Production of an arc between two carbon electrodes using a battery is credited to Sir Humphrey Davy in 1800. In the mid-nineteenth century the electric generator was invented and arc lighting became popular. Auguste De Meritens, working in the Cabot Laboratory in France, used the heat of an arc for joining lead plates for storage batteries in 1881. His pupil a Russian Nikolai Bernado with co-worker Stanislaus Olszewski secured a British patent in 1885 and an American patent in 1887. The patents show an early electrode holder and were the beginning of carbon arc welding which became popular during the late 1890s and early 1900s. Bernado’s efforts were restricted to carbon arc welding although he was able to weld iron as well as lead.
In 1890 C.L.Coffin of Detroit was awarded the first U.S. patent for an arc welding process using a metal electrode. This was the first record of the metal melted from the electrode carried across the arc to deposit filler metal in the joint to make a weld. Around 1900 Strohmenger introduced a coated metal electrode in the U.K., this was a thin coating of clay or lime but it provided a more stable arc. Oscar Kjellberg of Sweden invented a coated electrode during the period 1907-1914. Electrodes were produced by dipping short lengths of bare iron wire in thick mixtures of carbonates and silicates and allowing the coating to dry.
During the 1920s there was considerable controversy about the advantage of the heavy-coated rods versus the light-coated rods. The heavy-coated electrodes, made by extruding, were developed by Langstroth and Wunder of the A.O.Smith company and used by that company in 1927. In 1929 the Lincoln Electric Company produced extruded electrode rods that were sold to the public. By 1930 welding codes appeared which required higher-quality weld metal which increased the use of covered electrodes.
Also during the 1920s there was considerable research in shielding the arc and weld area by externally applied gases. The atmosphere of oxygen and nitrogen in contact with the molten weld metal caused brittle and sometimes porous welds. Alexander and Langmuir did work using hydrogen as a welding atmosphere developing the atomic hydrogen welding process which never became popular but was used during the 1930s and 1940s for special applications and later on for welding of tool steels. Hobart and Devers were doing similar work but using atmospheres of argon and helium.
Gas tungsten arc welding had its beginnings from an idea by C.L.Coffin to weld in a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere which he patented in 1890. The concept was refined in the late 1920s by Hobart who used helium for shielding and Devers who used argon. The process was ideal for welding magnesium, stainless steel and aluminium. It was perfected in 1941, patented by Meredith, and named Heliarc welding. It was later licensed to Linde Air Products, where the water-cooled torch was developed. The process patented by Meredith is now known as TIG welding, he was working at the Northrop Aircraft Company in 1939-1941 where Jack Northrop’s dream was to build a magnesium airframe for lighter, faster warplanes. The Linde Division of Union Carbide developed a number of torches for different applications sold under the brand name Heliarc. Linde also developed procedures for using argon which was more readily available and less expensive than helium.
The gas shielded metal arc welding process was successfully developed at Battelle Memorial Institute in 1948 under the sponsorship of the Air Reduction Company. This development used a gas shielded arc but replaced the tungsten electrode with a continuously fed electrode wire. The changes that made the process more usable were the small diameter wires and the constant-voltage source. The initial introduction was for welding nonferrous metals but the high deposition rate led users to try the process on steel. The cost of inert gas was relatively high and the cost savings were not immediately available. One of the key inventors of this MIG process was Glen Gibson who had been working on TIG welding in the development lab at Airco at the time. He indicates that although he went on to be the owner of a very successful business,”the greatest single day in his life was the day Steve (Steve Sullivan worked with Glen at the lab) and I cranked up the first (MIG) welding gun.”
In 1953, Lyubavskii and Novoshilov announced the use of welding with consumable electrodes in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide gas. The process gained favour as it used equipment developed for inert gas metal arc welding which could now be used for economically welding steels. A development was the short circuit arc and dip transfer which allowed all-position welding on thin materials.
Another variation was the use of inert gas with small amounts of oxygen which provided a spray-type arc transfer which became popular in the early 1960s. Soon after the introduction of carbon dioxide welding a ‘Dualshield’ process was developed using the gas produced by a flux core in addition to the normal shielding gas. This process, invented by Bernard, was announced in 1954 and patented in 1957, when the National Cylinder Gas Company introduced it. In 1959 a flux cored electrode which did not require external gas shielding was developed. This process named ‘Innershield’ gained popularity for non-critical work.
Robert F. Gage invented plasma arc welding in 1957. This process uses a constricted arc or an arc through an orifice, which creates an arc plasma that has a higher temperature than the tungsten arc. It is also used for metal spraying and has become the process of choice for thermal cutting.
Submerged arc welding, invented in 1930, is a common arc welding process. It requires a continuously fed consumable solid or flux cored electrode. The molten weld and the arc zone are protected from atmospheric contamination by being submerged under a blanket of granular fusible flux. When molten the flux becomes conductive and provides a current path between the electrode and the work. Submerged arc welding is normally an automatic or mechanised process, however, semi-automatic, hand held welding guns are available. Deposition rates approaching 45 kilograms per hour have been reported compared to 5 kilograms per hour maximum for shielded metal arc welding. Submerged arc welding is normally limited to ferrous metals and some nickel based alloys, also it is limited to long straight seams or rotated pipes or vessels. The process was invented by Jones, Kennedy and Rothermund, the patent was filed in October 1935, and assigned to Union Carbide Corporation. The following is taken from an article written in The Welding Journal. The importance of welding was emphasized early in the war when President Roosevelt sent a letter to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who is said to have read it aloud in Parliament. The letter read in part, ”Here there has been developed a welding technique (referring to Submerged Arc Welding) which enables us to construct standard merchant ships with a speed unequalled in the history of merchant shipping.”
In 1890 C.L.Coffin of Detroit was awarded the first U.S. patent for an arc welding process using a metal electrode. This was the first record of the metal melted from the electrode carried across the arc to deposit filler metal in the joint to make a weld. Around 1900 Strohmenger introduced a coated metal electrode in the U.K., this was a thin coating of clay or lime but it provided a more stable arc. Oscar Kjellberg of Sweden invented a coated electrode during the period 1907-1914. Electrodes were produced by dipping short lengths of bare iron wire in thick mixtures of carbonates and silicates and allowing the coating to dry.
During the 1920s there was considerable controversy about the advantage of the heavy-coated rods versus the light-coated rods. The heavy-coated electrodes, made by extruding, were developed by Langstroth and Wunder of the A.O.Smith company and used by that company in 1927. In 1929 the Lincoln Electric Company produced extruded electrode rods that were sold to the public. By 1930 welding codes appeared which required higher-quality weld metal which increased the use of covered electrodes.
Also during the 1920s there was considerable research in shielding the arc and weld area by externally applied gases. The atmosphere of oxygen and nitrogen in contact with the molten weld metal caused brittle and sometimes porous welds. Alexander and Langmuir did work using hydrogen as a welding atmosphere developing the atomic hydrogen welding process which never became popular but was used during the 1930s and 1940s for special applications and later on for welding of tool steels. Hobart and Devers were doing similar work but using atmospheres of argon and helium.
Gas tungsten arc welding had its beginnings from an idea by C.L.Coffin to weld in a non-oxidizing gas atmosphere which he patented in 1890. The concept was refined in the late 1920s by Hobart who used helium for shielding and Devers who used argon. The process was ideal for welding magnesium, stainless steel and aluminium. It was perfected in 1941, patented by Meredith, and named Heliarc welding. It was later licensed to Linde Air Products, where the water-cooled torch was developed. The process patented by Meredith is now known as TIG welding, he was working at the Northrop Aircraft Company in 1939-1941 where Jack Northrop’s dream was to build a magnesium airframe for lighter, faster warplanes. The Linde Division of Union Carbide developed a number of torches for different applications sold under the brand name Heliarc. Linde also developed procedures for using argon which was more readily available and less expensive than helium.
The gas shielded metal arc welding process was successfully developed at Battelle Memorial Institute in 1948 under the sponsorship of the Air Reduction Company. This development used a gas shielded arc but replaced the tungsten electrode with a continuously fed electrode wire. The changes that made the process more usable were the small diameter wires and the constant-voltage source. The initial introduction was for welding nonferrous metals but the high deposition rate led users to try the process on steel. The cost of inert gas was relatively high and the cost savings were not immediately available. One of the key inventors of this MIG process was Glen Gibson who had been working on TIG welding in the development lab at Airco at the time. He indicates that although he went on to be the owner of a very successful business,”the greatest single day in his life was the day Steve (Steve Sullivan worked with Glen at the lab) and I cranked up the first (MIG) welding gun.”
In 1953, Lyubavskii and Novoshilov announced the use of welding with consumable electrodes in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide gas. The process gained favour as it used equipment developed for inert gas metal arc welding which could now be used for economically welding steels. A development was the short circuit arc and dip transfer which allowed all-position welding on thin materials.
Another variation was the use of inert gas with small amounts of oxygen which provided a spray-type arc transfer which became popular in the early 1960s. Soon after the introduction of carbon dioxide welding a ‘Dualshield’ process was developed using the gas produced by a flux core in addition to the normal shielding gas. This process, invented by Bernard, was announced in 1954 and patented in 1957, when the National Cylinder Gas Company introduced it. In 1959 a flux cored electrode which did not require external gas shielding was developed. This process named ‘Innershield’ gained popularity for non-critical work.
Robert F. Gage invented plasma arc welding in 1957. This process uses a constricted arc or an arc through an orifice, which creates an arc plasma that has a higher temperature than the tungsten arc. It is also used for metal spraying and has become the process of choice for thermal cutting.
Submerged arc welding, invented in 1930, is a common arc welding process. It requires a continuously fed consumable solid or flux cored electrode. The molten weld and the arc zone are protected from atmospheric contamination by being submerged under a blanket of granular fusible flux. When molten the flux becomes conductive and provides a current path between the electrode and the work. Submerged arc welding is normally an automatic or mechanised process, however, semi-automatic, hand held welding guns are available. Deposition rates approaching 45 kilograms per hour have been reported compared to 5 kilograms per hour maximum for shielded metal arc welding. Submerged arc welding is normally limited to ferrous metals and some nickel based alloys, also it is limited to long straight seams or rotated pipes or vessels. The process was invented by Jones, Kennedy and Rothermund, the patent was filed in October 1935, and assigned to Union Carbide Corporation. The following is taken from an article written in The Welding Journal. The importance of welding was emphasized early in the war when President Roosevelt sent a letter to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who is said to have read it aloud in Parliament. The letter read in part, ”Here there has been developed a welding technique (referring to Submerged Arc Welding) which enables us to construct standard merchant ships with a speed unequalled in the history of merchant shipping.”
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