What is Consumable – Inconsumable Electrode - Definition

Arc weding processes use a welding power supply to create and maintain an electric arc between an electrode and the base material to melt metals at the welding point. The intense heat produced by the arc quickly melts a portion of the base metal, resulting in the formation of a weld. This electrical arc is around 3590°C in its center. Filler metal is added in most welding processes to increase the volume and strength of the weld joint. A pool of molten metal, consisting of base and filler metal is formed near the tip of the electrode. As the electrode is moved along the joint, the molten metal solidifies in its wake.

The welding power supply can use either direct current (DC) or alternating current (AC), and consumable or non-consumable electrodes. The welding region is sometimes protected by some type of inert or semi-inert gas, known as a shielding gas. In arc welding, the length of the arc is directly related to the voltage, and the amount of heat input is related to the current. The voltage supplied by power companies for industrial purposes-120 volts (V), 230 V, 380 V, or 480 V is too high for use in arc welding. Therefore, the first function of an arc welding power source is to reduce the high input or line voltage to a suitable output voltage range, 20 V to 80 V. Constant current power supplies are most often used for manual welding processes such as gas tungsten arc welding and shielded metal arc welding, because they maintain a relatively constant current even as the voltage varies. This is important because in manual welding, it can be difficult to hold the electrode perfectly steady, and as a result, the arc length and thus voltage tend to fluctuate.

Consumable – Inconsumable Electrode

An electrode rod can be either consumable or inconsumable. If the electrode is made of carbon or tungsten rod has the sole purpose of carrying current to sustain the electric arc between its tip and the workpiece. If a nonconsumable electrode is used, and if the joint requires filler metal addition, then that metal must be supplied by a separately applied filler metal rod or wire. For consumable electrode, the arc can be sustained by a electrode, which not only conducts the current for sustaining the arc, but also melts and supplies filler metal to the joint.

References:

Materials Science:

U.S. Department of Energy, Material Science. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 1 and 2. January 1993.
U.S. Department of Energy, Material Science. DOE Fundamentals Handbook, Volume 2 and 2. January 1993.
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Gaskell, David R. (1995). Introduction to the Thermodynamics of Materials (4th ed.). Taylor and Francis Publishing. ISBN 978-1-56032-992-3.
González-Viñas, W. & Mancini, H.L. (2004). An Introduction to Materials Science. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-07097-1.
Ashby, Michael; Hugh Shercliff; David Cebon (2007). Materials: engineering, science, processing and design (1st ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-8391-3.
J. R. Lamarsh, A. J. Baratta, Introduction to Nuclear Engineering, 3d ed., Prentice-Hall, 2001, ISBN: 0-201-82498-1.

See above:
Welding

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