To apply this method, we need state standards, Regulating and facilitating the construction of the right technological process, aimed at establishing a quality welding joint: the installation of a pipeline or its repair, the manufacture and installation of tanks and capacitive equipment, the manufacture of industrial structures, as well as interior design or small-scale welding production.
The main list of standards applies to argon welding: 3242 Welding joints, 23870 Weldability of steels, 14782 Nondestructive testing, 16037 Welded steel pipe joints, 14771 Arc welding in shielding gas, 23518-79 Arc welding in shielding gases. The essence of this type of welding is an electric arc that burns from the tungsten electrode to the product, being in a protective gas atmosphere-argon, helium or mixtures of gases. The electric arc serves as a source of heating, which melts and welds the metal. For this purpose, inert gases are used, they are not flammable and perform the function of protecting the burning arc and the welding bath, i.e. welded product from the ambient air. If the protection of the welding tray is insufficient, the melted metal of the weld is deoxidized, which sharply reduces the quality of the welded joint and, accordingly, of the product. The amount of protective gas is determined by the external environment (the presence of wind, draft) and the current. At low current loads up to 60-80 A, the shielding gas consumption is set at 4-5 liters per minute. This amount is sufficient to protect the welding joint from the harmful effects of oxygen contained in the air. At higher current loads and conditions of external factors, the amount of inert gas can reach 15-18 l / m.
Most of the metals can be welded by argon-arc or argon welding:
- Low-carbon and low-alloy steels: St-1, St-2, St-3, St-4, St-5, St-6, 15G, -20G; 15X; 1 5XA; 20X; 15XM; 14HGS, etc.
- Cast iron: species with a carbon content of not more than 1.4%.
- Stainless steel, alloy steel: 03Х17Н13М2, 02Х18М2БТ, 02Х28Н30МДБ, 03Х17Н13АМ3, 03Х17Н14М3, 03Х18АН11, 03Х18Н11, 03Х18Н11, 03Х22Н5АМ2, 03Х23Н6, 03Х24Н13Г2С, 06Х18Н11, 08X23H13, 08X25H4M2, 08Х12Т1, 08Х13, 08Х17Т, 08Х18Н10,06Х18Н11, 12Х19Н10Т and many others.
- Titanium and its alloys: ВТ1-00, ВТ-0, ОТ4-0, ОТ4-1, ОТ-4, ВТ5-1, ВТ-5, ВТ-6, ВТ3-1, ВТ-8- ОСТ 90013-81
- Aluminum: AMZ, AMC, AMg2, AMg3, AMg4, AMg5, AMg6, AMg6M, AB, D1, AL1-AL13-GOST 2685-44, etc.
- Copper: M0, M1, M2, M3, M4 according to 859-41 standard.
- Brass: L-62, L-68, L-70, L7777 according to 1019-47standard.
The application of this welding method is also great:
Interior designs, stainless steel furniture, stainless steel fencing, accessories for swimming pools and saunas, bathroom decor elements, stainless furniture, cafe and restaurant design, interior design, design of entertainment centers and welding of stainless elements, interior-furniture, additional elements of the interior, exclusive furniture, stairs, the production of tiles from stainless sheets, handrails and interior design, décor, construction, home and interior, stainless steel kitchens, decorative elements interior, fencing systems, production of interior designs, composite solutions for home interiors, interior and exterior design, hi-tech style.
Manufacture of stainless steel and titanium containers, repair and installation of process pipelines at food and chemical industry facilities, restoration and repair of worn out or out-of-date parts, mechanisms, products- repair of automobile cooling radiators and air conditioners, aluminum units and blocks of cars, boats, yachts, household appliances and much more.
This type of welding is used in food, chemical, pharmaceutical, oil refining, gas, automobile, shipbuilding, agro-industrial complex, and the space industry.
Today, argon-arc welding is the most widely used in the work with non-ferrous metals. With a lot of advantages, such as: high uniformity of the welded weld metal, the ability to work with small wall thicknesses of the product, the simplicity of the technological principle, a wide range of applications, there are also “minuses” of its application: poorly suited for products with large wall thicknesses, the length of the seams, and the relatively slow welding process, as well as the occurrence of welding deformations. In this case, it is advisable to use other types of welding, such as MIG / MAG-which gives a higher welding speed and a greater amount of weld metal.In modern industry, for the higher profitability of the welding process, there are often alternating types of welding: argon-arc standard 23518-79 WIG / TIG – manual arc MMA 11534-75, as well as argon arc WIG / TIG- semi-automatic MIG / MAG 11513- 75. Welding technology has significantly stepped forward in its development over the past few years. There are welding machines of well-known firms: Migatronic, Kemmpi, EWM, Fronius, ESAB, etc., which have a wide range of welding functions, allowing the welder to achieve high quality of his activities.
The authors of the article hope that this information has become useful and broadened your idea of argon-arc welding.