Join the parts. Control the heat.
Welding permanently joins components by creating a controlled bond at the joint through heat, pressure, filler material, or combinations of these inputs depending on the process.
Different welding methods balance speed, access, control, automation, and material compatibility.
Gas Metal Arc Welding
A continuously fed wire electrode provides filler material while an electric arc creates the weld pool.
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
A nonconsumable tungsten electrode creates the arc while filler may be added separately for controlled, precise welding.
Resistance Welding
Electrical resistance and pressure generate heat at the joint, commonly for sheet-metal spot or projection welding applications.
Automated Welding
Robotic systems can improve repeatability and cycle time when joint location, production quantity, fixturing, and access support automation.
The joint has to be accessible, stable, and appropriate for the loading condition.
Components meet along their edges and may require groove preparation depending on thickness and weld requirements.
One component overlaps another, creating accessible weld locations along the overlapping region.
Components meet at an angle and are common in frames, boxes, cabinets, and fabricated structures.
One component meets another approximately perpendicular to its surface and is often joined with fillet welds.
Torches, electrodes, fixtures, shielding, and inspection tools all need practical access to the joint.
The weld joins the assembly while thermal expansion tries to move it.
Localized heating and cooling can create shrinkage, residual stress, angular movement, warping, and dimensional change across fabricated assemblies.
A completed bead is only one indication of joint quality.
Visual Inspection
Surface appearance can reveal discontinuities, incomplete coverage, undercut, spatter, or other visible conditions.
Dimensional Inspection
Fixtures and finished assemblies may be checked for location, distortion, squareness, flatness, or other geometry.
Nondestructive Examination
Application requirements may call for penetrant, magnetic, ultrasonic, radiographic, or other examination methods.
Procedure Control
Critical work may require defined welding procedures, material controls, parameters, and qualified personnel.
Destructive Testing
Sample welds or qualification coupons may be sectioned, bent, pulled, or otherwise tested where required.
Documentation
Production records can connect weld procedures, inspection results, materials, operators, and final assemblies.
Welding is often one stage inside a larger fabricated assembly.
Review cutting, forming, hardware installation, welding, inspection, and finishing as part of the complete fabrication process.
Sheet Metal Fabrication →