Thermite welding

Exothermic welding, also known as exothermic bonding, thermite welding (TW), and thermit welding, is a welding process that employs molten metal to permanently join the conductors. The process employs an exothermic reaction of a thermite composition to heat the metal, and requires no external source of heat or current. The chemical reaction that produces the heat is an aluminothermic reaction between aluminium powder and a metal oxide.

In exothermic welding, aluminium dust reduces the oxide of another metal, most commonly iron oxide, because aluminium is highly reactive. Iron(III) oxide is commonly used:

The products are aluminium oxide, free elemental iron, and a large amount of heat. The reactants are commonly powdered and mixed with a binder to keep the material solid and prevent separation.

Commonly the reacting composition is five parts iron oxide red (rust) powder and three parts aluminium powder by weight, ignited at high temperatures. A strongly exothermic (heat-generating) reaction occurs that via reduction and oxidation produces a white hot mass of molten iron and a slag of refractory aluminium oxide. The molten iron is the actual welding material; the aluminium oxide is much less dense than the liquid iron and so floats to the top of the reaction, so the set-up for welding must take into account that the actual molten metal is at the bottom of the crucible and covered by floating slag.

Other metal oxides can be used, such as chromium oxide, to generate the given metal in its elemental form. Copper thermite, using copper oxide, is used for creating electric joints:

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