Tungsten electrodes

Tungsten electrodes are mainly used for tungsten inert gas welding (TIG welding) and orbital welding. These are pure electrodes or electrodes with oxide additives. They are often color-coded according to the type and quantity of filler metal.
The quality of welding electrodes is primarily determined by the current load during the welding process, the quality of the weld seam and the behavior of the electrode during its service life. The current load of an electrode depends on its diameter, the type of current and polarity, the alloy filler metals used in the electrode and the bevel angle.
The quality of the weld seam is primarily determined by the shape of the electrode tip. Electrode tips without cracks are best achieved by grinding with the finest possible grain size. This also increases the service life of the electrode.

Welding with thorium dioxide:

Electrodes with a small proportion of thorium are often used for DC welding of stainless and high-alloy steels. The proportion of thorium means that fewer electrons are emitted during welding. The oxide therefore improves electron emission. Electrodes with different proportions of thorium are produced for this purpose. The more thorium the electrode contains, the greater the improvement in ignition properties, service life and current carrying capacity during DC welding. Thorium is a natural radioactive element. When it decays, other radioactive products are formed. Although the danger from the gamma radiation released by thoriated electrodes is low, the alpha radiation is more dangerous.

Welding without thorium dioxide:

The development of non-thoriated electrodes is now so far advanced that the use of thoriated electrodes is no longer necessary. In addition to ceriated and lanthanated electrodes, orbital electrodes are also available as an alternative. Orbital electrodes consist of admixtures of mixed oxides with different compositions. For example, longitudinally ground orbital electrodes have a long service life and high load capacity.