Tungsten electrode

Welding is one of the most common methods of fastening various elements. It allows obtaining strong compounds of complex shape. In many industries, this process lends itself quite well to automation, which makes it even more in demand. This makes it necessary to weld both different steels and non-ferrous metals. It is for these purposes that tungsten electrodes, which have become widespread, are well suited.

In appearance, tungsten electrodes with various additives do not differ in any way – they are round rods of the same length. However, the welding characteristics of different brands differ significantly. To simplify work with the products and minimize the possibility of choosing the wrong electrode, they are marked with colored labels. Each color corresponds to a certain brand:

• brown, white – WZ-4, WZ-8 (zirconium oxide);
• green – WP (tungsten without additives);
• black, golden, blue – WL-10, WL-15, WL-20 (lanthanum oxide);
• dark blue – WY-20 (yttrium oxide);
• yellow, red, purple, orange – WT-10, WT-20, WT-30, WT-40 (thorium oxide);
• pink, gray – WC-10, WC-20 (cerium oxide);
• turquoise – WS-2 (mixture of oxides of rare earth metals).

The main purpose of the tungsten electrode is arc welding.

It is used to connect parts made of non-ferrous metals and their alloys (and the chemical composition of the elements to be welded may be different), as well as high-alloyed steels. At the same time, the welded seam has high strength. In addition to welding, plasma cutting, surfacing and spraying processes can be noted.