Savings for Stainless
Posted 30 November 2003
Researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Cooperative Research Centre for Welded Structures (CRC-WS) have developed a welding process for stainless steels and other corrosion-resistant metals that is significantly faster, cheaper and easier than current practices.
The patented process is an elaboration of standard gas-tungsten arc welding (GTAW), and uses a specially designed torch that establishes and maintains a ‘keyhole’ at the joint.
The weld then proceeds, zipper-like, with the melted sides of the keyhole fusing at the back as the torch melts new material in front of