Solid wires, conversely, are much more rigid, which means fewer feeding problems, allowing them to be paired with undersized contact tips.Ĭast-The reason for over- and undersizing the contact tip relates not only to the type of the wire, but also to its cast and helix. Tubular and aluminum wires, which are soft, perform best with standard or oversized contact tips that allow them to feed through with minimum feeding force and without buckling or kinking inside the feeder or welding gun. For example, American Welding Society (AWS) code 5.18 allows ± 0.001-in. The standard tolerances of welding wires vary according to the type. In some cases, however, it may be preferable to either undersize or oversize the contact tip to the wire diameter. Type-Contact tip manufacturers usually recommend standard- (default) sized contact tips for the corresponding wires, such as an xxx-xx-45 contact tip for 0.045-inch wire. Three welding wire characteristics directly affect contact tip selection for a particular application: Impact of Welding Wire on Contact Tip Size The welding wire and welding process both influence the selection ( Figure 1). To get the best results, it is important to use the right contact tip size -or inner diameter (ID) - for the application. The goal is to have the wire feed through the contact tip smoothly, while maintaining maximum contact. ![]() It can also factor measurably into the productivity and profitability of your welding operation- downtime for excessive changeover can be detrimental to throughput and the cost of labor and inventory.Ī contact tip's major functions are to guide the welding wire and transfer the welding current to the wire as it passes through the bore. While only one part of a much larger system, the contact tip in both robotic and semiautomatic gas metal arc welding (GMAW) guns plays a critical role in providing sound weld quality.
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