The history of Oxyacetylene welding |Gas Welding

Gas Welding

 History of Oxyacetylene welding (OAW) is a way to join metal by heating the surfaces to be joined to the melting point with a gas Welding flame, fusing the molten metal into a homogeneous mass, and then solidifying it into a single unit. 

The flame at the cone reaches temperatures as high as 5,800 to 6,300°F.

A filer rod may or may not be used to intermix with the molten pool of the metal being welded.

 

During the first part of this century, oxyacetylene welding became the major welding process both for fabrication and construction and maintenance and repair. It had wide applications because it can be used to weld practically all of the major metals. Today, however, we find that its use is limited to industrial production purposes. It is slower than the other welding processes, and many of the prime metals such as aluminum, titanium, and stainless steel can be welded more easily with

other processes. The oxy-acetylene process is still used for performing such operations as brazing, soldering, and metalizing; welding metals with low melting points; and general maintenance and repair work. Welding on pipes with small diameters is still being done with the

Oxyacetylene process

oxyacetylene process

While the oxyacetylene process is not used as much as it once was, it has a wide enough application to make it a necessary skill. It is an excellent means through which the

The History of Oxyacetylene Welding

welding bead

The oxyacetylene process had its beginning many centuries ago. The early Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used an alcohol or oil flame to fuse metals.

In the nineteenth century, various gases were tested in experimental welding. They were used in the laboratory and in working with precious metals, in 1847 Robert Hare of Philadelphia fused platinum with an oxyhydrogen flame.

Experiments were also done with oxygen-coal gas and air-hydrogen flames in the late 1800s.

• In 1836 Edmund Davey discovered acetylene gas.

• In 1895 Thomas L. Willson began to produce calcium carbide commercially. It was first used for residential lighting.

• In 1895 Le Chatelier, a French chemist, announced his discovery that the combustion of acetylene with oxygen produced a flame hotter than any other gas flame.

Oxyacetylene Gases

Gases by burning

However, many other fuel gases can be used for cutting and heating

Study the relative gas temperatures given in

the type of cylinders for the different gases, sizes, and capacities.

Oxygen Gases

It is the most abundant chemical

element in the crust of the Earth. It has no color, odor,

or taste. It does not burn, but by combining with other