METAL JOINING PROCESSES
•Joining includes welding, brazing, soldering, adhesive bonding of
materials.
•They produce permanent joint between the parts to be assembled.
•They cannot be separated easily by application of forces.
•They are mainly used to assemble many parts to make a system.
•Welding is a metal joining process in which two or more parts are joined
or coalesced at their contacting surfaces by suitable application of heat
or/and pressure.
•Some times, welding is done just by applying heat alone, with no pressure
applied
•In some cases, both heat and pressure are applied; and in other cases only
pressure is applied, without any external heat.
•In some welding processes a filler material is added to facilitate
coa06l/e09s/c20e1n6 ce(Joining)
Joining Processes: Welding,
Brazing, Soldering
1. Brazing and Soldering: Melting of filler rod only
• Brazing: higher temperature, ~brass filler, strong
• Soldering: lower temp, ~tin-lead filler, weak
2. Welding: Melting of filler rod and base metals
Advantages of welding:
•Welding provides a permanent joint.
•Welded joint can be stronger than the parent materials if a proper filler metal is
used that has strength properties better than that of parent base material and if
defect less welding is done.
•It is the economical way to join components in terms of material
usage and fabrication costs. Other methods of assembly require, for example,
drilling of holes and usage of rivets or bolts which will produce a heavier
structure.
Disadvantages of welding:
•Labour costs are more since manual welding is done mostly.
•Dangerous to use because of presence of high heat and pressure.
•Disassembly is not possible as welding produces strong joints.
•Some of the welding defects cannot be identified which will reduce the
strength.
Classification of Welding processes
• Arc Welding
1)Gas tungsten arc welding(TIG) or (GTAW)
2)Gas metal arc welding(MIG) or (GMAW)
3)Shielded metal arc welding(SMAW)
4)Submerged arc welding
5)Plasma arc welding
6)Flux cored arc welding(FCAW)
•Resistance welding 1)Spot welding 2)seam
welding 3)Projection welding
4)Resistance butt welding
• Gas welding
1)Oxy-acetylene welding
2)Oxy-hydrogen welding 3)Air -
acetylene welding 4)Pressure Gas
welding
•Thermo chemical welding
Process
1)Thermit welding
2)Atomic hydrogen welding
•Radient energy welding Process
1)Electron beam welding
2)Laser beam welding.
Types of welding:
Welding processes can be broadly classified into
(i) fusion(non-pressure) welding, and (ii) solid state
welding(pressure welding)
Fusion welding:
In fusion-welding processes, heat is applied to melt the base metals.
In many fusion welding processes, a filler metal is added to the
molten pool during welding to facilitate the process and provide
strength to the welded joint.
When no filler metal is used, that fusion welding operation is referred
to as Autogenous weld.
Types: Arc welding, Resistance welding, Gas welding, electron
beam welding, laser welding
Solid State Welding:
•In this method, joining is done by application of pressure only or a
combination of heat and pressure.
•Even if heat is used, the temperature in the process is less than the melting
point of the metals being welded (unlike in fusion welding).
•No filler metal is utilized.
Diffusion welding: Two part surfaces are held together under pressure at
elevated temperature and the parts join by solid state diffusion.
Friction welding/Stir welding: Joining occurs by the heat of friction and
plastic deformation between two surfaces.
Ultrasonic welding: Moderate pressure is applied between the two parts and
an oscillating motion at ultrasonic frequencies is used in a direction parallel
to the contacting surfaces
Arc welding processes with consumable electrodes
• Shielded metal arc welding (SMAW):
- In this process, a consumable electrode consisting of a filler metal rod which
is coated with chemicals that provide flux and shielding, is used.
- Generally the filler metal has chemical composition very close to base metal.
- Filler rod coating: Coating consists of powdered cellulose (cotton and wood
powders) mixed with oxides, carbonates, combined using a silicate binder.
- This coating provides protective layer to the weld pool and stabilizes the arc.
- current: < 300 A; Voltage: 15 – 45 V.
- Applications: ship building, construction, machine structures etc.
- Materials: grades of steel, stainless steel etc. are welded. Al, Cu, Ti alloys are
not welding using SMAW.
- Disadvantages: repeated change of electrodes, current maintained in typical
range
Types of Weld joint
Butt joint Corner joint Lap joint Tee joint Edge joint
Types of Welds
• The type of weld depends on the joint.
• As shown in fig. weld may be a bead weld, fillet weld, plug
weld, groove weld, spot weld or seam weld
square groove weld one side single bevel groove weld single V-groove weld
Plug weld Slot weld
Spot weld
Seam weld
Improper weld profile:
Weld cracks:
Brazing
• It is a joining process in which a filler metal is melted and distributed by capillary
action between the faying (contact) surfaces of the metal parts being joined.
• In brazing, the filler metal has a melting temperature above 450°C, but below the
melting point of base metals to be joined.
• Join produced by this welding is stronger than soldering.
• This process offers better corrosion resistance.
• Filler used in brazing include Cu and Cu alloys, silver alloys and Al alloys.
• In this process heating is done by torch, furnace, induction, resistance, bath
dipping infrared techniques.
Advantages of brazing
• Brazing can be used to join a large variety of dissimilar metals.
• Pieces of different thickness can be easily joined by brazing
• Thin-walled tubes & light gauge sheet metal assemblies not joinable
by welding can be joined by brazing.
• Complex & multi-component assemblies can be economically
fabricated with the help of brazing.
• Inaccessible joint areas which could not be welded by gas metal or gas
tungsten arc spot or seam welding can be formed by brazing.
• Applications:
1) Automobile – Joining Tubes
2) Pipe/Tubing joining (HVAC)
3) Electrical equipment - joining wires
4) Jewelry Making
SOLDERING
• Soldering is similar to brazing and can be defined as a joining process in which
a filler metal with melting point not exceeding 450°C is melted and distributed
by capillary action between the faying surfaces of the metal parts being joined.
• As in brazing, no melting of the base metals occurs, but the filler metal wets and
combines with the base metal to form a metallurgical bond.
• Filler metal, called Solder, is added to the joint, which distributes itself between
the closely fitting parts.
• Strength of the joint is weak
• Corrosion resistance is less
SOLDER: Alloys of Tin and Lead. Tin is chemically active at soldering
temperatures and promotes the wetting action required for successful joining.
Applications:
1) Printed Circuit Board (PCB) manufacture
2) Pipe joining (copper pipe)
Easy to solder: copper, silver, gold
Difficult to solder: aluminum, stainless steels
Comparison between Welding,soldering and brazing
