Overview of Various Processes That Are Used in Processing Heads
In general, there are three different types of Processing Heads for Welding, each with its own specific application. These heads include Flux cored arc, gas tungsten arc and shielded metal arc. The first two types of head are used in the gas tungsten arc and flux cored arc welding respectively. The last is the shielded metal arc welding, which is widely used in aluminum and stainless steel fabrication industry as well as in the dental and medical field. But before welding comes to your attention, it would be helpful to understand what the different types of welding process head are used for.
Flux cored - This head is similar to a typical pencil head, albeit that it is made up of a layer of flux instead of lead. This type of head allows the welder to control the heat of the weld because they have greater control over the distribution of the heat. In addition, this head can be used in a continuous loop which significantly minimizes the consumables produced during the welding process. Flux cored arc is primarily used in gas tungsten arc welding and gas metal arc welding.
Gas tungsten - This type of head is mainly used in gas metal arc welding or GMAW. They can also work in the same manner as flues, as they do in pencil welding. However, they tend to produce a brighter weld than flues and can be used without the need for flux. This is because they use the same gases that the welder uses to create the weld.
Shielded gas - This is another type of welding process head and the only one that use shielding gas in the welding process. In order to achieve this, it has a T-shaped section where shielding gas is continuously fed through. The welding filler wire used is placed in between the two sections and when the welder applies pressure on the head to close the gap, the wire is forced through the T-shaped section and into the weld puddle. Once the filler wire is in the weld puddle, the welder closes the T-shaped section. This type of welding head has the ability to produce very strong welds which can be capable of welding thicker and stronger metals.
Specific metal - These welding heads are specifically designed for a specific metal alloys and they do not require feeding filler wire through them. Instead, the wire is fed into a blank made from the selected metal and once it is heated, the blank and the wire mesh are pressed together. This allows the welder to attach the weld to the metal piece. The welding process is known to produce a more powerful weld than the other types of processing and they are commonly used in low volume industrial welding operations.
Different metals have different melting points and alloys have different resistance to heat. Therefore, the temperature at which the welding heads are processed may vary depending on the metal being used and the type of welding that need to be done. A high efficiency production can be achieved if the welder is able to control the temperatures at which the filler metal and the welding material are being fed. However, the cost of these types of welding heads is slightly higher than the previous ones.
Stick welding is another form of filler metal processing and it is also referred to as tig and stick welding. In this method, a thin iron rod or steel rod is fed through a weld gun or T-die and the weld is applied directly to the part being repaired or welded. In addition to the stick welding heads, there are also other types of hot metal fusion used in the manufacturing industry such as the plasma arc welding (PAW) and the iron vapor deposition (IAD). IAD uses concentrated ionized aluminum (IIA) in its fusion process whereas plasma arc welding (PAW) uses an electric arc between an electrode and the welded work piece. All of these methods have their own advantages and disadvantages.
There are other types of welding that can be used in the industrial welding process such as in welding, arc welding (AW) and flux cored gas welding. The filler metals that can be welded using these methods include steel, aluminum, copper, brass and nickel alloys, tin alloys, iron, tungsten, and zinc. Today, these processing stages are being used to weld aluminum, stainless steel, copper, zinc and melamine.
