What is a welding flux?
Welding Flux is a mixture of various minerals, chemicals, and alloying materials that primarily protect the molten weld metal from contamination by the oxygen and nitrogen and other contaminants in the atmosphere. The addition of certain chemicals and alloys also help to control arc stability and mechanical properties.
Flux is used in the following arc welding processes Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW), Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW) and Submerged Arc Welding (SAW). Let’s look at these welding processes and how flux is added and used in shielding the welding zone and in alloying.
Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) uses a solid core wire for the electrode material. To add the flux to the bare electrode we mix all the ingredients such as sodium and potassium silicate to the dry mix of materials and alloys to create a binder that is then added to the bare electrode by extrusion to make the SMAW coated electrode