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Plasma Arc Welding for Large Titanium Aerospace Structures
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English
Abstract
Plasma arc welding produces butt-type joints satisfactorily in titanium as thick as 5/16 of an inch and in three common welding positions. The Keyholing technique accomplishes this in one pass. Without a filler wire addition this results in weld bead reinforcement that has slight undercutting at the weld edges. Undercutting could be prevented by filler wire addition or corrected by a second ‘wash’ pass.
Much higher depth-to-width weld bead ratios and much higher welding rates can be achieved by plasma instead of by conventional welding methods.
Tooling for plasma arc welding requires a deeper under-bead gap and wider holddown clearance than for conventional welding methods.
Joint evaluation revealed excellent results. X-ray quality was defect-free (“water-clear”). Joint strength approximated 100% for mill-annealed material. Joint ductility was also high relative to parent material. This was established by Elongation and by Bend Radii determinations relative to parent material.
Plasma arc welding may be an optimum choice between conventional TIG / MIG and Electron Beam methods for some large structures involving thick joints.
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Citation
Langford, G., "Plasma Arc Welding for Large Titanium Aerospace Structures," SAE Technical Paper 660646, 1966, https://doi.org/10.4271/660646.Also In
References
- Filipski S. P. “Plasma Arc Welding,” Welding Journal 11 1964 937 943
- O'Brien R. L. “Plasma Arc Welding Applications,” Paper presented at the Metals/Materials Congress at the American Society for Metals Philadelphia 1964
- Cooper G. Palermo J. Browning J. A. “Recent Developments in Plasma Welding,” Welding Journal 44 268-276 1965
- Cooper G. H. “Plasma Welding: Standard Shop Applications Are Now a Reality.” Welding Engr. September 1965 62 64
- Miller H. R. Filipski S. P. “Automated Plasma Arc Welding for Aerospace and Cryogenic Fabrications.” Welding Journal 6 1966 493 501