What type of electrode is used for GTAW?

• A. Consumable and coated
• B. Refractory and coated
• C. Nonconsumable and uncoated
• D. Consumable and uncoated

Answer: (C)

Gas Tungsten Arc Welding uses a nonconsumable electrode made of tungsten to generate the arc. Because the electrode must remain intact and not melt into the weld, a material with a very high melting point is used. In GTAW, shielding gas does the protecting of the weld pool, so there’s no flux on the electrode. For standard GTAW practice, the electrode is bare (uncoated) tungsten to avoid introducing contaminants into the weld; coatings on tungsten are used only in some specialized cases and aren’t the norm. filler metal is added separately as needed.