Abstract
New environmental, health and safety legislation, both in the EU and in the USA, is driving the need for the study of new welding processes, and the selection of the operational procedures that will reduce fume emissions and will promote a healthier, safer and more productive work environment. Actually, there are a significant number of publications related with gas metal arc welding hazards. However, for the new gas metal arc welding hazards variants, especially cold metal transfer, there is no data available concerning fumes and gases emissions. This paper attempts to point out ways of reducing the harmful effects of gas metal arc welding processes using different filler materials, different shielding gases, different operational welding procedures and three welding processes: gas metal arc welding process and two variants, pulsed gas metal arc welding and cold metal transfer. The effect of nitrogen oxide addition to the shielding gas composition on the amount of welding fumes and gaseous emissions produced during welding is also analysed. The amount of fume and gases generated during welding was measured over a range of current intensity and arc voltages, using the standard procedures contained in EN ISO 15011-2 [1]. The data presented give a summary of the different gas metal arc welding variants and their relations to fume generation rates and gases emitted. The results obtained give indications on measures to be taken in order to reduce fume and gas emissions. In general, the minimisation of fume formation rate can be achieved by using lower energy gas metal arc welding variants, gas shielding with low CO2 and O2 contents and “green” wires.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
EN ISO 15011-2 (2003) Health and safety in welding and allied processes—laboratory method for sampling fume and gases generated by arc welding—Part 2: Determination of emission rates of gases, except ozone. May
Voitkevich V (1995) Welding fumes—formation, properties and biological effects. Abington, Cambridge
Magnusson EJ, Rosendahl CH (1980) Studies of the possibilities of classifying welding electrodes according to fume generation. IIW Doc. II-923
Lu L, Zhang L, Li G, Guo W, Liang W, Zheng W (2005) Alteration of serum concentrations of manganese, iron, ferritin, and transferrin receptor following exposure to welding fumes among career welders. NeuroToxicology 26:257–65
Racette BA, Tabbal SD, Jenning D (2005) Prevalence of parkinsonism and relationship to exposure in large sample of Alabama welders. Neurology 64(2):230–5
Antonini JM, Krishna Murthy GG, Rogers RA, Albert R, Eagar TW, Ulrich GD, Brain JD (1998) How welding fumes affect the welder. Weld J 77(10):55–59
Hansen EB, Thernøe J (2005) Oxides of nitrogen in welding, cutting and oxy-acetylene heating processes A review of emission rates, exposure levels and control measures. FORCE Instituttet. 8. International conference on Health and Safety in Welding and Allied Processes. Copenhagen, Denmark.
Pires I (1996) Analysis of the influence of shielding gas mixtures on features of MIG/MAG. MSc Thesis, Lisbon Technical University (only available in Portuguese)
Palania PK, Muruganb N (2006) Selection of parameters of pulsed current gas metal arc welding. J Mater Process Technol 172(1):1–10
Pickin CG, Young K (2006) Evaluation of cold metal transfer (CMT) process for welding aluminium alloy. Sci Technol Weld Join 11(5):583–585
Pinto H, Pyzalla A, Hackl H, Brucknera J (2006) Comparative study of microstructure and residual stresses of CMT, MIG and laser-hybrid welds. Mat Sci Forum 524–525:627–632
Knoll B (2003) Preliminary research to improved control of welding fume by automated local exhaust. TNO Building and Construction Research, report 2003-GGI-R083, Delft, (available in Dutch)
Knoll B (2003) Preliminary research to improved control of welding fume by adjusted torch extraction. TNO Building and Construction Research, report 2003-GGI-R082, Delft, (available in Dutch)
Guidance Note EH40—occupational exposure limits (ISBN 0717621944)
Pires I, Quintino L, Miranda RM, Gomes JFP (2006) Fume emissions during gas metal arc welding. Toxicol Environ Chem 88(3):385–394
Leuduey B, Galand E, Bauné E, Bonnet C (2007) Improvement of the welder’s environment through consumable product development, In competence. Technical Journal of Oerlikon Welding and Cutting expertise, pp. 5–15
Liberati G, Rouault P, Liu S (2007). Investigation into welding fume formation in FCAW under CO2. In competence. Technical Journal of Oerlikon Welding and Cutting expertise, pp. 25–33
Pires I, Quintino L, Miranda R (2007) Analysis of the influence of shielding gas mixtures on the gas metal arc welding metal transfer modes and fume formation rate. Mater Des 28:1623–1631
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pires, I., Quintino, L., Amaral, V. et al. Reduction of fume and gas emissions using innovative gas metal arc welding variants. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 50, 557–567 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-010-2551-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-010-2551-4