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Arc welding equipment, manual and automatic
News Release from: Plasma Team | Subject: High current gas tungsten arc welding
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 02 February 2006
GTAW process has high penetration depth
An innovative high current gas tungsten arc welding technology for melt-in and keyhole mode combines the high quality and cleanliness of conventional GTAW with a higher depth of penetration.
An innovative high current gas tungsten arc welding technology for melt-in and keyhole mode has been produ ced in an EU Research Project The increased demands for improving quality and cost efficiency when welding thick-walled pipes and plates have set more requirements for conventional welding technology
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 25 Oct 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Increased wall thicknesses and quality requirements are achieved using only few welding processes.
The conventional gas-tungsten-arc (GTA or TIG) welding can produce good quality welds, but it has its weak point at small deposition rate and very low efficiency.
HiProTIG (High Productivity TIG) is based on a torch developed by CSIRO - Australia, which is able to work in the keyhole mode, like the high density beam processes, at a much lower costs.
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HiProTIG technology combines the high quality and cleanliness of conventional gas-tungsten-arc welding (GTAW) with a depth of penetration that is claimed to be unmatched by other conventional arc welding processes.
Benefits include simplified edge preparation, substantial reduction or elimination of filler material requirements, high productivity and the opportunity to operate in a safe, clean and almost fume-free environment.
The wide-ranging research innovations behind this technology include these fundamental developments: * A detailed understanding of the discharge characteristics of high current gas tungsten arcs.
* A welding torch developed by CSIRO specifically designed for generating stable and reproducible arc properties for currents up to 1,000A.
* A power source with up-to-date electronic technology developed by the Project Consortium, specifically designed for generating welding currents up to 1,000A, both at constant and pulse mode operation.
* A comprehensive theoretical treatment of the mechanics of weld pool behavior and control in keyhole GTAW, able to support the practical implementation of the process.
* An Interactive Process Technology Database which reduces the set-up times, drastically cutting down the welding trials and adjustments for the most common base materials and thickness.
The results of this innovative technique for structural welding at high current GTAW process, both in melt-in and keyhole variant will be presented by HiProTIG Consortium at the end of the project.
They can be summarised in the following notes: * High quality of GTAW process.
* Full penetration in keyhole mode.
* Square-edge preparations.
* Specially developed power sources.
* Minimum handling and consumables.
* Very robust operating characteristics.
* Reduced weld volume.
* Lower incidence of weld metal defects.
* Reduction of number of operators (welders).
* Higher arc efficiency.
A comparison between Conventional GTAW and HIPROTIG Keyhole GTAW: * Keyhole GTAW - 12mm AISI 304 pipe - closed square butt joint preparation - 50g/m filler addition - one pass at 300mm/min - 'arc-on' time: 3 min 20s/m.
* Conventional GTAW - 12mm AISI 304 pipe - single 'V' joint preparation - 1000g/m filler addition - seven passes at 200mm/min - 'arc-on' time: 35 min/m.
The HiProTIG Project is funded by the EC under the Sixth Framework Programme, Co-operative Research projects.
* About the author - Dr Mario Marconi is with Plasma Team.
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