About
MIG wires are available for a range of materials including aluminium, carbon and alloy steels, stainless steel, copper alloys, nickel alloys and titanium. Although wires are produced for all these materials, the range of compositions available may be more limited for some than for others.
Operation
Once an arc has been struck between the MIG wire and the workpiece, the wire will start to melt. Transfer of metal across the arc may take place in dip, globular, spray or pulsed mode, depending on wire diameter, current, voltage and shielding gas type. In the MIG process, the wire is fed at a constant speed by a wire-feed unit and the arc length is kept constant within tight tolerance by the electrical characteristics of the process.
MIG wire provides all the alloying for the weld metal. Protection for the wire and the weld metal from the atmosphere is provided by an auxiliary shielding gas.
Types
Solid MIG wires are categorised by the general alloy group that they conform to.
The main alloy groupings are:
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The general alloy groups are also sub-divided into specific alloy compositions. With carbon steel and alloy steel wire groups, there is a further sub-division because these wires may be available as copper-coated or bare wire. All other MIG wires are available only as bare wire.
The number of different alloy compositions in each group varies considerably depending on the diversity of alloy compositions to be welded. The groups with fewest wires are titanium, copper and carbon steel; the group with the most wires is stainless steel.
MIG wires that are suitable for welding cast irons and for hard-facing are also available. Cast-iron MIG wires do not exist; nickel MIG wires are used instead. Hard-facing MIG wires are not used for joining materials together and are categorised by the hardness of the weld-metal deposit rather than by composition.
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