A Practical Guide to TIG (GTA) Welding
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A Practical Guide to TIG (GTA) Welding - P W Muncaster
Suffolk.
Preface
Of all the welding processes tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is one of the most versatile. Since its inception it has been improved and refined in terms of equipment, consumables and application and is capable of still further improvements.
The author intends this to be a practical book on TIG containing advice on such items as power sources, ancillary components, torches, gases, electrodes, jigs, fixtures and heat sinks, etc. In short, an extensive guide to its use. The book sets out to explain in clear language the various processes, equipment and associated terminology without reaching into the worlds of advanced electronics or metallurgy.
The author has been for many years at the sharp end of TIG application in industry and has endeavoured in the pages that follow to pass on as much as possible of the knowledge accumulated during that time.
Some of the information provided may be obvious to experienced welders. However it is hoped that even for experts some useful extra knowledge will be gained from reading the book which in most cases gives the author’s considered opinions on the subject; not necessarily in agreement with other peoples’ views.
Certain passages in this book have been quoted almost verbatim from literature supplied by some of the companies listed. This is not for any reason other than that the passages quoted are definitive and could not significantly be improved to any great extent, as the basic TIG welding principles still apply. Also some extra tabulated information has been included, as such data can often be difficult to find for someone not totally involved in a particular industry, e.g. pipeline welding and pipe sizes.
Technical data for this book have been supplied by
If any contributors have not been acknowledged the author offers his most sincere apologies.
An enormous vote of thanks must be given to Mrs Hazel Muncaster who spent many unpaid hours deciphering the author’s handwritten sheets of text and converting them to typed sense and order on an old, portable typewriter.
Introduction
Publisher Summary
This chapter presents a brief history of the Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding process. TIG welding originated in the United States, probably before 1939 where it was used mainly to facilitate the then rather difficult process of welding aluminum. As the less-dense-than-air inert gas, helium occurred naturally in the United States and was readily and cheaply available, and it was used as an inert shield to prevent undue oxidation of the aluminum during melt down. It was known as the Heliarc process. TIG welding had become commercially available in the UK and Europe after development by BOC around 1948. However, helium was and still is very expensive in Europe; therefore, BOC turned to argon, which is an inert gas denser than air and which was produced by BOC as a by-product of air liquefaction for oxygen production. BOC continued to develop both gas and equipment and put on the market a commercial TIG welding process known as Argonarc.
A brief history of the TIG welding process
It is very difficult to establish a date at which anything in engineering can be said to be truly invented. All electric fusion welding can be classified as arc welding but, as near as can be established, TIG welding originated in the USA, probably before 1939 where it was used mainly to facilitate the then rather difficult process of welding aluminium. As the less dense than air inert gas helium occurred naturally in the USA and was readily and cheaply available, it was used as an inert shield to prevent undue oxidation of the aluminium during melt down. It was known as the Heliarc process.
TIG welding appears to have become commercially available in the UK and Europe after development by BOC around 1948. However, helium was (and still is) very expensive in Europe so BOC turned to argon (an inert gas denser than air) which was produced by BOC as a by-product of air liquefaction for oxygen production. BOC continued to develop both gas and equipment and put on the market a commercial TIG welding process known as Argonarc; argon having certain advantages over helium, other than cost. In passing, it should be mentioned that both the Heliarc and Argonarc methods operated on AC at that time because the arc acted as an electrical rectifier. However, the DC component of the welding current caused dirty welds with oxides entrapped in the weld bead. To counteract this so called rectifier, manufacturers in the USA used an extremely high voltage with a high frequency (HF) spark injector. This system was only partially effective in cleaning the weld and caused considerable radio frequency interference (RFI).
BOC’s method eliminated the DC component by using a suppressor, a large capacitor connected in series with the arc, which gave excellent results for DC welding of aluminium but still gave some RFI. Use of argon as a shielding gas gave many advantages over helium, not least of which was a reduction in arc voltage to below 20 V. Argon also gave a smoother and much less fierce arc and cost was about 30% the cost of helium.
BOC also developed a surge injection system for arc starting and maintenance in which the original spark injection was used in short bursts for starting only and, because of this, HF and RFI were considerably reduced but not eliminated. Later developments in arc starting will be discussed in a following chapter.
A useful application of the Argonarc process at that time was for arc spot welding of thin sheet metals. It soon became obvious that DC TIG welding was highly suitable for joining most bright rolled steels, and particularly for many grades of stainless steel up to about 1.6 mm (1/16 in) thickness. A special spot welding gun was designed and introduced giving the facility to apply pressure and make welds from one side only where access was restricted.
Development of high efficiency resistance spot welding systems seems now largely to have phased out the TIG spot welding process although it is still to be found, often using the same hard-wearing original equipment which was being sold up to the