Maven Laser Popular Science | 10 Common Welding Methods
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Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
Shielded metal arc welding is one of the most fundamental skills a welder must master. Poor mastery of this skill will result in various defects in the weld seam.
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Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)
Submerged arc welding is a welding method that uses an electric arc as the heat source. It features deep penetration, high productivity and excellent welding quality: the molten metal is isolated from air by the slag protection, and the operation is highly mechanized, making it suitable for welding long seams of medium and thick plate structures.
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Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW/TIG)
Here are some key precautions for GTAW:
(1) Always keep the tungsten electrode sharpened to a fine point. A blunt electrode will cause scattered current and an unstable arc, ruining the weld.
(2) If the tungsten electrode is too close to the weld seam, it will stick to the workpiece; if it is too far, the arc will scatter, leading to blackened welds, a quickly worn electrode and stronger radiation exposure to the welder. It is better to keep it as close as possible.
(3) Trigger control is a skill, especially for thin plate welding—only spot weld in short bursts. Unlike automatic welding machines with auto-feeding wire and travel, continuous welding will burn through the workpiece.
(4) Manual wire feeding requires a good sense of feel. High-quality welding wire can be cut from 304 stainless steel sheets with a shearing machine instead of buying pre-coiled wire; good pre-coiled wire is, of course, available at wholesale suppliers.
(5) Always work in a well-ventilated area and wear leather gloves, flame-resistant clothing and an auto-darkening welding helmet.
(6) Use the ceramic nozzle of the welding torch to block arc light—specifically, keep the rear of the torch facing your face as much as possible.
(7) A master welder has an intuitive sense and premonition of the weld pool’s temperature, size and torch trigger operation.
(8) Prioritize using tungsten electrodes marked yellow or white, as they demand higher welding skills.
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Oxy-Fuel Gas Welding (OFW)
Oxy-fuel gas welding uses a flame to heat the base metal and welding wire at the joint of metal workpieces, melting them to achieve welding. Common fuel gases include acetylene, liquefied petroleum gas and hydrogen, with oxygen as the primary oxidizer.
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Laser Welding
Laser welding is a highly efficient and precise welding method that uses a high-energy-density laser beam as the heat source, and is a key application of laser material processing technology. In the 1970s, it was mainly used for welding thin-walled materials and low-speed welding. The welding process is conduction-controlled: the laser radiation heats the workpiece surface, and the surface heat diffuses inward through thermal conduction. By controlling parameters such as laser pulse width, energy, peak power and repetition rate, the workpiece melts to form a specific weld pool.
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Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW/MIG/MAG)
Many welders consider GMAW the easiest welding method due to its low entry barrier and ease of learning. Generally, a complete novice with no welding experience can perform basic position welding after just 2-3 hours of instruction from a master.
Key points for learning GMAW: maintain a steady hand, master current and voltage adjustment, control welding speed, and learn proper hand gestures (easily acquired by watching video tutorials). Mastering the welding sequence will allow you to handle most welding tasks.
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Friction Welding
Friction welding is a method that uses heat generated by friction at the contact surfaces of workpieces as the heat source, causing plastic deformation of the workpieces under pressure to achieve welding.
Under constant or increasing pressure and torque, the relative motion between the welding contact end faces generates frictional heat and plastic deformation heat on and near the friction surface, raising the temperature of the area to a range close to but generally below the melting point. This reduces the material’s deformation resistance, increases plasticity and breaks the oxide film at the interface. Under upsetting pressure, accompanied by plastic deformation and flow of the material, welding is achieved through intermolecular diffusion and recrystallization at the interface—making it a solid-state welding method.
Friction welding typically consists of four steps: (1) conversion of mechanical energy into thermal energy; (2) plastic deformation of the material; (3) upsetting pressure under thermoplastic conditions; (4) intermolecular diffusion and recrystallization.
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Ultrasonic Welding
Ultrasonic welding transmits high-frequency vibrational waves to the surfaces of two workpieces to be welded. Under pressure, the two surfaces rub against each other to form fusion at the molecular layer. A complete ultrasonic welding system mainly consists of an ultrasonic generator, transducer, horn, welding tip assembly, mold and frame.
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Soft Soldering
Brazing and soldering use a filler metal with a lower melting point than the base metal. The workpieces and filler metal are heated to a temperature above the filler’s melting point but below the base metal’s melting point. The molten filler metal wets the base metal, fills the joint gap and diffuses with the base metal to achieve workpiece connection. Brazing and soldering feature minimal deformation and smooth, aesthetic joints, making them suitable for welding precision, complex components and assemblies made of different materials (e.g., honeycomb panels, turbine blades, cemented carbide cutting tools and printed circuit boards). Based on welding temperature, brazing and soldering are divided into two categories: the process with a welding temperature below 450℃ is called soft soldering, and that above 450℃ is called hard brazing.
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Hard Brazing
Post time: Feb-03-2026
