Welding is one of the
crucial steps in building our lives easier, several modern welding techniques
are available these days which are reliable and trust worthy. Back in the
ancient times when the early human civilization used to practice welding just
by fusing metals with small boxes of gold and was helpful to join metals with
pressure. It is not just centuries old, it even dates back to the Bronze and
Iron ages. The ancient Egyptians welded together small gold boxes with joints, and
this was considered welding. Welding is the process of joining metal parts
together to create an object.
The researchers further
developed new welding methods and gained a better understanding of welding
quality and welding properties. Robot welding became more common in industrial
environments, and development continued with the introduction of electron beam
welding in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Although these early forms
of welding were certainly not operated with the equipment used today, it is
likely that the original welders had to work at extremely high temperatures to
join metals, which may have led to some of the earliest examples of metal
fusion in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The technology developed further when
shielding gases were introduced into the industry to prevent oxygen-related
damage.
In the 1930s, further
modernisation enabled the welding of metals such as magnesium and aluminium.
Arc welding and automatic welding became known in the late 20th and early 21st
centuries with the invention of the first electric welding machines. The metal
melted at the electrode carries an additive metal that deposits the fillers in
the joint to produce the weld.
By the end of the 19th
century, the only welding method was forging, which used for centuries to
combine metals by heating & pounding, but there were rudimentary forms of
welding. Soon resistance welding followed, arc welding and oxyfuel welding were
the first processes to develop at the end of the century.
According to the National
Institute for Standards and Technology welding technology developed rapidly in
the 20th century, driven by the demand for reliable and cost-effective joining
methods.
However, tungsten arcwelding required an expensive shielding gas, which was only perfected in the
late 1950s and enabled the use of high-pressure, low-temperature, gas and metal
welding. Until 1957, there were three different types of flux arc welding, but
the most popular was established as a self-shielding wire electrode that could
be used at high temperatures, leading to greatly increased welding speeds.
Shielded metal arc welding was developed in the early 1960s using flux-coated
consumables. It quickly developed into one of the fastest and most
cost-effective welding method tries such as the automotive, aerospace and
aviation industries.
In the year 1890,
underwater welding was invented, which is still popular today, as well as the
use of electrode in many other applications.
After decades of
development, gas tungsten arc welding was finally perfected in 1941, and gas
metal arc welders followed suit, enabling the use of metal arcs for welding
without a welding rod, but requiring an expensive shielding gas.
After a decade of research
and development in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the gas-to-metal arc welding
system (also known as shielded metal welding or SMAW) was developed, using
consumer electrodes and atmospheric carbon dioxide as shielding gases. It
quickly developed into one of the most popular welding methods in manual
welding and formed the basis for many of today's high-tech welding
techniques.
Electrical current is used
to hit the base material of the consumable electrode rod, which is made of
steel and coated with a protective layer to protect the welding area from
oxidation and contamination by the CO 2 gas produced during the welding
process. However, welding times are quite slow, as consumables and electrodes
often have to be replaced and slag residues and flux have to chip off during
welding.
Thermite welding was
invented in 1893, and by that time the process of oxyfuel welding had become
established. Until the production of special electrodes, this process was
limited to welding iron materials.
Welding process came
across a long way and still a long way to go we have energy requirements for
welding which will reduce significantly with the development of smart material
and will help to lower the cost of welding.