Being a bibliophile and professional writer, you know the importance of frequent reading and creative writing. You know how essential it is to sit in an environment where distractions would be the least, and for a better workflow, you prefer to sit on the table and study chair. This is because you feel sleepy when you start reading a book while lying on the bed.
Well, this writing has nothing to do with the value of reading books and novels regularly. This writing is also not about tips for polishing your writing skills. This writing is about something that makes reading and creative writing more fun for you. Any guesses?
Never mind, if you made the wrong guess. Because right now, I will walk you through something incredibly important when it comes to productivity, and that is the table and chair.
I know you weren’t expecting it. But you have to bear with me for now. Next time, I will come up with something even more exhilarating.
Well, one of the most important things about tables and chairs is that they were not born like that. We, humans, made them. We shaped them. We made them go through constant heating, melting, and cooling so that they would acquire the shape of things that would benefit us.
Okay, I know it is confusing you. I will make my point clear in a while.
Let’s take an example of a metallic chair. The metallic chair wasn’t a chair in the beginning. Humans combined pieces of metal, cut the metallic pieces into rod-like structures of identical length and width, and allowed the pieces to undergo heating, melting, and cooling so that they would acquire the shape of a chair. Then they named this whole process welding, and humans who provided firsthand services in the process were called welders.
Today, welding has more than 50 different kinds. This article is not destined to discuss them all. This article will only discuss one of the most popular types of welding, and that is heliarc welding.
Let’s dive into the sea of knowledge coming next!
What is Heliarc Welding?
While scrolling through the Google feeds, did you ever come across welding processes like arc welding, TIG, gas tungsten arc welding, heliarc welding etc.?
Some of you must have experienced this encounter. Let me tell you about my experience related to these terminologies. When I first heard about them in my 8th standard, I found these processes and names intimidating! Since it was a major part of our final term syllabus, I had no other option but to internalize the concepts.
So, I gathered up the courage to search for the simplest definition of TIG, Heliarc, and Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW). Throughout my search, I was praying for something easy-to-learn and simple to understand. I can’t tell you the peak of my joy when I found that these processes are the same thing.
Sorry for making you wait until this point!
The American Welding Society (AWS) has repeatedly used the terms heliarc, GTAW, and TIG interchangeably. This shows that these are just different names of the same process.
Discovery of Heliarc Welding
The concept of heliarc welding was first introduced as a mechanism for welding magnesium by Russell Meredith in 1941. After he made some successful attempts in this welding process, it became one of the most reliable, efficient, and repeated welding techniques all over the world.
Okay, so what is the first thing that comes to your mind when I say an ice cream seller is standing by the road? I know, it is ice cream. It means that we, humans, are capable of guessing the profession or process just by looking at the name. Agreed?
That said, what comes to your mind when you think of heliarc welding? You must be confused about the relationship of helium with this process, but helium gas strikes your mind for sure when you write or hear ‘Heliarc.’
I will tell you how helium gas is linked to this welding process in a second or two. The inventor of this process named, Meredith, claims that the process is named so because it uses helium gas as a shielding gas so that the weld pool is not contaminated by atmospheric gases and pollutants. Got the point? Let’s move forward then!
Apart from helium gas, this process uses tungsten electrodes. The interesting part is that helium gas only acts as a shield and is not directly involved in the process. This is why recent articles and papers largely use the terms TIG and GTAW for describing this process. Heliarc welding is still trending, but the name has become obsolete. So much so that 90 percent of young professional welders go blank when they hear something about heliarc welding.
Heliarc welding mechanisms largely rely upon water-cooled torches. However, some welders also use air-cooled torches when working on low-amperage welding.
Let’s see what is coming next.
Positives of Heliarc Welding
I apologize if you were expecting something else related to heliarc welding. Right now, we will highlight some of the pros of heliarc welding mechanics!
1. Advancements in Crucial Industries
The invention of heliarc welding opened the door to the latest developments in industries like shipbuilding, military, food and beverage, and aerospace. These industries encompass this process because it provides clean welds on non-ferrous metals like magnesium and aluminum, and stainless steel.
2. Groundbreaking Reduction in Welding Time
After trying heliarc welding several times, one of the shipbuilders writes that we can save up to 40 percent of welding time when we use heliarc welding instead of metallic arc welding.
He went on to say that heliarc welding demands less consumption of time when it comes to warping and cleaning.
3. Four-Fold Increase in Production of Stainless Steel Plates
One of the welders wrote that the production of plates has increased by 300 percent after the adoption of heliarc welding. This process also reduced the number of leakers and curtailed clean-up time.
Final Statement
What is heliarc welding is a question that revolves around the young minds of present-day welders. This is because this name has its roots in the past. Recently, this whole process is named TIG or GTAW. Let us know if you have any questions about welding! Adieu!
