The long-time standard for welding pipes is shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), commonly called “stick” because of the rod-shaped consumable electrodes used. SMAW has been one of the most widely used forms of arc welding for decades. Qualified welders and SMAW equipment are widely available and this process is simple…
A staple of dystopian fiction in the 1980s and 1990s was a world that had run out of oil. Today we’re living in a very different reality, with a glut of oil and not enough storage. In fact, oil storage briefly became a commodity that was more valuable than oil…
Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), also called tungsten inert gas (TIG), arc welding is one of the most precise and controllable types of welding there is. Of the common types of arc welding used on construction sites or in manufacturing plants, GTAW offers the cleanest welds by far. A great…
Corrosion is an omnipresent issue when working with metals. For example, corrosion is an ongoing problem in petroleum extraction, refining, and shipping. The carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide in crude oil reacts with steel alloys to form iron precipitates, degrading the structural integrity of the steel. Hydrogen can also infiltrate…
Many of the same defects common during traditional manual welding also occur during orbital welding as well. These include contaminated welds, lack of fusion, and poor formation of the weld itself. One big difference between orbital welding and manual welding is that in manual welding it is possible to compensate…
Modern industry requires working with industrial-scale quantities of chemicals, gases, and other substances, many of which are incredibly corrosive. In dry climates, for instance, producing drinking water might mean piping large amounts of corrosive seawater into desalination plants. One solution for dealing with these corrosive substances is to use process…
It isn’t uncommon for the wire in a wire feed arc welding machine to snag, melt back into the tip, and bring welding to a halt. The welder must then disassemble the machine to correct the problem. The culprit is usually the liner that guides the wire, which welders often…
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…
Inconel® is an austenitic alloy of nickel and chrome with some valuable properties: it is very strong and resists both heat and corrosion. It’s also very expensive; six feet of Inconel 600 one-inch diameter tubing sells for $1,700 compared to $68 for an equivalent length of 304 stainless steel tubing….
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