TIG and plasma arc welding: Using quality and process reliability, increasing efficiency

In TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding, an arc between the workpiece and a tungsten electrode melts the workpiece. The addition of possibly required filler material is not dependent on the energy input. In plasma arc welding, the arc is additionally constricted by a nozzle and plasma gas flow and is therefore more focused. As a result, the arc has a higher energy density than in TIG welding. In both welding processes, the weld pool is protected by inert shielding gas.

Using quality and process reliability

With both processes, excellent quality of the weld seams is obtained. They can be used for numerous materials and provide very high process reliability.

Increasing the efficiency

However, the welding speed achieved by the TIG process is comparatively low. In addition to that, the low deposition rate is also a reason why other welding processes are more efficient in many application fields.

If, however, TIG welding is the process of choice due to its strengths in quality and reliability, we will work to optimise the process also under economical aspects. We will ensure to get quality, process reliability and efficiency into a balanced proportion by selecting the appropriate parameters, pulsed processes and hot or cold filler wire addition.

Welding thicker metal sheets with plasma

The more focused arc in plasma arc welding leads to an increase in penetration. As a result, it is possible to weld also thicker metal sheets with plasma gas welding in one layer.

This is usually carried out by keyhole plasma arc welding. There, expenditure for weld preparation is significantly reduced which makes keyhole plasma arc welding, in the overall assessment, a process with comparatively high efficiency.

The strengths of plasma arc welding are accompanied by a higher complexity of the welding process. In cooperation with you, we will analyse the requirements of the welding task and optimise the parameters with regard to quality, process reliability and efficiency.

Welding nickel-based alloys without hot cracks

Nickel-based alloys are characterised by high corrosion and temperature resistance. That is why they are more and more used in pipeline and turbine construction. Welding nickel-based alloys, however, often comes with the risk of hot cracking. The challenge is to avoid these hot cracks and to obtain a defect-free weld.

TIG-cold wire welding is well suited for this task and is widely used in the industry. Controlled GMAW-processes are also considered in order to increase the efficiency of your nickel-based alloy welding task. Another efficient alternative is the submerged-arc-welding-process with cold wire, which was developed by our research partner ISF. In cooperation with the ISF we implement these processes in your production to ensure the highest possible quality of your nickel-based alloy weld.