Investigation on current usage and future trends of welding consumables used in various industries of Japan

摘要

An Investigation was carried out in 1996 on the current usage of welding consumables in Japan; 251 answers from all industrial sectors were received following the mailing of a questionnaire to 588 industries. A table summarizing the monthly consumption of welding consumables by welding process is given; when comparing the investigation results with those conducted in 1991, the consumption ratio of covered electrodes and solid wires decreased by approximately 4% and 7%. Inversely, the consumption ratio of flux cored wire increased by approximately 11%. As regards the trends of the consumption of welding consumables by type of steel, the following was noted: the mild steel and 490 N/mm{sup}2 high strength steel type consumables decreased from approximately 77 to 60% for the boiler/storage tank industry and increased form 47 to 72% for the other industries. The high strength (570 N/mm{sup}2 or higher) steel type welding consumables increased from approximately 10 to 15% and from 8 to 18% for the boiler and storage tank industries respectively. The hardfacing type welding consumables decreased from 27 to 5%. Requests for development in welding consumables are summarized in tabular form; as regards MIG/MAG welding, reduced spatter and improved bead appearance are two important requests although progress has been made concerning spatter; with respect to flux-cored wires, the requests by order of importance are reduced spatter, reducing fumes and reducing blowholes; for shielded metal arc welding, use of electrodes that needs no redrying before use and above all low hydrogen type electrodes and emitting lower fumes. Eventually as regards submerged arc welding, requests concern better slag removal.