History of arc welding

The history of electric arc welding can be traced from the Sir Humphrey Davy's discovery of the electric arc in 1801. For many years it remained a scientific plaything in the absence of a practical use for it. The year 1881 saw the first attempt to use the intense heat of the carbon arc for welding. In the early work with metal-arc welding, researches were made to overcome the limitations of the electrode. World War I contributed to the furtherance of the capabilities of the technology as well as the first application of arc welding to aircraft. For postwar arc developments, the most significant was the Innershield process which allowed self-shielded electrodes to be used with automatic or semi-automatic processes. Recent progress in arc welding include another innovative cored wire product, the Outershield, a gas-shielded cored wire electrode used extensively in automotive and other manufacturing operations.