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Pipe Welding at its Best
The robot holding the gun in this picture is one
I used to weld a pipe, "vertical up" with an 0.052 (1.4mm) E71T-1
flux cored wire. This provided a weld deposition rate of 9 lb/hr. The robot weld
welds were made on 48 inch pipe.
The robot programming time
was less than 30 minutes and the large diameter pipe was welded in a fixed position.
All the vee-groove welds were made from 6 to 12 o'clock. Shop pipe welding one
day will be a great application for a robot, all the logical weld quality and
weld deposition benefits are there. Back
to weld reality. In an industry that has taken more than twenty years to recognize
the benefits of gas shielded flux cored wires, you know "change" is
a forbidden word. The
pipe welding industry has been so entrenched in its traditional SMAW - GTAW weld
processes and practices that it will likely take another two decades before someone
has the balls to state, a robot is a logical tool for all position pipe welds
in their pipe shop. Take a trip to the MIG and flux cored section for extensive
pipe weld data. My Management Engineers book has extensive practical MIG and flux
cored pipe weld data. Pipe
Welding at its worst One
major pipe welding shop in Houston Texas supplied pipe spools and other pipe related
items to large, local chemical plants. This shop used both MIG and FCAW. The problems
for this shop was a combination of unsuitable radiographs films, and the poor
weld practices and procedures. The
x-ray film selected did not show the extensive lack of fusion that was being attained
in the "first MIG pass" after the root in every pipe joint. Both the
MIG and FCAW procedures and pipe edge preps used were not appropriate, and had
little to do with weld reality. The chemical company asked that I establish effective
MIG and FCAW procedures. The practical data attained is available in my book "A
Management Engineers Guide to MIG"
Weld
salesmanship typically has little to do with weld reality. "The
Weld Equipment Challenge"
When weld shops ask my advice, I believe integrity is everything. With weld
questions I always prefer to deal with welding reality. My weld expertise and
reality is derived from 40 years MIG experience. For those weld equipment or consumable
manufacturers who do not agree with my statements, (most), I will provide this
simple honest challenge. We could have a competition the winner to pay $5000 to
their charity of choice. I will use a traditional, low cost 400 amp CV power source,
a standard MIG wire and a common two part gas mix. The competition will require
that we either manually or robot weld in the flat or horizontal positions carbon
steel or stainless parts in the common thickness range of 1mm - 2 mm - 3mm - 6mm
and 9mm. My bet
challenge is simple. The equipment manufacturer can use their most sophisticated
electronic pulsed welding equipment, their choice of any 3 part gas mixes or special
MIG or metal cored wires. Once the welds are complete they will have to show "weld
quality and weld productivity benefits which are measurable. This
challenge has been on this site for more than a year. I believe the equipment
manufacturers will not rise to the challenge as the bottom line is they are unable
to provide justification for the increased costs and complexity of their products
YOUR
COST SAVING POTENTIAL. ONCE YOU CONTROL THE WELD PROCESS AND GET
THE WELD BULL AND SALESMANSHIP OUT OF YOUR BUSINESS, THE TYPICAL, "ANNUAL",
POTENTIAL WELD SAVINGS FOR A MANUFACTURING SHOP WITH MORE THAN 20 WELDERS IS $2000
TO $5000 PER EMPLOYEE. WITH THE ADDITION OF ROBOTS THE POTENTIAL TO INCREASE
WELD PRODUCTIVITY BY 30 TO 100% WILL ALSO OCCUR. I HAVE ACHIEVED THESE RESULTS
AND COST SAVINGS AT EVERY PLANT I HAVE WORKED.
If you are intent on increasing weld production and investing in weld automation
for your facility, give me a call and let me show you in a few hours what can
be done with low cost equipment and weld process expertise.
With
my unique MIG process training "clock method", developed over two decades,
weld process parameter selection and weld process control is as easy as setting
time. Evaluate the clock method in the MIG section. Or invest in your self and
purchase one of my books. |
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