Applications  [ Return to  Metal fabrication Industries  ]

Tungsten inert gas welding or GTAW-gas tungsten arc welding. This process is used when an very high welding quality is required (pressure vessels, piping, food containers, etc).
An additional filler metal may be used either manually (wire rod) or in an automatic process through a separate wire feeder.
Researchers in the Air Liquide Group have studied this process to learn more about it and to propose the most suitable shielding gases like ARCAL.

MIG: Metal Inert Gas welding (inert gases such as argon, helium or mixes).
These mixes are mainly used for sensitive stainless steels and aluminum or copper alloy welding.
Researchers in the AIR LIQUIDE Group have studied this process to learn more about it and to propose the most suitable shielding gases like ARCAL.

The Plasma welding process is a further development of the TIG welding process.
This process features high and deep penetration (arc constriction and high energy density) and is widely used in automatic installations for the construction of vessels or containers in stainless steel, and in the pipe welding industry for high-quality pressure piping and vessels. Thicknesses of up to 10 mm can be welded in a butt weld configuration with a combined plasma-Tig installation.
The process requires two gas flows: a central gas and a shielding gas like ARCAL.

Flame welding is a process widely used in working sites or repair shops. It is performed with a welding torch and exclusively with an oxy-acetylene or oxy-crylene (available in some countries) flame. Easy to settle, this process is versatile for numerous materials.
It shows a highly flexible use :
- Access to pieces to be welded
- Usability
- Mobile tool
- Autonomy (installation is free from any external energy source)
Recommended products: FLAMAL gas range, acetylene, oxygen, ROLLERFLAM welding kit.

This process requiring an electrical arc is widely used on any metal to obtain good cut properties and high productivity.
It can be carried either manually (separation cut) or automatically using robotized equipment.
Carbon steels of up to 15 mm are currently cut with oxygen. Stainless steels and aluminum are cut with nitrogen, while heavy thicknesses of up to 60-80 mm can be cut with an argon/hydrogen cutting gas.

Flame applications for cutting processes require FLAMAL, the oxy-fuel flame and straight oxygen as a cutting jet to separate the metal.
Mainly used in automatic for separating metals of more than 15 mm thickness, this process is efficient on carbon steels and sometimes on stainless steels with iron powder (heavy thickness of over 60 mm).
The high flexibility of this process combined with its excellent cutting performances confer it a very general-purpose character. It is thus very used for manual and automatic operations in metal fabrication, shipyards, boilers, scrapping, installation, etc.

A laser beam is focused on the base metal, and a cutting jet ejects the molten metal. This process is used mainly on thin metals requiring high precision and high productivity.
Main applications are cutting carbon steels, e.g. in the automotive industry or their suppliers, and stainless steel components typically used in the food industry.
This laser cutting process can be used on any material - wood, metals, fabrics or PE plastics.
The laser beam is produced by an electrical discharge inside a cavity filled with a gaseous medium containing mainly nitrogen, carbon dioxide and helium. Certain applications use a solid state laser, where the laser beam is generated by an excitation of a YAG solid state barre.
Air Liquide can provide you with optimized and innovative gas installations and gas equipment to meet all your flowrate and pressure needs for CO2 lasing gas: LASAL 1, 2, 4 (N2, CO2, He, laser grade) or one of the lasing mixes from the LASAL range.