Argon arc welding is a kind of electric arc welding. The peculiarity of the technological process is as follows: the argon arc welding machine creates a shielding gas environment. This prevents possible oxidation of the welded materials.
TIG welding machines create special conditions in the welding zone, in which the parts to be welded, electrodes, filler material, seam zone and a small section of the seam are located. All these elements are surrounded by a metal-neutral inert gas called argon. Gas is supplied through a special channel - a nozzle - located on the holder of an electric burner.
The name of the entire technological process comes from this distinctive feature - a special inert gas.
TIG welding machines consist of the following important and indispensable structural elements: a non-consumable electrode made of refractory material and a filler material that melts quite easily and allows several parts to be joined together. The electrode material is often tungsten, since ithas all the required qualities and excellent characteristics for this process.
The filler material, in turn, can be made from a variety of metals, which are fed into the metal welding zone in the form of a tape or a so-called rod. The argon arc welding machine timely immerses the filler material into the weld pool in the amount necessary for this process.
As mentioned earlier, there is a nozzle next to the burner, inside of which a special holder for the electrode is installed, in the same place where the gas is supplied. This ensures that the center of the gas cloud is accurately located in the area of the welding being carried out. Therefore, the likelihood that the remaining oxygen will contribute to the oxidation of the metal is greatly reduced. In this regard, the argon arc welding machine must be highly resistant to the effects of electric current and thermal radiation. This indicator plays a significant role when choosing equipment for a particular technological welding process.
Classification of welding devices:
TIG welding machine can be equipped with two types of electrodes:
- Non-melting. Tungsten is traditionally used for this type of electrode.
- Fusible. For these purposes, the most effective is the use of aluminum and stainless steel.
Weldinga unit of this type can be presented in manual and automatic execution. However, even such a small difference carries some related changes. For example, in an automatic welding machine, it is customary to use only electrode wire, which enters the zone where the required parts are welded at the required speed.
The advantages of this method are considered to be a rather small thickness of the resulting weld, high efficiency and reliability of the process.
