What is Orbital Welding and How Does It Work?

In industries where weld quality directly impacts safety, cleanliness, and performance—like pharmaceuticals, food processing, and aerospace—orbital welding has become a critical solution. But what exactly is orbital welding?

What is Orbital Welding?

Orbital welding is the automatic or mechanized welding of tubes or pipes in place with an electrode rotating, or orbiting, 360 degrees around the workpiece. It can be used for welding tube as a fusion process, or for welding pipe with the addition of filler material. 

It’s best described as semi-automated welding. Instead of an operator manually holding the torch, the electrode is mounted onto a rotor in the weld head, which then rotates around the tube or pipe.

Orbital welding is actually a subset of automated TIG, Tungsten Inert Gas, welding. It was created in the 1950s by the aerospace industry to replace compression fittings and manual welds.

It’s a pretty specialized form of welding, which means it only takes up a small portion of the welding industry. TIG welding itself only takes up about 3% of the welding done worldwide, and then only about 5% of TIG welding consists of orbital welding.

Although orbital welding represents only a small percentage of applications, its creation has been vital to the ever-growing standards and success of many industries.

Don't have time for the full article? Check out our beginner's guide video:

Benefits of Orbital Welding

Orbital welding provides highly consistent, repeatable welds by reducing human error and automating the process. It produces uniform, high-quality welds that meet strict standards (like ASME BPE), with smooth surfaces that help prevent contamination—making it ideal for industries such as pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, aerospace, and semiconductors.

In addition to improving speed and efficiency, orbital welding systems also track and document weld data, enabling better quality control, cost reduction, and process optimization.

Key Benefits of Orbital Welding:

• High repeatability and consistency

• Reduced risk of human error

• Improved weld quality and cleanliness

• Faster production and increased efficiency

• Built-in weld documentation and traceability

• Ideal for sanitary and high-purity applications
  
  

When Should You Use Orbital Welding?

Before you do anything, you need to decide if orbital welding is even a good fit for your specific application. Here are a few questions to help you determine the answer:

• Is your application in any sort of sanitary, high purity, or critical tube/pipe industry?

• Are you looking to make consistent and repeatable welds?

• Are you working in a confined space that makes manual welding difficult or virtually impossible? 

If the answer to any of these questions are yes, the chances are that an orbital welding system could be perfect for you and your application. If you’re still unsure, please feel free to give us a call and one of our orbital welding experts will be happy to help you figure out if it’s a good fit or not. 

Orbital Welding Equipment

Since orbital welding is a specialized form of welding, it obviously involves specialized equipment. There are a few pieces of equipment that are critical to the process: the power supply, the water cooler, the weld head, and the electrode. 

Power Supply

The power supply is the “brain” of a welding system. It controls and programs all weld settings—like speed, amperage, and timing—and communicates them to the weld head. Some models also manage filler wire by controlling feed speed and movement. Additionally, it records weld data, stores programs, and can print documentation, ensuring consistent results regardless of operator or timing.

Water Cooler

The water cooler is an important component of the orbital welding system. It holds the cooling fluid and interconnects to the weld head. Utilizing a pump, the water cooler pumps the coolant through the coolant lines and into the weld head. This allows the weld head to run at 100% duty cycle and prevents the inner components from overheating during the weld.

Note: we recommend you use a coolant that is 50% ethylene glycol and 50% distilled water. This will prevent your water cooler from freezing and your lines from bursting during below freezing temperatures.

Orbital Weld Head

Orbital weld heads connect to the power supply and water cooler through a series of cable connections. There are two options when it comes to weld heads: enclosed heads and open weld heads.

Tungsten Electrode

Not all tungsten is made the same. Generally, the quality of the tungsten electrode is often overlooked or seen as unimportant, but that can’t be further from the truth. Using low-quality tungsten can lead to arc-strike failures, low weld-per-tungsten, and can increase your overall weld rejection numbers, costing you more time and lowering your productivity and efficiency.  

Orbital Welder Size Limits

When it comes to O.D., you can orbital fusion weld from a minimum of .125" (1/8”) to a maximum of 6”. Typically, sanitary tube is never larger than 6”, but there are always exceptions. Once you get into those larger sizes, it’s important to realize the fit-up usually isn’t completely square – there will be some high low action due to the oblong shape of the pipes used, making fusion welding difficult and filler wire ideal.

Our baseline maximum wall thickness for fusion welding is .120”.

As always, the maximum depends on the application. Larger sizes can be welded, but the thicker the wall, the more you will start to see concavity. We have had customers successful with thicknesses up to .187” wall thickness. They achieved full penetration and were welded in the vertical position to minimize concavity. Note that the application in reference did not need a completely flush weld on the inside. 

You can orbital pipe weld from a minimum of .5" O.D. with no maximum. The clamping style usually ranges from .5” to around 6.625”. The low profile, or track ring guided style heads, can be used .5” and beyond. The guide rings/tracks can be bought in basic tube and pipe sizes in sections to fit your application. For specialty sizes, custom tracks can be manufactured.

Wire can be added on a wall greater than .120”. There is no maximum wall thickness. Wire can be added through multiple passes to match the wall thickness of any application. Keep in mind that higher schedules call for multiple passes, resulting in longer weld times.

Orbital Welding Process

Orbital welding follows a structured process to ensure consistent, high-quality welds:

• Cut - ensure clean, square cuts
• Face/Bevel - remove imperfections and prep edges
• Clean - eliminate contaminants
• Align - ensure proper fit-up
• Purge - remove oxygen with inert gas
• Program - set weld parameters
• Weld - execute the automated weld 
  

   

Want a more detailed step-by-step breakdown of the orbital welding process? Check out our full orbital welding process guide!

Applications and Industries

Any tube or pipe with material running through it has the potential of being welded with an orbital welder. 

Orbital welding has become a critical solution for industries that demand precision, cleanliness, and repeatability. By automating the welding process, it reduces variability, improves quality, and enables consistent results across even the most demanding applications.

Whether you’re working in a high-purity environment, dealing with tight tolerances, or looking to increase efficiency, orbital welding offers a reliable and scalable approach. Understanding how it works—and when to use it—is the first step in determining if it’s the right fit for your operation.

If you think orbital welding is the right fit for you, give us a call at 417-485-4575 or contact us. We’d love to help you find the right equipment for your application.