Glossary

Manual arc welding

Stick electrode welding, in which the feeding of the electrode and the movement of the arc along the welded edges are done manually. Manual arc welding is the oldest and most versatile arc welding technology. It is one of the leading methods of joining individual parts when creating metal structures. Its welding is used in conjunction with casting, stamping and rolling of parts of product blanks.

Semi-automatic arc welding

This is arc welding, in which the supply of the consumable electrode and the movement of the arc relative to the workpiece are performed using mechanisms. With its help, any welded joints are made: butt, corner, T-shaped, overlap and others. In mechanized welding, the formation of a welded joint occurs as follows. The heat of the arc melts the electrode and the base metal, droplets of molten metal from the end of the electrode fall into the weld pool, where they mix with the molten base metal. The liquid metal of the weld pool is subjected to metallurgical processing due to the use of gas or flux (this is the difference from manual arc welding). That is, it is deoxidized and alloyed. When the arc moves along the edges to be welded, the weld pool also moves. In its tail part, the metal cools, crystallizes and a welded joint is formed.

Argon arc welding

It received this name because of the specifics of its action: an arc discharge occurs in an inert gas-argon environment, which leads to the formation of a melting bath and the connection of metal surfaces to each other. It can be carried out with a consumable or non-consumable electrode. A tungsten electrode is usually used as a non-consumable electrode. Consumable electrode welding is used for welding stainless steels and aluminum. However, the scope of its application is relatively small.