incoloy or incol?

[lranch]

Does anyone have any "hands on" with Incoloy on Incol (not sure of the spelling, material has INCOLOY paint pened on it.) I am unfamiliar with this material. Would appreciate it if anyone has any advice as to tensil, tig rod type, or other special procedures to follow in fab/welding. The jist: 3"x3/4" flat bar, want to cut/drill and butt weld on ends of Ibeams for concrete anchors. All loads in z axis, no bending moments. Was suggested a hard but brittle stainless that might let go of weld bead over time.




"If at first you don't succeed, keep on sukin till you do succeed." Curly Howard.

[chip hayden]

incoloy is a product of inco. they produce many nickel alloys. inconel 601 and 617 are used in gas turbines. they withstand lots of heat and the corrosive environment of exhaust stacks on these engines. you might try a search for inco to see the specs on the incoloy product.

[Guest]

Re: incoloy or incol?

Originally posted by lranch
Does anyone have any "hands on" with Incoloy on Incol (not sure of the spelling, material has INCOLOY paint pened on it.) I am unfamiliar with this material. Would appreciate it if anyone has any advice as to tensil, tig rod type, or other special procedures to follow in fab/welding. The jist: 3"x3/4" flat bar, want to cut/drill and butt weld on ends of Ibeams for concrete anchors. All loads in z axis, no bending moments. Was suggested a hard but brittle stainless that might let go of weld bead over time.


Curly Howard.

Incoloy or Inconel is a high nickel alloy stainless steel, used mainly to weld the same material. It is hard to drill and cut. It tends to crack as you are welding it, under certain conditions. Not for dissimilar metals. It can take a lot of heat, and is used in heat treat ovens and dies, under 2000 degrees F. No special procedure to weld it...FCAW, SMAW, GTAW wires are available for welding it.

Hope some of this helps.
We use inconel 600, 625 and 718, in aircraft work.

[lranch]

Incoloy

Thanks for the info Rocky, I took the "jip-tonium" back (well, not yet) and just got some hr. The Incoloy was free and no wait . Anyway, might save for something special.

[Danco]

The commonly used welding methods work well with this alloy. Matching alloy filler metal should be used. If matching alloy is not available then the nearest alloy richer in the essential chemistry (Ni, Co, Cr, Mo) should be used. All weld beads should be slightly convex. It is not necessary to use preheating. Surfaces to be welded must be clean and free from oil, paint or crayon marking. The cleaned area should extend at least 2" beyond either side of a welded joint. Gas-Tungsten Arc Welding: DC straight polarity (electrode negative) is recommended. Keep as short an arc length as possible and use care to keep the hot end of filler metal always within the protective atmosphere. Shielded Metal-Arc Welding: Electrodes should be kept in dry storage and if moisture has been picked up the electrodes should be baked at 600 F for one hour to insure dryness. Current settings vary from 60 amps for thin material (0.062" thick) up to 140 amps for material of 1/2" and thicker. It is best to weave the electrode slightly as this alloy weld metal does not tend to spread. Cleaning of slag is done with a wire brush (hand or powered). Complete removal of all slag is very important before successive weld passes and also after final welding. Gas Metal-Arc Welding: Reverse-polarity DC should be used and best results are obtained with the welding gun at 90 degrees to the joint. For Short-Circuiting-Transfer GMAW a typical voltage is 20- 23 with a current of 110-130 amps and a wire feed of 250-275 inches per minute. For Spray-Transfer GMAW voltage of 26 to 33 and current in the range of 175-300 amps with wire feed rate of 200-350 inches per minute are typical. Submerged-Arc Welding: Matching filler metal, the same as for GMAW, should be used. DC current with either reverse or straight polarity may be used. Convex weld beads are preferred.

[Guest]

Originally posted by Danco
The commonly used welding methods work well with this alloy. Matching alloy filler metal should be used. If matching alloy is not available then the nearest alloy richer in the essential chemistry (Ni, Co, Cr, Mo) should be used. All weld beads should be slightly convex. It is not necessary to use preheating. Surfaces to be welded must be clean and free from oil, paint or crayon marking. The cleaned area should extend at least 2" beyond either side of a welded joint. Gas-Tungsten Arc Welding: DC straight polarity (electrode negative) is recommended. Keep as short an arc length as possible and use care to keep the hot end of filler metal always within the protective atmosphere. Shielded Metal-Arc Welding: Electrodes should be kept in dry storage and if moisture has been picked up the electrodes should be baked at 600 F for one hour to insure dryness. Current settings vary from 60 amps for thin material (0.062" thick) up to 140 amps for material of 1/2" and thicker. It is best to weave the electrode slightly as this alloy weld metal does not tend to spread. Cleaning of slag is done with a wire brush (hand or powered). Complete removal of all slag is very important before successive weld passes and also after final welding. Gas Metal-Arc Welding: Reverse-polarity DC should be used and best results are obtained with the welding gun at 90 degrees to the joint. For Short-Circuiting-Transfer GMAW a typical voltage is 20- 23 with a current of 110-130 amps and a wire feed of 250-275 inches per minute. For Spray-Transfer GMAW voltage of 26 to 33 and current in the range of 175-300 amps with wire feed rate of 200-350 inches per minute are typical. Submerged-Arc Welding: Matching filler metal, the same as for GMAW, should be used. DC current with either reverse or straight polarity may be used. Convex weld beads are preferred.

Excellent post, Danco...I would only add that the prameters you mention not only apply to Inco steels, but many and most steels, as well.

One item you mention, I, because of habit, don't even think about anymore, and that is "Keep as short an arc length as possible and use care to keep the hot end of filler metal always within the protective atmosphere" of the torch. I don't think this has been mentioned before, and this is important because when the hot end of the filler rod comes out of the torch gas, it oxidizes and the next dip will put this oxidation into your weld. Especially critical in welding stainless steels.