Electron-beam welding

All welding methods, with the exception of the cold-pressure process, require the introduction of heat into the parts being welded, either to raise the metal above its recrystallisation temperature or to melt it. Welding processes are in general distinguished by the way in which stored energy, either chemical, mechanical or electrical, is introduced into the workpiece in the form of heat. In electron-beam welding, as the name of the process implies, heat is generated in the work by the degradation of the kinetic energy of a fast-moving stream of electrons which are caused to impinge on it.