Overlay welding is the process of joining metals by welding them on top of another metal surface layer. This technique is a cost-effective solution for enhancing a component’s surface properties. It allows an expensive material to be used as a clad layer instead of being applied to make up a part’s entire composition, which can cost more.
Applications of Overlay Welding
Overlay welding is used on components to achieve features like resistance to wear, heat, and corrosion. It can also help restore and improve components and manufacture bimetallic parts.
Achieving Resistant Properties
Overlay welding helps add a layer for corrosion resistance, heat resistance, and wear resistance on the surface of a metal workpiece. It is also used for creating customized parts for ground-engaging equipment and other machinery.
Because of its benefits, overlay welding is widely used in machinery manufacturing, electric power, metallurgy, mining, construction, petrochemical, and other industries.
Components Restoration and Improvement
Overlay welding is also beneficial for restoring components that sustained damage or machining errors in factories or mines. The added layer of new materials can improve the performance of the original component.
Manufacturing Bimetallic Machine Parts
Overlay welding is used for creating bimetallic components. A good example would be a turbine blade constructed mainly of carbon steel, which is cost-effective but prone to cavitation. To mitigate this, stainless steel is overlaid on the component, making it bimetallic with excellent hardness and wear resistance.
Different Overlay Welding Methods
These are the overlay welding techniques used to apply cladding and hardfacing to metals.
Shielded Metal Arc Welding
Shielded metal arc welding uses a consumable, flux-coated electrode to make an arc between the electrode and the workpiece. In this fusion welding process, the molten metal travels from the electrode through the electrical arc to be deposited into the workpiece.
Metal Inert Gas Welding
Metal inert gas (MIG) welding uses a continuous solid wire electrode that is heated and fed into a weld pool from a welding gun. The two materials are then melted together to form a joint. During this process, the welding gun feeds a shielding gas alongside the wire electrode to protect the weld pool from contaminants.
Tungsten Inert Gas Welding
Tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode. During this process, the weld pool and the tungsten are cooled and protected with an inert shielding gas like helium or argon. TIG welding is well-suited for making high-quality welds for applications like ship fitting, vehicle manufacturing, and bicycle manufacturing and repair.
Submerged-Arc Welding
Submerged-arc welding is a process that involves a formation of an electric arc between a continuously fed electrode and the workpiece. In this method, a blanket of powdered flux surrounds and covers the arc, providing electrical conduction between the metal and the electrode.
Plasma Transferred Arc
Plasma transferred arc is a high-energy and low-heat inert gas overlay welding process. This complex overlay technique uses a tungsten electrode to provide flux to the arc externally. It also requires powder and can overlay complex carbide alloys and create a specialized overlay. Furthermore, this method of welding overlay can apply coating up to 3/8 inches thick.
MSM: Your Welding Overlay Experts!
Here at Machine Specialty and Manufacturing, Inc., we specialize in overlay weld services. We offer a full-service welding facility with six CNC hotwire gas tungsten arc welding machines, a submerged arc welder, and three high-deposition gas metal arc welding spray manipulators that are perfect for catering to your overlay and cladding welding needs.
MSM proudly holds ISO 9001:2015, API Q1, API 6A, API 16A, and API 16C licenses! We take our work seriously and provide quality-compliant products that arrive to our clients on time. Contact us today for your overlay welding needs! You may also request a quote here.