Product category:
Fabrication Subcontracting Services
News Release from: Arc Energy Resources | Subject: Twin-wire system for weld overlay cladding
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 13 March 2006
Twin-wire weld overlay cladding system
developed
Subcontract weld cladding company's research and development team has developed a twin-wire system for weld overlay cladding - doubling deposition rate and reducing the HAZ.
Arc Energy's recently created R and D department has announced its first innovation with the development of a new twin-wire system for its weld overlay cladding (WOC) processes The twin-wire system introduces a second consumable wire into the welding process, immediately doubling the deposition rate
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 19 Aug 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Weld overlay and cladding flexibility increased
Arc Energy Resources, a specialist in corrosion and wear resistant weld overlay cladding, is completing a comprehensive equipment refit to increase flexibility and capacity by 25%.
Weld overlay reclaims mould turnover rings
Forged rings that carry moulds in two automatic rollover machines are being reclaimed using weld overlay cladding that matches the materials specification of the original rings.
It has also proved to enhance dilution figures, as the increase in wire acts as an additional heat sink within the weld pool, giving quicker solidification times and thus reducing the heat affected zone (HAZ).
Parameters are carefully controlled to ensure that good fusion is maintained while keeping the pool as small as possible.
Commenting for Arc Energy, quality assurance and welding Engineering manager Peter Minett said: "For companies specialising in WOC, reducing production time is an obvious advantage to customers.
Further reading
Successful fabrication subby seeks more engineers
Gloucestershire-based specialist in fabrication and weld overlay cladding, has doubled its turnover to almost GBP 2 million in just three years and is seeking more welding engineers.
Weld overlay cladding jobs completed in two weeks
Welding and fabrication specialist Arc Energy Resources recently completed two fast-track weld overlay cladding projects each one completed and delivered in under two weeks.
Needless to say, the biggest influence on cladding production time is the rate at which the material can be deposited." Putting quantities and deposition rates into perspective, Minett explained that a 2.8m long vessel with a diameter of 950mm being clad with a 4mm thickness of material, will take almost 300kg of alloy.
The conventional GTAW process would deposit the alloy at a rate of just over 1kg/h.
The new twin-wire system almost doubles this deposition rate, providing obvious savings in production time.
Having qualified the weld procedures in accordance with ASME IX, the twin-wire process has been successfully used to clad the total outer surface of a 72in diameter valve ball.
The fact that the twin-wire process is suitable for vertical and horizontal deposition also meant that the valve ball did not need to be moved continually to allow for its shape.
This contributed to the significant reduction in timescale as the surface could be clad in just two settings.
As with many applications in the oil and gas industry, delivery of the valve ball was critical.
Using the standard GTAW (gas tungsten arc welding) process to clad the valve ball would have taken up to four weeks to complete but, by using the new twin-wire process, Arc Energy was able to reduce this to just over two weeks.
Summing up, Minett says weld overlay cladding remains the most versatile form of heavy-duty metallic protection against corrosion, not only in oil and gas but in other industries that experience long term degradation of fluid carrying systems.
Now, with the development of the Arc Energy twin-wire system, it is also able to meet the demand for faster turn-round on vital pipeline equipment such as valves, fittings and associated components.
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