History[edit]
The iron pillar of Delhi, India
The history of joining metals goes back several millennia. The earliest examples of this come from
the Bronze and Iron Ages in Europe and the Middle East. The ancient Greek
historian Herodotus states in The Histories of the 5th century BC that Glaucus of Chios "was the
man who single-handedly invented iron welding".[5] Forge welding was used in the construction of
the Iron pillar of Delhi, erected in Delhi, India about 310 AD and weighing 5.4 metric tons.[6]
The Middle Ages brought advances in forge welding, in which blacksmiths pounded heated metal
repeatedly until bonding occurred. In 1540, Vannoccio Biringuccio published De la pirotechnia, which
includes descriptions of the forging operation.[7] Renaissance craftsmen were skilled in the process,
and the industry continued to grow during the following centuries.[7]
In 1800, Sir Humphry Davy discovered the short-pulse electrical arc and presented his results in
1801.[8][9][10] In 1802, Russian scientist Vasily Petrov created the continuous electric arc,[10][11][12] and
subsequently published "News of Galvanic-Voltaic Experiments" in 1803, in which he described
experiments carried out in 1802. Of great importance in this work was the description of a stable arc
discharge and the indication of its possible use for many applications, one being melting metals. [13] In
1808, Davy, who was unaware of Petrov's work, rediscovered the continuous electric arc. [9][10] In
1881–82 inventors Nikolai Benardos (Russian) and Stanisław Olszewski (Polish)[14] created the first
electric arc welding method known as carbon arc welding using carbon electrodes. The advances in
arc welding continued with the invention of metal electrodes in the late 1800s by a Russian, Nikolai
Slavyanov (1888), and an American, C. L. Coffin (1890). Around 1900, A. P. Strohmenger released
a coated metal electrode in Britain, which gave a more stable arc. In 1905, Russian scientist Vladimir
Mitkevich proposed using a three-phase electric arc for welding. Alternating current welding was
invented by C. J. Holslag in 1919, but did not become popular for another decade. [15]
Resistance welding was also developed during the final decades of the 19th century, with the first
patents going to Elihu Thomson in 1885, who produced further advances over the next 15
years. Thermite welding was invented in 1893, and around that time another
process, oxyfuel welding, became well established. Acetylene was discovered in 1836 by Edmund
Davy, but its use was not practical in welding until about 1900, when a suitable torch was developed.
[16]
At first, oxyfuel welding was one of the more popular welding methods due to its portability and
relatively low cost. As the 20th century progressed, however, it fell out of favor for industrial
applications. It was largely replaced with arc welding, as advances in metal coverings (known
as flux) were made.[17] Flux covering the electrode primarily shields the base material from impurities,
but also stabilizes the arc and can add alloying components to the weld metal. [18]
Bridge of Maurzyce
World War I caused a major surge in the use of welding, with the various military powers attempting
to determine which of the several new welding processes would be best. The British primarily used
arc welding, even constructing a ship, the "Fullagar" with an entirely welded hull. [19][20]: 142 Arc welding
was first applied to aircraft during the war as well, as some German airplane fuselages were
constructed using the process.[21] Also noteworthy is the first welded road bridge in the world,
the Maurzyce Bridge in Poland (1928).[22]
Acetylene welding on cylinder water jacket, US Army 1918
During the 1920s, significant advances were made in welding technology, including the introduction
of automatic welding in 1920, in which electrode wire was fed continuously. Shielding gas became a
subject receiving much attention, as scientists attempted to protect welds from the effects of oxygen
and nitrogen in the atmosphere. Porosity and brittleness were the primary problems, and the
solutions that developed included the use of hydrogen, argon, and helium as welding atmospheres.
[23]
During the following decade, further advances allowed for the welding of reactive metals
like aluminum and magnesium. This in conjunction with developments in automatic welding,
alternating current, and fluxes fed a major expansion of arc welding during the 1930s and then
during World War II.[24] In 1930, the first all-welded merchant vessel, M/S Carolinian, was launched.
Portable welder being used for Sydney stormwater
infrastructure
During the middle of the century, many new welding methods were invented. In 1930, Kyle Taylor
was responsible for the release of stud welding, which soon became popular in shipbuilding and
construction. Submerged arc welding was invented the same year and continues to be popular
today. In 1932 a Russian, Konstantin Khrenov eventually implemented the first underwater electric
arc welding. Gas tungsten arc welding, after decades of development, was finally perfected in 1941,
and gas metal arc welding followed in 1948, allowing for fast welding of non-ferrous materials but
requiring expensive shielding gases. Shielded metal arc welding was developed during the 1950s,
using a flux-coated consumable electrode, and it quickly became the most popular metal arc welding
process. In 1957, the flux-cored arc welding process debuted, in which the self-shielded wire
electrode could be used with automatic equipment, resulting in greatly increased welding speeds,
and that same year, plasma arc welding was invented by Robert Gage. Electroslag welding was
introduced in 1958, and it was followed by its cousin, electrogas welding, in 1961.[25] In 1953, the
Soviet scientist N. F. Kazakov proposed the diffusion bonding method.[26]
Other recent developments in welding include the 1958 breakthrough of electron beam welding,
making deep and narrow welding possible through the concentrated heat source. Following the
invention of the laser in 1960, laser beam welding debuted several decades later, and has proved to
be especially useful in high-speed, automated welding. Magnetic pulse welding (MPW) has been
industrially used since 1967. Friction stir welding was invented in 1991 by Wayne Thomas at The
Welding Institute (TWI, UK) and found high-quality applications all over the world.[27] All of these four
new processes continue to be quite expensive due to the high cost of the necessary equipment, and
this has limited their applications.[28]
