Design of Fully Automatic Specification Selection System for Resistance Welding Equipment

A system for fully automatic selection of welding specifications in resistance welding equipment has been developed to address the problem of workers frequently choosing the wrong specifications during manual welding of multiple parts on a single machine in automobile factories. The system incorporates an automatic recognition system for different workpiece materials using the added machine fixture,visual detection system for nuts and bolts,and secondary graphical confirmation to ensure the correctness of specification calling. This system achieves reliable,fully automatic selection of welding specifications in resistance welding equipment and has shown significant effects in improving welding quality for massproduced workpieces,while solving the problem of specification calling errors that can occur with traditional methods involving process charts and code adjustments. This system is particularly suitable for promoting applications in manual welding of multiple parts on a single machine in automobile factories,ensuring correct specification calling and welding quality.

Research on key control technologies of all-position automatic welding machine

The pipeline all-position automatic welding machine system is a special welding system for automatically welding circumferential joint of pipeline on site, which has been widely used to the long-distance pipeline construction projects due to the advantages of automatic control for welding parameters at all-position, moving speed of bugs and operating. In this paper, the key control technologies of PAWM all-position automatic welding machine （ developed by Pipeline Research Institute of CNPC） such us the automatic control system, control software, personal digital assistant （PDA） software and complex programmable logic device （ CPLD ） program as well us the control method of welding parameter have been described detailedly. With the higher welding quality, higher welding effwiency and lower labor intensity, PA WM all-position automatic welding machine has been successfully applied in many famous pipeline construction projects.

Research and Application of All-Position Automatic Welding Machine

The all position automatic welding machine system is the special welding system for pipeline girth automatic welding on site, which has been widely used in the long distance pipeline construction projects due to the advantages of automatic control for welding parameters at all position, moving speed of bugs and operating. This automatic pipeline welding system has been successfully used in several main pipeline projects in China, and has been approved by the constructors with the benefits of higher quality passing rate, higher welding efficiency and lower labor intensity.

Study on full automatic arc welding machine for spherical tank

A full automatic welding machine for spherical tanks' all position multi layer welds has been developed. This machine is mainly composed of a two dimension seam tracking system based on microcomputer's memory and a welding tractor as well as rail. The main features of the machine are: while welding the first layer of a seam, its microcomputer system can analyze and store the tracing information from a two dimension sensor, and control the welding head device to realize two dimension real time tracing; while welding the second layer up to the top layer of the seam, it can realize two dimension tracing based on the memorial data, automatically determine the layer number and continually sway the welding head. The welding test shows that the machine has good tracing and welding behavior, and is suitable for spherical tank's all position multi layer welds.

Microstructures and Plane Energy Spectra of X80 Pipeline Steel Welded Joints by Submerged Arc Automatic Welding

X80 pipeline steel was welded with submerged arc automatic welding, the microstructures, cavity sizes, fusion depths and plane scanning of chemical elements in the welded zone, fusion zone, heat affected zone and base steel were observed with OM（optical microscope） and SEM（scanning electron microscope）, respectively. The experimental results show that there is main acicular ferrite in the base steel and welded zone, the microscopic structure of fusion zone is a blocked bainite, and the heat affected zone is composed of multilateral ferrite and pearlite. M-A unit of the welded zone is the main factor to strengthen the welded zone, composed of acicular ferrites. The percentage of cavities in the welded joint is less than that in the base steel, which is beneficial to increasing its mechanical performance and corrosion resistance. The fusion depth in the fusion zone and welded zone is 101.13 μm and 115.85 μm, respectively, and the distribution of chemical elements in the welded zone is uniform, no enrichment phenomena.

Numerical simulation of applied electromagnetic field and electromagnetic force in all-position welding

All-position welding is an important technology in energy sources, chemical, shipbuilding and other industries. When welding current is larger than 200 A, the molten metal tends to flow down due to the force of gravity. In order to ＂push＂ the molten metal into the weld, a new kind of U-frame excitation model, which could produce electromagnetic force to balance the gravity of the molten pool, was designed. The related parameters of the excitation model were simulated by Maxwell 3D, and the relationships between the parameters and the magnetic induction intensity were analyzed. Finally, the electromagnetic force in the molten pool was calculated, and the appropriate parameters of the U-frame excitation model were determined. The results of the simulation verify the feasibility of the all-position welding excitation model.

Research on technology of automatic welding machine and procedure for pile pipes of offshore jacket platform

Because of the high requirement of quality,vile working environment and great difficulty of automatic welding,MMAW is usually adopted for the welding of the platform jacket and the pile pipe.Its low efficiency and hard working is one of the choke points for construction progress. In this article,an up-to-date technology for platform pile pipe welding was introduced. Cored with FCW-S and combined with the characters and requirements of platform construction,the special automatic horizontal welding equipment and process were developed. Further more,the offshore application were introduced too.

Geometric model of roboticarc welding for automatic programming

Geometric information is important for automatic programming of arc welding robot. Complete geometric models of robotic arc welding are established in this paper. In the geometric model of weld seam, an equation with seam length as its parameter is introduced to represent any weld seam. The method to determine discrete programming points on a weld seam is presented. In the geometric model of weld workpiece, three class primitives and CSG tree are used to describe weld workpiece. Detailed data structure is presented. In pose transformation of torch, world frame, torch frame and active frame are defined, and transformation between frames is presented. Based on these geometric models, an automatic programming software package for robotic arc welding, RAWCAD, is developed. Experiments show that the geometric models are practical and reliable.

An automatic arc welding machine for saddle joint seams on large diameter cylinders

This paper deals with the structure, components, characteristics and work principle of a newly developed automatic arc welding machine for saddle joint seams on large diameter cylinders. The equations for designing the geometry and dimensions of the cam controlling the moving locus of the welding torch have been derived. This welding machine has successfully been used in automatic welding saddle joint seams on boiler drums with good results and low cost.

Automatic girth welding and performance evaluation of the joints of hot-induction-bend and line pipes with different wall thickness

During the process of laying long-distance oil and gas transmission pipelines, the hot-induction-bend method is extensively used when the direction has to be changed. By considering the pipeline＇ s ongoing processing and loading states during service, the pipeline that is generally used exhibits thicker walls than those that are observed in the line pipe. As such, during pipeline construction, hot-induction-bend and line pipes with different wall thickness are girth-welded. The chemical composition of hot-induction-bend and line pipes differs, with the carbon content being particularly higher in the hot-induction-bend pipe;it also depicts a higher carbon equivalent, which makes it possible to modify the girth of the pipe. In this study, using Baosteel＇ s standard X70M UOE hot- induction-bend and line pipes, solid-wire automatic gas-metal-arc girth welding was performed and the performance of the girth-welded joint was evaluated. Furthermore,the weldability of the pipeline girth and the microstructure of the girth-welded joint were analyzed. The results reveal that Baosteel＇ s standard UOE hot-induction-bend and line pipes exhibit good girth weldability, and their technical quality can be guaranteed in case of consumer field- construction applications.

A computer control system for automatic TIG welding of aluminium alloy sheets

Aimed at the welding ttechnological requirements of foe missile shell,a computer control system for automatic TIG welding of aluminium alloy sheets has been developed in this paper.The hardware of the system is composed of the four sub-systems,i.e.weldingpower source,arc length controller,welding wire feeder and welding head traveller.The software of the system comprises the on-line executing program and the off-line serving program.The operating principle,specifications and control of the system are introduced.The experiments indicate that the system possesses rational hardware structure and practical software function,and has solved the problem of high frequency interference to the computer control system. Therefore,the control system can satisfy the requirements of automatic TIG welding of the missile shell.

Development of Full Automatic External Welding Machine for Annular Welds of Pipeline

To meet the demands of rapid development of pipeline constructions in China, a complete set of full automatic external welding machine for annular welds of pipeline and welding procedure have been developed thereof. The system has been applied in the “West East Pipeline Project” and its performance is proven. With this welding machine the welding parameters can be either preset before or adjusted in real time during the welding process, which avoids the blemishes of same type domestic and international products. Thus it is best propitious to in situ construction conditions and workers’ technical level in China. In this article the development of mechanical and control systems of this product is introduced and typical welding procedure parameters are provided.

Evaluation of automatic girth weldability of pipeline in special conditions

To meet the requirements of pipeline consumers abroad,in this study,an automatic gas metal arc welding type of girth welding was performed with a heat input of no more than 0.25 kJ/mm and high-strength solid-wire matching for an X70M large-diameter UOE pipeline.An integral evaluation of the X70M pipeline girth weldability was performed with respect to the girth-weld cold-cracking sensitivity during the welding process and the strengthening,hardening,and embrittlement of the girth weld joint after girth welding in especially rigorous welding conditions with accelerated failure characteristics.The performance of the above girth weld joint with joints welded using the main construction-field girth welding procedure was compared to ensure the good girth weldability of the X70M pipeline.The results of this study have important supervisory significance for field-construction girth welding.Finally,the girth weldability of the X70M pipeline was found to satisfy the field construction requirements even when the welding conditions are especially rigorous.

FLEXIBLE MAGNETIC WHEEL TYPE INTELLIGENT WELDING ROBOT FOR SPHERICAL TANK

An intelligent welding robot for spherical tank's all-position multi-layerwelds is developed. Based on the dynamics analyzing and simulation testing, a flexible magneticwheel mechanism is created as the robot's walking carriage. It makes the robot directly attracted tothe surface of the spherical tank so as to realize the all-position walking and welding withoutrail. At the same time, a CCD real-time tracing system is developed for the robot to repeatedlytrace the all-position and multi-layer seams. The welding tests show that the welding robot can makethe all-position and multi-layer welds with high tracing accuracy, excellent quality and reliablebehavior, and it can be applied for practical production.

Pose Planning for the End-effector of Robot in the Welding of Intersecting Pipes

All-position robots are widely applied in the welding of complicated parts.Welding of intersecting pipes is one of the most typical tasks.The welding seam is a complicated saddle-like space curve,which puts a great challenge to the pose planning of end-effector.The special robots designed specifically for this kind of tasks are rare in China and lack sufficient theoretical research.In this paper,a systematic research on the pose planning for the end-effectors of robot in the welding of intersecting pipes is conducted. First,the intersecting curve of pipes is mathematically analyzed.The mathematical model of the most general intersecting curve of pipes is derived,and several special forms of this model in degraded situations are also discussed.A new pose planning approach of bisecting angle in main normal plane（BAMNP） for the welding-gun is proposed by using differential geometry and the comparison with the traditional bisecting angle in axial rotation plane（BAARP） method is also analytically conducted.The optimal pose of the welding-gun is to make the orientation posed at the center of the small space formed by the two cylinders and the intersecting curve to help the welding-pool run smoothly.The BAMNP method can make sure the pose vertical to the curve and center between the two cylinders at the same time,therefore its performance in welding-technique is superior to the BAARP method.By using the traditional BAARP method,the robot structure can become simpler and easier to be controlled,because one degree of freedom（DOF） of the robot can be reduced.For the special case of perpendicular intersecting,an index is constructed to evaluate the quality of welding technique in the process of welding.The effect of different combination of pipe size on this index is also discussed.On the basis of practical consideration,selection principle for BAARP and BAMNP is described.The simulations of those two methods for a serial joint-type robot are made in MATLAB,and the simulation results are consistent to the analysis.The mathematical model and the proposed new pose-planning method will lay a solid foundation for future researches on the control and design of all-position welding robots.

BASIC THEORY AND APPLICATIONS OF WELDING ARC SPECTRAL INFORMATION

Welding arc spectral information is a rising welding information source. In some occasion, it can reflect many physical phenomena of welding process and solve many problems that cannot be done with arc electric information, acoustic information and other arc information. It is of important significance in developing automatic control technique of welding process and other similar process. Many years study work on welding arc spectral information of the anthor are discussed from three aspects of theory, method and application. Basic theory, view and testing methods of welding arc spectral information has been put forward. In application aspects, many applied examples, for example, monitoring of harmful gases in arc （such as hydrogen and nitrogen） with the method of welding arc spectral information; welding arc spectral imaging of the welding pool which is used in automatic seam tracking; controlling of welding droplet transfer with welding arc spectral information and so on, are introduced. Especially, the successful application in real time controlling of welding droplet transfer in pulsed GMAW is introduced too. These application examples show that the welding arc spectral information has great applied significance and development potentialities. These .content will play an important role in applying and spreading welding arc spectral informarion technology.

Research and engineering application of the arc welding pulsed controller technology

The tenacity of heat-affected zone （HAZ） will decline and the size of grains will increase, because of the overheating on HAZ when submerged are welding （SAW） is ased to thick plate with high heat input. The shaping will worsen when SAW is used to thin plate with high current at high speed. A new SAW technology, the pulsed direct current （DC） automatic SAW, will be put forward in this paper in order to overcome the above shortcomings. And a pulsed controller with micro-controller unit （MCU） as the core, nixie tube （NT） and keyboard as the man-machine conversation interface is developed. The main functions of the pulsed controller include the output of pulsed welding current and the working with twinwire. The research has widely prospects in application with significant meanings in theory and practical engineering.

The Investigation on Welding Processes for SUS316LN Tubes Used in Superconducting Magnetic System of EAST

The force flow cooled superconducting cable-in-conduit conductor （CICC） is used in both of EAST toroidal field （TF） and poloidal field （PF） coils. The conductor consists of multi-stage NbTi superconducting cable and 1.5 mm thick square jacket. The cable is pulled through in a thin wall circular jacket and then compacted to square cross-section conductor. The jacket material is SUS316LN austenitic stainless steel seamless tubes （about 10 m each）, which is assembled by butt-welding up to 600 m. The results of the welding procedure investigation and quality assurance procedures carrying out are described in this paper.

BASIC THEORY AND METHOD OF WELDING ARC SPECTRAL INFORMATION

Arc spectral information is a rising information source which can solve manyproblems that can not be done with arc electric information and other arc information. It is ofimportant significance to develop automatic control technique of welding process. The basic theoryand methods on it play an important role in expounding and applying arc spectral information. Usingconcerned equation in plasma physics and spectrum theory, a system of equations including 12equations which serve as basic theory of arc spectral information is set up. Through analyzing ofthe 12 equations, a basic view that arc spectral information is the reflection of arc state andstate variation, and is the most abundant information resource reflecting welding arc process isdrawn. Furthermore, based on the basic theory, the basic methods of test and control of arc spectralinformation and points out some applications of it are discussesed.