The history of welding goes all the way back to the first time that someone heated up two pieces of iron and hammered them until they joined together. The art has advanced considerably since then, with the first recognizable gas welding processes being developed in the late nineteenth century. In…
Those wondering how to weld pressure vessels may already know that the answer to this question varies depending on the type of pressure vessel in question. In the U.S., the relevant standard from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) defines a pressure vessel as any container with a maximum…
When comparing welding methods for pipe and tubing, it’s clear that orbital TIG welding offers quantifiable advantages over manual welding, particularly for repetitive, high-volume welding applications or in situations where access to the pipe or tube is obstructed. For these applications, orbital welding methods deliver consistent weld quality and accomplish…
The needs of a project are what define an acceptable weld, and those needs, in turn, are defined by the end-user with guidance from various resources, codes, standards, and government regulations. Depending on the industry and region, many standards and regulations may apply to a project. Highly specialized projects like…
Pipe and pipeline welding is divided into many worlds. At one end is the roughneck world of owner/operator welding subcontractors. These welders wear pancake-style welding helmets, drive trucks featuring prominently mounted pipe welding power supplies on the back, and have a seemingly endless supply of welding rods tucked about their…
Having choices doesn’t necessarily make things easier, and that is certainly the case when it comes to choosing a joint type for a tube-to-tubesheet welding project. Of course, the type of use—heat exchanger, pressure vessel, or boiler—and the fluids being processed factor into the choice. Tube material, corrosion resistance, tubesheet…
The welding that most people are familiar with is manual arc welding, in which the quality of the weld depends entirely on the skill and experience of the person moving the metal. Manual welding is subject to inconsistencies due to fatigue, inattention, and distraction, which alter the weld’s properties. In…
If you’ve invested in orbital welding equipment or you’re about to make the investment, it’s probably because you’ve heard that automated pipe welding is faster and safer than many of the manual welding methods it replaces. This is true: orbital technology is proven to boost productivity and deliver consistent, high-quality…
In conversation, it’s sometimes difficult to tell whether the word “welder” refers to a machine or its operator. However, it’s obvious whether a weld bead was laid down by a human or a machine. Automated welding has a level of consistency that even master manual welders can’t match. With machine…
High demand for welders (the American Welding Society mentions a predicted shortage of 375,000 welders by 2023) means that welding-intensive industries are looking to maximize the productivity of their welding teams. The most effective way to achieve this goal is by transforming repetitive or high-volume manual welds into mechanized welding…