Abstract

Disclosed is an improved welding system incorporating a novel torch mounted gas scavenging system which removes and filters contaminant gases from the workplace and incorporates an enclosure which creates high turnover rates of shielding gases at the weld pool thereby preventing contaminant gas induced defects, and which insulates the heat affected area thereby prolonging the cooling process of the weld pool, effectively reducing porosity and other related defects, and which provides the capability of accurately monitoring and displaying specific measurements of an ongoing welding operation such as humidity, ambient frequencies, internal temperature and pressure in the enclosure, and on line acoustic emissions sensors which indicate the presence or absence of defects as the weld is being made. The system also has an auxiliary gas source which is independently controlled from the primary shielding gas flow, which allows the introduction of auxiliary gas flows into the enclosure without disturbing the primary gas flow pattern.