Welding mainly connects two metals by heating or pressure. This article will help you quickly understand the 16 common types of welding, their characteristics, and their main applications.
Shielded Metal Arc Welding（SMAW）
What Is SMAW
Metal shielded arc welding or stick welding is the most commonly used welding technique.
You need to prepare a welding rod as filler metal. During the welding process, you should use an electric arc to melt the welding rod to complete the weld. You can replace the welding rod with a suitable one depending on the material being welded.
Advantages and limitations of SMAW
Advantages: You do not need to strictly clean impurities from the welding material. You can even use smaw to weld rusted materials. And SMAW does not cost much.
Limitations: You need to be proficient in welding skills before you can use SMAW. Welding speed is relatively slow, so it is not suitable for large-scale production. In addition, SMAW produces a large amount of slag and other waste materials. You will not get an aesthetically pleasing weld.
Use of SMAW
You can use it to weld steel, nickel, copper, cast iron, and ductile iron in construction, underwater pipelines, or industrial manufacturing.
Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW or MIG)
What Is GMAW
Gas Metal Arc Welding is also called Metal Inert Gas Welding. The welding wire is the filler material. You need to use a welding torch to feed the welding wire into the weld during the melting process. During the welding process, you also need gases such as carbon dioxide, oxygen, helium, or argon to protect the molten metal from contamination.
Advantages and limitations of GMAW
Advantages: This type of welding is simple and efficient, and you only need simple tools. You can use it with robots to achieve automated welding. It produces very little weld slag. You can achieve neat and attractive welds.
Limitations: You must use shielding gas. This will increase your costs. Furthermore, the welding position and depth are also limited.
Use of GMAW
You can use it to weld stainless steel, copper, nickel, carbon steel, and aluminum. It works well in cars, home appliances, and sheet metal jobs. Because wind affects the result, you should only use it indoors. It is also good for welding thin plates.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW or TIG)
What Is GTAW
Gas tungsten arc welding has a wide range of applications. You need to use a non-consumable tungsten electrode to provide current to the welding arc. The heat generated by the arc melts the metal. Gas protection is also required. In addition, you need to be careful not to melt the tungsten into the weld seam during the welding process, as this will affect the welding results.
Advantages and limitations of GTAW
Advantages: You can achieve very nice and durable welds. Welding is precise and detailed.
Limitations: Due to the complexity of the process, you should have professional knowledge. You also need to undergo professional training. Impurities in the metal can affect the quality of your welding.
Use of GTAW
You should use it for welding metals such as copper, copper alloys, nickel alloys, and stainless steel in industries such as semiconductors, aerospace, marine, and petrochemical. Due to its high precision and beautiful welds, you can even use it for art. It is more suitable for thin materials.
Flux Cored Arc Welding(FCAW)
What Is FCAW
When using flux-cored wire arc welding, you need to use fusible flux-cored wire as an electrode. Then, under the heat of the arc, you melt the flux material, welding wire, and parent metal to complete the weld. You will use flux-coated welding rods. Silicates and carbonates need to be mixed to prepare the flux. Using flux can overcome the shortcomings of welding rods and protect the welded metal from contamination.
Advantages and limitations of FCAW
Advantages: FCAW welding is stable, and you don’t have to spend time and effort removing impurities. But FCAW produces harmful fumes, so it must be used in a well-ventilated area. You also need to clean up the slag it produces.
Use of FCAW
You can use FCAW for bridge welding, shipbuilding, heavy equipment repair, etc. You can also use it to weld carbon steel, stainless steel, and cast iron. However, you cannot use it for aluminum welding.
Electron Beam Welding(EBW)
What Is EBW
You use a high-energy electron beam to hit the weld joint. This creates the heat needed for welding. No need for filler rods to melt the metal. You must do the welding inside a vacuum chamber.
Advantages and limitations of EBW
EBW gives deeper weld penetration and a smaller heat-affected zone. It welds both thin and thick sheets with very little distortion. However, you need to set up a vacuum environment.
Use of EBW
You can use EBW to weld most metals. Examples include work in car manufacturing, medical devices, aerospace, and semiconductors.
Laser Beam Welding(LBW)
What Is LBW
Laser beam welding is similar to electron beam welding in that it uses a focused laser beam to generate the heat required for welding. You need to use an optical laser lens to focus the laser beam on the area to be welded and complete the welding process. Compared to electron beam welding, laser beam welding has weaker penetration capabilities but does not require welding to be performed in a vacuum environment.
Advantages and limitations of LBW
Laser machines are expensive and have low electro-optical conversion efficiency, which means they are costly to operate. Therefore, they are not widely used. However, they cause minimal deformation during welding.
Use of LBW
You can use LBW to weld carbon steel, stainless steel, high-strength low-alloy steel, titanium, and aluminum. LBW helps you achieve precision microdevice welding
Plasma Arc Welding (PAW)
What Is PAW
Plasma arc welding is a type of non-melting electrode arc welding. You can use a tungsten electrode as an electrode. You need to use argon, nitrogen, helium, or a mixture of two of these gases to generate the plasma arc. You also need to use inert gas shielded welding. Filler metal is not necessary during the welding process.
Advantages and limitations of PAW
PAW is very similar to TIG welding technology, but PAW offers higher production efficiency and better weld quality. However, PAW requires higher costs and good operating skills.
Use of PAW
PAW can weld thick materials and achieve high-speed welding of thin plates. You can use PAW to weld steel pipes, small metal parts, thin electronic chips, and in medical device manufacturing.
Gas Welding/Oxyacetylene Welding (GW)
What Is GW
Gas welding uses a flame for heat. You mix acetylene and oxygen in a torch. Then you light the torch. Heat the weld area to the right temperature. Apply pressure with your torch. You don’t need extra metal for this weld.
Advantages and limitations of GW
GW equipment is simple and convenient. Your workspace needs no special setup. It costs very little. But GW gets extremely hot. This makes it dangerous. You must be skilled to operate it. The heat spreads widely. This often warps your materials.
Use of GW
Choose GW for thin metal welding. You can also weld carbon steel, brass, nickel steel, copper, and cast iron.
Electroslag Welding (ESW)
What Is ESW
Electroslag welding is a welding method that uses the resistive heat of molten slag as an energy source. You need to place the molten slag between two plates and use the resistive heat generated when current passes through the molten slag to melt the end faces of the workpieces. Depending on the shape of the electrode used during welding, electroslag welding is classified into wire electrode electroslag welding, plate electrode electroslag welding, and nozzle electroslag welding.
Advantages and limitations of ESW
You can use electroslag welding to weld thick workpieces. It is highly efficient and can be fully automated. However, you can only use it to weld vertical seams, and normalizing treatment is required after welding.
Use of ESW
Electroslag welding is used in shipbuilding, power generation, petrochemical, and other industries. You can use it to weld various steel structures and castings.
Thermit Welding(TW)
What Is TW
Hot melt welding uses the exothermic reaction of a heat agent for welding. You need to mix aluminum and metal oxides to heat the metal and fuse it together. Chemistry is unpredictable, but welding can be completed in one go. You should wear fireproof clothing, masks, and other safety equipment.
Advantages and limitations of TW
TW can weld larger cross sections. No external power source or equipment is required. However, TW produces high-temperature slag and the weld seam is rough.
Use of TW
You can use TW to weld railway tracks, large ship hulls, bridge structures, heavy pipes, and power engineering projects.
Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)
What Is SAW
When using submerged arc welding, you need to use the heat generated by the arc between the welding wire and the workpiece to melt the welding wire, flux, and metal to complete the welding. The combustion process takes place under the flux layer, and the flux is continuously fed through a pipe connected to the flux hopper. You can complete the welding process entirely mechanically.
Advantages and limitations of SAW
You can achieve stable weld quality with fewer impurities. It is highly efficient. The welding process produces very little smoke and dust, so it will not cause you any harm.
Use of SAW
Submerged arc welding is mainly used in heavy manufacturing industries such as shipbuilding, boilers, chemical containers, and lifting machinery. You can use SAW to weld medium-thick plates. It is mainly used to weld various steel plate structures, and you can weld carbon structural steel, stainless steel, heat-resistant steel, etc.
Resistance Welding (RSW)
What Is RSW
To perform resistance welding, you need to melt the metal plates being welded by using resistance current between two electrodes. To prevent arcing at the contact surface, pressure is continuously applied to the electrodes during the welding process. Resistance welding includes spot welding, seam welding, projection welding, and butt welding.
Advantages and limitations of RSW
You can weld various types of seams using resistance welding. Welding deformation is minimal. However, resistance welding typically uses high currents, and the electrodes wear out with use. You will need to spend a lot of time and money maintaining the equipment.
Use of RSW
You can use RSW for mass production in industries such as electrical appliances and automobiles. Metals such as alloys, magnesium, and aluminum can all be used with RSW.
Stud Welding (SW)
What Is SW
You can use stud welding to weld studs to plates without the need for drilling, punching, threading, riveting, screwing, or finishing. When using SW, you need to apply power to ignite the arc and melt the welding surface, then apply pressure to complete the weld. The selection of the current adjustment switch level should be based on the thickness and material of the welded part.
Advantages and limitations of SW
Stud welding can produce high-quality welds with a low scrap rate. At the same time, stud welding is highly efficient and does not require high costs. However, stud welding requires grinding before welding to completely remove oil, rust, and coatings.
Use of SW
Stud welding is widely used in industries such as electrical appliances, shipbuilding, construction, and automobiles. You can quickly weld materials such as carbon steel, stainless steel, copper, and aluminum alloy to metal surfaces. Stud welding cannot be used to weld substrates with poor electrical conductivity.
Friction Welding (FW)
What Is FW
Friction welding uses mechanical energy to weld. You need to quickly rotate or move two surfaces to generate heat for welding. Then, after heating, apply pressure between the two surfaces to connect the metals.
Advantages and limitations of FW
Friction welding provides high welding quality and is energy-efficient and pollution-free. However, you need to spend a lot to purchase and maintain the equipment.
Use of FW
You can use friction welding in fields such as aviation, aerospace, nuclear energy, weaponry, automobiles, electric power, marine development, and machinery manufacturing. Almost all metals that can be hot forged can be friction welded. You can even use friction welding to weld dissimilar metals.
Cold Welding (CW)
What Is CW
Cold welding is usually performed at room temperature. You need to tightly fit the metal plates together under high vacuum conditions and apply pressure. The metal surfaces will interpenetrate and diffuse, eventually welding together. Before cold welding begins, you need to perform strict surface pretreatment to ensure that the surface is smooth and free of oxidation.
Advantages and limitations of CW
The CW process is simple. You don’t need to use electricity, heat, filler, or flux. It also does not cause resistance loss. However, cold welding equipment is very expensive, and you need to operate in a vacuum environment.
Use of CW
You can use cold welding in high-altitude, mine, underwater, and fireproof areas. If your materials need to avoid thermal deformation, such as polymer composites, you can use cold welding.
Ultrasonic Welding（UW）
What Is UW
Ultrasonic welding is also a solid-state welding method. You need to use high-frequency vibration waves to cause the two surfaces to rub against each other, forming a fusion between the molecular layers. And during this process, you need to apply constant pressure.
Advantages and limitations of UW
Ultrasonic welding provides good conductivity. You do not need to prepare any flux or gas, and there are no requirements for the welded metal surface. The welding process is environmentally friendly and safe.
However, you cannot use it to weld thick materials. Because the UW process is complex, you need to optimize and debug it multiple times before welding.
Use of UW
You can weld most metal materials using ultrasonic welding, including metals, dissimilar metals, and metals and non-metals. However, if you want to weld highly ductile materials such as PP and PE, it is not a good choice.
Conclusion
This article provides a detailed overview of 16 types of welding, covering almost all welding needs. Understanding this information will make it easier for you to communicate your requirements to suppliers. If you need custom sheet metal from China, please feel free to send us your requirements.