Although welding in general goes back thousands of years, and arc welding was developed over 100 years ago, plasma arc welding came into being only recently - in 1957.

The arc welding history got its start in 1800 when an arc between two carbon electrodes was first demonstrated in England. At the end of the 19th century, the first arc welding process was patented in the United States. During the time before and during World War I, the process was continually improved and refined.

In the 1930?s shielding gas was added to the arc welding process to help eliminate contamination of the electrodes. As the 20th century moved along, new advances in arc welding technology seemed to come decade by decade. The process kept getting better, safer, and more precise. The culmination of this progression came in 1964, when the plasma arc process was introduced to the general welding community.

What is plasma arc welding? It is a process that is similar to other types of arc welding, but the electrode is inserted into a small nozzle. This allows a separation from the inert shielding gas and tends to aim the resulting arc in a high intensity plasma stream that is capable of attaining incredibly high speed and high temperature arcs. The major advantage of the plasma arc method was the precision welds that could be made on thinner metals. This allowed welding to be used in many applications where regular welding methods were incapable of handling the precision required.

Plasma welding machines and processes can be manually or automatically operated. They tend to produce very straight and thin welds. The nozzle allows much less wandering of the arc compared to normal TIG and MIG welding making thin precision welds possible.

Although it is possible that the advent of laser welding technology might eventually replace plasma arc welding in many applications dealing with small parts that need extremely narrow and precise welds, plasma arc welding remains today one of the most economical and practical welding methods. The major advantages of plasma welding today are more consistent welds and less stress being applied to the welded pieces. Precise welding applications are possible without risk of heat damage to adjacent parts.

Aazdak Alisimo writes about welding information in his articles for WeldingSupplyandEquipment.com.