WCA January 2008

Feature 1 Welding – machinery and technology

Welding – machinery and technology A n efficient way to gauge the prestige of a given industrial practice is to look at the extent to which it is taken for granted. Consider, for example, the opening paragraph in a comprehensive primer on the relative merits of welding processes in common use: ‘ For efficient and economical fabrication, the choice of welding processes should primarily be based on productivity and cost factors, together with material and weld position considerations.’ For “material and weld position considerations” to come almost as an afterthought may take a little getting used to, especially for those whose businesses depend on connectivity – itself dependent, at some point along its lifeline, on the soundness of a weld. But this is a mature sector, for all that that means to the person charged with the selection of expensive capital equipment. The steady advance of welding technology and concomitant improvements in welding machinery have secured the luxury of going straight to comparison-shopping among welding methods. Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW). Submerged Arc Welding (SAW). Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW). Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). Each has its excellences, developed over time in response to expressed need. One will offer the array of qualities that commends it for the job at hand. The reliability of the process may be taken for granted.

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