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Overview of Types and Hazards
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What is welding?
Is there more than one type of welding process?
What, in general, are the hazards associated with welding?
What is welding? Welding is a joining process in which metals, or sometimes plastics, are heated, melted and mixed to produce a joint with properties similar to those of the materials being joined. - Metals can also be cut or separated by a flame or an electric arc, or removed by "gouging" with an electric arc.
- Brazing is the joining of metals with a filler metal having a melting point above 450°C (842°F), but below the melting point of base metals.
- Soldering is the joining of metals using a filler metal with a melting point below 450°C (842°F). The joined metals can be different metals. The "filler"metals commonly used are lead-tin alloys.
- The heat in welding may come from a flame, an electric arc, friction or pressure.
Is there more than one type of welding process? There are over 70 different welding processes. The most common of which are: - Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), also known as Manual Metal Arc Welding, MMAW.
- Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) or Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) Welding.
- Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW).
- Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW), also known as Metal Inert Gas (MIG) Welding or hard wire welding.
- Plasma Arc Welding (PAW), Plasma Arc Cutting (PAC) and Gouging
- Submerged Arc Welding (SAW)
- Resistance Welding (RW) or spot welding.
- Air Carbon Arc Cutting and Gouging
- Oxyfuel Welding, Cutting and Heating (oxygen-acetylene [oxyacetylene] or oxygen-propane [oxy-propane] mixtures are the most common fuel mixtures used).
What, in general, are the hazards associated with welding?
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Document last updated on March 16, 2001
Copyright ©1997-2008 Canadian Centre for Occupational Health & Safety
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