Welding process abbreviations and designations

There are many welding processes in use today, each with its own characteristics, applications and technique. The processes are standardised by welding codes, and this article lists the designation for each process under the most widely used standard in the world, AWS (American Welding Society), alongside ISO 4063, which is widely used in Europe and designates welding processes in a slightly different way. The comparison is below.

AWS	ISO 4063	Description	Common name
SMAW	111	Shielded Metal Arc Welding	Stick / manual metal arc
GTAW	141	Gas Tungsten Arc Welding	TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas)
GMAW	131 (MIG) / 135 (MAG)	Gas Metal Arc Welding	MIG - Metal Inert Gas / MAG - Metal Active Gas (solid wire)
FCAW	136	Flux Cored Arc Welding	Flux-cored wire
PAW	15	Plasma Arc Welding	Plasma
SAW	121	Submerged Arc Welding	Submerged arc
EGW	73	Electrogas Welding	Electrogas
ESW	72	Electroslag Welding	Electroslag
OAW	311	Oxyacetylene Welding	Oxyacetylene
OFW	312	Oxyfuel Welding	Oxyfuel gas
RW	22	Resistance Welding	Resistance
SW	78	Stud Arc Welding	Stud welding