Svetsaren 1 2009

TRANSPORTATION
EXHAUST SYSTEMS SHOCK ABSORBERS

MOBILE CRANES TRUCK COMPONENTS FERRIES
TRAMWAY REPAIR FORKLIFT FRAMES
MOBILE MACHINERY
THE ESAB WELDING AND CUTTING JOURNAL VOL. 64 NO. 1 2009
Over 100 years of experience in the design and provision of high quality, technically
advanced, welding and cutting solutions. Proud recipient of the Frost & Sullivan 2008
Global Welding Consumables Customer Excellence Award.
ESAB Putting customers first
Awarded for
Responsiveness to customer needs
Providing value-added technology and
services
Implementation of new technologies to
improve customer service
Innovative customer service and customer
contact strategies
Unique customer experience management
Working with customers to improve their
profitability and their competitive positions.
Frost & Sullivan recognises outstanding industry achievements by presenting Awards to top companies in regional and global
markets. Their teams of industry experts recognise the diligence and innovation required to implement a successful business plan
and excel in the increasingly competitive global marketplace. These prestigious Awards are recognized worldwide by the media, the
investment community, and end-user markets.
Svetsaren
TRANSPORTATION
EXHAUST SYSTEMS SHOCK ABSORBERS
MOBILE CRANES TRUCK COMPONENTS FERRIES
TRAMWAY REPAIR FORKLIFT FRAMES
MOBILE MACHINERY
THE ESAB WELDING AND CUTTING JOURNAL VOL. 64 NO. 1 2009
Dear reader,
The transport and vehicle manufacturing sectors are
facing challenging times. The effects of the credit
crunch are combining with the growing evidence of
economic recession and mounting fears over job
security. The knockon effect on consumer
confidence has been dramatic and rapid, leading to
a precipitous decline in new car sales.
Additional pressure comes from increasing
environmental awareness. To protect our planet, car
manufacturers are reviewing their strategy in terms of
alternative energy sources, recycling and reutilisation of
waste, hybrid solutions, lithium batteries, fuel cells, green tyres, electrical energy
management, stop and start systems, etc. These technical innovations may also have
an impact on new car sales in the near future.
On the other hand, government bodies are supporting investments in local infrastructure,
which has a positive effect on the passenger rail transport segment. Passenger traffic
has been growing strongly thanks to a variety of factors such as increasing road and air
congestion and major improvements in rail services winning people over from air and
road. In a number of regions we can still see the huge investments that are ongoing,
creating employment and supporting the economic growth of the nation. Rail transport is
experiencing a revival.
This issue of Svetsaren features articles and application stories that illustrate the success
of our clients, and the indepth involvement of ESAB as a welding and cutting solution
provider for both manual and mechanizedrobotic applications in the transport industry.
Good reading,
CHRISTOPHE GREGOIR
ESAB GLOBAL SEGMENT MANAGER TRANSPORT
TRANSPORTATION
Articles from Svetsaren may be reproduced
without permission, providing reference is
given to ESAB and Svetsaren as the original
source.
Publisher
Johan Elvander
Editor
Ben Altemhl
Editorial committee
Tony Anderson, Klaus Blome, Sabine Loeffler,
Christophe Gregoir, Joakim Cahlin, Dan
Erlandsson, Bjrn Torstensson,
Nils Thalberg, Annika Tedeholm,
Jos Roberto Domingues, Antonio Couto Plais.
Address
Svetsaren
ESAB AB Central Market Communications
Box 8004
S-402 77 Gothenburg
Sweden
Internet address
http://www.esab.com
E-mail: svetsaren@esab.com
Printed in The Netherlands by True Colours
Photo courtesy
Volvo Construction
Equipment AB,
Sweden - see
page 50.
Christophe Gregoir
Svetsaren no. 1 - 2009 - 3
36
Welded transport at sea.
The aluminium ferries to Hokkaido
Incat builds the worlds largest, most
fuel-efficient, diesel powered high speed
catamaran ferries.
EMCON TECHNOLOGIES Brazil
Reduced cycle time for welding
catalytic converters with ESAB
Arcaloy 409Ti metal-cored wire.
07
05
ESAB corporate newsflash
Contents
4 - Svetsaren no. 1 - 2009
25
The ultimate welding robot with superior
welding technology.
12
Rosio
Robotic friction stir welding of
complex components.
16
ESAB supports mobile crane
specialist HIAB
ESAB strategic partner in
robotisation project.
21
ABB robotics partners team-up for Nefaz
Andon and ESAB provide complete
robotic welding solution for dump
truck walls.
Improving fatigue life with Low
Temperature Transformation (LTT)
welding consumables
The technical philosophy behind the
LTT-approach.
27
3% more shock absorbers for PSA
Peugeot Citron
Automated production benefits from
Marathon Pac.
40
Tramtrac II
Rail repair solution for Rigas tramways.
43
Perfect welding for truck axle housings
Use of AristoRod 12.50 wire in
ArvinMeritor plant results in significant
improvements.
46
Volvo takes short-cut to robotised welding
ABB Flexarc cell with ESAB welding kit
up and running in one weekend.
Mexican fork truck maker boosts
productivity
ESAB OK AristoRod drives down cost of
frame production.
How many more BMWs come out of a
Marathon Pac?
Hydro Automotive Norway speeds-up
robotic welding of aluminium cross beams.
50
53
56
Product News
59
OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm
Metal cored wire for high speed thin plate
welding applications.
32
several large plasma and oxyfuel cutting machines,
ESABs new telescopic column and boom SAW
stations, rollerbeds, portable welding machines as
well as a long term supply agreement for SAW wire
and flux.
Meyer Werft orders largest TELEREX
TM
TXB
built to date. Birthdays do not get much better.
Just in time for the 70th anniversary of ESAB
Cutting Systems, in July 2008, Meyer Werft of
Papenburg placed an order for the largest
TELEREX TXB gantry cutting machine built to
date - with a track width of 33 metres. Extensively
automated, the high precision TELEREX TXB
handles all cutting and marking functions for the
production of large-sized sheets for shipbuilding.
The unit for Meyer Werft is equipped with
automated plate position recognition for error-free
tool positioning, controlled via a camera system.
Start-up is planned for September 2009. The
contract was signed at the highest level by Meyer
Werft owner Bernhard Meyer, ESAB CEO Jon
Templeman and Achim Dries, Managing Director
of ESAB Cutting Systems GmbH.
ESAB opens new factories in China. On the
19th March 2008, an opening ceremony was held
to celebrate the inauguration of ESABs third
factory in China - ESAB Welding Products
(Weihai) Co Ltd. ESAB chose Weihai, located at
the tip of Shandongs North Eastern peninsular,
for its close proximity to the rapidly expanding
shipbuilding industry in Northern China. The plant
produces flux-cored wire, speciality coated
electrodes and agglomerated submerged arc flux.
Another exciting milestone for ESAB in Asia was
reached with the grand opening of ESABs first
equipment factory in Asia, for the manufacture of
step-controlled MIG/MAG power sources and
wire feeders. The factory located in Zhangjiagang,
Suzhou province, China, was officially opened by
Jon Templeman, CEO ESAB Global, on 25
September 2008. Given ESABs emphasis on
environment, health and safety, the management
and staff have made a conscious effort to ensure
compliance with ISO14001 and OHSAS18001
environmental, health and safety standards.
$1.2M order for robot packages from DANA
Argentina. In June 2008, DANA, an automotive
manufacturer working for the Volkswagen
Commercial Vehicles division ordered Aristo Mig
robot packages for the retrofit of 81 ABB IRB
2400L welding robots for a new VW pick-up truck
to be produced in South America, Europe and
South Africa. The order was awarded amidst
fierce competition from major international
welding equipment suppliers. State-of-the-art
inverter welding technology was crucial, but also
a maintenance contract - an agreement to keep
all ESAB equipment running with original spare
parts and no dead times.
ABB offers ESAB arc welding packages on
IRB robots. ABB has joined forces with ESAB to
offer customers a comprehensive robotics,
arc-welding solution with power sources,
robot-mounted wire feeders, cable package and
Marathon Pac bulk drums with robot quality MIG/
MAG wire. Central to the package is ESABs
Aristo robot package which includes the Aristo
Mig 4000i or 5000i power source - the latest
inverter Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT)
power source technology which supports a
variety of arc-welding capabilities, including
robotic short arc, spray arc, pulsed arc, high
speed welding (rapid arc) and the unique
SuperPulse technology. The robot package can
be delivered with separate U8 control unit, or
integrated in ABBs IRC5 robot control unit.
The new package is available with ABBs reliable
IRB1600, IRB1600ID (Integrated Dressing) and
IRB2400L robots.
Vestas Wind Towers awards major contract
to ESAB. In May 2008, Vestas announced the
construction of the worlds largest wind tower
manufacturing plant in Pueblo, Colorado, USA -
a $250M investment. ESAB Welding & Cutting
Products was selected to supply equipment for
the greenfield production plant for their proven
track record, and the ability to design, deliver and
service such a large venture. The contract includes
ESAB CEO Jon Templeman at the opening of one of
ESABs new factories in China.
ESAB acquires Linkweld. At the end of July
2008, ESAB acquired the former Linkweld MAG
wire plant in Terni, Italy - buying all the assets
consisting of the 8,000 m
2
building and
production equipment. The plant was brought
back into operation within 2.5 month and
acquired ISO 9001 qualification shortly thereafter.
The acquisition is another significant step in
ESABs growth strategy in Europe
AWS Warren F. Savage Awards for
ESAB specialists. ESAB employee Dr Leif
Karlsson and former employee Dr Enda Keehan
recently received The American Welding Society
Warren F. Savage Award. This award recognises
the paper they published in the September 2006
issue of the Welding Journal, which best
represents innovative research resulting in a better
understanding of the metallurgical principles
related to welding. Leif and Enda shared the
award with co-authors Professor Hans-Olof
Andrn from the Chalmers University in
Gothenburg, Sweden and Professor Harshad. K.
D. H. Bhadeshia from Cambridge University in the
UK for their paper New developments with
C-Mn-Ni High strength steel weld metals,
Part A Microstructure.
ESAB corporate newsflash
The Nordic Council of Ministers has
launched a new website that serves as a
window to the world for Nordic solutions in
renewable energy technology, research and
development, as well as political approaches to
sustainable energy use. ESAB was invited to
participate, and the result can be seen on
www.nordicenergysolutions.org
Frost & Sullivan acknowledges ESABs
excellence in customer service
The 2008 Global Welding Consumables
Customer Service Excellence Award has been
presented to ESAB.
ESAB has developed an exceptional product
range in response to customer specific needs,
notes Frost & Sullivan Senior Research Analyst
Archana Chauhan. The company has one of the
largest welding consumables product ranges; it
has consumables for every welding application
type, but also to cater to particular industry
segments such as shipbuilding, automotives,
pipelines, and pipe mills. They are manufactured
under a strict ISO 9001 quality assurance
programme, in factories that are ISO14001
approved, worldwide.
A global presence and widely dispersed
manufacturing facilities have facilitated an
extensive reach and more effective response to
customer needs. The ESAB group has 26
manufacturing plants across the globe and sales
offices and distributors in almost 80 countries,
enabling ESAB to provide a truly global
experience to its customers. It tracks its customer
delivery performance on a global basis and
constantly seeks to improve.
ESAB invests heavily in R&D to enhance the
quality and productivity of its consumables, while
reducing their environmental impact and improving
the working environment of its customers.
Through its regionally dispersed Process
Development Centres, ESAB is able to provide
rapid technical support as well as customer
training. Its internationally renowned specialists
wherever located - are united in a single
department and globally deployed to improve
customers welding productivity.
ESAB publishes an internationally respected
customer magazine Svetsaren that covers major
welding industry related issues, comments Miss
Chauhan. The company also deploys user
friendly e-marketing and networking strategies.
For instance, the ESAB website has all the
information necessary to place orders and redress
grievances.
The Frost & Sullivan Global Customer Service
Excellence Award is bestowed each year upon
the company which has demonstrated global
excellence in a given business function such as
sales, marketing, customer service, product
quality and supply chain management.
About Frost & Sullivan.
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership
Company, empower clients to create a
growth-focused culture that generates, evaluates
and implements effective growth strategies. Frost
& Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in
partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging
businesses and the investment community from
more than 30 offices on six continents. For more
information about Frost & Sullivans Growth
Partnerships, visit www.frost.com.
AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY (AWS) 12TH
Aluminum AWS-AA Aluminum Conference
(May 5-6, 2009), Toronto, Canada.
TONY ANDERSON: CONFERENCE CHAIRMAN &
INTRODUCTORY LECTURE.
JAY GINDER: FRICTION STIR WELDING OF ALUMINIUM -
CUTTING METHODS FOR ALUMINIUM ALLOYS -
ROBOTIC APPLICATIONS.
AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY (AWS).
Charting the course in welding for US ship-
yards (June 16-17, 2009), Louisiana, USA.
TONY ANDERSON: HOW TO AVOID CRACKING IN ARC
WELDED ALUMINUM ALLOYS USED FOR MARINE
APPLICATIONS.
IIW ANNUAL ASSEMBLY, 12-18 July, Singapore
DR. LEIF KARLSSON: THE EFFECT OF PURGING GAS ON
308L TIG ROOT-PASS FERRITE CONTENT.
DR. LEIF KARLSSON: EFFECTS OF ALLOYING CONCEPTS
ON FERRITE MORPHOLOGY AND TOUGHNESS OF LEAN
DUPLEX STAINLESS STEEL WELD METALS.
LARS-ERIK STRIDH: ESW STRIP CLADDING AND
HYBRIDLASER WELDING OF LONGITUDINAL SEAM OF
CLADDED PIPE.
DR. MIKAEL SORON: EVALUATING CONTROL SOLUTIONS
FOR ROBOTIC FRICTION STIR WELDING
THERMEC, BERLIN, GERMANY, August 25-29th.
DR. MIKAEL SORON: QUANTIFYING THE USABILITY OF A
ROBOT SYSTEM FOR FRICTION STIR WELDING.
1ST INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP on in-situ
studies by synchroton and neutron diffraction,
1-2 September 2009, Berlin Germany
DR. LEIF KARLSSON: INFLUENCE OF PLASTIC DEFOR-
MATION ON THE RESIDUAL STRESS DISTRIBUTION AND
FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF HIGH STRENGTH STEELS
WELDS.
IIW REGIONAL CONFERENCE on
Progressive structural materials and their
welding and joining technologies, 14-16
October, High Tatras, Stara Lesna, Slovakia
DR. LEIF KARLSSON: MICROSTRUCTURE AND
PROPERTIES OF HIGH STRENGTH STEEL WELD
METALS.
ESAB in conference
Keynote speakers are representing ESAB in the following welding conferences in 2009:
Emcon Technologies is a new company resulting from the acquisition of the exhaust systems division of ArvinMeritor in 2007 by OEP - One Equity Partners.
Emcon Technologies Brazil has four plants located in: Limeira-So Paulo (the main plant in Brazil), So Bernardo-So Paulo, Camaar -Bahia and Gravata -
Rio Grande do Sul. All are involved in the manufacture of exhaust systems and, together, they supply almost all car manufacturers in Brazil, eg, GMC, Ford,
VW, PSA, Toyota and Honda.
The use of advanced materials, coinciding with a high level of competitiveness in the automotive industry, has led
ESAB to forge partnerships with its clients in this segment, with the objective of providing ideal welding solutions
with a competitive edge. This is exemplified by a recent project with EMCON TECHNOLOGIES a major
international fabricator of exhaust systems which introduced stainless steel cored wires for ferritic stainless steel
in their production.
EMCON TECHNOLOGIES Brazil reduces cycle time for welding
catalytic converters with ESAB Arcaloy 409Ti metal-cored wire.
ROBERTO LUIZ DE SOUZA, ESAB BRASIL, SO PAULO, BRAZIL
Converter
Flange
Resonator
Intermediate
Pipe
Muffler
Tail Pipe
Flex
Coupling
Manifold
hot end cold end
> 900 C 750-900 C 500-700 C 400 C

0
100C
200C
300C
400C
500C
600C
700C
800C
900C
1000C
1100C
1200C
1300C
1400C
1500C
1992 1997 1998 1999 2002
1600C
Year
end components. In Europe, austenitic types are
common for the complete system, although a trend
towards the use of ferritic types is being seen.
Consumables
Consumables for welding ferritic stainless steel
can be either austenitic or ferritic. Austenitic
consumables have excellent weldability and give a
weld with an austenitic microstructure and good
mechanical properties. The addition of nickel,
however, makes austenitic consumables more
expensive.
Ferritic consumables contain 11-18% Cr,
depending on classification, and are not alloyed
with nickel. They are micro-alloyed with Ti and Nb
as stabilisers to prevent sensitisation. They have
good weldability and provide welds with excellent
corrosion resistance and good mechanical
properties also at high temperatures. This group
of consumables is ideal for welding as they do
not have Ni and yet maintain the quality desired
for the welding of vehicle exhaust systems
components.
The test programme carried out by EMCON, in
close co-operation with ESAB, investigated the
advantages, in terms of weld quality and
productivity, of replacing AWS ER308LSi solid
wire with ESABs Arcaloy 409Ti (AWS A5.9
EC409) ferritic stainless metal-cored wire, in the
production of catalytic converters.
Test programme
The investigation was carried out in three phases,
all focussing on a specific area of the
consumables performance:
weldability and productivity
weld profile
chemical composition and micro-structure
All welding was done with a robot cell for the
production of catalytic converters under real
production conditions enabling an exact
comparison between the solid and the cored
wire (Figure 3).
Weldability and productivity
Arcaloy 409Ti was used successfully. Both wires
were welded in the non-pulsing short arc mode in
Ar/2%O
2
shielding gas at 220A/18V (ER308LSi)
and 240A/20V (Arcaloy 409Ti).
Acknowledgement
We express our appreciation to EMCON
TECHNOLOGIES, in particular to Mr. and Mrs.
Luiz Henrique Machado, Jos Eduardo Lepore
and Edson Luiz Geniseli for their support and
true team spirit during this project.
Introduction
In the automotive industry, stainless steels are
increasingly being used for exhaust systems at
the expense of carbon steel. The use of ferritic
stainless steel for exhaust systems was first seen
in the USA in the mid-70s and has since gained
popularity due to its excellent resistance to
corrosion, cyclic oxidation, fatigue, high
temperatures and thermo mechanics. They are
ideally suitable for environments with abrupt
changes of temperature, mechanical wear and
exposure to gases and corrosive condense.
Technical evolution and work temperature of
catalytic converters
In Brazil, stainless steel exhaust systems became
standard, from 1991, when a government law
forced all cars domestic or imported to be
equipped with catalytic converters. Since then,
the maximum operating temperature of
converters has increased, due to developments in
the ceramic or aluminium-oxide core (honeycomb)
and precious metal coatings, resulting in more
dependable and efficient converters (Figure 1).
Figure 2 shows the temperature zones in a
complete exhaust system, with the traditional
division of hot end and cold end. In the USA
and Brazil, ferritic steels are predominantly used
for the entire exhaust system AISI type 439
being a popular choice for hot end applications
and the lower alloyed AISI type 409 type for cold
Figure 2. Criteria for material selection.
Figure 1. Development in work temperature of catalytic converters.
Melting of ceramic breakdown of
catalytic converter
Zone of overheating too high
temperature for the catalytic process
Transition zone temperature almost
too high
Work zone catalytic process of
cleaning exhaust gases
Temperature too low for catalytic process
The metal-cored wire was impressive, with low level spatter, flat bead profile
and uniform and linear welds (Figure 4 and 5). Arc ignition and arc
stabilisation were deemed to be excellent - with minimum spatter at starts
and stops greatly improving the final appearance of the catalytic converter.
Economic results were equally convincing, with 45% higher welding speed
and a cycle time reduction of 25% (table 1). Obviously, this accounts for an
enormous improvement in productivity for a company in the competitive
automotive market. The success of Arcaloy 409Ti in the welding of catalytic
converters provides a basis for further testing to optimise welding
productivity. The next stage of testing will explore the use of pulsed arc welding.
Figure 3. Cell for the robotic welding of catalytic converters.
Table 1. Productivity data.
Parameters Consumable Difference
Datas Solid wire ER308LSi Arcaloy 409Ti Gain
Base metal AISI409 AISI409
Thickness 1.50mm 1.50mm
Wire diameter 1.0mm 1.2mm
Shielding Gas Ar+2%O
2
Ar+2%O
2
Welding speed (cm/min.) 113 164 +45%
Welding time (s) 48 33 -31%
Cycle time (s) 60 45 -25%
Figure 4. Detail of converter welded with Arcaloy 409Ti.
Figure 5. Converter welded with Arcaloy 409Ti.
Table 3. Sample welded with ER308LSi wire.
Figure 7. Sample analysis plan.
Table 2. Sample welded with metal-cored wire Arcaloy 409Ti.
0
2
4
6
Measured points
P
e
n
e
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

(
m
m
)
0
2
4
6
Measured points
P
e
n
e
t
r
a
t
i
o
n

(
m
m
)
Table 4. Weld penetration - average of three test welds.
Average of penetration
Samples Difference (%) Wire Arcaloy 409Ti versus solid wire ER 308LSi
D1 C S
1A +56% -7% +7%
1B +65% -14% +23%
1C +109% +55% -11%
D1 C S
1A 0.50 2.54 5.19
1B 0.43 2.09 5.57
1C 0.44 1.96 4.40
D1 C S
1A 0.32 2.74 4.85
1B 0.26 2.49 4.50
1C 0.21 1.26 4.95
Weld profile
Macros were taken to verify weld profile and
penetration. Figure 7 shows the weld dimensions
measured on three individual catalytic converters
welded with Arcaloy 409Ti and ER308LSi solid
wire, respectively. Figure 6 indicates where the
samples were taken.
Tables 2 and 3 show examples of individual
values measured on test pieces welded with
Arcaloy 409Ti and ER308LSi solid wire and
Table 4 gives the average of three test welds for
both wires.
From these results, it can be concluded that
Arcaloy 409Ti shows a wider penetration S and
D1. This is because it has a less concentrated
electric arc than solid wire. The wider penetration
profile is beneficial in the avoidance of lack of
fusion defects - particularly important for this
industry. On average, the penetration depth C
was smaller than from the ER308LSi solid wire.
This is also beneficial as it involves thin-plate
welding with a potential risk of burning-through.
Chemical composition and micro-structure
Figures 8 and 9 compare the micro-structure of
welds made with both wires, the result being
predictable. The weld metal structure is austenitic
for the ER308LSi wire and ferritic for the metal-
cored wire. The microstructure of the base
material and HAZ remain comparable in type and
Figure 6. Cross sections for sampling.
grain size. Tests with oxalic acid did not reveal
any sign of sensitisation at the grain boundaries.
Also visible is the wider weld bead with less
reinforcement produced by Arcaloy 409Ti in line
with the findings of Table 4.
Conclusion
ESABs partnership with EMCON
TECHNOLOGIES in a test programme for the
replacement of ER308LSi solid wire with Arcaloy
409Ti metal-cored wire in the robotic welding of
catalytic converters, resulted in a dramatic
reduction in cycle time, as well as a more
favourable penetration profile for thin-plate
welding. It formed the basis for wide-scale
introduction of Arcaloy 409Ti in EMCON
production and paved the way for the application
of another type of ferritic metal-cored wire,
Arcaloy 430LNb.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
ROBERTO LUIZ DE SOUZA IS WELDING PROCESS
TECHNOLOGIST AND TECHNICAL CONSULTANT
AUTOMOTIVE SEGMENT AT ESAB BRASIL,
SO PAULO, BRAZIL.A
Figure 9. Joint welded with Arcaloy 430Ti.
Figure 8. Joint welded with solid wire ER 308LSi.
3D welding tests with Rosio.
Introduction
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) has been used for the
high quality joining of aluminium since its invention
in the early 1990s. The superior joint quality
results from a solid-state procedure, where no
filler material or shielding gas is used. The joint is
the result of a rotating tool being forced into the
material and traversed along the joint line.
The material, suppressed by the tools shoulder,
becomes plastic and reforms homogenously
leaving a solid bond between the two pieces.
The technique was developed at TWI
(The Welding Institute) in the early 1990s, when
ESAB joined a group-sponsored project aiming to
develop the process. Commercialisation of the
process started a few years later with successful
installations at Marine Aluminium (Haugesund,
Norway), in 1996, and at Boeing (Wichita,
Kansas, USA), in 1998. FSW has gained a sound
reputation within the welding community as an
easy-to-use, defect-free process.
The joining of multidimensional
joints has been a challenge for
friction stir welding (FSW). This is
because machines are
predominantly built to manage
process requirements rather than
enabling motion flexibility. By using
high-payload industrial robots, a
new field of applications for friction
stir welding can be created.
Meeting the requirements of
on-road, on-track, in the air
industries for high quality and
repeatability, and providing the
flexibility of traditional welding
robotics, robotic friction stir
welding is ready to face the
challenges. This article reviews
ESABs research and development
in bringing to the marketplace the
latest member of the ESAB FSW
family: Rosio - robotic friction
stir welder.
DR. MIKAEL SORON, ESAB AB WELDING EQUIPMENT, LAX, SWEDEN
KARI ERIK LAHTI, PHD, MSC, MBA, ESAB AB, GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN
Robotic friction stir welding of
complex components using Rosio
Figure 1. Welding tests on Rosio Friction Stir Welding robot.
However, FSW still faces some challenges. One of
these is the limited work envelope of the
machines. If the workpiece is not positioned
inside the machines work envelope, the resulting
weld quality is not guaranteed. Additionally, as the
forces required to produce the weld are relatively
high (ranging from approximately 1kN up to
100kN), the focus in machine design has been on
support of high forces while maintaining stability.
As a result, weld joint geometries using stationary
machines are, typically, straight or circumferential.
This has led to an interest in using industrial
robots for friction stir welding for developments
outside the comfort envelope of traditional
planar machines.
ESAB has been developing robotic FSW since
2003 and, after a successful evaluation period,
ESAB FSW Rosio is now available for various
welding applications.
Power game in FSW
The main advantage gained by using an
industrial robot for FSW is the 3-dimensional
workspace. But along with the axis
configuration needed to achieve this
workspace, compliant behaviour is unavoidable.
As the robot comes into contact with a rigid
object, the structure compresses and leaves
erroneous encoder readings. As those readings
are fed back to the control system to be used
in the continuous planning, the applied motion
will not correspond to that intended. And, as
the force experienced during FSW may be at
the outer limits of the systems performance,
such behaviour will cause instability and most
likely cause the operation to fail.
A common solution to such a problem is force
control. By disregarding positional readings in the
active direction of the tool and, instead, reading the
contact force and regulating it according to a
desired value, contact stability is ensured. It is
obviously a difficult task, requiring not only
experience in robot system dynamics, but also the
process. It has, none-the-less, been recognised as
a suitable solution not only for FSW, but also in
many other in-contact operations in which robots
are used.
The ESAB robot prototype
ESAB has chosen to utilise a standard industrial
robot for friction stir welding, whilst
acknowledging the known challenges of force
capacity, instability, etc. In order to keep the
process entry level threshold low, it was decided
that a standard, widely available industrial robot is
used as building block for Rosio.
In order to minimise the effects caused by the
process, focus areas for development have been in
implementation of adaptive control by
mechanically reconfiguring the robot so that the
maximum downforce of 500kg can be fully utilised.
The actual welding head consists of a tool
adapter, a spindle and a motor. It is dimensioned
to apply maximum torque of 40Nm and rotation
speed of 3000rpm. This is sufficient for friction stir
welding AA6000-series aluminium alloys in
thicknesses up to 5mm.
When integrating the welding head with the robot,
two main areas need to be considered. Firstly, the
operating area of the robot should not be affected
by the addition of the friction stir welding head.
Secondly, with a constant distance between the
FSW tool and the robots wrist, stability is
increased and the position of tool centre point is
better controlled.
Minimum mechanical re-configuration of the robot
is needed. However, for FSW the 6th axis is more
or less redundant, so the space occupied by that
axis is used for housing the welding equipment.
This increases stability by locating the FSW tool
closer to the wrist.
As previously mentioned, there is always a need
for an advanced control system when performing
FSW with a robot. This is due to the fact that
robots are typically not designed for in-contact
operations, and very rarely if ever - for the
contact forces experienced during FSW. With
elastic deformation always existing in the system
under load, process control is very demanding.
In FSW, operations can be divided into both
planar and complex welds. Planar weld seams
Figure 3. 3D welding tests with Rosio.
Figure 2. The worlds first industrial FSW machine; installed at Marine Aluminium in 1996 and, since then, producing
panels for marine applications.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
DR. MIKAEL SORON, IS QUALIFIED CALCULATION
ENGINEER AT ESAB AB WELDING EQUIPMENT,
LAX, SWEDEN
KARI ERIK LAHTI, PHD, MSC, MBA, IS DIRECTOR
ENGINEERING SALES AT ESAB AB, GOTHENBURG,
SWEDEN
Table 1. Rosio technical data.
Force capacity 13 kN
Spindle torque capacity 44 Nm.
Spindle rotational capacity 3000 rpm.
Reach 2.55m from the origin
Control features hybrid force/position control mode
Tool interface Weldon interface with 25mm diameter
Process monitoring Force (x, y, z); Torque (ix,iy,iz); Position (x,y,z); Tool orientation (q1,q2,q3,q4); Spindle rotation (rpm)
Mains 3ph. - 400V, 50Hz
Weight Robot ~ 2500kg, control cabinet ~ 250kg
Connections 2 Ethernet connections (1 service), RS232 terminal
are performed by traditional machines, or any
other 2-dimensional welding technique. Complex
weld seams are applied on objects having curved
surfaces. The major difference between the two,
in terms of path planning, is that the motion of a
planar weld may be planned according to a
pre-defined fixed coordinate system. The system
internally calculates how to orientate the tool in
order to apply a tilt angle defined by the user -
like a welding parameter - just by being given the
positional coordinates from, for example,
teach-programming. The robot system also
features the ability to apply a proper tilt or travel
angle with relative ease. By implementing welding
instructions for the robots programming
language, including the algorithms to apply the tilt
angles for a set of common operation, the
operator may program the robot as with any
standard robot operation.
Applications
One of the early users of robotic FSW is the
automotive industry, where relatively soft
aluminium alloys - AA5000 and AA6000-series -
are used in thicknesses under 3mm (REF. [2-3]).
In these applications,
forces under 5000N and tool rotating speeds
below 3000rpm are typical. Successful butt-
and overlap-joints on
AA6063, AA6082 and
AA5754 have been per-
formed in order to verify
the performance of
Rosio - first in 2D or
planar applications and,
later, in a real 3D environ-
ment (Figure 3). For the 3D tests,
programs were generated automatically from
the CAD-drawings for concave-convex-concave
objects as off-line programming.
Welding speeds in the tests were approximately
100cm/min for each of the combinations.
The location and orientation of the actual
workpiece needs to be calibrated for each
workstation. This needs only to be done once if
the clamping and fixtures are made properly.
Summary
ESAB has developed the Rosio 3D welding
system for Friction Stir Welding. It is suitable for
welding soft aluminium alloys in thicknesses up to
5 mm with good repeatability and quality.
Substantial research has been carried out since
2003 in order to be in position to utilise a
standard industrial robot for this demanding
process. Modifications in mechanics and complex
control algorithms have enabled development that
makes robotic friction stir welding a viable
process for the manufacturing industry.
References
[1] Soron M.J., 2007. Robot System for Flexible
3D Friction Stir Welding, Phd Thesis.
[2] Lahti K.E., Gregoir C. 2002. Friction Stir
Welding in automotive and road transport.
In: Automotive Purchasing News. Pp. 51- 53.
[3] Lahti K.E. 2002. Tailor Welded Blanks (TWB)
by Friction Stir Welding (FSW). In. APT
Aluminium Process and product technology.
Pp. 1-8.
[4] Lahti K.E. 2004. Wider Extrusions at Lower
Cost by Friction Stir Welding. Proceedings of
8th International Aluminium Extrusion
Technology Seminar and Exposition, May
18-21, 2004, Orlando. Florida, U.S.A. Pp. 7.
Figure 4. Applications for Rosio: Tailor-welded blanks, FSW processing, joining of cooling blocks.
The journey has started join us!
Robotised welding with metal-cored wires makes productivity leap.
ESAB supports mobile crane
specialist HIAB
In 2004, HIAB AB in Hudiksvall, Sweden - manufacturer of truck-mounted
loader cranes - embarked on a project to robotise the majority of their welding
operations within a period of three years. ESAB was invited to join-in as
strategic partner.
INGVAR GUSTAVSSON, ESAB AB, SWEDEN.
A remote-controlled crane mounted on a truck to make holes in the roof of a burning building to release hot combustion
gases the solution to one of the most dangerous tasks facing firemen.
introduced on a smaller scale in conjunction with
the laser cutting of components to give the
required cut quality and tolerances.
In 2003, HIAB management decided to step-up
robotised welding to an unprecedented level for
this type of industry, in reaction to a competitive
market and an increasing product portfolio
requiring flexible and efficient manufacturing.
This resulted in the challenging objective to raise
the level of robotising or automation from 23% of
65,000 welding hours in 2004 to beyond 70% of
80,000 welding hours, within a period of three
years.
ESAB work in Partnership
From the start, HIAB wanted ESAB to be involved
as a strategic partner and supply welding
expertise to the project the reward would be the
associated supply of welding consumables and
equipment. To reach HIABs objectives, a clear
set of responsibilities was defined for ESAB:
To introduce new methods and consumables
To give recommendations for each application
To optimise welding parameters
To educate operators
The next step was a meeting at HIAB AB
between ESAB specialists and HIAB production
management to review existing production and
decide on a test programme. This resulted in the
definition of two sub-projects which, when
successful, would provide a sound basis for
further robotisation and contribute significantly to
HIABs objectives.
Test programme
Figure 1 shows the principal components of a
truck-mounted loader the base, loader body,
first boom, second boom and extensions.
About HIAB
HIAB is part of the Cargotec Corporation - the
worlds leading provider of cargo handling
solutions for ships, ports, terminals, distribution
centres and local transportation links. HIAB
specialises in on-road load handling solutions with
a complete product offering for loading and
delivering goods. It has production plants in 11
countries, sales offices in 34 countries and
importers and distributors in 100 countries around
the world. HIABs world famous brands include
HIAB loader cranes, MULTILIFT demountables,
MOFFETT and PRINCETON PIGGYBACK
truck-mounted forklifts, ZEPRO, AMA, WALTCO
and FOCOLIFT tail lifts, and LOGLIFT and
JONSERED forestry and recycling cranes. HIAB
AB in Hudiksvall produces truck-mounted cranes
with a lifting capacity of up to 28 tons.
Welding optimisation at HIAB AB
This project - to robotise the majority of welding
operations within three years, as from 2004, was
part of a wider programme of production
improvements. Earlier - as part of a major project
towards faster, cheaper and higher quality
production - robotised welding had been
Gaining a higher welding productivity had been
the most important aspect from the onset. HIAB
staff and managers were pleased to see that the
change from solid wire to OK Tubrod 14.11
1.4mm resulted in a substantial reduction of the
cycle time for welding first booms. In a later stage
of the project, after implementing the cored wire
fully into production, HIAB quantified this
improvement to be 20-40%, depending on
the component.
The test programme reviewed the manufacturing
of the following components:
The loader body. This involved the production
of loader bodies for 10-15 different types of
cranes. The objective was to replace manual
welding with solid or cored wire by robotised
welding with the OK Tubrod 14.11 1.4mm
metal-cored wire (SFA/AWS A5.18: E70C-6M
H4/EN758: T42 4M M3 H5), advised by ESAB.
This is largely concerned with fillet welds - the
throat thickness depending on the loader body
type. Three loaders where sent to the ESAB
Process Centre for testing, to determine
parameters for robotic welding with a new ABB
robot cell.
The first boom. This was one of the
components already welded by robot, but using
solid wire. HIAB was not satisfied with the
performance of the solid wire, especially the arc
ignition. Frequently the robot would shut off,
because of poor arc ignition, and the operator
needed to start-up the process again.
This problem could not be overcome
satisfactorily by precise regulation of the arc
characteristics. Also the amount of spatter and
the associated cleaning of work pieces were
disadvantages. The objective was to increase
productivity and, at the same time, to improve
the start/stop behaviour by
using a new consumable.
Again OK Tubrod 14.11
1.4mm was proposed by
ESAB and 3 beams were
sent to the ESAB Process
Centre for testing.
An additional test involved
the manual welding of the
most critical weld in the base
an area of high fatigue load
with OK Tubrod 14.11
1.4mm. Weld quality in this
safety component is
essential and ESAB was
able to provide better weld
penetration and tie-in, and
so improve security.
Green light for cored wire
The tests in the Process Centre - witnessed by
HIAB welding staff - gave positive results for all
components. Optimal parameters were selected
and programs were written for the robotic welding
of the individual components. Weld appearance,
tie-in and weld penetration fully met HIABs quality
standards. The start behaviour of OK Tubrod 14.11
was good. The arc establishes faster and with
less spatter than experienced in production with
solid MAG wire.
Figure 1. Principal components of a truck-mounted crane.
Figure 2. Robotic welding station for welding 2nd booms. Consumable
OK Tubrod 14.11-1.2mm from MarathonPac. Manipulator robot ABB IRB 7600
and welding robot ABB IRB 1400B.
needed to produce the wide product portfolio.
Components for a great variety of truck-mounted
cranes are recognised by the welding robots
through bar codes or optical scanning and
welded with the correct program.
ESABs OK Tubrod 14.11 1.4 metal-cored
wire is now universally applied and fed to the
robots from Marathon Pac bulk drums.
Components with joint types that can only
accommodate a limited amount of weld metal
are welded with 1.2mm diameter wire.
Everyone of HIABs welding staff is pleased with
the performance of the cored wire - giving
consistent feeding, minimal spatter and, above
all, high deposition rate. They report lower
cycle times (20-40%), and less post weld work
(30-40%).
Unit production savings
One component, for example, needed to be
produced in a quantity of 8800 pieces per year.
In the previous set-up with solid wire, it was not
possible to produce these within two-shifts.
This meant some 400 extra hours overtime were
needed each year, requiring the purchase of an
extra robot to solve this bottle-neck.
With OK Tubrod 14.11 1.4mm the cycle time
went down from 12 minutes to 8 minutes and it
became possible to produce the required quantity
within standard two-shift production and without
having to invest in a new robot and without
dedicating any floor space.
Implementation
During the early stages of the project, ESAB
dedicated one of its robotic welding specialists to
support HIAB in implementing OK Tubrod 14.11
1.4mm into production and train the operators.
The focus of the first visit, in April 2004, was to
find optimal parameters for welding loader bodies
and program the new ABB IRB 2000 robot.
Programs were devised for a variety of loader
bodies with fillet weld sizes ranging from a-3 to
a-7 at travel speeds of 120 to 42 cm/min - in
92%Ar/8%CO
2
shielding gas.
During the second and third visits in May 2005,
operators for new robot stations were trained and
all robotic cored wire welding was reviewed to
see if welding parameters could be further
optimised to increase the welding speed.
However, most of the parameter settings
appeared to be good, needing minimal changes
for optimisation.
Its all robots today
HIAB AB reached its target of robotising 70% of
all welding within a period of three years and, with
9 robots in operation today, the level has
exceeded 80%.
In addition, much attention was given to the
organisation of an efficient internal work-flow, to
get the most out of the productive robot stations.
Systems are in place to provide the flexibility
Figure 3. OK Tubrod 14.11-1.2mm applied for welding loader bodies with limitations to
the amount of weld metal deposited. A mix of small fillet welds and circular welds.
Figure 5. Straight welds or circular welds OK Tubrod
14.11 is flexible and delivers a good weld appearance.
Figure 4. Manual welding of crucial safety components in the crane base with OK
Tubrod 14.11-1.4mm. These welds need to have a full penetration and a perfect tie-in
to provide high fatigue resistance. This joint is 100% US and X-Ray tested.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
INGVAR GUSTAVSSON IS KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER AT
ESAB AB, SWEDEN.
Figure 1. The KAMAZ 6520 dumpster truck. Note the lateral wall with reinforcements for which the robotic welding
stations have been designed.
Andon Automation
Andon is an independent robot integrator and
strategic partner with ABB for robot based
automation. The company has its roots in ABB
and, earlier, in the robotics division of ESAB. It
develops total robotic solutions - outside ABBs
standard portfolio - for the global market. Since
the beginning of 2004, Andon has supplied 130
systems to 105 customers in 19 countries - some
60% being exported outside their Swedish home
market.
Many were turnkey projects involving planning,
design, build/delivery and production start-up.
25,000 dump truck containers a year
Contact between Nefaz and Andon was
established through EuroTechProm, a Russian
confirming house with its head office in Hamburg,
following a lead from ABB Germany which
recognised the need for a specialised robot
integrator and business partner. Nefaz objective
was as straightforward as challenging: we want to
increase our output to 25,000 dump truck
containers a year.

The company is located in Neftekamsk, some
200km from the Kazachstan border, and employs
Russian automotive company
Nefaz, a manufacturer of buses,
tanks for tank trucks and a
supplier to KAMAZ trucks, is
implementing a strategy for the
automation and robotisation of
their, mainly, manually welded
production. As a first step, robot
integrator Andon Automation
provided six gantries, each having
two suspended robots, equipped
with ESABs W8 Robot Package
a welding solution specially
developed for ABBs IRB 1600,
1600ID and IRB 2400L industrial
welding robots. Andon was
responsible for the full project
from design through installation to
start-up.
PHILIP HOLST, ANDON AUTOMATION, REBRO SWEDEN AND ALEX JIROFL, ESAB HOLDINGS LTD., LONDON, UK.
ABB robotics partners team-up for
Nefaz
Andon and ESAB provide complete robotic welding
solution for dump truck walls.
around 2000 welders in its 11,000 workforce.
It drastically needs to step-up production to meet
the explosive growth demand of their most
important client, truck producer KAMAZ.

Nefaz manufactures the walls - two lateral and
one rear and mounts them on three different
types of KAMAZ trucks (Figure 1).
The reinforcements on the lateral walls are similar
to troughs used to reinforce bridges and are fillet
welded onto the wall - with the astonishing total
weld length being 1709 km per year.

Nefaz had in mind the following objectives for this
project:
To ensure output of 25,000 containers a year
To introduce robotic production welding
To improve production standards
To obtain a consistently high weld quality
To reduce the number of welders working in
harmful conditions
This is a great challenge for a company not
familiar with automated and robotic welding and
they quickly recognised that the right partners
would be crucial to the success of the project.
Six robot stations can do the job
Andon did not have to begin from scratch.
Nefaz management and commercial partner,
EuroTechProm, provided full information and
ideas for production automation - which was
particularly helpful in the initial stages of the
project. Following various detailed discussions in
both rebro, Sweden, and on site in Neftekamsk,
Andons wide experience in automation, and
capability to think outside the existing production
situation, resulted in a solution based on six
gantry stations, each equipped with two
suspended ABB IRB2400L robots (Figure 2).

Each station consists of two tables: one for
tacking/welding and one for unloading/loading.
When ready, the gantry with the two robots
moves to the other table to start tacking and
welding the next container wall, while the
completed container wall is being unloaded and
new components are loaded.

The robotic production lay-out is designed for
optimal work flow. Components for the lateral and
rear walls are lifted by crane to their
corresponding locations in the aisle of the hall,
while completed walls are unloaded to the
perimeter of the fabrication area for transportation.

System details
Robots are of the 6-axis ABB IRB2400l type; one
of the worlds most popular industrial welding
robots. By suspending them in a portal a 7th axis
is created. The IRB2400I robot is specifically
developed to optimise the efficiency of robotic
welding. Its form, arm length and movement
pattern are completely dedicated to arc welding
with 1.8m reach and 7kg load capacity. It offers
increased production rates, reduced lead times
and long intervals between maintenance.

The robots are equipped with ESABs W8 Robot
package which is described in detail on page 25
of this issue of Svetsaren. This is an integrated
solution for ABB robots. It uses an adapted
version of ESABs Aristo Mig 5000i power source
with the latest IGBT inverter technology (photo
page 25). It communicates (CAN bus) with ABBs
IRC5 robot control unit through the W8 interface
which is mounted on the back of the power
source and is connected to the robots cabinet by
the W8 connection cable. The system has the
advantage of using a minimum amount of cables,
which increases operational reliability. All
programming is via the IRC5 control unit (Figure 3).
Other components of the W8 Robot package are
the Aristo
TM
Robofeed 3004w ELP wire feeder and
the Marathon Pac
TM
bulk wire drum. The wire
feeder is an encapsulated type with windows for
Figure 2. One side of a gantry welding station during test welding at Andon. The complete station consists of two welding tables with fixtures, one gantry, two suspended
IRB2400L ABB robots equipped with the ESAB W8 Robot package, including two Marathon Pac bulk drums with 250 kg of OK Autrod 12.51 MAG wire.
Figure 4. The SmarTac seam finder corrects for any misallignment
of the workpiece.
Figure 5. AWC; a combined process controller and joint tracking system.
Figure 6. The ABB Torch Service Centre
wire for minimal downtime for wire renewal.
The endless Marathon Pac system is an option
for zero downtime. For the Nefaz installation,
Andon has opted for the 250kg version, placed
on platforms on the gantry, see photo page 20.
The welding wire is 1.2mm OK Autrod 12.51.
The welding system has a number of advanced
accessories; the SmarTac seam finding sensor,
the Advanced Weld Controller (AWC) for seam
following and a torch service centre.
SmarTac (Figure 4) is a flexible, versatile system
that searches for and locates weld positions to
adapt the programmed path of the robot to
correct for any misalignment of the workpiece.
It energises the gas nozzle with an electric charge
when in the search mode. When the nozzle and
the workpiece make contact, it sends a stop
signal to the robots control system. After
comparing the actual position of the workpiece
with the programmed position, the welding
program is adapted to the actual position. With
SmarTac, quality problems due to misalignment
are largely avoided. Since SmarTac is based on
electrical contact between nozzle and workpiece,
it can only be used for unpainted, conductive
materials.
AWC is a combined process controller and
through the arc joint tracking system integrated
in the robots controller (Figure 5). It is designed to
track welding joint variations and monitors and
controls tracking, weld movement and the
welding process. AWC follows weld joints by
sampling the welding current and voltage signals
synchronised with the robot weave pattern and
provides vertical and horizontal correction signals
to the robot controller to ensure a consistent fill of
the weld joint.
The Torch Service Centre (Figure 6) has three
different functions built into one unit:

The torch cleaner is an integrated system for
the mechanical removal of spatter that is fully
controlled by the robot control unit to make
sure the cleaning wont start until the torch is
visual inspection of the feeding mechanism. It has
the ELP (ESAB Logic Pump) switch that ensures
water-cooling is only provided when a
water-cooled torch is connected.

The Marathon Pac bulk drum provides an
uninterrupted supply of 250 or 475kg of welding
Figure 3. All programming, both for the robot and the
welding equipment, is done with the IRC5 control unit.
Figure 7. The six welding stations installed at Nefaz.
securely clamped, and to avoid accidental starts
and associated risks for the operator.
The wire cutter provides constant wire stick-out
for good arc striking and avoidance of oxide
inclusions in weld starts.
The BullsEye is a tool used for the automatic
checking of the Tool Centre Point (TCP).
Regular TCP checking is needed because the
torch may be out of position due to:
- a robot crash caused by improper
programming
- the robot hitting a fixture clamp left
in the wrong position
- changes in ambient temperature,
eg, morning vs afternoon
- a worn contact tip that causes
mis-positioning of the weld
Each time the robot goes to the BullsEye, quality
production will continue if the TCP is within the
pre-defined tolerances. Otherwise, BullsEye will
stop the robot and inform the operator.
The stationary gantry, welding tables and fixtures,
are all designed by Andon.
Nefaz actively involved
This type of project requires intensive
co-operation between the robot integrator and
the customer to make sure the design is based
on the right data and meets the objectives. Nefaz
was involved throughout the project. They
provided full data for Andon to create the correct
design and calculate the number of stations
needed. This was then confirmed by the welding
productivity data based on samples of lateral and
rear walls sent to Sweden for testing.
They calculated if there was enough time within
a welding cycle to unload the welded truck wall
from the table and to load new components plus
the quantity of workers needed to do this. Nefaz
also calculated the shielding gas consumption
and organised the logistics and prepared the
electricity supply for the stations.

Nefaz production management was present in
Sweden during the test welding and supervised
the programming of the welding sequence on
production samples carried out by an ESAB
robotic welding specialist.

A very important aspect of the project was the
three week train the trainers course organised
by Andon for station operators, in Sweden. They
received basic technical system knowledge and
were trained to program the robots preparing
them to be the teachers in the factory.
Installation, start-up and service
Installation was carried out in three steps, two
gantries at a time, in order to get production
started as soon as possible. Technicians from
Andon, with assistance from Nefaz-personnel,
installed the systems in an already prepared part
of the factory. By the time that the last two were
being installed, Nefaz already had production up
and running in the first two - a big step towards
the production goal of 25,000 containers a year.
The rate at which Nefaz learned to program and
use the system is testament to the expertise level
of the technicians, as well as the ease of use of
the interface in the ABB-control with the power
source integrated. Since both ABB and ESAB
have service organisations in Russia, Nefaz need
have no worries about the availability of spare
parts and support of qualified personal, if needed.
Close cooperation between Nefaz and Andon has
resulted in a highly productive system, based
upon high quality products and support from
ESAB and ABB. With the management vision at
Nefaz, and the immense potential in the
production facilities, all signs indicate that more
robots will soon be implemented.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
PHILIP HOLST IS PROJECT MANAGER AT ANDON
AUTOMATION AB, REBRO, SWEDEN.
ALEX JIROFL IS ROBOTIC-MECHANISED APPLICATIONS
CO-ORDINATOR AT ESAB HOLDINGS LTD., LONDON,
UK.
Aristo
TM
RoboFeed
Robot control
and cable
Powersource
W8
Wire
MarathonPac
TM
Robot
D1
D2
C
A
B
D3
ALEX JIROFL, ESAB HOLDINGS LTD, LONDON, UK.
Figure 1. The ESAB W8 Robot package.
Figure 2. The AristoMig U5000iw.
Combining the best of each
partners expertise in welding and
automation, the new,
comprehensive package includes
ABBs versatile, high
performance IRB1600, IRB1600ID
or IRB2400L robots, ESABs
Aristo W8 robot package and the
clients preferred choice of
torches. The robots are available
direct from ABBs factory in
Vsters, Sweden, and are ideal
for the welding of carbon steel,
stainless steel and aluminium.
The robots feature ESABs Aristo
W8 robot
package - a complete set of welding equipment and
consumables, based on ESABs latest digital power
source technology. The package consists of:
The AristoMig U5000iw inverter.
The Aristo W8 interface which communicates
with ABBs IRC5 robot control unit.
The Robofeed 3004w ELP encapsulated wire
feeder.
Cable packages.
The Marathon Pac bulk drum with robot quality
welding wire and separate bobbin holder.
The AristoMig 5000iw inverter.
This inverter represents ESABs latest generation
of digital power sources with up to 500A/39V at
60% duty cycle, designed specifically for robotic
MIG/MAG welding in metal fabrication industries.
It supports a variety of arc-welding capabilities,
including robotic short arc, spray arc, pulsed arc,
high speed welding (rapid arc) and the unique
SuperPulse technology. The power sources are
compact and sturdy, based on inverter Insulated
Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) technology and an
advanced process regulator. Combined, these
offer reliability with outstanding welding
characteristics, providing excellent control with a
minimum of spatter - even at high welding
speeds.
It is an easy to use power source with the
user-friendly control facilities built-into the ABBs
IRC5 robot control unit, communication with the
robot cabinet being through the W8 interface on
the back of the power source and the W8
connection cable (CAN Bus/Device Net).
It features the full library of ESAB synergic lines
for un/low-alloyed steel, stainless steel, aluminium
and MAG -brazing and, in addition, the ABB
synergic lines developed for thin-plate welding.
This is important for both new robots and
retrofitting because the same synergic lines can
be used.
The AristoMig U5000iw is a multi-process
power source which can also be used for manual
welding, eg, tack welding, TIG dressing and
gauging. A reserve power source, used for
ABB and ESAB, have joined forces
to create the ultimate arc welding
robot - designed for plug and
play within half a day.
The ultimate welding robot with
superior welding technology
7500
Pin socket Lumber 5-polig Sleev plug Burndy 12-polig
1
2
3
4
5
Shield
+24V
OV
Can H
Can L
F
D
E
K
L
Red
Black
White
Light blue
001 002 003
manual welding, is optional for robot installations.
feeder
This encapsulated, robot mounted wire feeder is
4-wheel driven. The digitally controlled,
twin-motor feed unit provides accurate speed
control by using a pulse encoder in the range
from 0.8 to 25m/min. It is available with 30mm
rollers for wires up to 1.6mm. It has all
important functions for robotic welding such as
manual forward and reverse inching, shielding and
cleaning gas purge, gas sensor, air test and
anti-collision detection, which are accessible
through the IRC5 control unit via Can bus
communication. ESABs TrueArc-Voltage
TM
system
is built-in for continuous measurement of the arc
length. Windows in the casing allow visual
inspection of the feeding mechanism without
having to open the feeder.
The wire feeder is easy to connect/disconnect by
using quick connectors for gas, liquid, control
signals and welding current, as well as a Euro
connector for the welding torch and a quick
connector for Marathon Pac.
The Robofeed 3004w ELP features the ELP
(ESAB Logic Pump) switch that ensures
water-cooling is only provided when a
water-cooled torch is connected.
The units are equipped with mounting bolts with
rubber absorbers to protect the components from
the robots high acceleration and retardation forces.
Standard and custom mounting plates are available.
Robofeed 3004w ELP features:
Gas test (also from robot and U8)
Reverse wire (also from robot and U8).
Inching (also from robot and U8).
Outlets for watercooling and air cleaning.
Lamp shows 42V power is on.
Remote Outlet for:
Gas test, reverse wire, inching from the torch.
Push-Pull.
Connection of the anti-collision signal.
Cable packages
Cable packages connecting the
Aristo Mig 5000iw power source to the Robofeed
3004w ELP wire feeder are available in 7.5m and
10m lengths for the ABB IRB 1600, IRB 1600 ID
and IRB 2400L welding robots. Other lengths are
available on request.
MarathonPac
The ESAB Marathon Pac family offers a choice of
three drum sizes for a variety of wire types -
including robotic quality wires such as OK
AristoRod, Matt Stainless types and OK Tubrod
14.11 1.2mm - all of which can be incorporated
in the W8 robot package. Marathon Pac
minimises downtime for wire renewal. There is,
in addition, an endless version which completely
eliminates downtime for wire changing. With
Endless Marathon Pac, a new drum is connected
to the one in use, while the robot continues to
weld.
Marathon Pac provides trouble-free, low-force
wire feeding, allowing the use of a lightweight wire
feeder and reducing wear on both the feeder and
the robot.
The Marathon Pac
TM
family wire grades and filling content.
Standard Jumbo Mini Endless
Marathon Pac Marathon Pac Marathon Pac Marathon Pac
W x H 513 x 830 mm 595 x 935 mm 513 x 500 mm 2 x standard or jumbo
Non and lowalloyed steel
Solid wires 250 kg 475 kg 2 x 250 kg
( 0.8 mm: 200 kg) (min 1.0 mm) 2 x 475 kg
Cored wires Depending on type
SAW wires 1.6 mm: 475 kg
2.0 mm: 450 kg
Stainless steel
Solid wires 250 kg 475 kg 100 kg 2 x 250 kg
( 0.8 mm: 200 kg) (min 1.0 mm) 2 x 475 kg
Cored wires Depending on type
Aluminium
Solid wires 141 kg
Copperbased
MIG-brazing wires 200 kg
Figure 3. W8 interface on back side of powersource. Figure 4. W8 connection cable to IRC5 robot cabinet.
Fatigue cracks often initiate at welds as a
consequence of large residual stresses and
changes in geometry acting as stress
concentrators. Typically, the weld root (Figure 1)
and the weld toe are critical points. A promising
concept in improving welded component fatigue
life is the use of so called LTT welding
consumables. These modify the residual stresses
at welds and can even replace the large tensile
stresses normally found with compressive
stresses. Some aspects of welded component
fatigue are discussed in this paper and the
concept of LTT-consumables is introduced using
results from earlier and ongoing studies.
Why higher strength doesnt increase
fatigue life?
Using high strength steels and corresponding
high strength welding consumables would seem
the obvious and simple answer to demands on
decreased energy consumption and increased
load-bearing capacity of vehicles. This,
unfortunately, is only partly true since strength in
itself is only one parameter that needs to be taken
into account in designing fatigue loaded
constructions. Most of a welded components
fatigue life is usually spent in propagating a crack.
Since the crack propagation rate is determined by
the elastic behaviour of the steel, which is similar
for steels of various strength levels, strength will
have little effect on fatigue life. As illustrated in
Figure 2, fatigue strength of an unwelded
component will increase with strength but will
remain more or less constant for a welded item.
Figure 2. Effect of tensile strength on unwelded and
welded component life.
Improvement of fatigue life
Apart from obvious factors such as cracks, lack
of fusion or other weld imperfections, there are
basically two main reasons for the deleterious
effect of welds on fatigue properties. Firstly, a
weld inevitably introduces a change in geometry
and, consequently, a stress concentration,
typically at the root or the weld toe. The sharper
the transition between the weld and the parent
material, the higher the stress concentration will
be and thus the greater the effect on fatigue life.
The weld profile can be improved by, for example,
TIG-dressing or grinding to reduce the stress
As a method of increasing fatigue
life, the use of Low Temperature
Transformation (LTT) welding
consumables has been proven
theoretically and in laboratory
tests. However, the step from
laboratory to real fatigue loaded
construction has still to be taken
to make the LTT-approach
successful. This article discusses
the technical philosophy behind
LTT-consumables.
LEIF KARLSSON, ESAB AB, GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN
Improving fatigue life with Low
Temperature Transformation (LTT)
welding consumables
Figure 1. Fatigue crack growing from a weld root.
concentration factor. However, in fillet welds,
particularly, it is not possible to completely
eliminate the geometrical effect of a weld.
An example of a fatigue test specimen showing
crack initiation and failure at the fillet weld toe is
shown in Figure 3.
Secondly, welds contribute to shortened fatigue
life because welding introduces tensile residual
stresses. This is a consequence of shrinkage
during cool down from the liquid state to room
temperature. These stresses are significant and
often of the order of the yield strength.
The conventional way of coping with high weld
residual stresses is to reduce design stresses, or
to conduct a post-weld heat treatment to relieve
the residual stresses. Another approach is to
introduce surface compressive stresses by locally
deforming the surface by, for example, shot- or
hammer-peening. Stresses can also be
redistributed by plastic deformation, ie,
overloading a construction. All these techniques
are efficient in increasing fatigue life but require
additional work after welding.
Effect of stress distribution
Redistribution of stresses by plastic deformation
has its limitation in practice, as many
constructions are not easily deformed in a
well-controlled manner. However, the technique is
well-suited for studies of the influence of stress
distribution at welds, since the welding procedure
and, thereby, weld metal composition, structure
and properties, can be kept constant.
The example below, from an ongoing
ESAB-study, illustrates that there is ample scope
for improvement of fatigue life of welds by
reduction of residual stresses. An 800 MPa yield
strength parent material was welded with slightly
undermatching consumables to produce fatigue
test specimens (Figure 3). One set of specimens
was fatigue-tested in the as-welded condition and
one set after straining. Plastic deformation was
controlled to about 0.2% at the weld toe to avoid
significantly affecting mechanical properties.
Residual stresses of as-welded and pre-stressed
specimens were measured 2.5 mm below the
plate surface along the specimen centre-line
using neutron diffraction (1). As seen in Figure 4,
longitudinal stresses changed significantly and
decreased with up to 600 MPa in the region
around the weld toe. The same trend was found
for the other stress components although not
quite to the same extent.
The effect on fatigue properties of modifying the
stress distribution was striking. As seen in Figure
5, fatigue strength increased significantly and the
effect was larger for lower loads. For example, at
Figure 3. Example of fatigue test specimen with fillet welds. When fatigue load is applied in the longitudinal direction (arrows)
fracture is commonly found to initiate at the fillet weld toe The enlargement shows one half of the separated test specimen.
Figure 4. Comparison of residual longitudinal stresses at fillet weld in as-welded condition and after pre-stressing caus-
ing a local plastic deformation of approximately 0.2% near the weld toe.
1) Since the thermal expansion coefficient of
austenite is greater than that of ferrite, the volume
expansion due to transformation is larger at lower
temperatures, allowing a greater compensation of
the accumulated thermal contraction strain.
2) If transformation is completed much before
ambient temperature is reached, then it is the
ferrite that contracts on cooling. Ferrite has higher
yield strength than austenite (at low temperature)
and hence there is a lesser compensation of
contraction strain by plastic relaxation.
3) When transformation occurs at low
temperatures there is a greater accumulation of
stress before the low transformation temperature
is reached. This leads to a greater bias in the
microstructure in constrained specimens, making
the shear strain more effective in counteracting
thermal contraction.
Several alloying concepts using various
combinations of, mainly, Ni, Cr and Mn,
producing a low Ms temperature have been
suggested and tried in the last decade (3-10).
Fatigue testing has shown very promising results
with increase in fatigue life, often of 25 times or
more, and increased fatigue strengths of 50% or
more.
An example is presented in Figure 6 giving some
results from reference 5. In this study, specimens
for fatigue testing were out-of-plane gusset fillet
welded joints in 7 mm thick 700 MPa yield
2,000,000 cycles fatigue strength was
approximately doubled.
Low Temperature Transformation (LTT)
consumables
Welding introduces tensile residual stresses as a
consequence of shrinkage during cool down from
the liquid state to room temperature. These
stresses are significant and often of the order of
the yield strength. The shrinkage is to some
extent compensated by a volume expansion as
austenite transforms into ferrite, bainite or
martensite. However, typical steel welding
consumable compositions have transformation
temperatures around 400-600C. As a
consequence of further shrinkage on cooling to
room temperature the net effect is a contraction
resulting in significant tensile stresses.
LTT welding consumables are formulated to have
a composition giving a much lower transformation
temperature. Typically the aim is to produce
mainly martensite with a Ms temperature in the
range of about 150-250C. The lower
transformation temperature combines three
effects to be beneficial in reducing the final
residual stress level (2).
Figure 5. Effect on fatigue life of modification of residual stresses by pre-stressing. Specimens were
loaded axially in pulsating tension with stress ratio R=0.1.
Figure 6. Fatigue life of a 700 MPa yield strength steel welded with undermatching and matching strength
consumables and matching strength LTT consumables (see reference 5 for details).
strength plate material (see Figure 3 for
geometry). Specimens were welded with
conventional matching and undermatching
strength consumables and with matching strength
LTT-consumables with a composition of 12.5Cr
6.5Ni 2.5Mo. Testing was done with axial loading
in pulsating tension with stress ratio R=0.
Waveform was sinusoidal and the frequency
varied between 5 and 10 Hz depending on load
level. About 10 specimens were tested for each
type of welding consumable.
The results confirm both that consumable
strength in itself has no effect on fatigue
properties and that the LTT-effect can be
significant.
Deformation
Another practical aspect, rarely discussed in
connection with LTT consumables, is welding
induced deformation. Deformation can be a major
concern causing problems with fit-up and
requiring additional work to straighten
components. As shrinkage is the reason for
deformation, LTT consumables can be used to
counteract this. Figure 7 gives a simple example
for two unrestrained mild steel plates (200x50x6
mm) joined with a single pass weld in a square
butt joint. Even though a stainless 308 type
consumable would not normally be used for
welding mild steel, it serves the purpose of
illustrating how the choice of consumable can
have a large effect on welding induced
deformation.
Concluding remarks
Some questions still remain before it can be
concluded whether the use of LTT-consumables
is a practical method of increasing fatigue
strength and minimising welding induced
deformation. Effects of multi-pass welding,
dilution with parent material and spectrum loads
on resulting fatigue properties, needs to be
studied further. It also remains to define suitable
LTT-alloys that, not only modify the stress
distribution, but also provide required static
strength and useful impact toughness.
Hot cracking could potentially be an issue when
using primarily Ni as an alloying element to
suppress Ms as this will shift the weld metal into
austenitic solidification. Other alloying concepts
might, therefore, be safer from the practical point
of view.
Nevertheless, LTT-consumables show promise as
an important method for reducing the risk of
welded component fatigue failure. Compared to
most other techniques, it has the advantages of
being a one-shot method, ie, no further
treatment is required after welding. As a bonus, it
reduces deformation and decreases the risk of
cold cracking (11). This, therefore, is not only a
time and cost saving approach, it is also
particularly attractive when other techniques such
as PWHT or shot peening are not feasible, as is
often the case in field repair welding.
A valid objection against LTT consumables is that
the effect will decrease or disappear if the
construction is subjected to an overload causing
plastic deformation and redistribution of stresses.
However, this holds equally well for other
techniques used to introduce compressive
surface stresses and is a common problem,
rather than specific to the LTT-concept.
In conclusion, the potential of the LTT-approach
as a method of increasing fatigue life has been
proven theoretically and in laboratory tests.
However, to make it a success story, it still
remains to take the step from laboratory tests to
real life applications in fatigue loaded
constructions.
Figure 7. Deformation of unrestrained mild steel plates (200x50x6 mm) joined with a single pass weld in a square butt joint using two types of consumables.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
LEIF KARLSSON IS SENIOR EXPERT & MANAGER
RESEARCH PROJECTS AT ESAB, GOTHENBURG,
SWEDEN.
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank Dr L. Mraz (VUZ
Welding Research Institute Industrial Institute of
Slovak Republic), Professor H. K.D.H. Bhadeshia
(Cambridge University, England), J. Eckerlid and
T. Nilsson (SSAB Tunnplt AB, Sweden) and
Eva-Lena Bergquist (ESAB AB, Sweden) for
comments, stimulating co-operation and
providing some of the figures.
References
1. Pavol Mikula, Miroslav Vrna, Lubos Mrz, Leif
Karlsson, High-resolution neutron diffraction
employing Bragg diffraction optics a tool for
advanced nondestructive testing of materials.
Proceedings of the 9th Biennial ASME
Conference on Engineering Systems Design and
Analysis, ESDA08, July 7-9, 2008, Haifa, Israel
2. H. K. D. H. Bhadeshia, J. A. Francis, H. J.
Stone, S. Kundu, R. B. Rogge, P. J. Withers
and L. Karlsson Transformation Plasticity in
Steel Weld Metals, Proc. 10th Int. Aachen
Welding Conference, 22-25 October, 2007,
Aachen, Germany.
3. A. Ohta, O. Watanabe, K. Matsuoka, C. Shiga,
S. Nishijima, Y. Maeda, N. Suzuki, and T.
Kubo. Fatigue strength improvement by using
newly developed low transformation
temperature welding material. Welding in the
World, 1999, Vol. 43, pp. 38-42,.
4. A. Ohta, N. Suzuki, Y. Maeda, K. Hiraoka, and
T. Nakamura. Superior fatigue crack growth
properties in newly developed weld metal.
International Journal of Fatigue, 1999, Vol. 21,
pp. S113-S118.
5. J. Eckerlid, T. Nilsson and L. Karlsson,
Fatigue properties of longitudinal attachments
welded using low transformation temperature
filler, Science and Technology of Welding and
Joining, 2003 Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 353-359.
6. A. Ohta, K. Matsuoka, N. T. Nguyen, Y.
Maeda, and N. Suzuki. Fatigue strength
improvement of lap welded joints of thin steel
plate using low transformation temperature
welding wire. Welding Journal, Research
Supplement, 2003, Vol. 82, pp. 78s-83s.
7. H. Lixing, W. Dongpo, W. Wenxian, and Y.
Tainjin. Ultrasonic peening and low transforma-
tion temperature electrodes used for improving
the fatigue strength of welded joints. Welding
in the World, 2004, Vol.48, No. 3-4, pp. 34-39.
8. J. A. Francis, S. Kundu, H. K. D. H.
Bhadeshia, H. J. Stone, R. B. Rogge, P. J.
Withers and L. Karlsson, Transformation
Temperatures and Welding Residual Stresses
in Ferritic Steels, Proceedings of PVP2007
2007 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping
Division Conference, July 22-26, 2007, San
Antonio, Texas, PVP2007-26544, pp. 1-8.
9. Ph. P. Darcis, H. Katsumoto, M. C. Payares-
Asprino, S. Liu, and T. A. Siewert. Cruciform
fillet welded joint fatigue strength improve-
ments by weld metal phase transformations,
Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials &
Structures, 2007, Vol. 31, pp. 125-136.
10. F. M. Diez. The development of a compres-
sive residual stress field around a weld toe by
means of phase transformations. Welding in
the World, 2008, Vol.52, No. 7-8, pp. 63-78.
11. S Zenitani, N. Hayakawa, J. Yamamoto, K.
Hiraoko, Y Morikage, T. Kubo, K Yasuda and
K Amano, Development of a new low trans-
formation temperature consumables to pre-
vent cold cracking in high strength steels,
Science and Technology of Welding and
Joining, 2007, Vol. 12, No. 6, pp. 516-522.
FRANK TESSIN, ESAB GMBH, SOLINGEN, GERMANY.
OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm is a new metal-cored
wire for non- and low-alloyed steel which has
been specially developed for the high speed
welding of thin plates (1-4 mm). Treated with
ESABs revolutionary cored wire surface
technology, it sets new standards in the reduction
of welding costs, especially in mechanised and
robotic stations.
Metal-cored wires have been available for more
than twenty years, but their use in industrial
applications has, so far, remained limited - the
main reason being the relatively high
consumables price compared with G3Si1/
ER70S-6 solid wire. Metal-cored wires will only be
applied in situations where their higher weld
quality and welding speed can be seen to be of
benefit and can be calculated to be economical.
This is the case for OK Tubrod 14.11 in many
applications.
The difference in welding performance in the
thin-plate area, compared to solid wire, is striking.
Many applications can be welded with travel
speeds above 150 cm/min, regardless of whether
it is thin fillet welds (a=2-2.5 mm) or overlap joints.
Here, OK Tubrod 14.11 tends to produce welds
without undercut and with nice wash to the plate
edges.
Low spatter
OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm operates in the spray
arc mode at a current level as low as 160A
providing the widest possible envelope for
low-spatter welding with a fine droplet transfer.
This is a major advantage compared to 1.0 and
1.2mm solid wires, which can only be used in the
short arc or globular arc mode when welding thin
plate.
Faster welding
Reduction of welding time is key to lower welding
costs in mechanised applications. This can be
realised through higher welding speed.
With common solid wires, however, options are
limited in thin-plate welding. High welding speeds
are mostly achieved at the expense of weld
quality and mechanical properties, which is the
reason why the majority of applications are
welded in the short arc or globular arc mode, at
travel speeds typically below 100 cm/min.
With OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm, however, travel
speeds of 150-250 cm/min are feasible not only
for straight joints, but also for small radius circular
welds.
Low-heat input welding welding of zinc
coated plate
Because of high welding speed and an
extraordinarily low arc voltage, heat input into the
welded part is very low. Fillet welds in 1.5mm
thick plates can be welded at travel speeds of
200cm/min. or more, in PB position - at a heat
input below 2 kJ/cm!
In Svetsaren 1/2008, page 70, we
introduced OK Tubrod 14.11
diameter 1.2mm a new
metal-cored wire for high speed
thin plate welding applications,
which provides full information on
product data and welding
performance. The present article
discusses the welding performance
and economic benefits of OK
Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm for robotic
welding.
OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm
Figure 1. Circular fillet weld. t=2mm, 280A, 22V,
150cm/min.
Metal cored wire for high speed thin plate welding applications
This makes OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm an alterna-
tive to modern, so called cold arc welding proc-
esses in processing non- and low-alloyed steel.
These advantages also provide benefits in
welding zinc-coated plate, where OK Tubrod
14.11 1.2mm stands comparison with very low
porosity and spatter.

Secure arc ignition
Short welds with many starts and stops can also
be welded at a low spatter level with OK Tubrod
14.11 1.2mm. A stable arc is established a split
second after ignition.
Gap bridging
Very often, the limited gap-bridging capabilities of
wire electrodes present a problem in spray arc
welding at high travel speeds. OK Tubrod 14.11
1.2mm, however, is very forgiving with respect
to poor fit-up, bridging gaps even at very high
travel speeds - resulting in less post weld repair
work and less rejects in serial fabrication.
Easy parameter setting
Parameter setting with OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm
is uncomplicated. In the thin-plate area, the arc
voltage is between 22 and 24 V whether one
welds at the lowest wire feed speed of 7m/min or
the highest of 14 m/min. Parameter setting is
further reduced by pre-programmed synergic
lines in ESAB Aristo power sources.
Secure penetration in shielding gas mixtures
OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm can be welded with
various mixed shielding gas compositions.
The best bead appearance and spatter level are
obtained in EN ISO 14175: M20 with 92% Ar and
8% CO
2
, but also the standard 82%Ar/18% CO
2

(EN ISO 14175: M21) mixed gas gives good
results. Weld penetration is not noticably
influenced by the amount of CO
2
in the shielding
gas, see Figures 4 and 5. However, the higher
amount of silica islands with a higher amount of
CO
2
is to be taken into account.
Numerous applications
The application of OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm can
potentially bring cost savings in any application
involving mechanised or robotic welding of sheet
metal up to 4 mm thickness where the welding
station forms a bottleneck in production.
The cycle time for a station can be substantially
reduced, due to the significantly higher welding
speed. This enables a productivity increase of
20-40% and a corresponding decrease in welding
cost. Applications are found in the fabrication of
thin-walled components for the automotive and
transport industries in general, but also in, for
instance, the furniture industry.
Cost calculation
As indicated earlier, the use of metal-cored wires
needs to be proven to be economic in practical
situations in terms of cost. The basis for this
calculation is the status existing welding station
data when using solid wire:
the arc time in seconds or minutes
the welding speed
weld metal weight per component
hourly rate of welding, including operator
The higher price of the metal-cored wire in Euro/
kg resulting in higher consumables costs per
component must, at least, be compensated by
lower fabrication costs resulting from the reduced
cycle time.
Figure 2. Weld penetration of an overlap joint in a cross
support beam. t=2mm. 225A/130cm/min.min. Figure 4. Weld penetration profile fillet weld. a=2 mm;
t=2 mm; Vs=150cm/min. Shielding gas: 92% Ar/8%
CO
2
.
Figure 5. Weld penetration profile fillet weld. a=2mm;
t=2mm; Vs=150cm/min. Shielding gas: 82% Ar/18%
CO
2
. Figure 3. Overlap joint in 1.2mm zinc coated plate
(layer thickness < 10m). Shielding gas: M20 (92%Ar /
8% CO
2
); 240A, 21V; Vs=170cm/min.
Table 1. Typical welding parameters for overlap and fillet welds in thin plate. Shielding gas: M20 (92% Ar/8% CO
2
)
Joint type Plate Wfs I U Vs
thickness mm m/min A V cm/min
Overlap weld 1.5 7.0-8.5 225-250 22.5-24 130-180
Fillet weld; a=2mm 2-3 13-14 310-340 22.5 220
Fillet weld; a=4mm > 8 13-14 310-340 26.5 70
Calculation of production savings:
PCS
= Welding station costs, including labour cost [Euro/h] X Cycle time reduction [s] / 3600
Calculation of consumables cost increase per component
The consumable cost increase, when using cored wire instead of solid wire, is around 0.002
Euro/g. Per component this amounts to:
CCI
(1) = 0.002 Euro/g X GWM
Alternatively, the consumables cost increase per component can be calculated through the wire
feed, which can be retrieved from the wire feed unit or from the welding parameter log of the power
source. The effective consumable usage per component is obtained by multiplying the length of
wire used per component by the specific weight of the wire (7.8 g/m for OK Tubrod 14.11). This
method has the advantage that burn-off and spatter loss is also taken into account.
CCI
(2) = 0.002 Euro/g X WFc X SWW
Calculation of welding cost savings per component.
C
= PCS - CCI(1/2)
Fabrication of axle components
The following example is based on data obtained from an automotive indudtry application. .
A robot station with a cost of 60 Euro/h, operator included, is used to weld overlap joints in 2mm
plate at a travel speed of 12mm/s (72cm/min), using G3Si1 1.0mm solid wire. The total weld length
per component is 2500mm. The weight of weld metal per component is 300g (weight difference
welded and non-welded). The arc time is 208s (2500 mm / 12 mm/s).
With OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm, the travel speed increases to 25mm/s (150 cm/min) reducing the
arc time per component to 100s (2500mm / 25mm/s). Idle time (robot movements, turning of
manipulators) remains the same.
The cycle time reduction due to the use of OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm amounts to 108s, giving a
production cost reduction of:
PCS
= 60 Euro/h X 108s / 3600 = 1.80 Euro
The consumables cost increase per component due to use of cored wire is:
CCI
= 0.002 Euro/g X 300g = 0.60 Euro
This gives a cost saving per component of:
C
= 1.80 0.60 Euro = 1.20 Euro/kg
Calculating with a total cycle time, including idle time, of 240s (solid wire) and welding costs,
including consumables of 4.50 Euro/component, the above brings a saving of about 27%.
Figure 6. OK Tubrod 14.11 1.2mm.
Conclusion
The example shows that productivity can be
significantly increased at lower total welding
costs, notwithstanding the higher
consumables costs of OK Tubrod 14.11
1.2mm. Not taken into account is an extra
saving on shielding gas. Although cored wires
are welded with a slightly higher gas flow rate
at about 15 l/min, this is more than
compensated by the much shorter arc time.
The higher productivity is not the only benefit
fabricators derive from OK Tubrod 14.11.
Better weld quality results in additional cost
advantages. ESAB offers fabricators an
excellent opportunity to fullfil their needs for a
more cost efficient welding solution.
Table 2. The following symbols are used in the
calculation formula:
Symbol Unit Explanation
PCS
Euro Production cost saving per
component
G
WM
g Weld metal weight per
component
CCI
Euro Consumables cost increase
per component due to use of
cored wire
W
Fc
m Wire feed per component
SW
W
g/m Specific weight of wire
C
Euro Cost saving per component
Acknowledgement
Thanks are extended to Mr. Robert Clifford, AO,
Chairman of Incat Board, and also Mr. Maurice
Harvey, R&D, Shipyard and Welding Manager for
permission to take and use photographs and
write this article. The photographs were taken by
the author over several visits to Incats shipyard
and ships over several years. Other photographs
of completed vessels in service were made
available for use in this article by Incat.
The luxuriously appointed Natchan Rera and
Natchan World have been custom-designed to
carry up to 800 passengers per voyage, although
the standard Incat 112m catamaran design can
accommodate up to 1500 people and 355 cars,
or 193 cars and 450 lane-metres of trucks. A
3000 tonne fast ferry of this type has the same
passenger and car carrying capacity as a 10,000
tonne conventional steel vessel. The Natchan
sisters passage takes two hours - about half the
time of a conventional vessel - allowing twice the
number of voyages, daily.
These Made in Australia, 112.6m long, 30.5m
Panamax wide, 3.9m draft vessels, are capable
of weathering full sea state conditions and must,
justly, be called ships. They are also amongst the
largest welded aluminium constructions ever built.
Incat Australia
A visit to Incats shipyard, today, might find them
busily building hull 66 after earlier last year
making rush delivery of Natchan World, to meet
Higashi Nihon Ferrys urgent operational service
requirements. That rush delivery left Incats
three-ships-long final assembly building empty for
the first time since being built. Incats first 74
metre, all-aluminium high speed wave piercing
catamarans, accommodated 198 dead weight
tonnes. The 112 metre vessels accommodate
more than 7 times that amount. From 74m to
78m, then 86m, 91m, 96m, 98m and now 112m
The worlds largest, most
fuel-efficient, diesel powered high
speed catamaran ferries - Natchan
Rera and Natchan World have
recently entered service, plying the
Tsugaru Straight between Honshu
and Hokkaido islands, in Japan.
Built half a world away, by Incat,
in Hobart, Tasmania, these two
aluminium vessels are affectionately
known as hull 64 and hull 65.
JERRY MIRGAIN, ESAB GLOBAL ALUMINIUM PRODUCT LINE & ALCOTEC INTERNATIONAL SALES
Welded Transport at Sea
The aluminium Ferries to Hokkaido
Figure 1. Nachan Worlds highly efficient wave piercing bows produce very low wake. Figure 2. Spacious passenger areas on Nachan Rera and Nachan World.
Figure 3. Incats genesis: the 1975 Derwent River
Tasman Bridge disaster created an urgent need for
Hobart ferry service.
Figure 4. Weld designs for heavy sections include milling
radii to relocate welds from fillet to butt positions.
Figure 5. To match butt weld leg dimensions and facili-
tate even heat distribution heavier legs are tapered.
Run-off tabs are used as appropriate.
Figure 6. Mr. Maurice Harvey, Incats welding manager,
inspects hull 65 forecastle work.
Figure 7. Hull 64, Nachan Rera, clears Tasman Bridge,
Hobart, bound for open sea.
Figure 8. Uniform welding techniques, throughout the
yard, produce uniform weld bead appearance and
uniform weld quality.
designs, Incat now has 29 such vessels in service
around the world, capturing an estimated 40%
global market share.
Incat anticipates increasing global demand for
such vessels, not only from Europe and the
Atlantic but, in future also from Asia and the
Pacific. A joint venture partnership exists with
Bollinger Shipyards, USA, with whom Incat are
presenting their specially designed vessels for
possible future military logistics service.
Since its founding, in 1975, by Robert Clifford,
A.O., the company has taken an interesting
voyage to arrive at its current position.
- The first ferry was built to operate in the
Derwent River, in Hobart, filling an urgent river
crossing need after a section of the Tasman
Bridge was destroyed in a shipping accident, in
1975 - virtually cutting Hobart in half. When the
bridge reopened, two years later, the direction
of Mr. Cliffords business changed from
operating to building ferries.
- The catamaran type vessel was chosen from
the outset but demands for operation on
longer, open water crossings, challenged Incat
to develop their wave piercing hulls.
- Incat was one of the earliest builders in the high
speed ferry business to design and build
all-aluminium vessels. Aluminium provides light
weight without sacrificing strength.
The exceptional dent resistance and toughness
of aluminium contributed to seaworthiness and
safety, while its high corrosion resistance
reduced maintenance and overhaul expenses.
Incats avant-garde ship design and building
methods evolved, in-house, through repetition,
monitoring, maintenance and adoption of
accumulated improvements from vessel to vessel.
Additionally, Incat has built symbiotic partner
relationships with many of its key vendors
including Pacific Industrial Supplies, ESAB and
AlcoTec for supply of aluminium welding wire.
Originally, the principal material used to build Incat
wave piercing vessels was aluminium base alloy
5083, which is traditionally welded with its
companion welding filler material 5183. A few
years ago, Incat evaluated and then adopted
5383 alloy as a replacement base material to
5083. The improved strength of this material
allowed further design enhancements but placed
additional weld quality, strength, and porosity
control demands on the filler metal to be used.
AlcoTec worked with Incat to provide a 5183 type
welding wire with tighter controlled porosity limits,
chemistry, and diameter than described by
nominal Standards Australia or American Welding
Society specifications.
In 100% radiographed welds, joints are typically
designed to avoid fillets, by milling radii on heavy
corner sections and butt welding. Techniques such
as material tapering to match butt weld thickness
and using run-off tabs, are commonly employed.
Uniform welding techniques assure uniform weld
appearance and quality throughout the yard. As
the business was developing, Incat worked with
the state of Tasmania to establish a Technical and
Further Education campus adjacent to site. Here,
welders were taught the principles of aluminium
Figure 9. The 5383 base material with higher strength to
weight than 5083 material, is welded with 5183 type
welding wire from AlcoTec.
Figure 12. Rigid wave piercing bows have some skin
sections up to 25mm.
Figure 15. Incats final assembly building hull troughs
are flooded for hull 65 to slip the shed.
Figure 13. To manage propulsion nozzle flange distortion
welding operations are performed before milling.
Figure 14. At the final assembly location panamax
width hull 65 fully occupies Incats 112m design shed
height and width.
Figure 10. Separately mounted superstructure visible
above sturdy sea frame cross bracing.
Figure 11. Rubber mounts isolate superstructure from
sea frame.
welding - alongside Incats own company welding
techniques - before being allowed to weld in the
yard. Interestingly, carpenters were often the
preferred choice of candidate for training as they
were considered to be easier to train, correctly,
rather than undertake retraining of steel welders!
Welders are the first-in-line for quality assurance
control. If any operator experiences a problem or
observes a possible discontinuity, they are
expected to stop welding and involve yard
supervision in evaluating the situation. Such
methods and policies ensure Incats cost-effective
quality control and productivity.
Design features
Generally, as each vessel has slightly different
topside requirements from a base vessel design,
Incat produces a standard sea-frame for the main
hull. This sea-frame has strength stiffness and
integrity separate from the superstructure. Since it
is desirable to separate passenger spaces and
bridge from the machinery and dynamics of a
vessel transiting the open ocean at 75km/hr, the
superstructures are separate structures mounted
on rubber brackets on the sea-frame.
Along with the centre forward bow, the wave
piercing bows are important elements in the ships
design. The hydrodynamics and aerodynamics of
these bows demand that they be particularly rigid
elements. There are areas in these bows where
the skin thickness is up to 25mm.
The ships propulsion jet room assemblies are
welded aluminium, as are the propulsion nozzle
connecting flanges. To avoid distortion, the
flanges are welded first and then milled in place.
The Holy Grail of Passenger Transportation
As with other forms of passenger transportation, the
Holy Grail all are seeking is the right combination of
safety, speed, comfort and efficiency. It seems clear
that for high speed ferry design and construction,
Incat may have their Holy Grail in sight. As partners,
Pacific Industrial Supplies, ESAB Australia and
AlcoTec Wire Corporation, are pleased to have been
able to contribute to Incats quest.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
JERRY MIRGAIN LIVED 25 YEARS IN AUSTRALIA AND HAS
HAD A LONG RELATIONSHIP WITH INCAT. HE REMAINS
A MEMBER OF THE WELDING INSTITUTE OF AUSTRALIA
- ALUMINIUM WELDING PANEL, AND IS ON THE
EDITORIAL COMMITTEE OF THE AUSTRALASIAN
WELDING JOURNAL. HE JOINED ESAB, IN 1984,
AS CONSUMABLES DIVISION MANAGER IN AUSTRALIA.
HE NOW RESIDES IN USA AND HAS DUAL
RESPONSIBILITY AS ALUMINIUM GLOBAL PRODUCT
LINE MANAGER FOR ESAB AB AND AS
INTERNATIONAL SALES MANAGER FOR ALCOTEC.
Figure 1. Shock absorber cross-section.
of the absorbers are MAG welded with 1.0mm
diameter EN 440: G3Si welding wire in
82%Argon/18% CO
2
shielding gas protection.
Weld metal consumption per housing averages
6g which, at a daily production of 45,000
absorbers, equates to 270 kg. The MAG process
is fully automatic, the equipment consisting of two
4-head, one 3-head, four 2-head and two 1-head
installations, and a robot. In total, 22 welding
heads are to be fed with welding wire.
Before the introduction of Marathon Pac, the
company used wooden spools with 100kg or
200kg welding wire with a mechanical pay-off
Figure 2. Shock absorber housings with welded
assembly ring.
Sochaux-Montbliard is the cradle of Peugeot,
the leading brand of PSA Peugeot Citron the
automotive company with 14% market share in
Europe and over 5% worldwide. Here, in 1810,
the Peugeot brothers, descendents of a family of
millers, converted a corn mill into a steel foundry
to supply springs to the local clock industry. Soon
the portfolio was extended with bandsaws, tools,
coffee mills, frames for hoop skirts and,
eventually, in 1886, the production of bicycles in
the city of Montbliard.
The private car venture started in 1889, when the
company exhibited a steam driven three-wheeler
at the Paris world exhibition. A chassis factory
was built in 1912, in Mandeure, and in the same
year Peugeot bought the land on which the UMS
factory stands, today. Some 12,500 people are
employed on the 265 hectare site. Activities are
two-fold: deep-drawing, assembly and painting of
chassis in one section; mechanical construction,
development and testing in another section. In
addition to suspension systems, the UMS factory
produces some 45,000 shock absorbers a day -
mainly for Peugeot Citron cars, but also for other
brands (altogether 180 models).
Automated production
Car suspension system shock absorbers -
regarded as safety components - have high weld
quality demands (Figures 1 and 2). The housings
The UMS factory in Sochaux-
Montbliard, in the French province
of Franche-Comt, produces
suspension systems for Peugeot
and Citron cars. Introduction of
ESAB Marathon Pac bulk wire
systems has improved productivity
and reduced fabrication costs.
3% more shock absorbers for PSA
Peugeot Citron
JOEL PERRIN, ESAB FRANCE, PARIS
Figure 3. Wooden spool with 100 or 200kg welding wire
and a mechanical pay-off system.
Automated production benets from Marathon Pac
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
JOEL PERRIN IS KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER AT ESAB
FRANCE, PARIS.
system (Figure 3). It involved a rather complicated
method of wire feeding, consumed a lot of space
and hindered operations. Whats more, the
dimensions of the spool remained the same - full
or empty and they needed to be transported
and stored before being returned to the supplier.
The main reason for considering Marathon Pac,
however, is that the welding wire from the
previously used wooden spools maintains the
mechanical deformation (cast & helix) it receives
when it is spooled onto the spools. The result is
the so called dog-tailing of the wire extension
when the wire leaves the contact tip. This is a big
problem in automated production with precisely
pre-programmed weld paths, resulting in wrongly
positioned welds and increased contact tip wear.
Towards the end of 2005, the idea emerged for a
production test using one Marathon Pac drum on
the SERDA 2 production line - motivated by
ESABs claim that this system overcomes the
dog-tailing problem.
The Marathon Pac system
ESAB France supplied a Marathon Pac drum with
250kg of 1.0mm diameter OK Autrod 12.51 and
installed it on the SERDA 2 line, to run a test until
the drum was empty. Success was so
overwhelming that production management
immediately ran a wider test and, soon after,
introduced Marathon Pac at all welding stations.
Wire in Marathon Pac is pre-twisted before being
spooled into the drum, to compensate for the
limited mechanical deformation it receives in the
spooling process. As a result, the wire extension
is virtually straight when the wire leaves the
contact tip for exact positioning of the weld.
This results in better weld quality and lower defect
rate. It also reduces contact tip wear and the
associated maintenance of the welding gun,
resulting in less downtime.
No accessories are needed for the supply of the
wire. The system works with the wire feed unit,
which is less subject to wear because of low
feeding forces.
PSA UMS Sochaux also purchased a number of
Marathon Pac accessories - lifting yokes, trolleys
and re-inforced liners with quick connectors - for
easier internal transport, installation and reduced
maintenance.
Figure 4 shows how the Marathon Pacs are
positioned for a four-head welding installation
(not visible). The liners are arched over the
pathway and are in this way easily accessible
for maintenance. Available in lengths from 0.6m to
12m, they are adaptable to any workshop
situation. The spare drum (in the foreground) is
ready to be installed when one of the four
connected drums is empty.
OK Autrod 12.51 is a high quality copper-coated
welding wire with a more stringent chemical
analysis than required by the European norm
G3Si. This assures consistent mechanical
properties from delivery to delivery.
Increased production
PSA UMS Sochaux calculates a 3% increase in
shock absorber housing production resulting from
the use of Marathon Pac, compared with the
wooden spools. This is due to significantly lower
downtime for spool exchange and, annually, 60
hours less downtime for maintenance a
significant figure in automated mass production.
Figure 5. Marathon Pac connected to a robot.
Figure 4. Four active Marathon Pacs, and a spare supplying a four-head installation for the welding of shock absorber
housings.
New track is embedded on noise reducing rubber
pads, which also give better electro isolation and
less vibration. One disadvantage with concrete
embedded rails is that they are not so easily
re-placed as rails embedded in cobblestones or
tarmac.
In Riga, tramways last 20 to 25 years, depending
on the intensity of traffic. Tramway curves wear
faster than straight track because of side-wear,
depending on the radius and frequency of use.
Tramtrac
TM
II
For Rigas Satiksme, the ESAB Tramtrac II welding
tractor provides a cost-efficient solution for
repairing curves embedded in either concrete or
tarmac, avoiding more costly total replacement.
In addition, other parts susceptible to wear, such
as tram stops and switches, can be repaired
efficiently with this portable system based on the
FCAW process using self-shielded wires.
The FCAW process allows Tramtrac II to be small
and ultra lightweight. It is easily stored and used
from, for example, a pick-up truck, together with
a petrol/diesel generator and welding power
source. The tractor can be hand-carried and is
easily installed and removed from the rail,
allowing welding to take place between
successive trams.
The FCAW process gives Tramtrac II a high
deposition rate and a high duty cycle, due to
quick installation and easily removed slag.
Tramtrac II is operator friendly with a four-wheel
drive carriage that rides the single rail, a wire
feeding unit for 1.2 or 1.6mm wires and
adjustable traction wheels to fit most worn
flanges and railheads. The control box, on top of
the feeder encasement, features clearly marked
symbols for wire feed speed, travel speed and
SIA Rigas Satiksme is a publicly
owned body that operates public
transport and vehicle hire in the
Latvian capital Riga and its
surrounding areas, which has over
700,000 inhabitants. It is the
largest provider of public transport
in Riga, operating buses,
trolleybuses and trams. Trams are
one of the citys principal modes of
transport, with Rigas Satiksme
operating 252 trams on 11 routes
across the city with a length of 120
km. In 2010 they will start using
modern, low-floor trams on one
city route, for which the
infrastructure is now being pre-
paired.
JANIS CERBULIS, RIGAS SATIKSME, AND MARIS ZVIRBULIS, ESAB, RIGA, LATVIA
Tramtrac
TM
II rail repair solution for
Rigas tramways
Figure 1. Small, lightweight and portable. Tramtrac
TM
II applied on tram rails in the streets of Riga together with the
OrigoMig
TM
410 power source.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
MARIS ZVIRBULIS IS COUNTRY MANAGER FOR ESAB IN
LATVIA.
JANIS CERBULIS IS CHIEF TRACK DEPARTMENT AT
RIGAS SATIKSME, RIGA, LATVIA.
start and stop welding functions, as well as wire
inching.
The curved slide on which the welding head is
located enables easy and exact positioning of the
wire extension between 0 to 65, while the
horizontal and vertical slides enable positioning in
the x- and y-planes. Tramtrac II takes a 42V AC
control voltage from an Origo Mig 320 or 410
power source featuring 40 voltage settings.
Control and welding cables 10 metres in length
- allow the tractor to travel a distance of up to
17m when the power source is positioned close
to the rail.
Consumables
The need to weld embedded grooved rails in
cities makes preheating of rails impossible. With
rail grades ranging from 700A (R220) to 900A
(R260), consumables for difficult to weld steels
are recommended with a weld deposit that can
accommodate high carbon migration without
cracking. ESAB OK Tubrodur 15.65 and
OK Tubrodur 14.71 are two wires that have been
successfully used by tramway repair contractors
for many years. Once the beads have been
Figure 2. The curved slide on which the welding head is located enables easy and exact positioning of the wire extension.
Figure 3. Deposited weld before and after slag removal.
deposited, there is no need to grind to the final
profile of the rail.
Rigas Satiksme uses 1.6mm diameter OK
Tubrodur 15.65 (Table 1) for the repair of the
Russian T62 type tram rails, which are very
common in Riga. The rutile, self-shielded cored
wire has a very good weldability and excellent
slag detachability.
The weld metal is austenitic-martensitic
work-hardening (Figure 4), with excellent metal to
metal abrasion and impact resistance.
Table 1. Product data Tramtrac
TM
II and OK Tubrodur consumables
Tramtrac II Control voltage Power Welding speed Dimensions (l x w x h) Weight without consumables
36-46 V AC 90W 30-100 mm/min. 600 x 300 x 150 mm 12 kg
Ordering
information
Tramtrac
TM
II Connection cable 10m Origo MIG 410 Origo MIG 320 Magnetic earth return cable &
clamp
OK Tubrodur
14.71, 1.6mm
OK Tubrodur 15.65,
1.6mm
0814 721 880 0457 360 884 0349 302 408 0349 303 562 0000 500 415 1471 167 730 1565 167 730
Classifications & approvals Typical chemical composition all weld metal (%) Hardness HB
OK Tubrodur 14.71 C Si Mn Cr Ni as welded work hardened
Type: Rutile
Polarity: DC+
EN14700 T Fe 10
0.03 0.5 5.1 19.1 8.7 200 400
A stainless rutile 18.8.6Mn, self-shielded cored wire for cladding and joining 13% Mn steels and steels with limited weldability. It is also useful for buffer
layers prior to hardfacing. Supreme welding characteristics and excellent slag detachability.
Classifications & approvals Typical chemical composition all weld metal (%) Hardness HB
OK Tubrodur 15.65 C Si Mn Cr Ni Mo as welded work hardened
Type: Rutile
PolarityL: DC+
EN14700 T Fe 9
0.03 0.6 13.5 15.5 1.8 0.8 250 450
A stainless rutile self-shielded cored wire depositing a martensitic-austenitic, work hardening deposit, used for the rebuilding of mild, low-alloy and 13%Mn
steels. The weld metal combines excellent metal to metal abrasion and impact resistance. Supreme welding characteristics and excellent slag detachability.
Figure 4. Cross section of rail repaired with Tramtrac II.
Table 2. Typical weld metal composition of two samples welded with OK Tubrodur 15.65
C Si Mn P S Cr Ni
% % % % % % %
Rail 0.28 0.25 1.43 0.021 0.028 0.024 0.02
Weld 0.31 0.19 10.7 0.014 0.012 8.0 0.05
Fabrication of truck axles at Arvin Meritors Cameri plant.
Figure 1. Typical heavy truck rear axle, with disc brakes. Figure 2. Starting point of the hot pressing line.
Perfect welding for truck axle housings
of buses and trolley buses, and of engines for the
first Cucciolo motor bicycles, began.
In 1953, Cansa was absorbed into Fiat and in
1968, the Cansa name disappeared, and the
company became Fiat, then Fiat Veicoli Industriali
and, subsequently, Iveco. During this time, the
Cameri plant became involved in bus production
and assembly, receiving the bus chassis and
manufacturing the framework, which was
mounted, plated, painted, fitted-out with interior
furnishings and road testing operations. At the end
of the Seventies, bus production moved to
Southern Italy.
The recent years
In Cameri, where the plant had been significantly
enlarged in the meanwhile, a refurbishment
project began, leading to the creation of a
joint-venture between Iveco and the American
giant Rockwell International: Omevi was founded
and the Cameri plant became the centre for the
manufacture of axles for medium-heavy vehicles.
The involvement of Rockwell resulted in a
significant technological evolution, in which the
Cameri plant gained state-of-the-art production
and control equipment. At the beginning of the
Acknowledgement
We thank Alberto Caramellino, Manufacturing
Engineering Manager and Fedele Bozzella,
Manufacturing Engineer, at the Commercial
Vehicle Systems Division of Meritor HVS for
facilitating this article.
The origins of the Cameri plant go back some
100 years. Established in 1909 both as a flight
school and an airport, the early days were rather
humble: a wooden, single-floor house for the
offices, and a wooden aircraft hangar. In 1912,
the Turinese artist and painter, Giuseppe
Gabardini, who had already designed several
innovative aircraft including the Idroaeroplano and
the Gabarda monoplane, took over the plants, the
airport and the flight school.
Operations ceased between 1929 and 1932, when
Gabardini resumed activities on behalf of the
government, overhauling and inspecting fighter and
bomber aircraft. After Gabardinis death, in 1936,
Cansa took over management, including overhaul
and inspection activities for Fiat aircraft, and also
engine assembly. These activities again ceased in
1944, when the Cameri workshop produced
disparate products such as bicycles, electric
heaters and kitchen furniture. In 1946, production
With products in virtually every
vehicle on the road, ArvinMeritor is
a leader in advanced solutions that
focus on enhancing vehicle stability
and reducing harmful emissions.
The companys 100,000 m
2
plant
in Cameri, Italy, has around 600
employees and produces axle
housings for trucks built by world
leading manufacturers such as
Iveco, Renault and Volvo and
must, of necessity, be robust and
of the very highest quality. A
recent decision to adopt ESAB
AristoRod 12.50 wire for exclusive
use in the plant has resulted in
significant improvements for the
production and assembly
processes.
CESARE FONDRINI, ESAB SALDATURA SPA, MESERO, ITALY.
Figure 4. The two halves tack-welded.
Figure 5. Full penetration by one-sided welding.
Figure 3. Hot-pressed parts ready to be welded together.
Nineties, manufacturing lines were reorganised
and redesigned with the integration of more and
more automated equipment.
In 1997, Rockwell International was split. The
Automotive sector assumed the name Meritor
and the Cameri plant changed its name to Meritor
HVS Cameri SpA. Meritor was strongly focused
on Europe. It had acquired the Lindesberg Volvo
plant, in Sweden, devoted to the manufacture of
axles. It also acquired the Lucas Varity Brakes
Division, with a plant in England. Headquarters
were established in Amsterdam, some functions
were centralised and the Aftermarket Europe
Division was created, with offices in Zurich.
The merger of industry leaders Arvin Industries
and Meritor Automotive in July 2000 created
ArvinMeritor, now one of the worlds largest
automotive component manufacturers and
suppliers, with 36,000 employees and 140 plants,
worldwide. Arvin brought to the merger an
international reputation as one of the leading
manufactures of automotive components, in
particular products for drive control, filters and
exhaust gas systems. Meritors strength was as a
world leader in the light vehicles sector, its
portfolio comprising axles, brakes, transmissions,
driving systems, transmission axles, roof systems
and suspensions.
Current production
ArvinMeritor has an important presence in
Europe, because its main customers Iveco,
Renault and Volvo are the biggest world
manufacturers of trucks, says Alberto
Caramellino, Manufacturing Engineering Manager,
Commercial Vehicle Systems Division of Meritor
HVS Cameri. Our plant has the largest
ArvinMeritor design team outside the United
States, followed in importance by the Lindsberg
team in Sweden, and the Lyon plant where cast
iron closed axle housings are produced.
In Cameri, we produce the fabricated axle
housing that is hot pressed and then assembled.
All the component parts are wire welded, with the
exception of the wheel hub, which is friction
welded.
Axle design is fully contained within the Cameri
plant. The design and the sizing of drive-shafts,
ring gears, pinions, planetary gears, satellites and
carriers (the cast iron parts that enclose the
differential gear) are our responsibility from
beginning to end, comments Fedele Bozzella,
Manufacturing Engineer, Commercial Vehicle
Systems Division of Meritor HVS Cameri.
All products are tested within the plant by our
specialised testing department. Generally, we
tend to have highly automated lines, with the
exception of some niche production that still
requires manual operations.
In both welding and hot pressing departments,
the manufacturing lines are based on sequential
architecture. The only functions that require the
intervention of an operator are the loading of
parts at the beginning of the line and middle line
positioning by robots and magnetic systems of
parts that will form the axle and end of line
inspection systems (sizes, welding quality,
aesthetic appearance, etc). The influence of
welding on the quality of the finished product is
critical, says Mr. Bozzella.
A fundamental process
In the Cameri plant, welding is clearly a process
of paramount importance. Our product can be
likened to a vessel composed of nine assembled
pieces, it must be robust and consistent with
specifications, reports Mr. Bozzella. All the
welds must be sealed and some of them are also
safety welds. The welding wire is an essential
component for quality production.
This is the background to the decision to adopt
Figure 8. Robotic welding of customisation.
Figure 7. Good appearance of all welds.
Figure 6. After welding, the axle housing is clean.
Figure 9. Rear axles ready to be assembled.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
CESARE FONDRINI IS PRODUCT MANAGER MIG/MAG
AND MARATHON PAC WIRES AT ESAB SALDATURA
SPA, MESERO, ITALY.
ESAB AristoRod 12.50 wire, but how was this
choice achieved?
Our decision stemmed from dissatisfaction
with the quality of the wire we were previously
buying from a historical supplier, says Mr.
Bozzella. The supplier began to have
significant quality problems. Moreover, new
requirements were arising, such as having
clean, spatter-free welding. We also wanted to
reduce fume emissions, especially in the
tacking and setup positions. Finally, we had a
further problem to solve: the wire we were
previously using was copper-coated and it was
inclined to peel off, the loose external particles
then obstructing the wire feeding system. This
was causing line stoppages that we wished to
eliminate.
The company, therefore, started looking for an
alternative that would eliminate the problem. We
were aware of technical features of AristoRod wire
and, in May 2008, reached the decision to adopt
this wire, adds Mr. Bozzella.
AristoRod 12.50 is a copper-free wire that, thanks
to the unique ASC (Advance Surface Technology)
surface treatment allows smooth wire feeding,
without friction and residues.
We were immediately able to verify that ESAB
AristoRod 12.50 wire fully eliminated welding
spatter and was satisfactory in all its other
features, says Mr. Caramellino. For its part, ESAB
also provided two bulk drums with wire
straighteners. The production lines were stopped
for fitting the welding positions and, following early
tests, very satisfactory results were achieved. We
could clearly see that the wire behaviour was
excellent: no spatter could be seen with the naked
eye, he stresses.
Other benefits became immediately apparent.
For instance, with the new AristoRod wire there
was no need to change the optimised welding
parameters. Both simple and more complex
welds immediately appeared perfect, concludes
Mr. Bozzella. For example, in a given step of the
working cycle we must execute a joint with weld
metal support. In practice, the material is grooved
and a welding ream is realised at the inside weld.
This is a very important joint for us and with the
AristoRod wire we are able to perfectly execute it.
Also, productivity has been significantly increased
because the AristoRod wire never causes any
problems.
The adoption of AristoRod 12.50 also produced
other benefits, such as improved arc stability,
better welding appearance and lack of spatter.
A single standard
AristoRod 12.50 wire, in 475 kg Marathon Pacs,
is used for all automatic and semi-automatic
welding at the Cameri plant. The only variant is
the diameter: on automatic machines 1.6mm
diameter is used; while in manual operations,
from simple tacking welds to more sophisticated
welds, 1.2mm diameter is used. Manual welding
with 1.6mm wire would mean using currents
greater than 380A at 32V, with a very strong
thermal radiation and tiring of the operators. In
the line, on the other hand, currents of 420-470A
at 32-34V are reached for specific welds and
currents of 360A at 30-32V for other simpler
procedures on softer materials. Finally, in the axle
housing assembly operations, currents are varied
depending on the part to be welded; the range,
both for deep and surface passes, is typically 310
to 360A to guarantee consistent penetration
inside the box.
The advantages can be clearly seen by all: after
welding, the axle housing is very clean and
requires no manual trimming operations; excellent
penetrations are achieved; and productivity has
been improved.
An ABB Flexarc cell with ESAB welding kit was up and running
in one weekend
STIG ANDERSSON, ESAB AB, GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN.
Robotisation need not necessarily
be a long winded process with
many costly obstacles on the road.
Not with careful planning and the
right partners and correct
solutions. At Volvo Construction
Equipment AB, Cab Division, in
Hallsberg, Sweden, they decided
to robotise the welding of a variety
of components for the construction
of cabins one was the wheel
fenders or mud screens. Partners
in Volvos robotisation project were
ABB, ESAB and robot integrator
ROBOT AKADEMIN AB, all working
closely with the Volvo technicians
and production personnel.
The production of cabs for heavy wheel loaders
and dumpers is one of the main applications at
Volvo Construction Equipment AB, Cab Division.
These cabins reflect the Volvo brand and all it
stands for quality, safety and environmental
care. Volvo assembles the cabs from many
individually produced components which mostly
require welding. This also applies for the mud
screens which, until recently, where produced
manually with semi-automatic MAG welding. As
part of a broader project to reduce manufacturing
costs, Volvo decided to robotise also this part of
the production and purchased a third Flexarc
robot cell equipped with ESABs Aristo Robot
package to be installed by ROBOT AKADEMIN
AB a concept that had worked extremely well
with earlier robot projects.
The Flexarc robot cell
ABBs Flexarc cell (Figure 1) is the ideal solution to
the robotisation needs of Volvo Construction
Equipment AB, Cab Division. It fulfills their most
important requirements being compact in space,
easy to program and start-up and equipped with
state-of-the-art welding equipment. The cells
make optimum use of the space available, and
Volvo takes short-cut to robotised
welding
unit. The Aristo Mig robot package is described in
detail on page 25 of this issue of Svetsaren.
Volvo Construction Equipment AB, Cab Division
currently has three Flexarc robot cells in opera-
tion: one Flexarc K and one Flexarc R cell - both
equipped with IRB 1600 robots - and one Flexarc
D cell with an IRB 2400 robot. The last is used for
producing the mud screens.
From manual to robotic welding over the
weekend
The speedy installation and start-up of the robot
cell for mud screens is a good example of the
user-friendliness of the Flexarc robot cell. On
Friday at 1 o clock manual production stopped
and specialist robot integrator ROBOT
AKADEMIN AB started to install the robot cell and
program it in co-operation with the Volvo
operators. By Monday morning the robot cell to
weld mud screens was completely ready for
production.
The mud screens are made of relatively thin steel
sheet and assembled with forty short welds
Figure 1. The Flexarc robot cell quick to install and
move between departments.
Figure 2. Mud screen assembled with short intermittent welds with good cosmetic appearance.
can be positioned close to other production units
for an efficient work-flow.
Flexarc includes all the components necessary for
productive robotic arc welding - single or
multi-robots, the IRC5 robot control system,
unique error handling software, positioners and
Volvos preferred choice of welding equipment -
ESAB.
Plug and play
All components of the Flexarc cell are mounted
on a common base, eliminating the need for
on-site engineering work. Software has been
pre-configured for simple setup. All the customer
needs to do is unwrap the package, place the cell
in the desired location, connect the power cable,
air pressure and shielding gas hoses, program the
robot and start working. The Flexarc cell can be
moved within or between different production
facilities, which enables flexible production.
The whole system is designed to be efficient and
cost-saving. There are time saving options built-in
such as the ability to develop new programs
offline, via ABBs Robot Studio (using a virtual
replica of the robot) while the actual robot remains
in operation.
Simplified fault management saves time and
money. For example if a weld error occurs, the
operator doesnt have to enter the cell. The robot
will automatically direct the torch to a service
window and after maintenance by the operator
it moves back to where it stopped and
re-strikes the arc.
Volvo Construction Equipment AB, Cab Division,
in Hallsberg, has a strong preference for ESAB
welding equipment and specifies all robot cells to
be equipped with the ESAB Aristo Mig robot
package, ensuring the latest inverter welding
technology. The package consists of:
The Aristo Mig 4000iw or 5000i inverter.
The Aristo W8 interface which communicates
with ABBs IRC5 robot control unit.
feeder.
Cable packages.
The Marathon Pac bulk drum with robot quality
welding wire and separate bobbin holder.
The control unit of the welding package has been
integrated in ABBs IRC5 robot control unit, so
that all programming is accomplished within the
(Figure 2 and 3). The robot cell is equipped with a
positioner with fixtures on both sides for
simultaneous robotised assembly welding and
manual tack welding of the next mud screen.
Shielding gas is Mison 8 and the welding wire
advised by ESAB for this application is OK Autrod
12.64 diameter 1.0mm. It is an AWS A5.18:
ER70S-6 type wire with a slightly higher
manganese and silicon content for increased weld
metal strength and is classified G4Si1 according
to EN 440. More important for this application,
however, is the softer arc and the lower sensitivity
to surface impurities, giving smooth and sound
welds. The wire is fed from Marathon Pac bulk
drums containing 250kg of welding wire (Figure 4).
Essential to the successful robotised welding,
according to ROBOT AKADEMIN AB, is the
avoidance of arc blow. The solution was found in
low-voltage pulsing for which the programming
features of the Aristo Mig 5000i power source
were extremely well suited. This setting is like
balancing on the edge. The pulse parameters are
so low that the arc type gets close to short arc
welding the objective is to keep the work piece
cold and give spatter no chance to adhere. The
result is remarkable. Any spatter formed simply
rolls away, leaving the work piece clean.
The side for manual tack welding is equipped with
an Aristo Mig 4000i power source with an Aristo
Feed 3004 wire feed unit. The MA6 panel on the
power source provides the most advanced weld-
ing functions available from ESAB, including the
full library of synergic lines.
The production cycle time was brought down
from around 20 minutes with manual welding to
just 5-6 minutes with robotised welding. It should
be noted that, in this case, the robot is not used
at full speed because the front loading and
tacking are limiting factors.
Figure 5. Manual tack welding. Aristo Mig 4000i power source located outside the Flexarc cell.
Figure 4. Aristo Mig 5000i inverter and 275kg Marathon
Pac installed outside the Flexarc robot cell.
Figure 3. Overview of mud screen assembled with many
short welds.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
STIG ANDERSSON IS AREA SALES REPRESENTATIVE AT
ESAB AB, SWEDEN.
brand, but can flexibly respond to demands of
several product lines, regardless of brand. This
centralised efficiency now makes them one of the
industrys lowest cost producers of lift trucks and
components, including replacement parts for
other manufacturers trucks.
NMHG Mexico
As part of the group restructuring plan, in 1997
the subsidiary facility NMHG Mexico, S.A. de C.V
started production in Ramos Arizpe, Mexico to
manufacture lower cost forklift frames for other
facilities in North America. Since the start up in
this plant, the company has used GMAW-P as
the main welding process in state-of-the-art
robotised cells.
NMHG has a team-oriented environment where
employees can expand their skills and meet their
career goals. Employees are encouraged to be
key contributors. That is why Juan Francisco
Limones, responsible for welding processes and
robotic equipment in Ramos Arizpe facility,
decided to initiate an investigation on how to reduce
welding cost associated with unexpected
equipment downtime due to poor performance of
Just five years after its launch, the advantages of
ESABs OK AristoRod copper-free welding wire
are being widely recognised in a variety of
industries around the world, making it a truly
global product. In this article, ESAB Mexico
reports on the great improvements achieved by
NMHG Inc.
NMHG is one of the three core businesses of
NMHG Industries, Inc., a publicly-held company
with headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio.
World Leaders
NMHG designs, engineers and manufactures
materials handling equipment, including
warehouse trucks, counterbalanced trucks and
large capacity cargo and container handling
trucks. All lift trucks are marketed under the
Hyster
and Yale
brand names. The company is

one of the worlds largest lift truck manufacturers.
In addition to a worldwide distribution network of
independent Hyster
and Yale
retail dealerships,
NMHG operates wholly-owned dealerships in
certain markets.

Today the people and facilities that make up
NMHG do not support just one product line or
At the Mexican plant of fork lift
frame producer NMGH, the use of
ESAB OK AristoRod copper-free
MAG wire is driving down costs
and improving productivity.
RICARDO MADRIGA AND JUAN JOSE LOPEZ, ESAB MEXICO, S.A. DE C.V., MONTERREY, MEXICO
Fork truck maker
boosts productivity with
ESAB OK AristoRod
copper-coated to copper-free wire will generate
potential cost savings up to 19% that includes cost
reduction in MAG gun spare parts and downtime.
All those who know the welding process at the
NMHG facility in Ramos Arizpe realise the
inconvenience from the use of copper-coated
wires. The gradual build-up of copper dust and
flakes can cause clogging in the feed system and
copper-coated wire. Mr. Limones found that welding
cost had been affected by frequent equipment
stoppage and that copper-coated wire was
responsible for higher welding costs due to elevated
consumption of contact tips, diffusers and liners.
ESAB Advice
Mr. Limones called in the ESAB region sales
representative Ricardo Madrigal who immediately
proposed the OK AristoRod 12.50 copper-free
GMAW wire in Marathon Pac bulk package as a
superior alternative to the competitors
copper-coated wire.
AristoRod 12.50 is a copper-free wire that, thanks
to the unique ASC (Advance Surface Technology)
surface treatment, allows smooth wire feeding,
without friction and residuals
Cost Savings
After an exhaustive test of OK AristoRod in several
robotised welding cells, Mr. Limones gathered all
the information required to compare process costs.
He has estimated that the change from
Figure 1. Forklift frame welded with GMAW-P process, using OK AristoRod 12.50
copper-free wire, diameter 1.2 mm in 90% Ar/10% CO
2
shielding gas. The low spatter
level helps to keep the weldment, fixtures and welding equipment clean.
Figure 2. Two octagonal Marathon Pacs with OK AristoRod 12.50
(AWS class ER70S-6) copper-free wire installed behind a robotised welding cell
25 feet away from the contact tip without feeding issues.
It all adds up to better overall productivity
removed the biggest contributor to the clogging
of guns and liners and, with it, a major cause of
production stoppages and increased cleaning
schedules. In addition, greater arc stability results
in less spatter, improved weld quality and finish
and, consequently, leads to reduced need for
weld cleaning.
Welding operators and supervisors can clearly
see the advantages of ESAB OK AristoRod at
every stage of the welding process:
Low contact tip wear means fewer replacement
stops.
Consistent feedability means improved
production speed.
Lower feed force required for long distance feeding.
Fewer maintenance stoppages due to absence
of dust and flakes in liners.
Fewer spatters due to better arc stability.
Higher welding quality.
Juan Francisco Limones and Ricardo Madrigal
are continuing with this investigation and now
gathering the information to quantify the cost
reduction due to improvements in welding quality
and less cleaning time two other advantages
observed during application of ESAB OK
AristoRod 12.50 a product that creates savings
in a global marketplace.
lead to increased spatter and poor weld finish
and, eventually, to a complete breakdown of the
welding process.
Regular maintenance and cleaning of the feed
system is absolutely necessary to avoid feeding
problems. However, this is time consuming and
particularly costly as it causes downtime of the
robotic welding systems. By removing the dust
and flaking associated with copper, ESAB has
Figure 3. Typical filets welds are 6, 8 and 10 mm in leg
length.
Figure 4. Juan Francisco Limones (right) and Ricardo Madrigal (left).
ABOUT THE AUTHORS:
RICARDO MADRIGAL IS SALES REPRESENTATIVE AT
ESAB MEXICO, S.A. DE C.V., MONTERREY,
MEXICO.
JUAN JOSE LOPEZ IS APPLICATION ENGINEERING
MANAGER AT ESAB MEXICO, S.A. DE C.V.,
MONTERREY, MEXICO.
Hydro Automotive Norway speeds-up robotic welding of
aluminium cross beams for BMW 1-series
Hydro Automotive AS, based in Raufoss, Norway
is part of the Automotive Structures division of
Norsk Hydro a group with production sites in
Norway, Sweden, the US, France, the UK,
Denmark and Germany. It specialises in the
fabrication of aluminium components and
supplies major car manufacturers such as Saab,
Renault, BMW, Jaguar, Porsche and Audi.
There are six Kuka robot stations for various
automotive components and a manual station for
repairs all using AlMg4.5 Mn0.7 type MIG
welding wire. Two years ago, Hydro Automotive
stopped using 7kg wire spools on the wire
feeders, after advice from ESAB, and changed
over to the new ESAB MarathonPac with 141kg
of OK Autrod 5183 high quality welding wire.
Since the changeover the company has enjoyed
efficient storage and handling of consumables,
savings on downtime for spool exchange, a lower
repair rate, gas cups that require less cleaning
and - above all increased production output.
This article examines the scale of that production
improvement.
By simply changing over from 7kg
wire spools to ESAB MarathonPac
bulk drums for all its robot
stations Hydro Automotive AS
obtained a substantial increase in
production output. In this article,
auditing of the station that produce
the cross beams for BMWs
1-series personal cars, has shown
dramatic improvements
BEN ALTEMHL, EDITOR OF SVETSAREN
How many more BMWs come
out of a Marathon Pac?
Figure 1. Welding station for cross beams.
The robot station
Cross beams for the BMW series 1 personal car
are produced at a station with two robots welding
two sides of the beam simultaneously (Figure 1).
The beam consists of a box structure to be
connected, on both sides, to a node for
connection to the chassis. During welding, a new
component is manually loaded on the other side of
the turntable, which rotates along its length axis.
Increased output from Marathon Pac
Hydro Automotive and ESAB calculated the
savings due to the use of MarathonPac bulk
drums, instead of the previously used 7kg wire
spools. These required, on average, 15 minutes
for spool exchange for each of the two robots
which have equal weld metal consumption.
The weld metal consumption per robot/year is
4900kg, or 9800 for the complete (two robot)
welding station.

Table 1 gives a welding cost calculation for the
use of 7kg wire spools versus Marathon Pac.
With spools, 700 spool changes per robot/year
are needed (1400 for the welding station). This
gives a total replacement time per year of 350
hours. For the same annual weld metal
consumption, Marathon Pac requires a total
replacement time of 17.5h. At an operational cost
for robot and operator of 200Euro/h, this reduced
downtime equals a saving of 68,250 Euro/year.
For Marathon Pac with robot quality aluminium
wire, fabricators pay a higher price/kg than with
Figure 2 shows the welding procedure for this
component, welded with the pulse MIG process. Sides
and corners are rotated into best position and welded
with pre-programmed parameters. Power sources, and
the Marathon Pacs are placed outside the robot cell.
This, for reasons of safety and convenience, is common
practice in the automotive industry (Figure 3). The robots
are equipped with push-pull wire feeders on the torch.
Figure 3. Robot operator programming outside the robot cell.
Reduced downtime and rejects
A second important saving obtained by Hydro
Automotive is a scrap rate of rejected
components which is reduced from 0.5 to 0.3%.
The major reason for this reduction is the
continuous supply of 141kg of wire without
abrupt ending in the middle of a welding
sequence, as frequently occurs with 7kg spools.
There is a window in the drum where the operator
can easily see when the drum is almost empty
and stop the station smoothly in time.
In addition, the company reports less rejects
because of a more stable process with reduced
spatter.
This calculation shows the savings for one robot
station. Marathon Pac, however, is applied at all
six stations where similar cost savings are
obtained. It is also important to note that there
may be a slight difference in the consumables
price per kg.
How many more BMWs come out of a
Marathon Pac?
This interesting question can, of course, not be
answered in this article. However, what can be
shown is how many more BMW cross beams can
be produced, due to the use of Marathon Pac.
The clocked cycle time for each cross beam is
47 seconds (33 sec welding + 14 sec turning).
The duty cycle of the station is 65%.
The use of Marathon Pac brings (350-17.5) x
3600 x 65%= 778,050s extra net robot time,
which equals 16554 extra BMW cross beams a
year on which a full sales profit is earned. For
Hydro Automotive, this has been a major step in
their lean manufacturing practice needed to sur-
vive in the highly competitive automotive industry.
7kg spools. For aluminium wire, in general,
0.5 Euro/kg is an average which can be used in
calculations. In the case of Hydro Automotive, this
would result in an extra consumables cost of
4,900 Euro/year, which must be deducted from
the savings on downtime.
Table 1. Cost calculation for Hydro Automotive robot station. Weld metal consumption: 4900kg/robot/year
Type of packaging 7kg spools Marathon Pac Cost difference
Weight of wire (kg) 7 141
Wire consumption per year (kg) 9800 9800
Number of spool changes/year 1400 70
Total replacement time /year (min.) 21.000 1050
Total replacement time /year (h) 350 17,5
Cost related to spool replacement
Operational cost robot+ operator (Euro) 200 200
Cost for spool replacement/year (Euro) 70.000 1750 68.250
Additional cost for Marathon Pac
Extra purchasing price/kg (Euro) 0,5
Extra purchasing price/year 4.900
Figure 4. Each Marathon Pac is filled with high quality aluminium welding wire, and uses a special reverse coiling tech-
nology to ensure the wire comes out straight and perfectly positioned, resulting in greater process stability and a signifi-
cantly reduced risk of spatter. Use of the ESAB pear ensures that the wire can never get entangled during wire feeding.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
BEN ALTEMHL IS TECHNICAL EDITOR WITHIN
ESABS CENTRAL MARKETING COMMUNICATION
DEPARTMENT AND EDITOR IN CHIEF OF
SVETSAREN.
Panel (MMC) functions Origo
TA23
Origo
TA24
Welding methode MMA/TIG X X
Remote on/off X X
ESAB 2-program function - X
HF or LiftArc start X X
2/4-stroke X X
Gas pre/post-flow X X
Slope up/down X X
Pulsed TIG - X
Micro Pulse TIG - X
Digital amp-meter X X
Digital V/A-meter - X
Arc force (MMA) (X) (X)
Hot start (MMA) (X) (X)
Droplet welding (MMA) (X) (X)
ArcPlus II (MMA) X X
Product News Equipment
The new Origo/Aristo range of CC/CV welding machines has been designed to give the high level flexibility
required by such market sectors as energy and civil construction. All the new Origo and Aristo machines are
supplied with proven ESAB control units that enable different weld types to be produced. The units also enable
many process parameters to be set before welding starts. This facility also allows the parameters to be changed
during welding.
NEW RANGE OF MULTI-OPTION MACHINES WILL
TRANSFORM ARC WELDING
Origo
TM
Tig 3001i, TA23/TA24 -
for advanced industrial use and
for repair and maintenance
Pulsed TIG welding- easy control of
heat input and the weld pool (Origo
TM

TA24).
ESAB 2-program function provides
the opportunity to pre-program and
change program during actual welding
for increased productivity (Origo
TM
TA24).
Strong, reliable 300A inverter power
source - one machine for all types of
demanding applications.
Easy to use - parameter presentation
easy to understand.
HF or LiftArc start in TIG.
MMA welding handles all electrodes
up to 5mm.
ArcPlus II better welding characteris-
tics in MMA, simplifies work and gives
better weld quality with less after treat-
ment.
True MMA welding Hot start and Arc
force setting.
Applications
Repair and maintenance
General fabrication and civil construction
Process industry
Shipbuilding and offshore
Power generation
Transport and mobile machinery
Panel (MMC) functions Origo
TM

A22
Origo
TM

A24
Welding method MMA/TIG X X
Welding method MIG/MAG (CV) X
Remote ON/OFF X X
Selection of electrode type X
Arc Force (x) X
Hot start (x) X
Droplet welding (x) (x)
Min current setting TIG (x) (x)
Step-less inductance (CV) X
Digital amp-meter X
Digital V/A-meters X
Memory, 2 set X
Origo
TM
Arc 4001i, A22/A24 -
optimum welding solutions
Outstanding welding characteristics -
high efficiency, high quality welding.
Efficient Man Machine Communication
by user-friendly Origo
TM
A22 and A24 control
panels.
The Origo A24 allows the choice of
electrode type: rutile, basic or cellulosic for
optimal welding qualities and has an easy to
read digital display to indicate current/voltage.
Adjustable Arc force and Hot start to
optimise the welding (Origo
TM
A24).
Enclosure class IP 23.
Dust filter to handle tough, dirty environ-
ments by prevent grinding-dust and metal
particles from entering the machine.
Market Segments
Civil construction and field erection
Energy generation
Pipeline contractors
Earth moving and mining
Offshore and shipbuilding
(Hire fleets)
Applications
Outdoor heavy installation on site
Outdoor maintenance and repair on site
Panel (MMC) functions MA23 MA24
2/4 stroke X X
Gas pre/post flow X X
Digital V/A-meters X X
Gas purge/wire inching X X
Memory 3 set X X
QSet
TM
X
Crater filling X
Creep start X
Pre-programmed synergic lines X
Origo Mig 3001i and 4001i, A24
- MIG 3001IW/4001IW - optimum
welding solutions
Reliable, smooth starts and ends supported
by efficient Hot-start and crater fill functions.
Efficient Man Machine Communication
by the user-friendly Origo
TM
MA23 and
MA24.
Wide range of pre-programmed synergic
lines in MA24.
Memory for three parameter sets.
ESAB LogicPump, secures automatic start
of water pump when a water-cooled welding
torch is connected.
TrueArcVoltage System, measures the
correct arc voltage value independent of the
length of the connection cable, return cable
or welding torch.
Dust filter to handle tough, dirty environ-
ments and avoid grinding-dust and metal
particles inside the machine.
QSet - automatic setting of short arc
parameters
Market Segments
Civil Construction & Field Erection
Energy Generation
Pipeline Contractors
Earth Moving and Mining
Transport Equipment
Offshore and Shipbuilding
(Hire Fleets)
Applications
Auto-repair
General metal fabrication
Tack welding
Civil construction
Mobile machinery
Pipe workshops
Panel (MMC) functions Aristo
TM

U6
Aristo
TM

U8
2
Aristo
TM

U8
2
Plus
QSet
TM
X X X
2/4 stroke X X X
Crater Filling X X X
Creep start, Hot
start and adjustable
burn-back time
X X X
Gas pre/post flow X X X
Digital V/A-meters X X X
Pre-programmed
synergic lines
X (60) X (92) X (>230)
Gas purge/wire inching X X X
Memory, 10 set X
Memory, 255 set X X
Pulse/synergicpulse X X X
Limit editor, set and
measurment values
X X
Create synergic lines X
SuperPulse
TM
X
Production statistics X
Auto save mode X
Aristo
TM
Mig 3001i/4001i and
Mig 3001iw/4001iw - optimum
welding solutions
2/4 stroke, simplifies handling of the weld-
ing torch.
Creep start, gas pre-flow and hot start
provide a soft and more direct start with less
spatter.
Crater filling, adjustable burn-back time
and post gas provide a smooth finish,
extend the lifetime of the contact tip and
guarantee no cracks at the end.
Pre-programmed synergic lines, to
ensure optimum settings with a wide choice
of materials, wire dimensions and gas com-
binations.
Possibility to create synergic lines
(Aristo U82)
Memory for 10 (Aristo
TM
U6) or 255
(Aristo
TM
U8
2
) parameter sets
Quick connectors - shortest possible set-
up times.
ESAB LogicPump, secures automatic start
of water pump when a water-cooled welding
torch is connected.
TrueArcVoltage System
TM
, measures the
correct arc voltage value independent of the
length of the interconnection cable, return
cable or welding torch.
SuperPulse, the welding process with the
ability to control heat input (Aristo
TM
U8
2
).
QSet - automatic setting of short arc
parameters
Market Segments
Advanced mild and stainless steel fabrication
Advanced aluminium fabrication
QA Applications
Prefabrication of Ni based material
Advanced mild and stainless steel fabrication
Advanced aluminium fabrication
QA Applications
Prefabrication of Ni based material
Aristo U8
2

The new way to
connect your
welding universe
Leading-edge R&D and close cooperation
with key industries throughout the world has
placed ESAB at the forefront of welding
technology. The introduction of the radical
Aristo U8
2
control unit presents a whole
new universe of welding possibilities:
enhanced functionality, extended
communication and WeldPoint a logical,
user-friendly Windows-based interface.
Whatever the application, MIG/MAG (manual,
mechanised or robotised) welding, TIG or
MMA, the Aristo U8
2
unit will do the job. And its
add-on modular design and preselected synergic
lines for special materials ensure exceptional
flexibility. Designed as forward compatible,
ongoing software upgrades will keep WeldPoint
and the Aristo U8
2
control unit future-proof.
Why wait? Its time to master the welding uni-
verse!
Aristo U8
2

Basic version featuring all essential functions.
Forward compatibility assured through future
software upgrades.
Support manual and mechanised applications
Extended range of languages
Large display
Dials to adjust wire feed speed and voltage
Dial to scroll menu
USB connector
QSet
Limit editor set and measured values
Release pulse
LAN (via Aristo W8
2
)
WeldPoint
Basic package synergic lines (92)
Aristo U8
2
Plus
Complete software suite with full functionality.
Support manual and mechanised applications
17 languages, including Chinese
Large display
Dials to adjust wire feed speed and voltage
Dial to scroll menu
USB connector
QSet
Limit editor set and measured values
Release pulse
LAN (via Aristo W8
2
)
WeldPoint
Complete package synergic lines (>230)
SuperPulse
Filemanager
Auto save mode
User defined synergic lines
Production statistics
User friendly
The new-generation Aristo U8
2
creates a whole
new universe of possibilities maximum
functionality, minimum complexity. Five function
buttons, single menu and Enter button and three
setting wheels cover every option. Large, bright
easy-view LED display and knurled setting wheels
for simple gloves-on, visor-down operation.
Aristo U8
2
or Aristo U8
2
Plus, the all-new U8
2

control unit is the key to a fully integrated welding
system. Full USB connectivity and a broad choice
of advanced Aristo W8
2
add-on modules for
comprehensive Fieldbus (DeviceNet, CANopen or
Profibus) and LAN (Ethernet) communication.
Optional synergic-line packs for special materials.
Multilingual
In the global welding community, ESAB
technology is the benchmark for flexibility,
efficiency and consistent quality. Ingenious
software, intuitive interfaces and logical controls
have greatly simplified the welding process. Even
so, language remains critical in understanding and
utilizing the full potential of such advanced
welding systems.
With an expanded memory and updated display,
the Aristo U8
2
supports seventeen world
languages, including Russian and Chinese (with
original Cyrillic and Chinese characters). Manuals
available in all seventeen languages. The Aristo
U8
2
: say goodbye to poor displays and confusing
manuals.
SuperPulse
Promoting partial solidification of the weld pool
between each pulse, the SuperPulse
function improves control of the weld pool and
solidification process, for a higher quality result.
Essentially, the process involves a programmed
changeover between two MIG/MAG settings, in
which time intervals are determined by the
primary and secondary-phase time settings.
SuperPulse benefits include reduced sensitivity
to variations in the root gap, better control of the
weld pool during position welding, better control
of penetration and penetration profile, and
reduced sensitivity to uneven heat evaporation.
WeldPoint
Our new proprietary WeldPoint software puts
back office operations up front! Ideal for the
multiple robotic welding lines typical of the
automotive industry, WeldPoint can enhance,
monitor and maintain consistent weld quality from
the welding or production engineers PC.
Simultaneous connection of up to ten welding
machines via TCP/IP, with sophisticated display
and storage of all weld data. All weld schedules
and production statistics, with the quality log,
error log, system configuration, limit setting and
measure limits, can be converted into HTML or
text format for export. Other innovative advances
include an online quality-data viewer (real-time
quality data from each welding machine, with
automatic or manual update) and an online
weld-schedule editor. You can also view
downloaded weld data set files, as well as
combining different weld data sets to form an
entirely new set.

QSet
Set and forget! A few seconds test welding, and
the short arc stabilizes as you watch. The QSet
function sets and stores the optimal welding
parameters automatically, maintaining consistent
arc stability, regardless of wire-feed speed. You
can move the contact tip away from the welding
seam in sharp corners and other tight spaces
without losing the ideal arc. Change of wire spool
and/or gas mixture? All it takes is another test
weld to optimize the parameters again. These
consistent welding results mean less spatter, less
cleaning and higher productivity.
Speedy set-up
One-knob control
No preset synergic lines
Automatic arc optimization
Less spatter, less after treatment
Increased productivity
The GMH joint tracking controller together
with ESAB servo slides and a sensor unit
forms a robust and easy to use joint tracking
system for automatic welding.
The GMH system minimises repair welding
and adjustments after welding thanks to that
the arc is always in the optimal position. The
general quality will be kept on an even level
and the operator does not need to focus on
the weld head and its position.
The operator can then keep an eye on the
entire installation and contribute to a non-
interrupted welding production by adding flux
and prepare for changing the wire spool well
in advance.
System contents
The welding head is mounted on a motorised
double servo slide where the head can be
moved up-down and left-right. The sensor is
the most vital part in the system which gives
information to the control system how to
adjust the slides to keep the arc in the optimal
position. There are a number of different
mechanical sense fingers for different applica-
tions. Inductive sensors can also be used.
Operation
The operator uses the joystick to guide the
welding head and mechanical sensor finger
into correct position. No programming at all is
required. The unit is set in track mode and the
welding can start.
Curved details can as long as they are within
the working range of the servo slides be weld-
ed fully automatic with GMH as the guiding
tool.
Applications
Shipbuilding (panels, sub-components)
Power generation (wind towers, boilers, ves-
sels)
Infrastructural components (beams, bridges)
Off-road vehicles (excavators, dump trucks)
GMH is available in three versions:
With control panel on the front
Suitable for ESABs A2 / A6 tractor automats and
A2 / A6 beam travelling carriage. Automatic
solutions with short distance between welding
head and GMH control box and where the
operator has a good overview of weld joint and
welding head without moving around.
With remote control (no panel on the front)
Suitable for Column & Booms and large automatic
installations with long distance between
welding head and GMH control box and when
the operator must move around in order to get
a good view of the welding joint.
Without control panel and remote control
Suitable for customized solutions where the
customers own remote control is adapted
to the GMH control box.
GMH -AUTOMATIC JOINT TRACKING
SYSTEM FOR MOST JOINT TYPES
Product News Automation
Easy to use, no programming required
Robust
Flexible with a remote control
Very short set-up times
Convenient for the operator
Minimises operator errors.
Product News Automation
The PAV control box together with the servo
slides forms a manual positioning system for
the welding head
PAV
The PAV system makes it easier to keep the
welding head in optimal position and it also
makes it easier for the operator to make a
good job with less welding faults and costly
repairs.
The operators ergonomic safety is in focus.
The PAV allows the adjustment of the welding
head to be done fully remotely. There is no
need to climb or stretch to reach and operate
the manual slides for adjustment of weld
positions. The operator can all the time keep
the focus on the welding process and do
adjustments just by using the joystick.
By using the PAV with the controls mounted
on the remote box the operator can be more
flexible and move along a larger object and
still have full control over the position of the
welding head.
Operation
A PAV control box can control one or two
servo slides. With the joystick on the control
box or the remote control you can manually
control the movement of the welding head up/
down or left/right. With a push button you can
choose between low or high speed of the
movement. When high speed is activated the
push button lights up.
Applications
Shipbuilding (panels, sub-components)
Power generation (wind towers, boilers,
vessels)
Infrastructural components (beams, bridges)
Off-road vehicles (excavators, dump trucks)
PAV is available in three versions:
With control panel on the front
Suitable for ESABs A2 and A6 beam travelling
carriage. Automatic solutions with short distance
between welding head and PAV control box and
where the operator has a good overview of weld
joint and welding head without moving around.
With remote control (no panel on the front)
Suitable for Column & Booms and large automat-
ic installations with long distance between welding
head and PAV control box and when the operator
must move around in order to get a good view of
the welding joint.
Without control panel and remote control
Suitable for customized solutions where the
customers own remote control is adapted to the
PAV control box.
PAV- POSITIONING SYSTEM
Operator friendly
Ergonomic
Easy to use
Shorter set-up times
Higher quality
Improved working environment
Figure 2. ESABs shield gas technology, in which a
secondary gas is used alongside the plasma gas
Figure 1. m
3
plasma
TM
with torch PT36
Product News Cutting
ESABs m
3
plasma
TM
cutting system,
introduced in 2006 and described in
Svetsaren 1/2006, enables high-quality
precision cutting and marking and high
current/thick plate cutting with the same
PT-36 plasma torch - replacing up to three
single-purpose torches while consuming
fewer wear parts.
m
3
plasma
TM
offers an unsurpassed level of
reliability, economy and productivity.
The system now features a number of
innovations that widen the application scope
and enhance cutting quality:
PT-36 torch, upgradable for very thick
stainless steel and aluminium.
Use of a secondary gas around the
plasma arc.
R2 mode for round top edges.
Suitable for underwater cutting.
m
3
plasma
TM
continues its advance
Small to medium-sized metalworking and
manufacturing companies can now benefit
from the advantages of plasma cutting thanks
to the constant enhancements and ever-falling
costs of the technology. In terms of precision,
speed, flexibility and economy, modern
plasma cutting is unsurpassed. The potential
of the m plasma
TM
cutting system is such
that it will establish plasma cutting as a viable
process with new customer groups. It is a
complete high-performance system that is
quick and easy to install, demands little in
terms of operation and maintenance, offers a
broad range of functions and can assist the
full automation of the cutting process,
including marking and labelling.
The characteristics of m plasma
TM
The PT-36 torch can handle cuts in the widest
variety of geometrical shapes, bevel cutting
with a weld bevel angle of 0 to +/- 45 as well as
the most common marking and labelling tasks -
without changing tools. The cutting area depends
on the m plasma
TM
current source used (cutting
current 30 200A, 35 400A, 35 600A
according to version) and ranges between two
and a maximum of 60mm in construction steel,
stainless steel and aluminium. As an option, the
PT-36 plasma torch can be upgraded for cuts up
to 150mm in stainless steel and aluminium.
The m plasma
TM
system is ESABs first use of
so-called shield gas technology, in which a
secondary gas (eg, oxygen or nitrogen) is used
alongside the plasma gas, circulating around the
arc and providing it with a protective, stabilising
shell. The result is an exceptionally fine, accurate
arc that has greater density and stability in
comparison to conventional processes, and leads
to higher cutting speeds, more precise cut edges
and brilliant cut surfaces.
NEW FEATURES FOR M
3
PLASMA
TM

CUTTING SYSTEM
Figure 3. R2- a new quality mode for varnished
components.
The latest generation of Columbus.NET
programming software enables quick, easy
creation of even the most complex cutting
programs. This ESAB innovation is based on
the Microsoft .NET developer platform and
thus has an ensured future. Companies that
invest in .NET are safeguarding their
investment against future technological
changes. COLUMBUS.NET is a genuine 32-bit
program and runs under the Windows XP and
Vista operating systems.
The practical advantages of the new software
include the option of fully automated program
and nesting generation. According to adjusted
values and criteria, Columbus.NET
automatically selects the flame-cut parts,
provides the nesting and technology data and
selects the most suitable plates. For weld
edge preparation - an increasingly important
function - the operator can choose between
bevel types V, X, Y and K. With Columbus.
In many cases, underwater cutting is a
sensible alternative to dry cutting with less
noise, reduced emission of dust, aerosols and
UV and a smaller heat affected zone around
the cut. m
3
technology allows underwater
plasma cutting; even marking and labelling is
no problem.
The R2 mode (Radius 2) is designed to meet
the specifications of the International Maritime
Organisation (IMO) for the standardised
curvature of round top edges of varnished
components. This mode in particular shows
the close connection between ESAB and the
international shipbuilding industry.
Another innovation with the m plasma system
is the option to pre-select, and switch
between, four different quality levels even
during the cutting process. (see Table).
NET, individual bevel types, with contours cut up
to five times, can be produced. The graphic user
interface is extremely helpful, especially where
different cutting and marking tools are combined.
The operator can see at a glance how Columbus
operates all tool combinations and automatically
generates the required traverse paths between
different tools. Operating errors are virtually ruled
out thanks to an ingenious plausibility check.
Columbus.NET also displays the entire program
structure in Columbus Explorer, arranged
optionally on one or two screens.
ESAB also announces an enhanced PDM
(production data management) system for use as
a data link between production and existing
planning systems. PDM connects existing
systems via interfaces, thus creating consistent
and current data transparency. Optimal integration
into production planning can be achieved by
connection to the COLUMBUS programming
system. For that purpose, control of the
workflows within the production process (control
station technology) has also been integrated into
the modular functionality of PDM. The PDM
system thus creates ideal conditions for reducing
operating costs, shortening cycle times and
increasing overall productivity. Instead of
impractical, cost-intensive local solutions, PDM
ensures that the whole production process
becomes transparent from planning through
production all the way to delivery.
SPECIAL SOFTWARE FOR AUTOMATIC
CUTTING PROCESSES
COLUMBUS.NET AND PDM FROM
ESAB
Product News Cutting
SAFESET is an ESAB contribution to easier
working, improved productivity and enhanced
operating safety. It is a new, complete range
of products for the central gas supply of
plasma cutting lines. The key components of
the modular-structured system are various
drawing stations in a space-saving panel
designed for wall mounting close to the
cutting machine. They are connected via a
loop system to the central store (single
cylinders, cylinder bundles or tanks), which is
located outside the working area. Precisely
attuned to each type of machine, the drawing
stations provide optimal gas pressure and
ease of operation right next to the
workstations.
SAFESET, A COMPLETE RANGE OF
PRODUCTS FOR CENTRAL PLASMA GAS
SUPPLY
QUATTROJET - THE INNOVATIVE
OXYFUEL TORCH
This monitoring system enhances the
safety of operators and workforce, the
environment and machinery - whilst
also improving the quality of automatic
cutting.
To ensure the correct distance between
the cutting nozzle and blank,
QUATTROJET features integrated
height sensing, thus eliminating the
need for an additional sensor system
installed separately on the torch.
Conventional systems such as spacer
rings wear out very quickly and thus
need regular replacement.
Other features of the compact, slim
QUATTROJET oxy fuel torch are an
internal ignition system protected
against dirt and damage, and a device
for rapid, tool-free nozzle changes.
ESAB has introduced QUATTROJET - a
completely new type of oxy fuel flame-cut-
ting system that makes this process even
more economical and paves the way for full
automation.
With automatic flame monitoring, the new
QUATTROJET oxy fuel torch recognises
any possible cutting break and
automatically stops the gas supply. So,
unlike traditional systems, the cutting
machine does not require permanent
monitoring by an operator, while fuel gas
and oxygen cannot escape unhindered.
The flame monitoring responds to any
faults in the cutting material or
disturbances to the cutting tool.
GL OBAL SOL UT I ONS F OR L OCA L CUS T OME RS EV ERYWHERE
It does not matter if our customers operate in
China, Germany, US, Brazil or Sweden. Wherever
in the world you buy ESAB products, these are
produced in accordance with the same global
EHS standards where occupational and product
health & safety always comes rst. Let us show
you what a well managed company can do for you!
Visit us at www.esab.com
Setting new
global standards
We have now gained OHSAS 18001
group certication from DNV. Our group
Environmental, Health & Safety Manage-
ment System was already IS14001 certi-
ed. This is believed to be the most com-
prehensive certication achieved by any
global company to date. It includes all
production operations, sales and central
functions within ESAB at 1 July 2007.
You will benet
wherever you are
b
o
x
i
n
f
o
r
m
a
t
i
o
n
.
c
o
m
ESAB AB
Box 8004 S-402 77 Gothenburg, Sweden
Tel. +46 31 50 90 00. Fax. +46 31 50 93 90
www.esab.com

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