As mentioned above, these novel techniques opened the way for
a generation of high-performance welding, but the equipment is
relatively expensive and the operation complex. Therefore, the
main idea in this study was to find a method that would provide
a feasible solution, being easy to handle as well as cost-effective.
The review of the literature was concerned with activating flux
when interacting with the liquid metal of the fusion zone in arc
welding [7–10]. This process is characterized by the application
of a fine layer of activating flux on the surface of the base metal.
As a result, the penetration of the weld bead is significantly increased
and its sensibility to the cast-to-cast variations in the composition
of certain residual elements is reduced [11,12]. Many
researchers [13,14] have applied activating flux gas tungsten arc
welding, plasma arc welding, laser welding and so on, but little
work has been done on the GMAW method.