Zirconium welding

[WeldTitan]

Zirconium welding has a lot in common with the welding of titanium and can be done with the GTAW welding process in DC.

The corrosion resistance of zirconium but also many of the mechanical properties are similar to titanium, and because of this the welding of zirconium "feels" almost the same way as the welding of titanium.

The protection of the weld with an inert gas is the most important factor if you want to weld zirconium.
Jut like titanium zirconium also has a high reactivity with oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen, and it should be protected during welding with an extremely pure inert gas in, preferably, a purge chamber.

The second important factor is that zirconium, like titanium, has to be processed very clean and there should be no contamination during welding into the weld.
The cleaning can be done mechanically with a brush wire of zirconium, and thereafter chemically with a non-chlorinated solvent.

As a filler metal, choose a filler that matches the grade of the zirconium that is being welded
There are three primary grades of filler metals: Er ZR2 (for welding UNS R60702) Er ZR3 (for welding UNS R60704) and Er Zr4 (for welding UNS R60705).

Zirconium can only be welded to itself or to other reactive metal alloys, such as titanium, niobium or tantalum.

The welding of zirconium alloy therefore requires a lot of attention to be successful, it can not be protected enough, there may not be enough with clean gas and materials.

If the focus and expertise is precisely the welds are to!