Welding process quiz: identify SMAW, GMAW, FCAW, GTAW, SAW and more

Name the process from a drawing, call the GMAW transfer mode, match shielding and polarity, and pick the right process for the job.

Original drawings · 20 questions

Welding process quiz

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Name the process from a drawing, pick the transfer mode, match the shielding and polarity, and choose the process for the job. Every answer comes with the reason each option is right or wrong.

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Question 1 of 20

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Pulsed spray transfer. A current trace with a low background and regular tall pulses, and one droplet in flight: pulsed spray, where each pulse detaches a droplet. Plain spray transfer runs a steady high current and a continuous stream of droplets. Globular transfer drops large blobs with no pulsing. In short circuiting transfer the wire touches the pool.

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Joining and cutting processes is one of the two biggest domains on CWI Part A, and Part A is closed book. This quiz drills the calls Part A expects you to make from memory: what shields the weld, which current it runs on, which flaws it tends to leave and where it fits. For the full side-by-side, read welding processes for the CWI exam, and for how Part A is laid out, see the CWI Part A guide.

How the quiz works

Each set serves all 20 questions in a shuffled order, with the options shuffled too. Some show a process sketch or a close-up of the wire tip and ask you to name what you see. Others describe a job, a flaw or a setting in words and ask you to choose. Check your answer and the explanation tells you why the right option is right and why each of the other three is wrong.

Your score is one point per question, out of 20. At the end you see your misses by area (identifying processes, transfer modes, shielding and polarity, discontinuities, and picking the process for the job), so you know what to study next. Hit New shuffle for a fresh order. Use the set number if you report an error.

Worked examples

Example 1: SMAW or FCAW?

Step 1: look at the electrode. It comes out of a gun as a continuous wire, not a stick clamped in a holder, so SMAW is out. Step 2: look at the shielding. There is no gas nozzle, and the inset shows the wire is a tube packed with flux. Step 3: check the bead. It carries a slag crust, which rules out GMAW. A flux-filled wire run with no gas nozzle is self-shielded FCAW, the wire-fed process that copes with wind on a field job.

Example 2: spray or pulsed spray?

Step 1: the wire does not touch the pool, so it is not short circuiting. Step 2: the droplet is small, smaller than the wire, so it is not globular. Step 3: only one droplet is in flight, and the current graph shows a low background with regular tall pulses. Each pulse throws one droplet: that is pulsed spray transfer. Plain spray runs a steady high current and a continuous stream of droplets.

Welding processes compared: the reference set

One drawing for each process and each GMAW transfer mode, with the tell that identifies it. Read through them, then go back and beat your score.

SMAW (shielded metal arc)

A flux-covered stick in a holder. The covering burns to make a gas shield and a slag. Constant current; polarity depends on the electrode.

GMAW (gas metal arc)

A solid wire fed from a spool, shielded by gas from a cylinder. Constant voltage, nearly always DCEP. Moving air blows the gas away and causes porosity.

FCAW (flux cored arc), self-shielded

A tubular wire with flux inside. Self-shielded wire needs no gas bottle; gas-shielded wire adds a gas. Both leave slag.

GTAW (gas tungsten arc)

A tungsten electrode that does not melt, inert gas from the cup, filler added by hand or not at all. DCEN for steels, AC for aluminum.

SAW (submerged arc)

A bare wire under a blanket of granular flux that hides the arc. Usually mechanized, fast and deep. Mainly flat and horizontal fillets.

OFW (oxyfuel gas welding)

A flame from a fuel gas burned with oxygen melts the joint, with a separate filler rod. No electrical power. Usually run on a neutral flame.

SW (arc stud welding)

A gun lifts the stud to draw an arc, then plunges it into the pool. A ceramic ferrule holds and shields the molten metal and is removed after.

Short circuiting transfer

The wire dips into the pool many times a second. Low heat: good on thin sheet and out of position, but a known cause of incomplete fusion on thick sections.

Globular transfer

Big drops, larger than the wire, fall by gravity and wander across the arc. Plenty of spatter.

Spray transfer

A steady stream of fine droplets smaller than the wire. High voltage and current, high heat; mostly flat and horizontal work.

Pulsed spray transfer

The power source pulses the current; each pulse throws one droplet. Spray-like transfer at a lower average heat than full spray.

Shielding and current at a glance

Process	Shielding or heat source	Usual power and polarity
SMAW	Gas and slag from the burning covering	Constant current; most electrodes DCEP, some DCEN or AC
GMAW	Gas from a cylinder through the nozzle	Constant voltage; nearly always DCEP
FCAW	Flux in the wire core, alone or plus gas	Constant voltage; gas-shielded wire usually DCEP, self-shielded often DCEN
GTAW	Inert gas from the cup	Constant current; DCEN for steels, AC for aluminum
SAW	Granular flux over the arc	Mostly constant voltage
OFW	A fuel gas and oxygen flame, usually set neutral	No electrical power
SW	Ceramic ferrule around the stud	DC power source and stud gun

These are the usual settings for study. The electrode or wire maker and the welding procedure set the polarity for a given job. Want the flaws themselves on drawings? Try the weld discontinuities quiz, and read weld discontinuities explained for causes. Heat input ties process settings to the math; practice it on the heat input calculator.

Welding process FAQ

What are the GMAW metal transfer modes?

The four to know: short circuiting, where the wire touches the pool and runs cool; globular, where large drops fall across the arc with plenty of spatter; spray, a steady stream of fine droplets at high heat; and pulsed spray, where current pulses throw one droplet each at a lower average heat. Short circuiting is the one most linked to incomplete fusion on thick sections.

Which welding processes make slag?

The ones that use flux: SMAW from its electrode covering, FCAW from the flux inside its wire, and SAW from the granular flux over the arc. Each can leave a slag inclusion if a pass is not cleaned. GMAW and GTAW shield with gas alone, so they make no slag. GTAW has its own flaw to watch for, the tungsten inclusion.

How much of CWI Part A is about welding processes?

Joining and cutting processes carries one of the two largest minimum weights of the ten Part A domains: at least 14% of the questions. Part A is closed book, so the shielding, polarity and typical flaws of each process have to be in your head. Processes also turn up inside other domains, such as discontinuities and welding control.