How welding transformed industry
Iron pillar of Delhi
A crude form of welding was used in the construction of the iron pillar of Delhi, erected in Delhi, India, about 310 CE.
Authoritative and informative
Written in Italian and illustrated throughout with woodcuts depicting the more technical aspects of metalworking, parts of De la pirotechnia were later translated into Latin, English, and Spanish. It was arguably the most authoritative publication on the subject in its day.
The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain and by 1840 had swept across Europe and the United States, saw new manufacturing processes invented through technological innovation.
Modernized arc welding
In 1802, Russian scientist Vasily Petrov created the continuous electric arc. His compatriot, Nikolai Benardos, and Polish inventor Stanisław Olszewski went on to create the first electric arc welding method known as carbon arc welding, effectively modernizing the arc welding process. The engraving depicts arc welding using the apparatus developed by Bernardos an Olszewski.
First World War
The advent of the First World War prompted a major surge in the use of welding, particularly in the manufacture of armaments. There was an urgent necessity for tanks, submarines, battleships, planes, and small arms—hardware that required a lot of welding. With millions of men deployed abroad, women filled manufacturing and agricultural positions on the home front. Here, a female factory worker uses an acetylene torch on a cylinder water jacket in 1918.
Flux-cored arc welding process
The 1950s witnessed several breakthroughs in welding technology including, in 1957, the flux-cored arc welding process. This uses the heat generated by a DC electric arc to fuse metal in a joint area.
Robotic welding
The early years of motor vehicle manufacture often saw autoworkers manually wielding an acetylene torch as part of the production line process. Today, highly advanced computer programmed robotic or automated welding does the job for them.
