What is Stud Welding?

Stud Welding is a general term for joining a metal stud or similar part to a work piece. Welding can be done by a number of welding processes including ARC, Resistance, Friction and Percussion. Of these processes, STUD ARC WELDING utilizes equipment and techniques unique to stud welding. The other processes use conventionally designed equipment with special tooling for stud welding.

Stud Arc Welding is an arc welding process in which a stud or similar metal part can be end-joined
to a work piece instantaneously. This process involves the same basic principles and metallurgical
aspects as any other arc welding procedure.

Process Overview – The stud is placed (with a hand tool, weld gun or weld head) against the base metal, through the control of the stud welding equipment and the design of the stud; an arc is drawn which melts the base of the stud and a proportionate area of the base metal, the stud is then forced into the molten pool and held in place until the metals re-solidify. This high quality fusion weld is completed in milliseconds.

Stud ARC Welding Methods – The two stud welding methods are called ARC and Capacitor Discharge (usually “CD” for brevity). The difference between these two methods involves the Power Source used to provide the welding current / energy and the stud design. The equipment required to STUD ARC WELD is composed of a direct current power supply, a weld gun or weld head and the weld cables.

The Major advantages of STUD ARC WELDING are:
• Cost savings — reduced labor time, materials and secondary operations.
• Weld strength — weld is typically stronger than the stud and base material.
• Process — single sided and split second cycle time
• Base metal — minimal heating and warpage
• Base metal — attachment to very thin metals
• Base metal — no reverse side marking (CD Method)