Welding Heat Input
kJ/mm from amps, volts and travel speed — MMA, MIG, TIG, SAW
A
Reading 180 A
V
Reading 22 V
mm/min
Time a run: length ÷ minutes. 150mm in 30 seconds is 300 mm/min.
Results
Heat input
0.63kJ/mm
Per inch
16.1kJ/in
Arc energy (no k)0.79 kJ/mm — 22 V × 180 A × 60 ÷ 300 mm/min
Thermal efficiency k0.8 (MIG / MAG solid wire, ISO 4063: 131 / 135, BS EN 1011-1:2009 Table 1)
Consumable typeSolid wire — solid wire — the wire class (G3Si1 / ER70S-6…) sets the weld metal, not k. k stays 0.8 for MIG / MAG solid wire (BS EN 1011-1:2009 Table 1 sets k per process).
Band (carbon steel, indicative)moderate — no source, a workshop convention (low < 0.5, moderate 0.5–2.5, high > 2.5 kJ/mm); the WPS sets the real limits
Consumable✓ 180 A is inside the typical 80–300 A for Solid wire 1.0 mm wire (ESAB OK Autrod 12.51 data sheet, DC+) — that product's reference range, not a universal setting. Follow your WPS / consumable data sheet.
Watts at the arc3960 W
Work out wire and gas
Sets up the process and filler. You put the sizes in.
Work out wire and gas
Indicative design aids — every figure and its source is listed under "Figures based on" below.
Figures based on
- Thermal efficiency k: BS EN 1011-1:2009 Table 1 (SAW 1.0; MMA, MIG/MAG and flux-cored 0.8; TIG and plasma 0.6). k is per process: the electrode covering, cored-wire type, tungsten alloy or flux does not change it
- Arc energy (no k): AWS D1.1/D1.1M:2025 and ASME BPVC IX QW-409.1
- Process numbers: BS EN ISO 4063:2023
- Consumable types: BS EN ISO 2560 (electrode coverings B, R, C), BS EN ISO 17632 (cored-wire types), BS EN ISO 6848 (tungsten alloys); which current a tungsten suits from the EWM tungsten guide
- Consumable current ranges: Typical — ESAB OK 48.00 (basic), OK 46.00 (rutile) and Pipeweld 6010 Plus (cellulosic) electrode sheets; ESAB OK Autrod 12.51 (solid wire); ESAB OK Tubrod 15.14 (rutile cored), OK Tubrod 15.00 (basic cored), Coreweld 70 (metal-cored); Washington Alloy (tungsten, DCEN) and Arc-Zone (tungsten, AC) sheets; Hobart metal-cored SAW brochure. MIG 0.6 mm is a packet figure; self-shielded, solid SAW wire and plasma have no range held. Follow your WPS / consumable data sheet
- Heat-input bands (low / moderate / high): No source — workshop figure: a carbon-steel convention (< 0.5, 0.5–2.5, > 2.5 kJ/mm). The WPS sets the real limits
Indicative design aids. "Typical" means no current standard sets it: follow your WPS and the consumable or gas data sheet named. "No source" means a workshop estimate: adjust to suit, or, where the box says it is fixed, a fixed estimating assumption.