Inclusion of environmental performance for decision making of welding processes

There are over 40 welding processes in use in our major industries today. The selection of a welding process takes into consideration the cost of the process and versatility, as well as the amount of training required for the process. This paper discusses environmental performance as a factor for consideration when selecting a particular welding process. An analytical hierarchy process in a health-hazard scoring system is introduced to quantify the environmental impact of the processes. The system determines a score based on the emissions of the process. The score serves to assess the degree of impact that the process has on the environment and at the same time provides a factor for consideration in the decision making of welding processes. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.