The basics of shielded metal arc welding

There are sev­er­al weld­ing appli­ca­tions on the mar­ket today that per­form dif­fer­ent func­tions for man­u­fac­tur­ers. The type of weld­ing appli­ca­tion used is usu­al­ly decid­ed by the type of mate­r­i­al being weld­ed and the type of weld need­ed for the part. Shield­ed Met­al Arc Weld­ing, also known as stick weld­ing, is one of the more com­mon weld­ing appli­ca­tions avail­able in the indus­try today.

SMAW is a process that uses a con­sum­able elec­trode that is coat­ed with flux when weld­ing. This process can use alter­nat­ing cur­rent or direct cur­rent pow­er sup­ply to com­plete the stick weld­ing process. Once the weld is made, the flux dis­in­te­grates and gives off a vapor that serves as a shield­ing gas against contaminants.

This type of weld­ing is fair­ly sim­plis­tic and ver­sa­tile. As one of the world’s most pop­u­lar weld­ing process­es, it offers easy main­te­nance and upkeep, as well as the abil­i­ty to be used in sev­er­al dif­fer­ent indus­tries, includ­ing steel con­struc­tion and indus­tri­al fabrication.

A shield­ed met­al arc welder usu­al­ly welds met­als like iron or steel, includ­ing stain­less steel. How­ev­er, this appli­ca­tion can also han­dle alu­minum, nick­el and cop­per alloys if nec­es­sary, giv­ing it a great amount of flex­i­bil­i­ty in the man­u­fac­tur­ing facility.

Robots​.com pro­vide robots from Fanuc, Motoman, ABB, and KUKA robot­ics, has sev­er­al shield­ed met­al arc weld­ing robots avail­able for pur­chase and cus­tomiza­tion in our Mar­i­on, Ohio facil­i­ty. Robots​.com’ high­ly-trained staff can help you find the sys­tem you need. Our staff will work with you to design and build the right SMAW sys­tem for your facil­i­ty to your exact specifications.

For more infor­ma­tion on automat­ing your SMAW process­es with Robots​.com, con­tact us online or at 877−762−6881.