Welding is the most popular way of joining two or more pieces of metal into one. The bond created by extreme heating of the metals cools down to create a joint that you cannot separate easily. Certainly, metals have different characteristics, and that translates to the requirements you must meet to weld them. Welders and fabricators use different types of welds and joints to ensure that you get the best bond whenever you need to join two or more materials. So what are some of the options they resort to when doing this work? Here is an article that sheds more light on the subject:

Weld Beads

Weld beads are one of the popular types of welds in the market today. Here, the welder carries out one pass of the welding process over the area that needs a joint. The bead can be wide or narrow depending on how much transverse oscillation the welder will use. Transverse oscillation refers to the side-by-side movement that the welder will execute when they are doing the weld. If they do the weld with little weaving, then you get a weld bead referred to as a stringer motion. Lots of oscillation, on the other hand, delivers a weave bead.

Welders can also opt for multiple weld beads applied adjacent to one another in a process called surfacing. The result is a hard and wear-resistant metal layer on worn-out parts. 

Fillet

Welders can also opt to use fillets joints when they are joining two or more pieces of metal. In this case, the welder makes a triangular weld to join pieces positioned at approximate right angles. The joint formed here could be a tee joint, lap joint or corner joint.

Plug and Slot Welds

Plug and slot welds result when the welder makes slots and holes in a member of a welded lap joint. The welder is able to join two pieces to the surface of the other by welding through the slot or joint. Slot welds join pieces at several points rather than a straight continuous line. They are ideal for light-duty applications where the weld will not be subjected to lots of shearing or brute force. 

Groove Welds

Materials with different shapes can have grooves between them. The grooves shouldn't be a barrier to delivering a good weld joint between such materials. Groove welds sit between two materials with grooves, and you can get them as square, single-bevel, double-bevel of single-v grooves. 

Reach out to a welding professional for more information.