What is Stud Welding?

STUD WELDING is a high-speed metal fastening process in which a metal fastener can be applied by arc welding to a metal work piece.

THE PROCESS: The welding stud is placed (with a hand tool called the Stud Gun) in contact with the base metal, an arc weld is drawn which melts the welding stud base and an area of the metal work piece for metal fastening. The welding stud is then forced into the melted area and held in place until the metals re-solidify. This high quality fusion arc weld is complete in milliseconds and is accomplished by one of two major methods.

TWO METHODS AVAILABLE are Capacitor Discharge (usually "CD" for short) and Arc Stud Welding. The differences are shown in the illustrations below.

STUD WELDING SYSTEMS consist of a Power Supply and/or "Controller", a Stud Gun, and cables to tie the system and workpiece together.

How does capacitor discharge (CD) differ from arc stud welding?
Capacitor Discharge (CD) Stud Welding	Arc Stud Welding
Stud against work	Stud and ceramic ferrule against the work plate
Stored energy discharged through special weld "timing" tip and stud starts downward	Stud lifts and arc is drawn
Stud forced into molten metal	Control times out and stud plunges into molten steel
Metal solidifies and weld is completed in milliseconds	Metal solidifies and weld is completed in milliseconds