Development
After the discovery of the electric arc in 1800 by Humphry Davy there was little development in electrical welding until Auguste de Méritens developed a carbon arc torch, patented in 1881. Nikolay Benardos developed carbon arc welding, obtaining patents from 1887 showing a rudimentary electrode holder. In 1888 consumable metal electrode was invented by Nikolay Slavyanov. Later in 1890 C. L. Coffin received U.S. Patent 428,459 for his arc welding method that utilized a metal electrode. The process, like SMAW, deposited melted electrode metal into the weld as filler.
Around 1900 A. P. Strohmenger and Oscar Kjellberg released the first coated electrodes. Strohmenger used Clay and lime coating to stabilize the arc, while Kjellberg dipped iron wire into mixtures of carbonates and silicates to coat the electrode. In 1912 Strohmenger released a heavily coated electrode but high cost and complex production methods prevented these early electrodes from gaining popularity. In 1927 the development of an extrusion process reduced the cost of coating electrodes while allowing manufacturers to produce more complex coating mixtures designed for specific applications. In the 1950s manufacturers introduced iron powder into the flux coating, making it possible to increase the welding speed.
In 1938 K. K. Madsen described an automated variation of SMAW, now known as gravity welding. It briefly gained popularity in the 1960s after receiving publicity for its use in Japanese shipyards though today its applications are limited. Another little used variation of the process, known as firecracker welding, was developed around the same time by George Hafergut in Austria.
Read more about this topic: Shielded Metal Arc Welding
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“Somehow we have been taught to believe that the experiences of girls and women are not important in the study and understanding of human behavior. If we know men, then we know all of humankind. These prevalent cultural attitudes totally deny the uniqueness of the female experience, limiting the development of girls and women and depriving a needy world of the gifts, talents, and resources our daughters have to offer.”
—Jeanne Elium (20th century)
“The American has dwindled into an Odd Fellow—one who may be known by the development of his organ of gregariousness.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The man, or the boy, in his development is psychologically deterred from incorporating serving characteristics by an easily observable fact: there are already people around who are clearly meant to serve and they are girls and women. To perform the activities these people are doing is to risk being, and being thought of, and thinking of oneself, as a woman. This has been made a terrifying prospect and has been made to constitute a major threat to masculine identity.”
—Jean Baker Miller (20th century)