Gas Tungsten Arc Welding

By L D Poyyara

GTAW
Fusion Welding Process
Arc Between Non-Consumable Tungsten
Rod And Work
Arc & Weld Pool Shielded By Argon
Filler Wire Separately Added To Weld Pool
Welding Torch & Tungsten Rod Cooled by
Flow OF Argon / Cooling Water

Shielding Gas

Inert Gas - Argon , Helium

Common Shielding Gas Argon
When Helium Is Used Called Heli Arc Welding
When Argon Is Used Called Argon Arc Welding
Inert Gas Prevents Contamination Of Molten Metal
It Prevents Oxidation Of Tungsten Rod
It Ionizes Air Gap and Stabilizes Arc
It Cools Welding Torch & Tungsten Rod

Equipment & Accessories

Pressure Regulator
Flow Meter
Tungsten Rod
Argon Gas In
Cooling Water In

Ceramic Cup
Arc

Argon Cylinder
HF Unit &
Water Cooling
System

Welding Cable & Cooling

Water In Tube
Cooling Water Out
Argon Shielding

Work
Pedal Switch

Solenoid
Valve

High Frequency
Connection

Power Source

GTAW Equipment & Accessories

Power Source Inverter, Thyrester,Rectifier,

Generator
High Frequency Unit
Water Cooling System
Welding Torch- (Ceramic Cup, Tungsten Rod,
Collet, Gas-lense)
Petal Switch
Argon Gas Cylinder
Pressure Gauge, Regulator, Flow Meter
Earthing Cable With Clamp

Types Of GTAW Power Source

Inverter- DC
Thyrester DC
Motor Generator DC
Rectifier DC
Transformer AC (For Aluminium Welding Only)

Power Source
Provides Electric Energy Arc Heat
Drooping Characteristic
OCV Appx. 90V,
Current Range 40 A to 300 A ( Capacity Of M/s)
Arc Voltage 18V to 26V

Characteristic Of GTAW
Power Source
Drooping Constant Current
V
V1

Vertical
Curve

V2

A1 A2

High Frequency Unit

Provides High Voltage Electric Energy With
Very high Frequency 10000 Cycles / Sec.
Initiates low energy Arc & ionize Air Gap.
Electrically charges Air Gap For welding
Current to Jump Across the Tungsten Tip &
BM to Form An Arc.
HF Gets Cut Off, Once Welding Arc Struck.

Water Cooling System

Provides Cooling Water To Welding Torch.
Cools Tungsten Rod, Torch handle & Welding
Cable.
Cooling Water Returns through Flexible Tube
Which Carries welding cable within.

GTAW TORCH

Torch Handle

Cap with collet For

Holding Tungsten

Cooling Water Outlet

Argon Gas Inlet

Cooling Water Inlet Tube with cable

Ceramic Cup
Argon Shielding Gas

Tungsten Rod

Base Metal
Earthing Cable

Arc

Petal Switch
When Petal Pressed
Solenoid valve opens, Argon gas
flows
High Frequency starts jumping from
Switches system tungsten rod
Welding current flows generating an
on And off in
arc across tungsten rod and work.
High frequency gets cut off from the
sequence
system & welding continues.
When Petal Released
1 Current gets cut off, Arc extinguishes
2 Gas flow remains for few more
seconds before it stops.

Argon Gas Cylinder- Pressure

Regulator + Flow Meter

Cylinder Valve
Pressure gauges
Flow Meter
Flow Regulator

Cylinder Stores Argon

At High Pressure
Regulator Regulates
Cylinder Pressure to
Working Pressure

Pressure Regulator
Connection To Torch
Argon Cylinder

Flow Meter Controls

Flow Rate

Shielding Gas
Argon - Purity 99.95%
Impure Argon Results In Porosities
Purity Verified by Fusing BQ CS plate
Leakage of Argon in Torch Results in
Porosity.
Check Leakage by Closing the Ceramic
Cup With Thump

Argon Gas Cylinder

Light Blue In Colour
Full Cylinder Pressure: 1800 psi ( 130 Kgs / Cm2 )
Volume Of Argon In Full Cylinder: 7.3 M3
Commercial Argon (99.99%) Cost: Rs 70/- Per M3
High Purity Argon (99.999) Cost: Rs 87/- Per M3

Back Purging
Applicable to Single
Sided full penetration
Prevents oxidation of
Filler Wire
Welding Torch
root pass from opposite
side of weld
Essential for high alloy
steels, nonferrous
Purging
Purging Gas In
Gas Out
metals and alloys
Root Pass
Purging
Desirable For All
chamber
Material
Purging Gas Commercial
Argon or Nitrogen

Tools For GTAW

Head Screen
Hand gloves
Chipping Hammer
Wire Brush
Spanner Set

Tungsten Rod

Tungsten Rod

Non Consumable Electrode.

Maintains Stable Arc
Tip to be Ground to a cone Shape of 60
to 30 angle
Thoriated Tungsten for General
Application, Zerconiated Tungsten for
Aluminium Welding
Sizes :- 2, 2.4 & 3 mm

Ground to
50 ankle

Filler Wire
Added Separately to the weld pool.
Compatible to base metal
Used in cut length for manual welding.
Used from layer wound spool for
automatic welding.
Sizes :- 0.8, 1, 1.2, 1.6, 2, 2.4 & 3 mm

ASME Classification Of Filler Wire

SS Filler Wire:
SFA-5.9, ER 308, 308L, 316, 316L, 347, 309
LAS Filler Wire:
SFA 5.28, ER 70S A1, ER 80S B2, ER90S D2,
ER 80S Ni2
CS Filler Wire:
SFA- 5.18 , ER 70S2
C = 0.07%, Mn = 0.9% 1.4%, Si = 0.4 0.7%, P = 0.025%, S = 0.035%

Dos & Don'ts In GTAW

Dos

Always Connect
Electrode Ve
Keep Always Flow
Meter Vertical
Check & Confirm
Argon Purity
Clean Groove & Filler
wire With Acetone
Grind Tungsten Tip to
Point

Donts

Dont Strike Arc With

Electrode + Ve
Dont strike Arc Without
Argon Flow
Dont Strike Arc By
touching Tungsten Rod
Dont Touch Weld Pool
With Tungsten Rod
Dont Lift and break Arc

Dos & Don'ts In GTAW

Dos

Break The Arc Only By

Pedal Switch
Lift The Torch only After
5 Sec Of Arc Break.
Ensure Pre Purging &
Post Purging of 5Sec
Ensure Argon Flow &
Water Circulation To
Torch

Donts

When Arc is Stopped

Dont Lift Torch
immediately.
Dont Weld With Blend
Tungsten Rod
Dont Weld With Argon
Leaking Torch
Dont Weld Without
Water Circulation

Dos & Don'ts In GTAW

Dos

Provide Back Purging

For Single Sided Full
Penetration Welds
Use N2 or Argon as
Back Purging Gas For
CS & LAS
Use Argon As Back
Purging Gas For SS &
Non Ferrous Alloys

Donts

Dont Weld Single Sided

Full Penetration Welds
Without Back Purging
Dont Use N2 As Back
Purging Gas For Non
Ferrous Alloys
Dont Empty Ag
Cylinders Fully

Defects In GTAW
1. Cracks
3. Porosity
5.Lack Of Penetration
7.Overlap
9. Under Flush
11. Tungsten Inclusion

2. Lack Of Fusion
4. Undercut
6. Excess Penetration
8. Suck Back
10. Burn Through
11.Stray Arcing

Crack
1)
2)
3)
4)

Cause
Wrong Consumable
Wrong Procedure
Improper Preheat
Inadequate Thickness
In Root Pass
crack

1)
2)
3)
4)

Remedy
Use Right Filler Wire
Qualify Procedure
Preheat Uniformly
Add More Filler Wire
in root Pass

Lack Of Fusion
Cause
Remedy
1) Inadequate Current
1) Use Right Current
2) Wrong Torch angle
2) Train /Qualify welder
3) Improper bead placement 3) Train/Qualify Welder

Lack Of Fusion

Porosity
Cause
1) Impure Argon Gas
2) Argon Leak Within Torch
3) Defective Filler Wire
4) Wet surface of BM
5) Rusted / Pitted Filler wire
6) Improper Flow Of Argon

Porosity

Remedy
1) Replace Argon Cylinder
2) Replace Leaking Torch
3) Replace Filler Wire
4) Clean & Warm BM
5) Clean Filler Wire
6) Provide Gas lense

. .

Undercut
Cause
1) Excess Current
2) Excess Voltage
3) Improper Torch angle

Under cut

Remedy
1) Reduce the Current
2) Reduce Arc length
3) Train & Qualify the Welder

Lack Of Penetration*
Cause
1) Excess Root Face
2) Inadequate Root opening
3) Over size Filler Wire
4) Wrong Direction of Arc
5) Improper bead placement
6) Improper weaving technique
* Applicable to SSFPW

LOP

Remedy
1) Reduce Root Face
2) Increase Root Opening
3) Reduce Filler Wire size
4) Train / Qualify Welder
5) Train / Qualify Welder
6) Train & Qualify Welder

Excess Penetration*
Cause
1)Excess root opening
2) Excess Current
3) Inadequate root face
4) Excess Weaving
5) Wrong Direction Of Arc
* Applicable to SSFPW

Excess Penetration

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Remedy
Reduce root gap
Reduce Current
Increase Root face
Train Welder
Train Welder

Overlap
Cause
1) Wrong Direction Of Arc
2) Inadequate Current
3) Excess Filler Wire
Overlap

Remedy
1) Train & Qualify Welder
2) Increase Current
3) Reduce Filler Metal

Suck Back*
Cause
1) Excess weaving in root
2) Excess Current
3) Inadequate root face
4) Wrong Electrode angle

Remedy
1) Reduce weaving
2) Reduce Current
3) Increase root face
4) Train / Qualify Welder

* Applicable to SSFPW in 4G, 3G & 2G

Suck Back

Under flush
Cause

Remedy

1) Inadequate weld beads in

1) Weld some more beads
final layer
in final layer
2) Inadequate understanding on 2) Train / Qualify welder
weld reinforcement
3) Wrong selection of filler wire 3) Train / Qualify Welder
size

Under flush

Burn through*
Cause
1) Excess Current
2) Excess Root opening
3) Inadequate Root face
4) Improper weaving

Remedy
1) Reduce the Current
2) Reduce root opening
3) Increase root face
4) Train / Qualify Welder

*Applicable to root pass

Burn trough

Tungsten Inclusion
Cause
1) Ineffective HF
2) Improper Starting of Arc
3) Tungsten Tip Comes in
Contact With Weld

Tungsten Inclusion

Remedy
1) Rectify HF Unit
2) Never Touch Weld
With Tungsten Rod
3) Train / Qualify welder

Stray Arcing
Cause
Remedy
1) HF Not In Operation
1) Rectify HF Unit
2) Inadequate Skill of Welder 2) Train the Welder
Arc Strikes

Thanks