What Determines The Weldability Of A Metal?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nBesides the failure modes of steels, a few factors affect the weldability of any metal, including steels. Here are the factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Type of welding: <\/strong>There are many different types of welding apart from the four popular welding methods. Not all of the mare is suitable for all types of metals. For example, stick welding is best suitable for steel, and TIG welding is best for magnesium and aluminum.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA metal might seem poorly weldable when using one technique but shows an excellent result when you resort to another type of welding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joint Shape: <\/strong>Joint design is a pivotal component of welding. It varies for different welding materials as well as welding types. TIG and stick welding are the two most common welding processes in pipe welding.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen welding pipes using stick welding, the landing area needs to be happy, and the gap should be narrow. The design is quite the opposite when using TIG welding for welding pipes. The landing area must be like a knife-edge with a slightly wider gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thermal Conductivity: <\/strong>Extreme heat melts the base metal in welding, and filler metal fills the gap. When it cools down, fusion occurs between the two parts, forming a joint. So as you can understand, thermal conductivity is a big issue. Low thermal conducting metals usually have better weldability.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCoefficient of Thermal Expansion: <\/strong>The coefficient of thermal expansion determines how much a metal expands when it’s subjected to increased temperature. When welding dissimilar metals, both metals’ coefficient of thermal expansion has to be close to each other. If there is too much difference, cracks can occur after cooling.<\/p>\n\n\n\nMelting Point: <\/strong>The two workpieces melt a fuse with each other after cooling. The metals need to reach a specific temperature for melting, known as the melting point. Low to medium melting point is better for welding, and a high melting point can make a metal poorly weldable.<\/p>\n\n\n\nElectrical Resistance: <\/strong>Electrical resistance is inversely proportional to weldability. Metals with high electrical resistance require high electricity to reach the melting point, meaning they have poor weldability.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow Can You Improve Weldability?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAn optimum weld quality depends on various measures and precautions. These very measures can be the determinant of the weldability of any metal. If you properly follow them, the resultant welding will be top-notch. If not, you will experience degraded weldability. Here is how you can improve the weldability of metals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Proper Shielding Gas<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe welding area must be protected from gasses in the atmosphere during welding. There are different shielding gasses available for different grades of metals and welding techniques. Argon, helium, or a combination of both are the most common. It’s important to have a clear conception of shielding gas for proper welding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right Welding Process<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nAll metals don’t respond the same to a specific welding technique. It’s the reason why there are so many welding types. Welding involves differing temperatures, pressure, amperage, etc., that are specified for certain types of metals and alloys. So picking the right welding process is compulsory for optimum quality welding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Right Filler Metal<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nFiller metal holds the two base metals together. Using the right filler metal depends on various factors. But one thing is for sure is that there is no alternative to knowing the ins and outs of filler metals if you want to improve weldability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associated Precautions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThere are some precautions like preheating, using low hydrogen techniques, etc. As there are countless grades of metals, such associated techniques are also endless. You have to have proper knowledge of their better welding performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nSteel is perhaps the most common metal in the welding sector. Even 5th<\/sup> graders know that different metals have different properties, but the sheer number of variations steels have is a whole another chapter. And this is a chapter that every welder should ace.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor that I have provided this detailed guide on the weldability of various types of steels and metals in general. So, I believe this write-up was able to shed some light on what type of steel can be welded<\/strong> and be of help to all of you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are a plethora of metals and alloys. Steel, in particular, has different types and grades of alloys. Their properties vary due to different compositions, so their weldability is also<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=907"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":914,"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/907\/revisions\/914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/welderacademy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}