Open AccessFatique Resistant, Energy Efficient Welding Program, Final Technical Report
Author(s) -
Keith Egland,
Howard W. Ludewig
Publication year - 2006
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/882565
Subject(s) - welding , synchronizing , butt welding , groove (engineering) , materials science , mechanical engineering , arc welding , gas metal arc welding , process (computing) , robot welding , electric resistance welding , structural engineering , engineering drawing , metallurgy , engineering , computer science , topology (electrical circuits) , electrical engineering , operating system
The program scope was to affect the heat input and the resultant weld bead geometry by synchronizing robotic weave cycles with desired pulsed waveform shapes to develop process parameters relationships and optimized pulsed gas metal arc welding processes for welding fatique-critical structures of steel, high strength steel, and aluminum. Quality would be addressed by developing intelligent methods of weld measurement that accurately predict weld bead geometry from process information. This program was severely underfunded, and eventually terminated. The scope was redirected to investigate tandem narrow groove welding of steel butt joints during the one year of partial funding. A torch was designed and configured to perform a design of experiments of steel butt weld joints that validated the feasability of the process. An initial cost model estimated a 60% cost savings over conventional groove welding by eliminating the joint preparation and reducing the weld volume needed