Product category:
Automatic and robotic welding systems
News Release from: Carl Cloos Schweisstechnik | Subject: Robotic welding systems at Niesky
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 29 November 2007
60m robot system welds aluminium rolling
stock
Robotic welding systems on a 60m long overhead track are reducing fabrication costs and shortening construction times in building railway rolling stock, writes Walter Lutz.
Instead of using fixed portal welding equipment, WBN Waggonbau Niesky is using robotic systems mounted on a 60m long overhead track to weld its modern passenger railroad car assembly groups to reduce costs and significantly shorter construction times The system is one of the longest built by Carl Cloos Schweisstechnik, Haiger, Germany
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 14 Jan 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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The tradition of the small Saxon town of Niesky is railroad car construction.
At the beginning of the industrial revolution, prior to 1900 steam engines were already being built here.
In 1917 the production of rolling stock began with freight, post and passenger cars as well as trams (street cars).
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During the time of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) Niesky specialised in freight and bogies (trucks).
After the German reunification, the Waggonbau Niesky operation became part of the DWA Group and in the following years was sold to the Canadian Bombardier group.
Werner Weinhold, responsible for factory planning at Niesky, said: "But with our goods wagons we were the exotics in this group." So two years ago - after the entry of the Investors SEA and Mitarbeiter (employees) - the result was a new start for Niesky as an independent company.
Today 250 employees are working in a production area of over 36,000m2 and produce modern freight cars and passenger cars sub-assembly groups made from aluminium and steel for the European market.
"Our order books are well filled for the next few years," Weinhold enthused.
Several hundred cars are in the finely tuned production plan just for the German, Swiss and Austrian Railways.
In addition to this word has got around in this sector of industry about Niesky competence and flexibility, so that the company is also now working as suppliers for other freight car constructors.
* Flexibility - Weinhold and Klaus-Dieter Jeschke (in charge of welding at WBN) were looking for an efficient welding plant just for those orders, which demand a high degree of flexibility, in the production of up to 20m long aluminium freight car sub-assembly groups.
Weinhold said: "Since at other manufacturers portal plants have been successful, we also went looking with these requirements in mind." But when the offers arrived at Niesky, disillusionment spread.
Even the lowest bidder was a good 30% above Niesky's calculated budget.
Good advice didn't come cheap.
Weinhold said: "Furthermore the long delivery times and the expensive reconstruction measures in the existing production hall were not acceptable to us".
As an alternative, a robot welding plant was on offer with floor mounted unit.
But was that the cheaper solution? "Here we got into discussions with the experts of Cloos Schweisstechnik".
"In the shortest possible time they convinced us of a system, whereby the robot moves along a 60 meter long overhead mounted track unit," explained Jeschke.
"Since the customer orders were on our backs, within four weeks we had planned the project so much that we could make a decision and we gave Cloos the order".
* Overhead linear track unit quickly installed - what was very good for the people responsible at WBN: the overhead linear track could be installed during current production because it is only positioned on nine supports at the side in the large production hall.
Instead of an expensive machine bed in the floor of the hall only the supports, which carry the 60m track, had to be installed in the hall.
This dispensed with a quantity of expensive, cumbersome reconstruction measures and the associated interruptions to production.
"We could thus adhere to our delivery times to customers even during the reconstruction phase," said Weinhold.
"A further plus point for the Cloos solution is the better accessibility of the almost barrier-free plant.
It is easy to insert the aluminium parts for roof, floor and walls of the carriages into the large equipment below the robot track above".
A good half year after the decision, it was possible to put the new robotic installation into operation.
Weinhold reported: "The project ran smoothly hand in hand with us and Cloos." There was continuous flow of information between the Berlin branch of Cloos and the Saxon company, so that at all times at short notice any problems arising could be acted on.
"Even on this important point we did not always have good experience with other suppliers," complained Weinhold.
The decision to buy robotic and welding technology from one source has proved itself.
"All the components of the plant are very well matched with each other," said Jeschke.
* Eight axes get the welding torches everywhere - two ROMAT robots type 350 move longitudinally on a 60m overhead track and 2.5m across on one arm each.
Each robot has six internal and two external axes and reaches all necessary welding positions.
The 6-axis wide swing of the robot axes provides a spherical working area of 3500mm diameter.
Despite its slim and compact build, the ROMAT is designed very rigidly.
Its digitally controlled drive technology, the clearance-free 6-axis positioning and its precise measuring system enable accurate and rapid positioning, shortest travel times and high track precision even at high travel speeds.
The positional repeatability is below 0.1mm.
Integrated retaining brakes in the motor work according to the normally energised mode, and even with no electricity supply, prevent involuntary movement of the robotic arm.
On a separate truck the GLC 603 Quinto welding power source as well as the heated, large decoiling unit for the welding wire travel parallel per robot.
Two external coolers ensure safe cooling of the weld torches and the two CST lasers with which the online seam recognition and seam tracking is achieved.
The 6-axis robots use MIG welding on the aluminium extrusion press profiles with wall thicknesses between 3mm and 10mm under pure argon atmospheres with butt and fillet weld seams.
SAL 5183 quality 1.6mm welding wire is used, which is fed automatically to the robot from large 40kg spools via the Duo-Drive system.
Duo-Drive ensures a secure and slip-free wire feed.
By pre-heating the large spool unwinding equipment, the wire is automatically pre-heated and the formation of moisture is effectively excluded.
In order not to affect the air in the production hall, the plant has a high vacuum torch extractor.
"Currently assembly groups for two complete coach (passenger car) bodies per week are being welded on the equipment," said Jeschke.
In addition the plant is sub-divided into working sections of 2 x 21m and 1 x 17m.
Whilst welding is going on in two sections, the operator can insert new workpieces in the other places or remove finished parts.
Per part a good 200m weld seam length is produced.
* Control technology and operating station outside the robots - Cloos has set up the control cabinet with the robot controller ROTROL below the track to save space.
So it is not in the way when handling the aluminium parts of up to 20m long and 3m wide.
The multi-processor system reaches an extremely short interpolation cycle and guarantees a high track accuracy of the robot axes and of the externally connected equipment.
Sixteen digital servo regulators are at the ready.
The feed electronics are securely protected with protection type IP 54 and air conditioning against the effects of production.
In front of the robotic equipment there is a compact operating station as well as the teach pendant, via which individual welding programs can be selected at the push of a button.
It also informs the operator via the 8in touch screen monitor about the progress of the equipment's program.
"It gives us the necessary flexibility to react easily to the very different customers," summed up the Weinhold, who every day can be happy about the courageous decision taken to use the novel robotic equipment.
"After all, the production quality, the price and the reliability are right".
* About the author - Dipl-Ing Walter Lutz is a freelance journalist.
* Editor's note - accompanying illustrations on the disc supplied by Cloos show welding in progress of cantrail and floor assemblies for wagon (railroad freight car) and passemge cars.
Note, Europe talks about 'goods wagons' and 'goods trucks' (freight cars in the Americas) and 'passenger coaches' (passenger cars in the Americas).
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