You are here

Thermite welding

Joining process by melting the material.

Beskrivning
Illustration of Thermite welding

The process

The workpieces to be joined are aligned with each other with a suitable space. Each application requires a mold [1] which is uniquely designed to fit the profile of the workpieces. The process is similar to a large degree to a normal casting process.

The mold is clamped over the workpieces so that they connect and then a combustor is placed on top of the mold. This is to preheat the void, providing better conditions for achieving a good quality end product.

After preheating, the combustor is replaced with a container [2] containing thermite [3]. When thermite is ignited such a large amount of heat is generated that the termite steel is melted, which then flows into the gap between the profiles. When the melt partially cools the mold is removed and post-processing in the form of grinding is applied to eliminate any irregularities and welding cracks. It is desirable that the weld profile is fully compliant with the workpieces.