Detailed Report: A Historical Overview of Welding Techniques

This report provides a detailed historical overview of welding, starting from the Bronze Age's forge welding and progressing through the evolution of various techniques. It covers significant milestones, including the development of Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW), Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), and Flux-Cored Arc Welding (FCAW). The report highlights key innovations like the use of carbon electrodes, the introduction of electric generators, and the impact of World War I on welding advancements. It also discusses the contributions of various inventors and the increasing popularity of welding in industries such as shipbuilding and construction. The report concludes by emphasizing the continued relevance and versatility of ancient welding processes alongside modern techniques. The report cites various sources to support its claims.

HISTORY OF WELDING

Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
History...................................................................................................................................................2
Shielded Metal Arc Welding - SMAW....................................................................................................3
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding - GTAW........................................................................................................4
Gas Shielded Metal Arc Welding - GMAW.............................................................................................4
Flux-Cored Arc Welding - FCAW............................................................................................................5
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................5
Works Cited...........................................................................................................................................6

Introduction
When we look at the power and precision machinery which are being used in the production
welding, one might get confused of welding process and can easily consider it as a relatively
new process. However, the reality is nowhere near it as the welding process is as old as the
Bronze Age. Of course, they do not had the access to the advanced machinery which are
currently being used by the welder but that doesn’t limit them to utilize the welding process.
The welding process may have become advanced with the introduction of new tools but the
basic processes still hold true. In the Bronze Age, people often uses the welding joints to
create circular boxes made of gold and even after 2000 years these boxes can be found
possessing same strength and durability.
From those Bronze Age to the current age, the welding process has innovated to an extreme
level. Laser Welding is the newest welding innovation of today’s era and is exceptionally
efficient along with its easy handling and precision. It produces high quality weld with superb
precision and is the most popular welding process in the manufacturing industry.
History
In the ancient ages, the most frequently used welding process was the Forge Welding. The
process involved heating of the metal just above its melting point and then placing the two
metals on the anvil slightly overlapping with each other (Miller). The metal was then
pounded such that the grains of the pieces gets collaborated before it solidifies. Though the
process has certain limitation but still it’s being used in places without electricity.
In the Iron Age and the Middle ages many tools of the welding process was developed but the
welding process which we knew today was invented in the 19th century (Delmar).

Shielded Metal Arc Welding - SMAW
It was in the year 1800 when Sir Humphry Davy used the battery to produce an arc between
two carbon electrodes. Though it got its popularity only in the mid-nineteenth century when
electric generator was introduced.
In the year 1881, the heat of the arc was used by Auguste De Meritens to join the lead plates
of the battery which was also the development of Carbon Arc torch patented in the same year
(Miller). In the later part of 1880’s Nikolay Benardos with his fellow Russian Stanislaus
Olszewski secured a British patent and American Patent in the year 1885 and 1887
respectively which shows the use of metal electrode as a filler in weld. This process was
termed as Shielded Metal Arc Welding or SMAW (Delmar).
A direct or alternating current was passed from the power supply which created an electric
arc between electrodes and the metals to be joined. Because of its versatility and simplicity of
its operation, this process is widely used in the repair and maintenance industry today as well.
In the year 1900, the more stable arc was produced by coating the metal electrode. Later on,
between the year 1907 and 1914, other coating material such as carbonates and silicates
where used (Miller).
During the period of 1907 and 1914 several other welding process were introduced; namely,
Flash Butt Welding, Projection Welding, Seam Welding and Spot Welding (Delmar).
It was during the World War I when the welding process received a tremendous jump
sighting the demand of armament production. Several companies moved to America and
Europe to get into the business of manufacturing electrode and welding machineries.
In the 1920’s the welding process finds many different types of electrodes attributing to
different types of advantages (Miller). It also led to controversies and the major controversy

was with the advantage of heavy coated electrode rods versus the light coated one. By the end
of decade, the welding codes were developed which requires the higher quality of weld
metals resulting in increase in the popularity of covered electrodes.
The year 1930 saw a great height of popularity in the welding process for its implication in
the shipbuilding and construction industry (Resources). The process was termed as Stud
welding which helps in attaching the metal piece with the wood deck.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding - GTAW
The invention of GTAW was patented in the year 1890 when C. L. Coffin thought of welding
in a non-oxidising gas atmosphere (Miller). The process got further developed when Helium
and Argon were used for the shielding process which was the invention of H. Hobart and P.
Devers respectively. The GTAW was considered to be the ideal welding process for the
welding of aluminium and magnesium material (Larry). It got the name of Heliarc Welding
after getting its perfection and was patented by Meredith (Resources).
The Gas Tungsten Arc Welding became one of the most commonly used process of those
times and got application in many fields.
Gas Shielded Metal Arc Welding - GMAW
Under the sponsorship of the Air Reduction Company in 1948, the gas shielded metal arc
welding process was developed successfully at Memorial Institute. This process was very
much similar to the Gas Tungsten Arc Welding and the only difference was the use of
electrode wire in place of Electrode rod (Miller). This made the process more usable with the
involvement of small diameters of electrode wires and was patented by Kennedy.
Initially the GMAW was used only for the non-ferrous material but because of the high
deposition rate the users thought of giving it a try on steel. Though this process was not

considered as go to option as the inert gases were not cost friendly and the cost saving ones
were not available as per the need.
Flux-Cored Arc Welding - FCAW
It was invented in the 1950’s and was patented by Bernard (Larry). The patent was assigned
to National Cylinder Gas in 1957 where the process was further introduced and developed for
fulfilling the industrial need (Miller). Though the process didn’t went through at all unless the
19 year old Scottn showed the world and qualified for unlimited thickness in accordance with
the welding codes (Flux Cored Welding).
This was considered as an alternate of SMAW, advantage being the improvisation from the
electrode stick which helped in overcoming various restriction associated with Shielded
Metal Arc Welding (Larry).
In this process no shielding gas was used and the shielding was made possible with different
ingredient present in the flux core (Flux Cored Welding).
Though in some kind of Flux-cored Arc Welding there is a need of shielding gas and
therefore FCAW is also called as a combination of Gas metal and FCAW (Delmar).
Several other welding process have been introduced in the past and are used as per their
physical and chemical properties.
Conclusion
This report gives a quick look at the history of different process such as SMAW, GMAW,
GTAM and FCAW. Welding has changed and advanced through a number of different
techniques and processes. Though there is advancement in the process day by day but the
ancient welding process are still very much versatile and are being used to join the metals
very effectively.

Works Cited
Delmar, Thomson. “Arc Welding.” Technology of Welding, 24 Apr. 2009,
www.weldingstudentofsliet.weebly.com/smaw-welding.html.
“Flux Cored Welding.” Flux Cored Welding Procedures, Mig Welding, Tig Welding, Arc Welding,
Robotic Welding, Flux Cored Welding Technigue, Pipe Welding, American Metallurgical
Consultants, 23 June 2006, www.weldingengineer.com/1flux.htm.
Jeffus, Larry F., and Jon Cookson. Welding: Principles and Applications. Thomson, 2004.
Larry, Jeffus. “Welding History in Brief.” Best of Welding, 1 July 2012,
www.bestofwelding.com/what-is-welding/brief-welding-history/.
Miller. “The History of Welding.” Miller Electric, 29 Sept. 2010,
www.millerwelds.com/resources/article-library/the-history-of-welding
Minnick, William H. Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Handbook. Goodheart-Willcox Company, 2006.
“Resources.” Miller Electric, MFG.Co, 13 Sept. 2006,
www.millerwelds.com/education/articles/article62.html.