Welding is a modern process of
joining metals but technique has been around from the 1st Millennium
AD, used mainly to produce swords, other weapons and tools. In the early days,
welding involved a complex process of inter laying soft and hard iron with high
carbon metal, followed by hammering.
Modern methods of joining
metals include different types of Welding Products processes such as MIG welding, TIG welding, arc welding, brazing, and
soldering. Current developments include laser welding, friction welding,
electron beam welding and ultrasonic welding. Perhaps future developments may
make it possible to weld non-metal items as well.
In modern welding, a
consumable wire electrode and a shielding gas are fed through a welding gun
onto the metal pieces. When cooled, the bond becomes very strong which is later
finished by grinding, cleaning, polishing and painting.
The welding process may look
simple from the outside but it requires various preparations and many Welding Accessories. These include hose clamps, lugs, cables, connectors, gauging
carbons, engineers chalk (for marking), and many other.
Today, welding has
application in almost all manufactured goods from metals. Frames of your
bicycle and motorcycle, chassis of your car and sides of your refrigerator are
made by welding together iron or steel pipes, angles or sheets. Many of the
welding processes in mass production industries are now automated. For example,
the entire car body including doors are now made and assembled by robotic arms.
The versatility of welding process enables one to create numerous shapes and
profiles, in that context it we can say that welding is both an art as well as
a science.
