If you’re involved in the metalworking industry, you often hear the terms welding and fabrication. People sometimes use the two terms interchangeably, but there’s a distinct difference between fabrication and welding.
What is the difference between welding and fabrication?
The best explanation is that fabrication is the overall process of manufacturing metal, whereas welding is one single part of the fabricating process. You could say that fabrication may include welding, but welding is always a part of fabrication. You can fabricate metal parts without welding but, if you’re welding, you’re definitely fabricating your end product.
There are different skill sets involved in the fabrication process and the welding trade. Both welders and metal fabricators are highly trained craftspeople that often overlap tasks in the overall metal manufacturing industry.
Fabrication v/s Welding
When two different terms are used interchangeably, they tend to become ambiguous in their significance. The same thing happens with “Fabrication” and “Welding” in the manufacturing and construction industry.
For example, if you require a steel fabrication service, you may reach out to a welder. However, it is important to note that fabrication and welding are two different operations. Meaning that a steel fabricator will help you out with the welding requirement. But a welder may not be able to satisfy your fabrication needs.
Then here is the question arises about, What is the difference between steel fabrication and welding.
What is Fabrication?
Fabrication is a process of creating metal structures from cutting, bending and assembling techniques. The process begins with planning on the design and layout to fabricate the final product.
An Elaborate Picture of Steel Fabrication
Steel fabrication begins with planning on the design and layout to fabricate the final product. It aids in determining the specific shape of the product. Hence, it ensures a design that suits the final product before cutting, welding or bending a piece of metal.
Then follows the process of cutting, bending or shaping that calls for special skills and advanced equipment. For example, if a pipe requires a specific bend, bending machine is necessary. The process of welding does not help here.
What is Welding?
Welding is a process to join two or more pieces of metal by softening them using heat or pressure. After the metals are attached, the placing of a filler material correctly over the joint enhances strength.
The Significance of Welding
While we understood welding in broader terms, it involves different techniques for different applications.
Which welding technique is suitable for your project? This depends on certain factors: type of metal, its thickness, the volume of the welding project and the look you want for the welds. Besides, your budget and welding environment (indoor or outdoor) also play an important role in the decision.
The Common Welding Processes Involved in Steel Fabrication
1. Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW)
This is a manual process that uses stick welding. The stick used electric current to join the metals. This method is popular in structural steel fabrication.
2. Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW)
This method used a shielding gas along the wire electrode to heat two metal pieces for welding. It involves four principal methods including metal transfer, globular, short-circuiting, spray and pulsed-spray.
3. Flux Cored Arc Welding (FCAW)
This semi-automatic arc weld method is an alternative to shield welding. It is often the choice in structural steel fabrication due to high welding speed and portability.
4. Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW)
This applies the arc-welding process that uses a tungsten electrode to create the metal joints. It is useful in stainless steel fabrication for thick metal sections.
For completion of your fabrication and welding works, there is always a need for a professional steel fabricator.
If you are looking for the steel fabrication and welding experts in the world, contact us. We at Yantai chenghe is specialized in all type of fabrication works.
Post time: Mar-12-2022