Stainless steel continues to grow in popularity as a useful material for industrial applications. Ever since the original stainless steel material was introduced in 1913, the material has undergone many different tests and combinations to develop stainless steel variants. In particular, stainless steel pipes are designed to be corrosive resistant and easily welded into multiple shapes for efficiency.
When having your stainless steel pipes welded, there are several important factors you should consider. Welding stainless steel is more complex than many other metals, primarily because of the alloys that are used to create many different types of stainless steel.
However, by following these 3 important tips, you can ensure that your welder produces quality stainless steel pipes for your commercial premises.
1. The material should be clean
To begin with, all stainless steel surfaces should be clean. Stainless steel contains high chromium content that can build up and interfere with your weld pool. In addition, grease and oils may also interfere with the quality of your welds. As two separate surfaces are joined together, the weld pool should remain clean and free of debris.
Depending on your welder, you may either need to clean the stainless steel surfaces yourself, or the welding company may do it as part of their service delivery.
2. Your welder should use the right temperatures
Welding stainless steel is a temperature-sensitive process. If the temperatures of the welding metal and base metal are not within recommended limits, it will affect the quality of your final product. In most cases, stainless steel should be welded under low heat. This is because the thin metal sheets of stainless steel can easily warp if heat and temperature conditions are too high.
There are several ways through which welders check for temperature levels during welding. They can use an infrared thermometer that takes accurate temperature readings of the working area in real time, or they can use surface temperature probes that record temperature readings on the surface of the metal.
With real-time readings, welders can adjust the welding environment and make sure your stainless steel pipes don't warp.
3. Proper filler metals should be used
You will probably need to add filler metals to your stainless steel pipes. Prior to welding, you should determine the correct types of filler metals to be used in your weld. The choice may be as simple as a metal with the same number, or a complementary metal that can form a bridge between dissimilar metals.
In most cases, your welder should be able to propose the best filler metals to use for stainless steel welding.
For more information, contact a local welding company like Burnback Welding Equip Services.