Tig Welding Stainless Steel Pipe Purging

Purge gas backing fluxes fight off oxygen purging stainless steel pipe with ar gon or nitrogen for 300 series alloys with less than 10 percent nickel re quires the purge gas to flow long enough to displace the air from the pipe and create an atmosphere of less than 1 percent oxygen.

Tig welding stainless steel pipe purging. There are a couple of ways to weld stainless steel without purging the back of the weld. If you re welding stainless steel pipe with a traditional process like tig or stick it likely requires a back purge with argon gas. Solar flux is a powder that is mixed with methanol to form a cream like paste which is then painted onto the inside of the pipe plate. Most weld purging is carried out on joints made by the tig or gtaw welding process.

I take it your talking about tig welded root runs. At first you re required to appropriately configure your welder. A back purge removes contaminants and provides backing but it also adds significant time and money. They are able to be placed within close proximity of the weld zone thereby increasing efficiency of the entire welding process.

Welding stainless steel tubes and pipes typically requires back purging with argon gas when using traditional processes such as gas tungsten arc welding gtaw and shielded metal arc welding smaw. There are six basic steps to purging a tig weld. This process also uses shielding gas against contamination but you can weld thinner metals more efficiently with it. Tig welding stainless steel is performed by using a non disposable tungsten electrode with a tig welder for striking up the arc.

Crevice corrosion of the pipe. Any welded stainless steel pipe application requires shielding the back of the weld as well as the front when tig welding. Prepare the pipe ends for welding. Purging the weld is the best way to protect the inside of pipes from oxidation.

Solar flux is one flux cored wire is another. When the laser welding process is chosen joints or welds being made on reactive materials will need to be carried out and in the case of electron beam welding this is carried out in a vacuum in which case purging takes place by complete evacuation of all gas.