TIG Welding equipment

The TIG welding process is very effective and high-quality process that requires skilled welders to perform the welding. For this reason, TIG / GTAW welding is used for very critical applications in many industries where strength, reproducibility and traceability are belonging to the specifications. In addition, most metals can be welded with TIG because of its stability and the possibilities it offers to be automated and applied in all welding positions. It is the case of heterogeneous basic materials: stainless steel, titanium, magnesium, aluminium and copper. Let us draw the list of industries and different industrial applications where Tungsten Inert Gas Welding or TIG for short also called Gas Tungsten Arc Welding or GTAW for short are most popular.

Use of the TIG welding in the industry

Industries which apply the TIG welding process :

Aircraft industry

Aircraft aerospace industries with titanium tubes and manifold hip from machines produced with TIG GTAW orbital welding equipment

The aircraft industry was the first to recognise the importance of orbital welding for its purposes. More than 1,500 welds are necessary to complete the high-pressure system of one single plane. Manual welding of the small, thin-walled tubes is extremely difficult, and the required consistent joint quality cannot be guaranteed. However, TIG / GTAW welding procedures using orbital welding have provided a solution, in which the parameter values are reliably controlled by the equipment and the final welds meet the same quality level as the qualified test welds. In this industry, an orbital welding power supply with the appropriate TIG welding accessories are compulsory for any large-scale projects.

Food, diary and beverage industries

Food and Beverage industry PEHD bottle filling production chain assembled with TIG welding equipment

The food, diary and beverage industries need tube and pipe systems meeting delicate hygienic requirements. Full penetration of the welded joints is necessary; any pit, pore, crevice, crack or undercut can become a dead spot, where the medium is trapped and pathogenic bacteria growth (Listeria etc.), could occur. Smooth surfaces everywhere inside the tubes enable successful cleaning and complete sterilisation of the system. The requisite surface quality can only be ensured if orbital TIG welding equipment like a proper TIG welding power source and a welding head are used to weld these critical joints. Therefore, most current standards such as EHEDG and specifications require manufacturers of hygienic installations to apply this process.

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries

Syringe injection needle tablets medication bottle equipment pharmaceutical biotechnology industries welding equipment

Plants in pharmaceutical industries must be equipped with pipe systems for the transport and treatment of products and for the safe supply of clean steam and injection water. For injection water and its derivatives, which are intended for injection into the human body, the purity requirements are particularly high. Any trace of corrosion cannot be tolerated; therefore welds must be corrosion resistant, especially to incidents such as the partial overheating of base material. Joints made by TIG / GTAW welding machines like with welding generators meet the high standards for extended corrosion resistance. Additionally, to avoid any subsequent oxidation or corrosion, their smooth surface can be passivated.

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries

Semiconductor circuit with chip from machines produced TIG welding equipment

For the fabrication of semi-conductor devices, electro-polished stainless-steel tubes are installed as process gas lines, mostly with an OD of 6.3 mm and a wall thickness of 0.9 mm. The ultra-pure process gas must pass through the tubes without picking up moisture, oxygen, particles or any other contaminants. The acceptance criteria for these installations are extremely stringent.  Uniform welds with small weld beads are required, in order to minimise the weld surface in the tubes, allow for full penetration on the ID and ensure the absence of discoloration, etc. Only the reliability and consistency of TIG welding equipment, used by experienced operators, often even under adverse conditions on site, can enable such tasks to be successfully carried out.

Chemical industries

chemical industry test tubes liquid from machines produced TIG welding equipment

A considerable proportion of plant equipment for chemical industries is manufactured and installed by means of orbital TIG welding. Chemical apparatus comprises of tubes, heat exchangers and converters, which are made of corrosion-resistant or refractory metals, or alloys of titanium, zirconium, nickel, chrome etc. as well as the whole range of different types of stainless steel. As the service life of the installations depend directly on the quality level of the welded joints, strict control and traceability of the weld process are required by customers, inspection bodies and standards authorities. For the assembly of one heat exchanger, hundreds or even thousands of faultless welds must be carried out, thus, in this area, orbital welding is invaluable in ensuring the expected results.

Fossil and nuclear power plants

Four chimneys of nuclear power station on a blue sky and fields cooling towers nuclear industry produced with TIG welding equipment

For the safety of fossil fuel power stations and nuclear reactors, the whole range of orbital joining techniques are applied. Small diameter tubing must be connected, for sensing and control purposes, heat exchangers and other components are manufactured using orbital tube-to-tubesheet welding and thick-walled tubes for operation under high pressure and temperature must be assembled on site. The welding procedures and the weld quality are generally under constant surveillance by the respective authorities and external organisations. In this respect, the required complete documentation and traceability is ensured using orbital equipment with its online data acquisition systems. This industry is very challenging and often automated welding

Who we are

Polysoude specialises in the design, development and manufacture of innovative arc welding solutions. The brand is synonymous with world-leading expertise in 3 core sectors: automatic orbital TIG welding systems, automated TIG and plasma welding solutions and TIGer™ weld overlay.
Situated in Nantes since 1961, the company manufactures a variety of power sources and orbital welding equipment, like a wide range of open and closed welding heads. We offer as well a wide range of services like welding machine calibration and training
Nowadays, as a smart factory oriented company, Polysoude products are all designed to be ready for Industry 4.0.

Contact us

Join our community on LinkedIn: @Polsyoude

Follow us on our social media: 

Facebook @polysoude 

Instagram @polysoudeglobal