In order to obtain high structural integrity and joint performance in welding a transient heat conduction model has been utilized to design a model based feedback controller.Gas tungsten arc welding of work-pieces of austenitic steel have been simulated by the finite element method. The basis for controller design is a low order model obtained from parametric system identification. The identification has been performed both on the finite element simulation and on physical welding. The low order model responses show a good agreement with both the finite element simulation result and the physical process response. An experimental study has been performed to verify the approach. This study also explores what experiments are needed for a successful design. It is shown that model based control successfully mitigates perturbations that occur during welding.