Welding and cutting of materials

Welding and cutting of materials

Processes based on heat to join and sever metals. Welding and cutting are grouped together because, in many manufacturing operations, severing precedes welding and involves the same production personnel. Welding is one of the joining processes, others being riveting, bolting, gluing, and adhesive bonding. See Welded joint

The American Welding Society's definition of welding is “a metal-joining process wherein coalescence is produced by heating to suitable temperatures with or without the application of pressure, and with or without the use of filler metal.” Brazing is defined as “a group of welding processes wherein coalescence is produced by heating to suitable temperature and by using a filler metal, having a liquidus above 800°F (427°C) and below the solidus of the base metals. The filler metal is distributed between the closely fitted surfaces of the joint by capillary attraction.” Soldering is similar in principle, except that the melting point of solder is below 800°F (427°C). The adhesion of solder depends not so much on alloying as on its keying into small irregularities in the surfaces to be joined. See Joint (structures), Brazing, Soldering

Cutting is one of the severing and material-shaping processes, some others being sawing, drilling, and planning. Thermal cutting is defined as a group of cutting processes wherein the severing or removing of metals is effected by melting or by the chemical reaction of oxygen with the metal at elevated temperatures. Welding and cutting are widely used in building ships, machinery, boilers, spacevehicles, structures, atomic reactors, aircraft, railroad cars, missiles, automobiles, buses and trailers, and pressure vessels, as well as in constructing piping and storage tanks of steel, stainless steel, aluminum, nickel, copper, lead, titanium, tantalum, and their alloys. For many products, welding is the only joining process that achieves the desired economy and properties, particularly leak-tightness. See Torch

Nearly all industrial welding involves fusion. The edges or surfaces to be welded are brought to the molten state. The liquid metal bridges the gap between the parts. After the source of welding heat has been removed, the liquid solidifies, thus joining or welding the parts together. The principal sources of heat for fusion welding are electric arc, electric resistance, flame, laser, and electron-beam. See Arc welding, Laser welding, Resistance welding