PLASMA WELDING: THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF QUALITY

A CONCENTRATED ARC FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE RESULTS

Plasma welding is similar to TIG welding. The difference is that in plasma welding, the arc is sharply constricted by a cooled gas nozzle through which a flow of plasma gas is directed. The shielding gas flows through the outside gas nozzle, providing an optimum gas shield to the weld seam. The concentrated arc results in maximum energy focus, leading to a deep penetration effect in the workpiece that can only be matched by a laser beam. What is more, the welding speed is as much as 20% faster than in mechanised TIG welding.

The advantages of this technology, and the most striking differences to the TIG process, are threefold: no weld-seam preparation, less filler metal and higher availability of the wearing parts. In the plasma process, the credit for these weld properties goes to the plasma itself. It forms a gas consisting of both positive charge carriers (ions) and negative charge carriers (electrons). In order for plasma to form, very high temperatures of up to 25,000 °C are needed. Thanks to the concentrated arc, however, the heat input is so precisely targeted that considerably less component distortion occurs than in TIG welding. The many advantages of plasma welding make it the ideal process for applications where stringent quality demands are made of the weld seam, for instance absolutely no porosity, a perfect weld-seam appearance and zero spatter.

Plasma welding is similar to TIG welding. The difference is that in plasma welding, the arc is sharply constricted by a cooled gas nozzle through which a flow of plasma gas is directed. The shielding gas flows through the outside gas nozzle, providing an optimum gas shield to the weld seam. The result is a concentrated arc with maximum energy focus.

1 Tungsten electrode

2 Shielding gas

3 Plasma gas

4 Plasma nozzle