Comment by anfractuosity
8 years ago
That's interesting with respect to welding. I just assumed all metals could be welded, do you know the reason why some can't out of interest.
Also is plutonium welded for any application, out of curiosity?
8 years ago
That's interesting with respect to welding. I just assumed all metals could be welded, do you know the reason why some can't out of interest.
Also is plutonium welded for any application, out of curiosity?
One reason certain metals can't be welded is how their crystalline structure is altered by the process, creating a weak or brittle weld/HAZ (heat affected zone: weaker metal surrounding the weld/filler metal altered by heat)
Some metals also have difficult or impossible cooling rates - welding stainless to carbon steel will make a weak weld that is almost guaranteed to crack while cooling because one metal cools and contracts much faster than the other.
The topic is fairly complex, but there is a good textbook/reference for welders put out by the Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation called "Metals and How To Weld Them" that goes deep on structure and metallurgy, in a readable way.
I just assumed all metals could be welded, do you know the reason why some can't out of interest.
Not a welder but spent some time in farming school and on farms:
IIRC Not even all steel can be welded (i.e. at least not in a practical way using standard tools.)