MIG welding

M etal inert gas (M IG) welding was firs t patented in the U SA in 1 9 49 for welding aluminium. T he arc and weld pool formed us ing a
bare wire elec trode was protected by helium gas , readily available at that time. From about 1 9 5 2 the proc ess bec ame popular in
the U K for welding aluminium us ing argon as the s hielding gas , and for c arbon s teels us ing CO 2 . C O 2 and argon- CO 2 mixtures are
known as metal ac tive gas (M AG) proc esses. M I G is an attractive alternative to M MA, offering high depos ition rates and high
produc tivity.

Process characteristics

M I G is s imilar to M MA in that heat for welding is produc ed by forming an arc between a metal elec trode and the workpiec e; the
elec trode melts to form the weld bead. T he main differenc es are that the metal electrode is a s mall diameter wire fed from a s pool
and an externally s upplied s hielding gas is necessary. A s the wire is c ontinuously fed, the proc ess is often referred to as s emi-
automatic welding.

Metal transfer mode

T he manner, or mode, in whic h the metal trans fers from the elec trode to the weld pool largely determines the operating features of
the proc es s. T here are three principal metal transfer modes:

• Short c irc uiting

• D roplet / s pray
• P uls ed

Short- c ircuiting and puls ed metal transfer are us ed for low c urrent operation while s pray metal transfer is only used with high
welding c urrents . I n s hort-circuiting or'dip' transfer, the molten metal forming on the tip of the wire is trans ferred by the wire
dipping into the weld pool. T his is ac hieved by s etting a low voltage; for a 1 .2 mm diameter wire, arc voltage varies from about 1 7 V
(1 0 0A) to 2 2 V (2 00A). C are in s etting the voltage and the induc tance in relation to the wire feed s peed is es sential to minimise
s patter. I nductance is us ed to c ontrol the s urge in c urrent whic h oc curs when the wire dips into the weld pool.
 For droplet or s pray trans fer, a muc h higher voltage is necessary to ens ure that the wire does not make c ontact i.e.s hort-circuit,
with the weld pool; for a 1 .2 mm diameter wire, the arc voltage varies from approximately 2 7V (2 50A) to 3 5V (4 00A). T he molten
metal at the tip of the wire trans fers to the weld pool in the form of a s pray of s mall droplets (about the diameter of the wire and
s maller). H owever, there is a minimum c urrent level, threshold, below whic h droplets are not forc ibly projected ac ross the arc . I f an
open arc tec hnique is attempted muc h below the thres hold c urrent level, the low arc forc es would be ins uffic ient to prevent large
droplets forming at the tip of the wire. T hes e droplets would trans fer erratically ac ross the arc under normal gravitational forc es.
T he puls ed mode was developed as a means of s tabilising the open arc at low c urrent levels i.e. below the thres hold level, to avoid
s hort- circuiting and s patter. M etal transfer is ac hieved by applying puls es of c urrent, eac h puls e having s ufficient forc e to detac h a
droplet. Synergic pulsed M IG refers to a s pec ial type of c ontroller whic h enables the power s ourc e to be tuned (puls e parameters)
for the wire c ompos ition and diameter, and the puls e frequency to be s et ac cording to the wire feed s peed.

Shielding gas

I n addition to general s hielding of the arc and the weld pool, the s hielding gas performs a number of important func tions:

• forms the arc plas ma

• s tabilises the arc roots on the material s urface
• ens ures s mooth transfer of molten droplets from the wire to the weld pool

T hus , the s hielding gas will have a s ubs tantial effect on the s tability of the arc and metal trans fer and the behaviour of the weld
pool, in partic ular, its penetration. G eneral purpose s hielding gases for M I G welding are mixtures of argon, oxygen and C O 2, and
s pec ial gas mixtures may c ontain helium. T he gases whic h are normally used for the various materials are:

• s teels
o CO 2
o argon +2 to 5 % oxygen
o argon +5 to 2 5 % CO 2
• non- ferrous
o argon
o argon / helium

A rgon bas ed gases, c ompared with C O 2 , are generally more tolerant to parameter s ettings and generate lower s patter levels with
the dip trans fer mode. H owever, there is a greater ris k of lac k of fus ion defec ts because these gases are c older. A s CO 2 c annot be
us ed in the open arc (puls ed or s pray trans fer) modes due to high bac k- plasma forc es, argon bas ed gases c ontaining oxygen or C O
2 are normally employed.

Applications

M I G is widely us ed in mos t indus try s ectors and ac counts for more than 5 0 % of all weld metal depos ited. C ompared to M MA, M IG
has the advantage in terms of flexibility, depos ition rates and s uitability for mec hanisation. H owever, it s hould be noted that while
M I G is ideal for 's quirting' metal, a high degree of manipulative s kill is demanded of the welder.
TIG Welding

T ungs ten inert gas (T IG) welding bec ame an overnight success in the 1 9 40s for joining magnes ium and aluminium. U s ing an inert
gas s hield instead of a s lag to protec t the weldpool, the proc ess was a highly attractive replacement for gas and manual metal arc
welding. T I G has played a major role in the ac c eptance of aluminium for high quality welding and s truc tural applications.

Process characteristics

I n the T I G process the arc is formed between a pointed tungs ten electrode and the workpiece in an inert atmos phere of argon or
helium. T he s mall intense arc provided by the pointed electrode is ideal for high quality and prec ision welding. Bec ause the
elec trode is not c onsumed during welding, the welder does not have to balanc e the heat input from the arc as the metal is
depos ited from the melting electrode. When filler metal is required, it mus t be added s eparately to the weldpool.

Power source

T I G mus t be operated with a drooping, c ons tant c urrent power s ource - either D C or A C. A c onstant c urrent power s ource is
es s ential to avoid exc essively high c urrents being drawn when the elec trode is short-circuited on to the workpiec e s urface. T his
c ould happen either deliberately during arc s tarting or inadvertently during welding. I f, as in M I G welding, a flat c haracteristic
power s ourc e is us ed, any c ontact with the workpiec e surface would damage the elec trode tip or fus e the elec trode to the workpiece
s urfac e. I n D C , bec ause arc heat is distributed approximately one-third at the c athode (negative) and two- thirds at the anode
(pos itive), the elec trode is always negative polarity to prevent overheating and melting. H owever, the alternative power s ource
c onnec tion of D C electrode positive polarity has the advantage in that when the c athode is on the workpiec e, the s urface is c leaned
of oxide c ontamination. For this reas on, A C is us ed when welding materials with a tenac ious s urface oxide film, s uc h as aluminium.

Arc starting
T he welding arc c an be s tarted by s c ratching the s urface, forming a s hort- circuit. I t is only when the s hort- circuit is broken that the
main welding c urrent will flow. H owever, there is a ris k that the elec trode may s tick to the s urfac e and c ause a tungs ten inclusion in
the weld. T his risk c an be minimised us ing the 'lift arc ' technique where the s hort-circuit is formed at a very low c urrent level. T he
mos t c ommon way of s tarting the T I G arc is to us e H F (H igh Frequency). H F c onsists of high voltage s parks of s everal thousand
volts whic h las t for a few mic ros econds. T he H F s parks will c ause the electrode - workpiece gap to break down or ionis e. O nce an
elec tron/ion c loud is formed, c urrent c an flow from the power s ourc e.

Note: As HF generates abnormally high electromagnetic emis s ion (EM), welders s hould be aware that its us e can caus e interference
es pecially in electronic equipment. As EM emis s ion can be airborne, like radio waves , or trans mittedalong power cables , care mus t
be taken to avoid interference with control s ys tems and ins truments in the vicinity of welding.

H F is als o important in s tabilising the A C arc ; in A C, electrode polarity is reversed at a frequenc y of about 5 0 times per s econd,
c aus ing the arc to be extinguished at eac h polarity c hange. T o ens ure that the arc is reignited at each reversal of polarity, H F
s parks are generated ac ross the electrode/workpiece gap to c oincide with the beginning of eac h half- c ycle.

Electrodes

E lec trodes for D C welding are normally pure tungsten with 1 to 4 % thoria to improve arc ignition. A lternative additives are
lanthanum oxide and c erium oxide whic h are c laimed to give s uperior performance (arc s tarting and lower elec trode c onsumption).
I t is important to s elect the c orrect electrode diameter and tip angle for the level of welding c urrent. A s a rule, the lower the c urrent
the s maller the elec trode diameter and tip angle. I n A C welding, as the elec trode will be operating at a muc h higher temperature,
tungs ten with a zirc onia addition is used to reduc e electrode erosion. I t s hould be noted that bec ause of the large amount of heat
generated at the elec trode, it is diffic ult to maintain a pointed tip and the end of the elec trode assumes a s pherical or 'ball' profile.
 Shielding gas
Shielding gas is s elected ac cording to the material being welded. T he following guidelines may help:
• A rgon - the mos t c ommonly-used s hielding gas whic h c an be us ed for welding a wide range of materials including s teels, s tainless
s teel, aluminium and titanium.
• A rgon + 2 t o 5% H2 - the addition of hydrogen to argon will make the gas s lightly reducing, as sisting the produc tion of c leaner-
looking welds without s urfac e oxidation. A s the arc is hotter and more c ons tricted, itpermits higher welding s peeds. D is advantages
inc lude ris k of hydrogen c racking in c arbon s teels and weld metal poros ity in aluminium alloys.
• Helium and helium/argon mixt ures - adding helium to argon will rais e the temperature of the arc . T his promotes higher welding
s peeds and deeper weld penetration. D isadvantages of us ing helium or a helium/argon mixtureis the high c ost of gas and diffic ulty
in s tarting the arc .

Applications
T I G is applied in all indus trial s ectors but is es pecially s uitable for high quality welding. I n manual welding, the relatively s mall arc is
ideal for thin s heet material or c ontrolled penetration (in the root run of pipe welds ). Bec ause deposition rate c an be quite low
(us ing a s eparate filler rod) M MA or M IG may be preferable for thic ker material and for fill pas s es in thick-wall pipe welds.

T I G is also widely applied in mec hanised s ystems either autogenously or with filler wire. H owever, s everal 'off the s helf' s ystems are
available for orbital welding of pipes , us ed in the manufac ture of c hemical plant or boilers. T he s ystems require no manipulative
s kill, but the operator mus t be well trained. Bec ause the welder has less c ontrol over arc and weldpool behaviour, c areful attention
mus t be paid to edge preparation (mac hined rather than hand- prepared), joint fit- up and c ontrol of welding parameters.