ABOUT KEYHOLE TIG

Keyhole TIG is a new, high performance variant of the TIG welding process. The world-leading technology allows thick materials, including stainless steel and titanium, to be welded in one tenth of the time of traditional welding processes, providing huge cost savings to a wide range of industries.

Developed by the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – Australia’s largest government research organization) over 15 years, the Keyhole TIG welding process is reliant on a carefully engineered torch and a very stable surface geometry in the weld pool – this latter effect enabled by the high surface tension of liquid materials.

Unlike standard TIG which takes many welds to pass through materials and requires large amounts of filler material, a Keyhole TIG weld is capable of welding 12mm thick stainless steel in a single welding pass. It does this at a speed of 300mm (12 inches) per minute, offering far greater productivity, and therefore profits, to companies using the K-TIG welding system.

Because of the system’s single pass capabilities, the need for expensive filler materials used in conventional TIG welds is reduced, if not eliminated. This greatly reduces the chance of corrosion in the welded metals, as little or no foreign materials are being introduced, not to mention the cost savings. K-TIG relies on a combination of arc pressure and surface tension to produce a keyhole. There is plenty of power, but even when welding through 14mm of titanium using 700 amps or more, the process is very quiet, and does not raise ripples in the weld pool.