Do you want to know why manual arc welding with stick electrodes (electric manual arc welding) is indispensable in our modern world?
In fact, manual arc welding with stick electrodes is one of the oldest electric welding methods for metallic materials. It’s also one of the most widely used welding methods in the world.
Today, about 25 to 30 percent of all welded products worldwide are manufactured using the manual electric welding method.
This method is still indispensable in numerous applications, such as steel and pipeline construction. Welding is relatively tolerant of material defects and can be done in all weather conditions.
The major advantage of welding with stick electrodes is how easy it makes the entire welding process. It doesn’t use gas, so gas cylinders aren't needed, and the welding machines have become simple and compact. This means that they can even be used in inaccessible areas, in small rooms in shipbuilding, or at high altitudes.
Handy welding machines are essential for this. We offer the perfect solution!
Here are two good examples:
Thanks to the high tolerance for material defects, the welds are of a very high quality. Certain approvals for critical components, for instance in power plant construction, are only available for stick electrodes; solid wire welding isn’t an option here at all!
Stick electrodes also offer some advantages over a solid wire when you’re welding stainless steel. The alloy of a solid wire is determined in the steel mill, in large batches of at least 5 – 10 tons for high-alloy qualities and even over 100 tons for unalloyed steels. This means that particular welding-related characteristics often can’t be taken into account.
Stick electrodes, on the other hand, make it possible to develop a precise composition with the exact alloying elements required to achieve the best possible chemical composition for the application in question.
They should actually be called "coated stick electrodes" and, in fact, our developers have put all their know-how into the coating.
Welding properties and mechanical quality values of the weld metal can be influenced by the coating. The ability to precisely determine the alloy via the coating by adding alloying and microalloying elements is key here, especially in the case of high-alloy qualities.
Our metallurgical expertise lies in balancing alloying elements between the core wire and the coating. By making small changes in the coating, we can also flexibly respond to customers’ own specifications and produce customized electrodes.
“When it comes to the coating concept, our customers can choose between rutile and basic coatings, depending on the application. Just like with unalloyed electrodes, welding properties and handling are easier with rutile coatings, but basic coatings have better mechanical properties,”
Robin Götschl, Global Product Manager
High-alloy or even rust-free voestalpine Böhler Welding stick electrodes are mainly produced with core wire alloy concepts. The large batches of wire rods from steel mills enable a homogeneous distribution of the main alloying elements here. This generates consistent corrosion resistance in the weld.
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