Cored Wires
Cored wires is a group heading which covers three very different groups of products, which have the same construction, similar applications, similar weld metal chemistries and properties but very different operating characteristics. The first group is the flux cored wires. These consumables are primarily used for joining a wide range of carbon, alloy and stainless steels. Flux cored wires can come in either in rutile or basic forms, often these are available to weld the same material type. Rutile wires have very good positional welding characteristics. Basic wires are used where low weld metal hydrogen levels are required and good mechanical properties. The second group is the metal cored wires. In these consumables most of the fluxing agents are substituted with metal powders increasing the efficiency of the wire but reducing its positional welding capability. The third group is the self shielded wires. These wires contain fluxing agents that generate enough gas, normally carbon dioxide or fluorine, to shield the weld pool from contamination from the atmosphere. The main application for these types of wires is site welding, as no additional shielding gas is needed. The disadvantage of these products is that only about 65% of the weight of the wire is used to create the weld the rest goes on creating the gas and the surface slag cover.
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