alloying multiple different
materials together. Cladding is the bonding together of dissimilar metals. It is different from fusion welding
or gluing as a method to fasten the metals together. Cladding is often achieved by extruding two metals
through a die as well as pressing or rolling sheets together under high pressure.
Working Principle:
A metal coating bonded onto another metal under high pressure and temperature. The process of forming
such a coating. A protective or insulating layer fixed to the outside of a building or another structure.
The most common of these is shielded metal arc welding, which is most commonly used with ferrous
materials and employs rods as weld material. For this method the core wire is covered with a coating that
adds special elements to weld metal and the weld metal is protected by slag created during welding.
CO2 Welding:
With CO2 welding, which is sometimes known as Metal Active Gas (MAG) or semi-automatic welding, the
CO2 shield gas atmosphere protects the material from oxidation. For this process weld materials can consist
of solid wire, metal-cored wire, and flux-cored wire. Because welding wire is used for the weld material,
continuous welding is possible.
Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding, which is sometimes known as Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) or simply insert
gas welding, is largely the same as semi-automatic welding except that during this process the area to be
welded is shielded by an inert gas. It is primarily used with non-ferrous materials.
Plasma Transferred Arc (PTA) welding. Like TIG welding, an arc is generated from a non-consumable
tungsten electrode and welding is performed with flux supplied externally into the arc. This method is
possibly the most complex but it is capable of overlaying of hard complex carbide alloys, something that is
difficult to do with most of the other methods. Since with PTA welding the weld material is a powder, these
material powders can be blended to create original flux for easy overlay welding as well.
Weld overlay is commonly used within the gas industry and can be used on components as diverse as pipes,
fittings, valves, and vessels.
Advantages:
Best technique for coating any shape which increase life-time of wearing parts.
Surface protection while still allowing the internal component enough strength to meet appropriate
codes and standards.
Providing a long-life and high-reliability corrosion resistance to harsh environment applications.
Very economical way to provide excellent corrosion resistance for steel structures without
jeopardizing design thickness.
Built part is free of crack and porosity.
Thermal spray coating is a process that sprays coating materials using the pressure of a high-heat gas. The
material then bonds to the surface, forming a coating that grants properties such as corrosion protection,
thermal resistance, environmental protection, lubricity, wear resistance, and electrical/thermal conductivity.
Coating materials usually come in powder or wire form through a feeder and may include metals, alloys,
ceramics, cermets, carbides, plastics, or composites. The spray gun, also known as spray torch, is the main
tool used to perform the operation. It can be operated manually or by robot arm.
Thermal spray systems are widely used in engineering for aerospace, mechanical, marine, and automotive
applications. They are also used for electronics, biomedical as well as several other applications.
Several criteria are used to evaluate the quality of the coating, such as bond strength, porosity, oxidation,
hardness, and roughness. The coating’s thickness can be as small as 20 microns, or it can be several
millimeters thick.
There are various thermal spray processes. While they may look similar, they differ on several points, such
as
Let’s look at the different types of spraying processes to understand the difference.
Plasma Spraying
Plasma spraying makes use of a plasma gun to spray the coating material onto the substrate. A powder
feedstock is introduced into a plasma jet, where it is subjected to the high temperature of the flame (typically
between 10,000–15,000°C). The heat turns the powder into high-velocity droplets traveling at up to 800 m/s
that adhere to the substrate, where they cool off and solidify to form a protective coating.
Detonation Spraying
Detonation spraying is a process that creates explosions several times a second to heat up and send the
powder feedstock through a detonation barrel at supersonic speed (≈3,500 m/s). A spark is used to detonate
a mixture of oxygen and fuel (typically acetylene), causing the temperature inside the barrel to reach
≈4,000°C. The substrate is deformed on impact, causing it to wrap around the sprayed particles and form a
strong mechanical bond.
Wire arc spraying, also known as twin wire arc spraying, creates an electrical discharge that arcs between
two wires, one positive charged and the other negatively charged. The electric arc can reach 5000°C and is
formed as the two wires meet in the spray gun. As the high heat melts the wires, a gas stream is used to
spray the molten metal, creating droplets that interlock one on top of another on the substrate. Sprayed
particles reach low speeds (between 60–300 m/s) compared to other methods.
Flame Spraying
Flame spraying ignites a combination of oxygen and fuel (typically propane or acetylene) to produce a flame
that heats and melts the feedstock (coating material). The feedstock is either a metal wire, or a ceramic or
metal powder. The flame’s temperature is around 3000°C, which melts the material and converts it into fine
droplets that build up on the substrate to form a coating layer.
High velocity oxy-fuel spraying ignites a mixture of oxygen and fuel (typically kerosene or hydrogen) in a
combustion chamber. The gas mixture reaches around 3000°C, and high pressure ejects it through a nozzle
at about 1,000 m/s. The feedstock is injected into the high velocity gas stream. Typical powder feedstocks
include tungsten carbide, which can be mixed with other powdered materials such as cobalt-chrome, nickel,
or chromium. Other powder feedstocks include chromium carbide and stainless steel.