What is Innershield Welding?

We can’t have a conversation about welding without mentioning the Lincoln Electric original - Innershield welding! Have you been considering incorporating Innershield into your business or personal projects? In this article, we will discuss what Innershield welding is, how it works, and how you can decide if this is the best option for your welding needs.

What is Innershield?

Innershield welding is an arc welding technique that was developed by Lincoln Electric. The process uses a continuously fed wire that supplies filler metal through the arc. This is a tubular wire rather, not a solid wire. The necessary agents used to shield the arc are placed inside the tube, and no additional shielding is required. When compared to stick welding, Innershield improves productivity and the overall quality of your projects. The arc-on time is increased thanks to the continuous nature of the Innershield process.

So what exactly is this amazing wire made of? If you know about flux cored welding, Innershield welding is essentially flux cored wire without inert gas, and instead contains a powder filling arc stabilizer in a small metal tube. This powder consists of alloying elements and arc stabilizers, allowing it to generate an arc without the use of insert gas. The metal tube is melted in the arc, causing the filler metal to fill the weld seam.

What Are the Benefits?

The originator of the Innershield process, Lincoln Electric, creates Innershield wire in a proprietary manner. Innershield’s manufacturing process has unique benefits that are observable with every pound of wire used. For one thing, Innershield wires are very stiff, giving them fantastic column strength. The stiffness makes Innershield wires able to feed very consistently.

As a result of the consistent feed rate, Innershield welding involves fewer starts and stops, which often takes the blame for defects. As such, Innershield welding is the primary means for structural steel building in the United States.

Are you working in a shipyard or shop where wind is a problem? Innershield welding could be an ideal solution. Does your project call for pipeline fabrication? Due to the outdoor nature of pipeline welding making shielding gas difficult to use, Innershield is most often the best choice in this instance since it does not require an additional shielding gas. It also has the capability to withstand wind speeds of up to 30 mph without losing its mechanical properties.

Need a tough custom fabrication project tackled? M&M Welding is proud to offer Innershield welding as one of our welding services near Cleveland to get the job done right the first time. Get in touch today, and tell us the specifics so we can get started!