Welding Process and Letter Designations
The AWS definition for a welding process is "a materials joining process which produces coalescence of material by heating them to suitable temperature with or without the application of pressure or by the application of pressure alone and with o without the use of filler material".
AWS has grouped the processes together according to the "mode of energy transfer" as the primary consideration. A secondary factor is the "influence of capillary attraction in effecting distribution of filler metal" in the joint. Capillary attraction distinguishes the welding processes grouped under "Brazing" and "Soldering" from "Arc Welding", "Gas Welding", "Resistance Welding", "Solid State Welding", and "Other Processes."
This table shows the official groupings and also shows the letter designation for each process. The letter designation assigned to the process can be used for identification on drawings, tables, etc.
Group |
Welding Process |
Letter Designation |
Arc welding |
Carbon Arc |
CAW |
Flux Cored Arc |
FCAW |
Gas Metal Arc |
GMAW |
Gas Tungsten Arc |
GTAW |
Plasma Arc |
PAW |
Shielded Metal Arc |
SMAW |
Stud Arc |
SW |
Submerged Arc |
SAW |
Brazing |
Diffusion Brazing |
DFB |
Dip Brazing |
DB |
Furnace Brazing |
FB |
Induction Brazing |
IB |
Infrared Brazing |
IRB |
Resistance Brazing |
RB |
Torch Brazing |
TB |
Oxyfuel Gas Welding |
Oxyacetylene Welding |
OAW |
Oxyhydrogen Welding |
OHW |
Pressure Gas Welding |
PGW |
Resistance Welding |
Flash Welding |
FW |
High Frequency Resistance |
HFRW |
Percussion Welding |
PEW |
Projection Welding |
RPW |
Resistance-Seam Welding |
RSEW |
Resistance-Spot Welding |
RSW |
Upset Welding |
UW |
Solid State Welding |
Cold Welding |
CW |
Diffusion Welding |
DFW |
Explosion Welding |
EXW |
Forge Welding |
FOW |
Friction Welding |
FRW |
Hot Pressure Welding |
HPW |
Roll Welding |
ROW |
Ultrasonic Welding |
USW |
Soldering |
Dip Soldering |
DS |
Furnace Soldering |
FS |
Induction Soldering |
IS |
Infrared Soldering |
IRS |
Iron Soldering |
INS |
Resistance Soldering |
RS |
Torch Soldering |
TS |
Wave Soldering |
WS |
Other Welding Processes |
Electron Beam |
EBW |
Electroslag |
ESW |
Induction |
IW |
Laser Beam |
LBW |
Thermit |
TW |
Related References:
1. Welding Process and Letter Designations
2. Welding Stainless Steel to other Steel
3. Welding and Post Fabrication Cleaning for Construction and Architectural Application
4. Welded Stainless Steel Pipe
5. Post weld cleaning and finishing of stainless steel
6. Avoid PWHT Post Weld Heat Treatment
7. Fume Associated With Welding Stainless Steel
8. Avoiding Distortion During Welding Stainless Steel
9. Design Strength of Welded Connections
10. Processes for Welding Stainless Steel
11. Brazing Stainless Steel
12. Soldering Stainless Steel
13. Welding Stainless Steel
14. Selection of Welding Consumables Filler
15. Selection of Welding Consumable for Welding Stainless Steel
16. Filler Metals For Welding Stainless Steel
17. Schaeffler and Delong Diagrams for Predicting Ferrite Levels
18. Welding Properties of Stainless Steel
19. 308L 309L 316L 347 Filler Metal Introduction
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