A-TIG Welding on Ferritic Stainless Steel

The use of active flux in the TIG welding process can be an alternative for increasing the welding speed of the process, as this technique allows the depth of penetration of the weld bead to be increased while maintaining the same parameters used in conventional TIG. One way of taking advantage of this technique while guaranteeing a good bead finish is to apply the flux in such a way that, instead of one layer covering the entire surface of the sheet, two strips of flux are applied, separated by a predetermined distance, defined as parameter "a". This technique is referred to in this work as the Controlled Constriction Technique (CCT). The influence of the use of the Controlled Constriction Technique with the A-TIG process on the welding of ferritic stainless steel was analyzed in this work, identifying and quantifying the main phenomena involved, such as increased penetration, changes in the arc and possible changes in the mechanical and metallurgical properties of ferritic steel.