History of Welding

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The History of Welding To understand the history of welding we must first understand what exactly welding is, “a method of repairing or creating metal structures by joining the pieces of metals or plastic through various fusion processes”. Generally, heat in the form of open flames, electric arc or laser light are used to weld the materials. All forms of welding can be seen as far back as the middle ages, the 1800’s early and mid 1900’s and into the modern day field of welding. Examples of welding can be traced back to the Egyptians and their tools made from irons that were welded together. In the 1800’s major breakthroughs in welding were made. Acetylene, which was discovered by Edmund Davy was an important milestone in the history of welding since open flame allowed the manufacturing of intricate metal tools and equipment; Sir Humphrey Davy invented a battery-operated tool with the ability to produce arc between carbon electrodes. Later into the 1800’s a French scientist Auguste De Meritens fused lead plates together using heat created from an arc. It was a Russian scientist named Nikolai N. Bernardos however that secured the first British and US patents for and electrode holder. In the 1890’s one of the most popular welding methods was carbon arc welding. American C.L. Coffin secured a US patent for metal electrode arc Welding. In the Early 1900’s Stick electrodes became a popular welding tool. After WWI, Comfort Avery Adams established the American Welding Society, with its main goal being the advancement of the welding process. This led to the development of the automatic welding integrated use of arc voltage and bare electrode wires discovered by P.O. Nobel in the 1920’s. By the mid 1940’s a new process of welding came about known as Heliarc welding, which was a new form of welding aluminum and magnesium together seamlessly. (GTAW) gas shielded metal arc
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