Brief Guide: Process for Welding Nickel

A pile of steel tubes

Welding Nickel

So many things can happen in the process of welding a nickel tube and you need to know about it before you get nickel alloy 600 tubing.

Nickel alloy tubing consists of a wide range of elements and they can pose a critical challenge when it comes to fusing. This and other challenges can be experienced in the welding of nickel. You, therefore, have to devise a comprehensive process that can help weld nickel without problems. Here are some of the processes you need to know when you get nickel alloy 600 tubing:

Using the Metal Inert Gas in Welding

Metal inert gas welding is also referred to as gas-metal arc welding. This is one of the common processes that you can use in melting a nickel tube. The process highly resembles the welding of carbon steel process except for the shielding gas compositions. Low levels of oxygen gas and carbon IV Oxide gas should be used in the process of welding nickel. The levels should be 2% or less. You also have to incorporate tri-blend shielding gases like helium and argon to make the nickel tube resistant to corrosion. The filler wire should also be used to prevent cracking.

Welding Using the Tungsten Inert Gas

Tungsten inert gas welding is also called gas tungsten arc welding. It is also another commonly used process that you can apply in welding a nickel tube. It highly resembles the welding of carbon steel process. Nickel and carbon steel all require a direct current electrode negative. Shielding gases like argon and helium are also used in this process. Low carbon is used as a filler metal to prevent any form of corrosion.

Flux-cored Arc welding

The flux-cored process can be used in welding a nickel tube. However, this process does not give optimal results in the welding of nickel. A mixture of special gasses should be used to make the welding process more effective. Using a combination of these special gasses and a flax-cored arc is more effective than just using flux-cored arc welding, this is because the gasses help in shielding the metal that has been welded from the atmosphere.

Metal-cored Arc Welding

This is a better alternative than flux-cored welding and gas-shielded flux welding. This is because this kind of welding does not rely on flux during the welding process. The metal core is used instead. The metal core is attached to the filler. The metal is filled with powdered metal that escalates deposition, this is even though the filler has some deoxidizers.

Laser Beam Welding (LBW)

This type of welding process is useful in joining nickel quickly and low heat inputs. Porosity and cracking may be experienced in the welding process, and as such, care has to be taken to avoid such instances. You can do this by reducing the amount of oxygen. You can use a shielding gas in its place or through a weld parameter optimization.

Other Welding Processes That Can Be Used

Those processes that have been explained above are the most common welding process that can be applied in welding a nickel tube. Several other processes can be used in place of those. These include Friction Stir Welding (FSW), Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), and Plasma Arc Welding (PAW), among others.