GMAW vs. FCAW – The advantages and disadvantages

Two of the most com­mon kinds of arc weld­ing used in indus­tri­al process­es are gas met­al arc weld­ing (GMAW) and flux cored arc weld­ing (FCAW).

GMAW or MIG Welding

What is GMAW?

Gas met­al arc weld­ing, bet­ter known as GMAW or MIG weld­ing, uses a con­tin­u­ous­ly fed sol­id wire elec­trode that is used for filler met­al that welds togeth­er two pieces of met­al. An exter­nal­ly sup­plied gas is used to keep out­side con­t­a­m­i­nants away dur­ing and after the weld­ing before the weld has set. Molten met­al is reac­tive to oxy­gen, nitro­gen and hydro­gen, accord­ing to the Lin­coln Elec­tric web­site. The shield­ing gas pro­tects against dis­con­ti­nu­ity, which could weak­en the weld.

Advan­tages of GMAW:

• High-qual­i­ty welds with good appear­ance and low spatter

• Bet­ter con­trol over the weld­ing process with less clean up required

• High­er weld­ing speeds and efficiency

• Good for weld­ing thin materials

• Eas­i­est type of weld­ing to learn 

• Process is more for­giv­ing for the robot

• GMAW appli­ca­tions are more forgiving

Flux cored arc weld­ing, also known as FCAW, uses a wire that is not sol­id, but instead has a core that con­tains the shield­ing gas­es need­ed to pro­tect the weld from con­t­a­m­i­nants. As the wire burns, the flux agents and shield gas­es are pro­duced, and help pro­duce a strong weld, the LE web­site stated.

Advan­tages of FCAW:

• Good for weld­ing thick­er materials

• High depo­si­tion rates and deep penetration

• Can be used for weld­ing fer­rous and non-fer­rous materials

• Can be used in out­door and windy conditions

Dis­ad­van­tages of FCAW:

• High spat­ter and slag, requir­ing more clean up

• Slow­er trav­el speeds com­pared to GMAW

• Lim­it­ed con­trol over the weld­ing process

• More expen­sive con­sum­ables com­pared to GMAW

Every day, man­u­fac­tur­ers make impor­tant deci­sions regard­ing weld­ing process­es like GMAW vs FCAW. Com­pa­nies such as Robots​.com are ded­i­cat­ed to help­ing man­u­fac­tur­ers make informed deci­sions for their facil­i­ties. Robots​.com, a cer­ti­fied inte­gra­tor for Fanuc, Motoman, ABB, and KUKA robot­ics com­pa­nies, has sev­er­al robot mod­els avail­able for FCAW and GMAW applications.

If you would like to learn more about the FCAW vs. GMAW debate, or to auto­mate your process with Robots​.com, con­tact us online or at 877−762−6881.