In the history of Aluminum Welding Bloomington IL, gas welding was the first known method for bonding pieces of this lightweight metal into useful items. Perhaps one of the most useful items in the history of this technique was the American army’s water canteen from the early nineteen hundreds. This lightweight canteen improved the soldier’s life immensely. Gas welding or Oxyfuel Gas Welding (OFW) can be considered similar to standard metal brazing in that an oxygen-gas fuel combination heats the metals, but OFW also uses a flux to remove any oxide while shielding the weld pool. The largest problem seems to be moisture on the flux material. Once the flux becomes moist it will corrode the aluminum and must be removed immediately. In many cases, to be certain the flux was completely removed, the parts would be acid dipped. Additionally, the weld is often weaker than with later developed methods.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding process (GTAW) or more often referred to in the United States as Heliarc welding is probably the most commonly known aluminum welding Bloomington IL method in the world. This method has also been known as the Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding process. GTAW was initially developed in 1944 and it is quite often used in the welding of aluminum alloys to this day. This aluminum welding method can handle metals of practically any thickness and joint types. The primary purpose of Gas Tungsten Arc Welding in modern aluminum welding is for sheet aluminum projects where the material varies up to one quarter of an inch. The alternative to GTAW, Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) which is very similar is primarily used because it delivers a faster weld on thicker materials.
Another aluminum welding process is Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) or stick electrode welding. This method uses a flux coated aluminum rod as an electrode to fuse the pieces together. The flux is used to dissolve the aluminum oxide on both the metals and the rod during the welding process. Quite often, which of these methods you choose depends on the alloy you select and the function the final parts will perform. When it comes to deciding which, aluminum welding shops like Scram Speed can help you decide.
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