How the modern world is depending on welding applications?
Improve your knowledge of the most widely used electric arc welding processes on the market and their applications. Lead-free soldering is also one of these useful welding processes.
Welding is a process used to join materials, particularly metals and their alloys, through almost immediate fusion, followed by solidification of the materials, when exposed to a heat source.
Why Lead-free soldering is popular?
Lead-free soldering is widely common in industry in general; the welding process serves for the manufacture and recovery of metal parts, equipment and structures. Its application ranges from small electronic components to large structures and equipment (bridges, ships, cars, etc.).
Hence, it will be right to consider that modern world is totally depending on welding processes.
Virtually, there are several types of welding processes and each one has its proper application. Knowing this, we will present each welding process, giving a short summary about each one.
Let’s take a look!
What are different types of welding processes?
Here is a useful information about each process.
The most used electric arc welding processes are: with coated electrode, TIG, MIG/MAG, tubular wire and plasma.
However, lead-free soldering is becoming the most popular process these days because of its regulatory requirements.
COATED ELECTRODE FOR LEAD FREE SOLDERING:
Due to the ease of this process, welding with a coated electrode is the method most used by welders. Offers greater flexibility compared to other types of welding and easy to perform in places with difficult access or mobility.
Furthermore, due to the wide variety of electrodes on the market and each one containing the ability to produce their own shielding gases, they make it unnecessary to use additional gases, reducing process costs.
Coated Electrode Welding
Coated electrode welding is common in the manufacture and assembly of various equipment and structures, as it is easy to use to weld a wide variety of materials.
While, lead-free soldering has a plus benefit such as it has several environmental and health benefits for avoiding lead-based electronic components.
TIG: Lead-free soldering
The TIG process produces a clean, high quality weld. As slag does not generate, the chance of inclusion in the weld metal eliminates, and the weld does not need cleaning at the end of the process. In general, this process has an excellent finish and less risk of corrosion.
Essentially, lead-free soldering is successfully using today in all the latest consumer electronics. While TIG is also good for high quality gaskets in the nuclear, chemical, aeronautical and food industries.
The most suitable types of gases for the TIG process are argon, helium or a mixture between these two gases.
PLASMA SOLDERING
It is currently the fastest growing process in industry, industrial facilities and workshops in general as an excellent tool for cutting metals, due to the speed and precision of the cut.
Today, its application is already replacing other processes such as oxyfuel, for thick plates, and laser, for thin plates or non-ferrous metals.
But in spite of all this, lead-free soldering is highly preferable by the whole industry as lead is injurious to the environment.
TUBULAR WIRE
The welding process with Tubular Wire is very similar to the MIG/MAG process, including with regard to the equipment used. However, the wire used in welding is tubular, and its interior is filled with a flux, which guarantees this process special characteristics.
In this process, the wire is coated and constant feeding occurs as in MIG welding. This ultimately results in a high quality weld, with a stable arc and low spatter.
The use of this type of solder has increased significantly in recent years around the world. High deposition rates and the development of new consumables have led companies to migrate to this process.
Since lead has many damages to environmental health so several lead companies, for example, are preferring lead-free soldering these days.
Segments such as naval & offshore (oil companies, for example), heavy construction, structural profile welding, repair and so on.
What are other useful processes for Lead-free soldering?
In addition to these electric arc welding processes, there are other types of processes that are not good to use so much on the market, such as welding by electrical resistance, by abrasion, ultrasound, laser and magnetic probe.
Many of these processes offer low productivity and high costs, justifying the reason for not being so used.
What are some helpful soldering tips for you?
For high-quality soldering, it is not enough to heat one surface with tin and lean the other against it: a prerequisite for the formation of reliable contact is equal temperatures of the surfaces to be soldered.
For the quality of soldering, the ratio of the temperature of the soldering iron tip and the melting point of the surf is very important:
- low temperature of the soldering iron tip will soften the solder, but not melt it. The result is cold soldering (you can recognize it by the granular structure of the contact). Further, the basic reason why manufacturers are increasingly shifting to the use of lead-free solderingis to eliminate lead from electronic products.
- high temperature of the soldering iron tip - excessive evaporation of the solder. Both the one and the other defect leads to crumbling and delamination of the contact after some time of operation.
Is Lead-free soldering harmful?
Safety Soldering can generate harmful tin and lead vapors. In no case should you bend over the place of soldering and inhale vapors. Moreover, in summer, try to solder near an open window; in winter, ventilate the room more often during work.
When finished soldering, be sure to wash your hands with warm water and soap.
What are the most important considerations for solder at home?
You can solder at home subject to the following considerations:
- when soldering, remember to work in a well-ventilated area,
- if there is a fan, use,
- if there is a professional or home-made ventilation system - great,
- it is advisable not to breathe in rosin vapor.
Lead-free soldering uses metals that are more toxic than lead. If the soldering iron is not overheated, and not one hundred watt "for soldering buckets" - then everything will be fine.
