Titanium Muffler

[who's next]

i bought a titanium muffler (it looked like a stainless steel one) but when i went to the muffler shop to put it on the wleds were just breaking off, he (the muffler guy) said its because the material that the muffler is made from was titanium. The muffler guy did not have the correct equiment to weld it on to the pipe. my question what type of welding rods shoube used to weld the muffler on to regular pipe, and would tig welding work?

[Sydneykid]

Titanium 's great affinity for the atmospheric gases oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen rules out all welding processes in which the molten metal can come into contact with any of these elements and result in embrittlement.

For argon arc welding (TIG/MIG processes) air must be excluded from the weld, the heat-affected zone and the adjacent areas of the base metal when titanium is welded. In addition, the root side must also be protected from air contact. This protection must be maintained until the weld has cooled down to below approximately 300°C.

Depending on the geometry and size of the parts this is achieved by use of inert gas shielding, trailing shields, porous backup bars or by welding in evacuated inert gas-filled chambers.

As filler metal, tested bare wire of the same titanium group should be used. In practice it is not always possible to prevent slight hardening of the weld due to pickup of small amounts of atmospheric gas components, and so it may be advisable to use bare wire from a lower titanium group than that of the base metal.

cheers