Tig Welding Essay

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Tig Welding Tig welding is also know as Heliarc or GTAW ( Gas tungsten arc welding ). Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding is the process of blending together reactive metals such as magnesium and aluminum. The TIG welding method became popular and useful in the early 1940s and, as a result, has greatly propelled the use of aluminum for welding and structural processes. TIG welding is commonly used for both high quality and manual welding. During the process of TIG welding, an arc is formed between a pointed tungsten electrode and the area to be welded. As a result of the gas shield, a clean weld is formed. This prevents oxidization from occurring. The arc is started with a tungsten electrode shielded by inert gas and filler rod is fed into the weld puddle separately. A slower process than MIG, it produces a more precise weld and can be used at lower amperages for thinner metal and can be used on exotic metals. TIG does require quite a bit more time than MIG to learn. It is similar in technique to gas welding. TIG can be used with pure helium or argon as an inert shielding gas to protect the weld pool from the atmosphere. (Nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and other elements cause weld defects if introduced to the weld pool.) After a while it was discovered that argon has some advantages over helium. Because argon is heavier than helium, less flow rate is needed. The lower flow rate requirement makes argon better for flat welding. Helium is good for overhead, because it is lighter and thus flows upward. Argon allows easier arc starting and a smoother, more stable arc than helium does. Actually, argon pretty much is the most widely used shielding gas nowadays. TIG uses a tungsten electrode that is nonconsumable. In other words it does not burn up like an electrode in stick welding or the wire in metal inert gas (MIG) welding does. The tungsten acts as

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