Welding in building work

This is a sample of our welding work

What is welding?

The welding that we work on is coated electrode welding. This welding will sound familiar to you because it is one of the welds that works at the highest temperature and is the one used to weld steel structures on site.

Temperatures close to 3500 ºC can be reached. Think that the sun is at 5500ºC but it is 149.6 million km from Earth.

Items required for welding

The electrode . The electrode is made up of a material that will provide a protective atmosphere (it is necessary since if the metal, steel, were not protected, it would quickly deteriorate due to high temperatures) and a filler material inside (metal, steel in our case , steel or stainless steel). It is caught with the clamp.

The arc of current . It is the flow of current that is generated due to the work of the welding machine and causes the tip of the electrode to heat up and a flow of material is generated from one polarity to another. Current inverter machines are very affordable and allow welding with a much more controlled current, with less energy consumption and direct current.

The piece to be welded . It has to be caught or be in electrical contact with the earth clamp. Depending on the position of the piece, one type of welding or another will be carried out, this greatly influences the quality and the difficulty. It is advisable to prepare the piece before welding, there must always be a good penetration of the filler material. This will be facilitated if the part is chamfered or a distance is left between one part and another.

What type of welding is there?

There are many types of welding: MIG, TIG, oxyacetylene, tin welding, etc. But the welding that interests us is stick welding. Depending on the type of electrode that we use, it will have different applications. These are the types of electrodes, which are classified according to the coating material of the filler steel bar:

Cellulosic electrode
Basic electrode
Rutile electrode

The cellulosic electrode. It is mainly used in downward vertical positions, therefore they are common in welding of large diameter pipes. They generate little slag and have excellent strength.

Basic electrode. The electrodes must be preheated beforehand to facilitate ignition. the main drawback is the work that the amount of slag produced produces. It is used in structures with high mechanical demands.

Rutile electrode. It is used for all applications, it is easy to work with and provides good mechanical resistance.

Types of positions

The position in the weld is very important because it will define the ease of welding a part, the amperage with which we have to work and the position of the electrode during welding.

The angles and movements in the technique of the welder:

The angle of advance. It is the angle that we take in the direction of movement, towards where we take the electrode.
The lateral angle. If the pieces are not flat, we must adapt the angle in the plane perpendicular to the advance.
Downward movement of penetration. It is the movement that is made to introduce the material into the piece.
Oscillation or movement. Semicircle, crescent, etc.

Depending on the position of the pieces:

Flat welding
Fillet welding
Wall welding
Roof welding

For example, the most difficult welding is the roof one, since the molten filler material tends to fall by gravity on your head and does not adhere and fuse with the pieces to be welded. For this reason, an experienced welder must anticipate the position in which he will weld the pieces during assembly and anticipate properly (if you can weld a piece flat before mounting a beam, don’t be silly, weld it NOW !!!)

Essential protections

We must use a protective mask so that UV rays do not cause irreversible damage to the retina, it is also important, if we are going to continuously weld, protect the closest parts of the body and those with more sensitive organs with fireproof, synthetic or of skin.

What can we build?

Below we make a non-exhaustive list of the things we can do from KAITEK ARCHITECTURE with our technicians and welders

We can build blacksmith elements for architecture and design:

Steel railings
Steel furniture
Glass and steel partitions
Metal fences
Stainless steel skylights

We can build structures:

New construction building structures
Pergolas
Collaborative slab ceilings

We can carry out rehabilitation work:

Structural beam reinforcement
Falling load-bearing walls
Reinforcements of floors with steel connectors

Above in the images you have other jobs that we can do in Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona or Lleida. Metal structure works. Construction of garden fences Construction of stainless steel skylights.