Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is an arc welding process that uses a non-consumable electrode. The weld area and electrode are protected from oxidation or other atmospheric contamination by an inert shielding gas. GTAW is most commonly used to weld thin sections of stainless steel and non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, magnesium, and copper alloys. It is comparatively more complex and difficult to master, and is significantly slower than most other welding techniques.
About Gas tungsten arc welding in brief
Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is an arc welding process that uses a non-consumable electrode. The weld area and electrode are protected from oxidation or other atmospheric contamination by an inert shielding gas. GTAW is most commonly used to weld thin sections of stainless steel and non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, magnesium, and copper alloys. The process grants the operator greater control over the weld than competing processes such as shielded metal arc welding and gas metal arc welds. However, it is comparatively more complex and difficult to master, and is significantly slower than most other welding techniques. A related process, plasma arc welding, uses a slightly different welding torch to create a more focused welding arc and as a result is often automated. The American Welding Society’s official term is gas tungsten arc welding. It is a relatively difficult welding method due to the coordination required by the welder. Similar to torch welding, GTAW normally requires two hands to feed a filler metal into the weld area with the one hand while manipulating the torch in the other. Maintaining a short arc length, while preventing contact between the electrode and workpiece, is also important. This is a high frequency generator provides an electric spark that provides an high frequency arc, a high-speed spark, and a sparkive path for the arc to conduct through the welding through the shielding and into the workpiece. Once the arc is struck, the torch is typically 1–3mm apart, typically about 5–6mm in length, and the weld is typically struck about 1–2mm apart.
The welding process is typically used for 1–5mm length, typically 5–3 mm in length. In the U.S., GTAW can be used for up to 5–10mm length. It can also be used to create welds of up to 10mm in diameter. It has been used in the aerospace industry since the 1950s for welding aluminum and magnesium alloys, but is rarely used with these materials today. It’s also used for welding other metals, such as copper and nickel, as well as for other applications such as sheet metal. It was developed by C. L. Coffin in 1890, but even in the early 20th century it remained difficult because these metals react rapidly with the air. In 1953, a new process based on GTAW was developed, called plasma arc Welding. It affords greater control and improves weld quality by using a nozzle to focus the electric arc, but it is largely limited to automated systems, whereas GTAW remains primarily a manual, hand-held method. A number of variations exist. Among the most popular are the pulsed-current, manual programmed, hot-wire, dabber programmed, and increased penetration methods. It also uses helium as a shielding gas and is known as heliarc welding. A constant-current welding power supply produces electrical energy, which is conducted across the arc through a column of highly ionized gas and metal vapors known as a plasma.
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This page is based on the article Gas tungsten arc welding published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 20, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
