Welding Electrodes Brief History, Types, Parts, Codes, Machines Used, Manufacturing Process, Maintenance and Manufacturing Safety Tips
Welding Electrodes Brief History, Types, Parts, Codes, Machines Used, Manufacturing Process, Maintenance and Manufacturing Safety Tips
Welding Electrodes Brief History, Types, Parts, Codes, Machines Used, Manufacturing Process, Maintenance and Manufacturing Safety Tips
Maragondon Branch
Maragondon, Cavite
WELDING ELECTRODES
Modern metal fabrication would be impossible without welding, but where did welding originate?
It started with August De Meritens, who used arc heat to join lead plates together. A Russian
student of his, named Nikolai Benardos, then patented a method of electric arc welding with
carbon rods. After that, welding processes advanced very quickly. Nikolai Slavynov figured out
how to use metal electrodes for welding, and following this, C.L. Coffin, an American engineer,
discovered an arc welding process using a coated metal electrode that became the precursor of
shielded metal arc welding.
Modern Welding
Now that we know about the brief history of welding, let’s talk about the thing that makes
the conventional welding work – WELDING ELECTRODES.
Welding Electrodes
1. Consumable Electrodes - the wires actually melt, becoming part of the weld itself.
a. Bare Electrodes – they don’t have a flux coating,
only the alloy or the metal wire.
2. Non-consumable Electrodes – those that do not melt away during the welding process.
For starters, the letter ‘E’ stands for ‘electrode’. Moving on to the numbers, the first 2 digits (or 3,
if the entire code contains 5 digits) give an indication of the material’s tensile strength. If the
number is 60, it means that it can withstand 60,000 pounds per square inch; if the number is 70,
the weld will be able to withstand 70,000 pounds per square inch.
The penultimate digit in the code will either be a 1 or a 2, and it signifies the positions in which
you can use the welding rod. If you see the number 1, you’ll know that you have an all-position
rod – it can be used for flat, vertical, horizontal and even overhead welds. However, if you see
the number 2, your welding rod can only be used in flat and horizontal positions.
The final digit should be read in conjunction
with the second-to-last number: together,
these will tell you which type of coating has
been used on the welding rod, and so which
welding current to use. The electrodes
which you’re most likely to come across are
E6010, E6011, E6013, E7018, and E7024.
Machines Used
3. Dry Mixer – the powders which constitutes the flux are mixed
together in the mixer so that the constituents are blended into a
homogenous batch.
4. Wet Mixer – in this machine, the dry mixed flux and binding agent in
measured quantity are mixed and kneaded to get a wet paste that will
be transferred to briquetting press.
5. Briquetting Press – the paste obtained from the wet mixer machine
is compressed into cylindrical cakes which can be fed neatly into the
extrusion cylinder.
6. Wire Feeder with Wire Hopper – this equipment can be set and reset
with ease for different diameters and lengths of electrodes.
7. Extruder – the pieces of wire which are fed from the wire feeder
at high speed is compressed through the die block and thereafter
through the coating die, simultaneously the paste is compressed
through the press block, takes a right angle turn and covers the
space between the coating die and the wire. Thus, the bare gets
the coating.
8. Conveyor – this takes over the electrode from the transfer belt
and spaces the electrodes apart, aligns the electrodes and
brushes the holder ends. This is also where the electrodes
get their labels.
Manufacturing Process
1. PREPARATION OF CORE WIRE. The wire rod coils are converted to the drawn wire coils of
sizes such as 2.5mm, 3.15mm, 4mm and 5mm at the wire drawing plants in house or on job-work
basis. It is then straightened and cut in to required lengths by ‘Straightening and Cutting Machine’.
2. PREPARATION OF DRY MIX. Rutile, Low carbon Ferro Manganese, Cellulose, Titanium Di-
Oxide, Mica, Feldspar, quartz, etc., are some of the chemical powders used as the raw materials
for the preparation of flux. These chemicals are available world wide and they are weighed
accurately as per the technology for each type of electrodes and they are mixed in a dry mixer to
get homogeneous mix.
3. PREPARATION OF THE WET MIX. Potassium Silicate is used as the Binding agent. The flux
is mixed with Silicate in a correct proportion to obtain a wet mix in a mixer. The Wet mix is then
pressed to form a briquettes in a hydraulically operated press in order to load the flux in the flux
cylinder of the extruder.
5. BAKING OF COATED ELECTRODE. After air drying of the coated electrodes they are baked
in oven. Depending on the type of electrode the baking cycle will vary. The moisture content in
the electrode should not exceed 4 percent.
6. QUALITY CONTROL. Quality control in electrode making shop calls for, constant checking of
the ground ingredients their proportioning and mixing, application procedures, moisture content
and drying conditions. In addition, the chemical analysis of the core wire, powders and bonding
materials are determined, the coating thickness is measured and the electrodes are tested on trail
plates.
7. GRADING AND PACKING. The finished electrodes are stored and wrapped in polythene or
waxed paper and packed in cartons. Cartons are packed in master cartons as per requirement.
Manufacturing Process Flowchart
This photo shows the flow of the manufacturing process from the raw
materials to the shipping of the finished product.
In order to maintain your equipment, it’s essential that you store your electrodes in a place where
they’ll be flat, straight and bone dry. This is because bending and moisture can damage the
coating (unless you’re using a bare electrode), which will ultimately lead to ineffective electrodes
and weak, porous welds. If your electrodes are exposed to moisture, they should be placed in a
very hot oven to dry them out completely.
Safety Tips
Presented By:
Rein Andrea C. Alano
BSME - V