What is welding?

What is Welding?
What is welding? and what do welders do?
Welding is the most economical and efficient way to join metals permanently. It is the only way of joining two or more pieces of metal tomake them act as a single piece. Welding is vital to our economy. It is often said that over 50% of the gross national product of the U.S.A. is related to welding in one way or another. Welding rankshigh among industrial processes and involves more sciences and variables than those involved in any other industrial process.
There are many ways to make a weld and many different kinds of welds.Some processes cause sparks and others do not even require extra heat. Welding can be done anywhere - outdoors or indoors, underwater and in outer space.
Nearly everything we use in our daily life iswelded or made by equipment that is welded. Welders help build metal products from coffeepots to skyscrapers. They help build space vehicles and millions of other products ranging from oil drilling rigsto automobiles. In construction, welders are virtually rebuilding the world, extending subways, building bridges, and helping to improve the environment by building pollution control devices. The useof welding is practically unlimited. There is no lack of variety of the type of work that is done.
Welders are employed in many industry groups. Machinery manufacturers are responsible foragricultural, construction, and mining machinery. They are also involved in bulldozers, cranes, material handling equipment, food-processing machinery, papermaking and printing equipment, textiles, and officemachinery.
The fabricated metal products compiles another group including manufacturers of pressure vessels, heat exchangers, tanks, sheet metal, prefabricated metal buildings and architectural andornamental work. Transportation is divided into two major groups: manufacturers of transportation equipment except motor vehicles; and motor vehicles and equipment. The first includes shipbuilding,...