SAW strip cladding has been widely used with strip electrodes since the mid-1960s. The strip, normally
measuring 60 x 0.5 mm, is used as the electrode and an electric arc is formed between the strip and the
workpiece. Flux is used to form a molten slag to protect the weld pool from the atmosphere and helps to
form a smooth weld bead surface.

ESW strip cladding - is a development of submerged arc strip and has established itself as a reliable high
deposition rate process. ESW is an arcless method using ohmic heating to melt the strip/flux/parent material.
The heating is a result of current flowing through the strip electrode and a comparatively shallow layer of
liquid electro-conductive slag. The penetration is lower for ESW than for SAW since the molten slag pool is
used to melt the strip and some of the parent material rather than as an arc between the strip electrode and
the parent material. As a rule of thumb, electroslag strip surfacing reduces dilution by up to 50% compared
with submerged arc strip surfacing for the same heat input with a significantly higher deposition rate.