In this post, we will understand the concept of hot air welding.
Welding is a process of joining two metals or thermoplastics by heat or pressure. Heat or pressure causes them to melt and they are then cooled down to form a fusion and thus, the two metals are joined.
Brazing or soldering do not melt the base material and use a helping metal that is melted and that joins the two base metals. So, welding is different from these two methods in terms of this basic working, as welding directly melts the base material.
Apart from the base material, a filler material is also melted along with it to help form the weld. This material is chosen of similar composition as the base material, to form a proper weld.
There are many types of welding processes and the type depends on the way used for melting the material. In this post, we will see one such type – Hot Air Welding.
Hot Air Welding
As the name suggests, this method uses heated air of very high temperatures to melt the base metals and join them.
Apart from the heat, pressure is also applied by either a rotary press or manual process, to form the weld. This type of seal is very strong and is highly resistant to air and water pressure.
The temperature range of this welding is between 400 to 730 deg.C.
Important Factors
It is important to use the equipment used for providing hot air by considering some important factors like
- They need to provide a consistent airflow that is of low pressure and high volume;
- It must use a temperature controlling device to accurately control the temperature of the weld;
- It must provide clean and dry air which is free of oil and moisture etc.
Advantages of Hot Air Welding
Let us have a look at some of the advantages of this welding:
- It is a good option for metals which have odd geometry sizes and other joining methods are not possible. For such types of surfaces, consistent pressure and contact between the two metals is difficult to maintain for a long time. So, this welding is widely used for such surfaces.
- You can join long, continuous panels irrespective of the size, dimensions and shape of the two surfaces. It must be noted that many complex welding surfaces are solved through this process.
- It is used for many applications, such as fluid containment bags, sealed air houses, industrial curtain walls, fluid overflow bags etc. Also, it can join various types of surfaces apart from metals, like polyethylene, synthetics, nylon, PVC coated fabrics etc.
- It consumes less time and is quick in action. Also, as the final weld is highly resistant to various types of corrosions; the product life is increased to a great extent.
Hot air welding is one of the most widely used welding processes in many industries as it solves complex welding surfaces, provides a variety, is simple and multi-dimensional.