Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
April 2008
WELDING JOURNAL VOLUME 87 NUMBER 4 APRIL 2008
30 Features
30 Electrode Life: A Measure of System Performance in
Plasma Cutting
Departments
Washington Watchword ..........4
Press Time News ................6
Reasons for electrode erosion and ways to prevent
it are discussed Editorial ............................8
N. Hussary and T. Renault News of the Industry ............10
34 Pipeline Weld Discontinuities Too Small to Matter Brazing Q&A ......................20
The use of Engineering Critical Assessment on pipeline
welds can help reduce costs and delays in large pipe
Aluminum Q&A ..................22
construction projects New Products ....................24
K. Y. Lee
Coming Events....................48
36 Plasma Cutting Systems Combine Versatility with Efficiency Society News ....................53
The plasma process offers manufacturers multiple
options in metal fabrication Tech Topics ......................54
R. Madden Errata A5.22 ..................55
34
40 Friction Stir Welding of Thick-Walled Aluminum Pressure Guide to AWS Services..........73
Vessels
New Literature....................76
The challenges of friction stir welding circumferential
parts were met head on and resolved Personnel ........................80
E. Dalder et al.
American Welder
Behind the Mask ............94
The American Welder Learning Track................96
40
H. S. Song and Y. M. Zhang $120.00 per year in the United States and posses-
sions, $160 per year in foreign countries: $7.50
96-s Predicting Resistance Spot Weld Failure Modes in per single issue for domestic AWS members and
Shear Tension Tests of Advanced High-Strength $10.00 per single issue for nonmembers and
$14.00 single issue for international. American
Automotive Steels Welding Society is located at 550 NW LeJeune Rd.,
Experiments indicate that the mode of failure should not be the Miami, FL 33126-5671; telephone (305) 443-9353.
only judge of spot weld quality in advanced high-strength steels Periodicals postage paid in Miami, Fla., and addi-
D. J. Radakovic and M. Tumuluru tional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to Welding Journal, 550 NW LeJeune Rd.,
Miami, FL 33126-5671. Canada Post: Publications
106-s Characterization of Welding Fume from SMAW Mail Agreement #40612608 Canada Returns to be
Electrodes Part I sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542, Lon-
Fume particles and generation rates were characterized as don, ON N6C 6B2
a function of size for three different covered electrodes
Readers of Welding Journal may make copies of
J. W. Sowards et al. articles for personal, archival, educational or re-
search purposes, and which are not for sale or re-
On the cover: An apprentice at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, sale. Permission is granted to quote from articles,
Calgary, Canada, practices gas tungsten arc welding on stainless steel. (Photo provided customary acknowledgment of authors
courtesy of Miller Electric Mfg. Co., Appleton, Wis.) and sources is made. Starred (*) items excluded
from copyright.
WELDING JOURNAL 3
Washington Watchword April 2008:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:27 PM Page 4
4 APRIL 2008
CM INDUSTRIES:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:53 PM Page 5
PRESS TIME
NEWS
Publisher Andrew Cullison
AWS Names World Engineering Xchange as
International Auditor Editorial
Editor/Editorial Director Andrew Cullison
The American Welding Society (AWS), Miami, Fla., recently announced World En- Senior Editor Mary Ruth Johnsen
gineering Xchange, Ltd. (WEX), has been engaged as the Societys international audit- Associate Editor Howard M. Woodward
ing agency, effective immediately. Assistant Editor Kristin Campbell
WEX will be responsible for auditing AWS certification seminars and exams that Peer Review Coordinator Erin Adams
take place outside of the United States. Additionally, the company will assist AWSs in-
ternational certification agencies with the development of strategies to improve and Publisher Emeritus Jeff Weber
promote AWS interests within the international market.
Graphics and Production
We have enjoyed a successful relationship with WEX since it became our fulfill-
Managing Editor Zaida Chavez
ment partner for AWS codes, standards, and other publications, said Cassie Burrell,
Senior Production Coordinator Brenda Flores
AWS deputy executive director. WEXs focus on quality, dependable service, first-class
reputation, and knowledge of our industry make them particularly well suited to take an Advertising
additional role as AWSs international auditor. We look forward to working with WEX National Sales Director Rob Saltzstein
in all phases of its auditing activities as we continue to expand and enhance our interna- Advertising Sales Representative Lea Garrigan Badwy
tional certification base. Advertising Production Manager Frank Wilson
WEX will conduct ongoing quality control and technical compliance analyses of all
AWS international agencies. Also, it will help to maintain open communication streams Subscriptions
between AWS and its international agencies while ensuring that AWS best practices and acct@aws.org
procedures are followed.
American Welding Society
550 NW LeJeune Rd., Miami, FL 33126
Westinghouse Subsidiary Wins Machining and (305) 443-9353 or (800) 443-9353
Welding Services Contract
Westinghouse Electric Co. subsidiary WEC Welding and Machining has won a major Publications, Expositions, Marketing Committee
contract from CalEnergy, Calipatria, Calif., a large geothermal power producer, to com- D. L. Doench, Chair
plete the 2507 Superduplex Pipe Replacement Project. Its Carolina Energy Solutions Hobart Brothers Co.
(CES) will provide all machining and welding services for the assignment. T. A. Barry, Vice Chair
Specifically, CES will provide orbital welding of 2507 superduplex stainless steel uti- Miller Electric Mfg. Co.
J. D. Weber, Secretary
lizing 686CPT Inconel filler material for the replacement of the customers existing
American Welding Society
carbon steel pipeline. The 14,000-ft-long pipeline will require more than 600 welds. The
R. L. Arn, WELDtech International
project will last approximately four months. S. Bartholomew, ESAB Welding & Cutting Prod.
CES met the stringent weld properties established by CalEnergy for this project by J. Deckrow, Hypertherm
repetitively producing 100% flawless welds. J. Dillhoff, OKI Bering
J. R. Franklin, Sellstrom Mfg. Co.
Kobe Steel to Establish Welding Company in China J. Horvath, Thermadyne Industries
D. Levin, Airgas
Kobe Steel, Ltd., plans to establish a company to produce welding materials in Qing- J. Mueller, Thermadyne Industries
R. G. Pali, J. P. Nissen Co.
dao, Shangdong Province, China. It will make flux cored welding wire for welding car-
J. F. Saenger Jr., Consultant
bon steel used in shipbuilding. S. Smith, Weld-Aid Products
The joint venture, called Kobe Welding of Qingdao Co., Ltd., will be formed this D. Wilson, Wilson Industries
month. Production is scheduled to begin in April 2009. The plant will have a capacity of J. C. Bruskotter, Ex Off., Bruskotter Consulting Services
1000 metric tons per month. H. Castner, Ex Off., Edison Welding Institute
The new company will employ about 90 people and be capitalized at about $29 L. G. Kvidahl, Ex Off., Northrup Grumman Ship Systems
million. G. E. Lawson, Ex Off., ESAB Welding & Cutting Prod.
E. C. Lipphardt, Ex Off., Consultant
Alcoa Completes Modernization Project in Hungary S. Liu, Ex Off., Colorado School of Mines
C. Martin, Ex Off., Phoenix International
E. Norman, Ex Off., Southwest Area Career Center
Alcoa has completed a $83 million modernization investment project at Alcoa-Kfm, R. W. Shook, Ex Off., American Welding Society
its operations in Szkesfehrvr, Hungary. The project began in November 2005.
The core of the investment is the modernization of Alcoa European Mill Products,
involving expanding brazing sheet capability to offer a full range of gauges.
Copyright 2008 by American Welding Society in both printed and elec-
6 APRIL 2008
MILLER:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:58 PM Page 7
EDITORIAL
Founded in 1919 to Advance the Science,
Technology and Application of Welding
8 APRIL 2008
GEDIK:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:55 PM Page 9
NEWS OF THE
INDUSTRY
10 APRIL 2008
News of the Industry April 2008:Layout 1 3/6/08 10:55 AM Page 11
WELDING JOURNAL 11
News of the Industry April 2008:Layout 1 3/6/08 10:56 AM Page 12
12 APRIL 2008
News of the Industry April 2008:Layout 1 3/6/08 10:56 AM Page 13
WELDING JOURNAL 13
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For specifics on the nomination requirements, please contact Wendy Sue Reeve at
AWS headquarters in Miami, or simply follow the instructions on the Counselor
nomination form in this issue of the Welding Journal. The deadline for submission is
July 1, 2008. The committee looks forward to receiving these nominations for 2009
consideration.
Sincerely,
Alfred F. Fleury
Chair, Counselor Selection Committee
KOIKE:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:56 PM Page 19
BRAZING
BY R. L. PEASLEE
Q&A
Q: With the price of gold now above $900 for determining the degree of full diffu- less steels. It should also be pointed out
per troy ounce, we are looking for a less- sion of various clearances (gaps) is the ta- that BNi-6, which contains no chromium,
expensive brazing filler metal as a re- pered-joint-test specimen. This specimen has been used successfully to braze carbon
placement. We are testing BNi-7, and should be made of the base metal to be steels in 80F (26.8C) dew point exother-
would like to learn the physical properties used in the final brazed assembly so the mic atmosphere in continuous furnaces.
of this material: tensile strength, yield diffusion rate with desired brazing filler This is a brazing process that can be tai-
point, ductility, coefficient of expansion metal will represent the production lored to survive many engineering service
vs. temperature, etc. brazed assembly. requirements.
Two strips of metal, approximately For additional information on diffu-
A: The physical properties of the brazing 0.5 0.01 23 in. long (12.7 0.254 sion brazing, get a copy of the new and im-
filler metal prior to brazing are not rele- 50.876.2 mm), are assembled as follows. proved AWS Brazing Handbook, 5th edi-
vant since the brazing filler metal, as such, The two 0.5-in. (12.7-mm) surfaces are tion, revised by the AWS C3 Committee
is not the same material found in the joint placed side by side then tack welded at one on Brazing and Soldering. Chapter 17 dis-
after the diffusion brazing process. end with zero joint clearance, then the op- cusses diffusion brazing. One of the more
It should be remembered when brazing posite ends are tack welded together with interesting sections is on diffusion brazing
with pure-gold brazing filler metal that a clearance of 0.006 in. (0.162 mm) stan- of machined, press-fit BNi-7 joints brazed
gold is approximately twice as heavy as dard. Larger end-joint clearances may be at 1950F (1066C). A microphotograph
nickel, and therefore, twice as much gold used if additional investigation is desired. of the completed joints indicates that ap-
brazing filler metal, by weight, as nickel After brazing, the variable clearance proximately 50% of the joint is solid base
filler metal, will be needed to fill the same specimen is cut and polished for metallo- metal and the remaining small pools of
joint. graphic inspection. Normally, the zero- brazing filler metal are of a new composi-
To produce high-strength nickel- clearance joint end will be a single-phase tion of interdiffusion. This again shows
brazed joints, it is necessary to employ the amorphous structure. When moving along that the original physical properties of the
diffusion brazing process. This process re- the tapered specimen, the single-phase brazing filler metal are not usable.
quires holding the brazed assemblies at a amorphous structure will continue until It is important to require testing of the
suitably high brazing temperature, which the maximum full-diffusion (MBC) point new joint, to ensure that the brazing
allows interdiffusion of the base metal and is reached. This is the point at which the process variables are suitable for the in-
brazing filler metal to take place. With single-phase amorphous diffusion is com- tended service requirements.
BNi-7, I recommend 1950F (1066C) as plete, and above the center phase where An interesting paper on the subject is
the standard brazing and diffusion tem- some of the harder original brazing filler High-Temperature Brazing of Stainless
perature for 60 minutes at heat. metal starts to appear. Continuing farther Steels with Nickel-Base Filler Metals BNi-
The diffusion temperature can be de- up the wider clearance, more of the center 2, BNi-5, and BNi-7, published in the
creased or increased as desired. When the phase is apparent. Welding Journal, June 1983, p. 164-s. Its
brazing temperature is decreased, the To increase the clearance at the MBC authors, Erich Lugscheider and K-D
time held at the brazing/diffusion temper- point, it will be necessary to revise the Partz, University of Aachen, Germany,
ature must be increased to produce the brazing cycle to allow for more diffusion made good use of the tapered-joint test
same results. When the brazing tempera- time. specimen to obtain diffusion brazing data.
ture is increased, the time held at the braz- Is diffusion brazing always a require- Any comments and suggestions will be
ing/diffusion temperature can be de- ment? It is definitely not necessary in appreciated.
creased to produce the same results. many cases, and some Japanese brazing
With normal machining and fabricat- shops have demonstrated this over and
ing processes, the joint clearance (gap) over again while using vacuum and con- R. L. PEASLEE is vice president emeritus, Wall
can vary considerably. A very useful tool tinuous belt furnaces that can braze stain- Colmonoy Corp., Madison Heights, Mich.
Readers may send questions to Mr. Peaslee
c/o Welding Journal, 550 NW LeJeune
Rd., Miami, FL 33126 or via e-mail to
bobpeaslee@wallcolmonoy.com.
DO YOUR OWN TESTING
20 APRIL 2008
THERMADYNE:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 2:00 PM Page 21
ALUMINUM
BY TONY ANDERSON
Q&A
Q: I have heard the terms an- son that an anodized part can take
odized and hardcoat anodized on color in the dyeing process).
used to describe the surface condi- The film thickness can range
tion on aluminum. What exactly is from under five microns on bright
this type of coating, and can you decorative work up to 150 microns
weld aluminum when it has this for architectural applications.
type of coating on it?
Different Types of Anodizing
A: An oxide film can be grown on
certain metals such as aluminum, Type I Chromic Acid Anodizing
niobium, tantalum, titanium, tung-
sten, and zirconium by an electro- The oldest anodizing process
chemical process called anodizing. uses chromic acid. It is widely
For each of these metals there are known as Type I because it is so des-
process conditions that promote ignated by the MIL-A-8625 stan-
growth of a thin, dense barrier oxide dard, but it is also covered by AMS
of uniform thickness. The thickness 2470 and MIL-A-8625 Type IB.
of this layer and its properties vary Chromic acid produces thinner
greatly depending on the metal. Fig. 1 Anodized aluminum rings being removed from a (0.00002 to 0.0007 in. or 0.5 to 18
Aluminum is unique among these processing tank. Photograph courtesy of the Aluminum microns), more opaque films that
metals in that, in addition to the thin Anodizing Council (AAC). are softer, ductile, and to a degree
barrier oxide, anodizing aluminum self-healing. They are harder to dye
alloys in certain acidic electrolytes and may be applied as a pretreat-
produces a thick oxide coating, con- ment before painting. The method
taining a high density of microscopic anodization: Type I (Chromic Acid An- of film formation is different from
pores. This coating has diverse and im- odization), Type II (Sulfuric Acid An- using sulfuric acid in that the voltage is
portant applications including architec- odization), and Type III (Sulfuric Acid ramped up through the process cycle.
tural finishes and prevention of corrosion. Hardcoat Anodization).
When exposed to the atmosphere, alu- Type II Sulfuric Acid Anodizing
minum naturally forms a passive oxide How Is It Performed?
layer that provides moderate protection Sulfuric acid is the most widely used
against corrosion. In its pure form alu- Before anodizing, wrought aluminum solution to produce anodized coatings.
minum self-passivates very effectively; is cleaned in either a hot soak cleaner or Coatings of moderate thickness (0.00007
however, aluminum that is alloyed with in a solvent bath and may be etched in to 0.001 in. or 1.8 to 25 microns) are
other elements is more prone to atmos- sodium hydroxide (normally with added known as Type II.
pheric corrosion and can therefore bene- sodium gluconate), ammonium bifluo- Standards for thin sulfuric acid anodiz-
fit from the protective quality of anodiz- ride, or brightened in a mix of acids. In ing are given by MIL-A-8625 Types II and
ing. Aluminum alloy parts are anodized aluminum anodization, this aluminum IIB, AMS 2471 (undyed), and AMS 2472
to increase the thickness of the oxide layer oxide layer is made thicker by passing a (dyed).
in order to improve corrosion resistance, direct current through an acid solution,
improve abrasion resistance, and/or allow with the aluminum object serving as the Type III Hardcoat Anodizing
for dyeing of colors Fig. 1. anode (the positive electrode).
The current releases hydrogen at the Also produced by using sulfuric acid
What Is Anodizing? cathode (the negative electrode) and oxy- anodizing, these coatings are thicker than
gen at the surface of the aluminum anode, 0.001 in. and are known as Type III, hard-
Anodizing is a process that produces creating a buildup of aluminum oxide. An- coat, or engineered anodizing. Thick coat-
an oxide film or coating on metals and al- odizing at 12 V DC, a piece of aluminum ings require more process control and are
loys by electrolysis. The metal to be with an area of one square decimeter produced in a refrigerated tank near the
treated is made the anode in an elec- (about 15.5 in.2) can consume roughly 1 freezing point of water with higher volt-
trolytic cell, and its surface is electro- A of current. In commercial applications, ages than the thinner coatings. Hardcoat
chemically oxidized. Anodization can im- the voltage used is more normally in the anodizing can be made between 25 and
prove certain surface properties, such as region of 15 to 21 V. 150 microns or 0.001 to 0.006 in. thick.
corrosion resistance, abrasion resistance, Conditions such as acid concentration, The increased anodizing thickness in-
hardness, and appearance. The most com- solution temperature, and current must creases wear resistance, corrosion resist-
mon material anodized is aluminum. All be controlled to allow the formation of a ance, ability to retain lubricants, and elec-
of the above properties are improved consistent oxide layer, which can be many trical and thermal insulation. Standards
when aluminum is anodized. Further- times thicker than would otherwise be for thick sulfuric acid anodizing are given
more, since the surface film is porous after formed. This oxide layer increases both by MIL-A-8625 Type III, AMS 2469, and
anodizing, the aluminum metal can be the hardness and the corrosion resistance the obsolete AMS 2468.
easily colored by the application of pig- of the aluminum surface. The oxide forms
ments or dyes into the pores. The most as microscopic hexagonal pipe crystals Sealing
widely used anodizing specification, MIL- of amorphous alumina, each having a cen-
A-8625, defines three types of aluminum tral hexagonal pore (which is also the rea- Chromic acid and sulfuric acid
22 APRIL 2008
Aluminum Q and A April 2008:Layout 1 3/6/08 11:26 AM Page 23
processes such as Types I, II, and III pro- ing an arc and would typically produce a color match after anodizing, particularly
duce pores in the anodized coat. These weld of very poor quality containing nu- on the 6xxx series base alloys.
pores can absorb dyes and retain lubri- merous discontinuities. For these reasons,
cants, but are an avenue for corrosion. it is not recommended to weld on alu- References
When lubrication properties are not criti- minum that has been anodized without
cal, these pores are usually sealed after first removing the anodized surface in the I would like to thank the Aluminum
dyeing. Long immersion in boiling-hot area to be welded. The AWS D1.2, Struc- Anodizing Council (AAC) for providing
deionized water is the simplest sealing tural Welding Code Aluminum, stipu- me information for this article and
process, although it is not completely ef- lates in the fabrication section, under strongly recommend that anyone requir-
fective and reduces abrasion resistance by preparation of base metals, that all sur- ing further information about the metal
20%. Teflon, nickel acetate, cobalt ac- faces to be welded shall be free from thick finishing process of aluminum anodizing
etate, and hot sodium or potassium aluminum oxide. Consequently, if alu- and its many inherent performance qual-
dichromate seals are common. MIL-A- minum that has been anodized is to be ities, including corrosion resistance and
8625 requires sealing for thin coatings welded, the anodized surfaces in the area decorative options for coloring aluminum,
(Types I and II) and allows it as an option to be welded must be removed before contact the AAC at www.anodizing.org or
for thick ones (Type III). welding. Removal can be performed by (847) 526-2010.
mechanical means such as grinding.
Welding on Anodized Aluminum One other area of concern relating to
TONY ANDERSON is corporate technical
the anodizing process is the effect of an-
odizing on material that has already been training manager for ESAB North America and
Anodized coatings have a much lower
thermal conductivity and coefficient of welded. The weld area will always be visi- coordinates specialized training in aluminum
linear expansion than aluminum. As a re- ble, having at least a slightly different ap- welding technology for AlcoTec Wire Corpora-
sult, they have a tendency to crack when pearance than the adjacent aluminum. tion. He is a Senior Member of TWI and a Reg-
exposed to temperatures above 80C Because the anodic oxide layer is translu- istered Chartered Engineer. He is chairman of
(176F), although they do not peel. The cent, the differing substrates will be visi-
ble and may in fact be accentuated. If you the Aluminum Association Technical Advisory
melting point of an anodized coating is
2050C (3722F), and the melting point of want the best color match after postweld Committee for Welding and holds numerous po-
pure aluminum is 658C (1216F). The an- anodizing, 4043 is not a good choice of sitions including chairman, vice chairman, and
odized coating on the surface of aluminum filler metal because it will typically turn member of various AWS technical committees.
acts as an electrical insulator. If we did dark gray in color after the anodizing Questions may be sent to Mr. Anderson c/o Weld-
manage to break through the anodized process, and the weld will become very vis-
ing Journal, 550 NW LeJeune Rd., Miami, FL
surface and attempt to arc weld, we would ible in contrast to the base alloy. The 5356
expect to have many problems in stabiliz- filler metal will provide a much closer 33126, or via e-mail at tanderson@esab.com.
WELDING JOURNAL 23
NP April 2008:Layout 1 3/6/08 8:58 AM Page 24
NEW
PRODUCTS
Stainless Steel Plate
Plasma Cutting Systems Come in Three Models
Exhibits Low Hardening
Pro-Cut plasma cut- Characteristic
ting systems include the
patented Vortech tech- 410S (UNS S41008) is a restricted car-
nology torch, which con- bon, nonhardening modification of 410
centrates the arc to deliver (UNS S41000), the general-purpose 12%
efficient performance and chromium stainless steel. The low hard-
long life. Also, the Parts- ening characteristic helps prevent crack-
in-Place torch safety fea- ing when the alloy is exposed to high tem-
tures prevent the torch peratures or in the as-welded condition.
from operating when sens- The addition of this product will allow the
ing parts are not in proper company to better service the petroleum
position. The Pro-Cut 25 is refining and petrochemical processing,
useful for hobby, farm, mining, and thermal treatment industries
HVAC, auto body shop, or and infrastructure applications. It is
sheet metal fabrication. stocked in plate thicknesses from 316
This machine weighs 29.5 through 3 in.
lb and generates 25 A of
cutting current, capable of Sandmeyer Steel Co.
cutting electrically conduc- www.sandmeyersteel.com
tive materials up to 38 in. (800) 523-3663
thick. Packed with
patented features, the Pro- Filter for Plasma Cutting
Cut 55 is for industrial
plasma cutting for HVAC,
Removes Oil, Silicone
sheet metal, and light plate Vapor
fabrication metalworking
applications. Generating
60 A of current, capable of
cutting conductive materi-
als up to 34 in. thick, the
dual winding technology delivers easy starts, lower dross levels, and quick arc trans-
fer rates for fast restrikes, even on expanded metal. It weighs 55 lb. In addition, the
95-lb Pro-Cut 80 exhibits maximum cutting ability with a full 85 A, slicing through
metal up to 114 in. thick. Using six patented technologies, the unit is good for main-
tenance, fabrication, or other applications that require cutting of thicker metals.
24 APRIL 2008
NP April 2008:Layout 1 3/7/08 12:10 PM Page 25
Consumables Kit
Facilitates Four Types of
Plasma Cutting
tough metal-removal jobs; and FineCut timization for a range of applications, in-
consumables for more precise cuts on thin- cluding spot welding, machine tool tend-
ner plate. A reference guide explaining ing, cutting, injection molding, and core
how to get good cut quality and consum- handling. The compactness and agility of
able life when cutting with a hand-held the 6-axis product make it possible to
torch is included with every kit. mount the robot in four positions floor,
tilted, inverted, or shelf. The robot weighs
Hypertherm, Inc. 900 kg. It can handle payloads up to 150
www.hypertherm.com kg with a reach of 2.2 m, and can work with
(800) 643-0030 heavy and large parts.
$! $'!"!#$!#"&(!%
Tregaskiss
www.tregaskiss.com
(877) 737-3111
WELDING JOURNAL 27
NP April 2008:Layout 1 3/7/08 12:11 PM Page 28
Aquasol Corp.
www.aquasolwelding.com
(800) 564-9353
Hyster Co.
www.hysteramericas.com
(800) 497-8371
'PVS5JNFT'BTUFS5XJDFBT1SFDJTF
28 APRIL 2008
HODGSON:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:56 PM Page 29
Electrode Life:
A Measure of System
Performance in Plasma Cutting
Provided are descriptions for assorted electrode wear mechanisms
NAKHLEH HUSSARY, PhD, and THIERRY RENAULT, PhD, are principal arc process engineers at Thermal Dynamics, a brand of
Thermadyne, St. Louis, Mo.
30 APRIL 2008
Hussary and Renault Feature April 2008:Layout 1 3/5/08 4:38 PM Page 31
A B
Fig. 3 A 100-A tungsten electrode with 1000 starts, 11-s arc on-time, in nitrogen plasma. Tungsten wear depth is 0.008 in. (0.2 mm).
B 100-A hafnium electrode with 1000 starts, 11-s arc on-time, in oxygen plasma (arc ignition in air). Hafnium wear depth is 0.024 in. (0.6
mm).
WELDING JOURNAL 31
Hussary and Renault Feature April 2008:Layout 1 3/5/08 4:39 PM Page 32
32 APRIL 2008
MAGNATECH:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:57 PM Page 33
Pipeline Weld
Discontinuities
Too Small to Matter
BY KENNETH Y. LEE
growing demand for gas and oil has energy firms search-
KENNETH Y. LEE is pipeline welding engineer, The Lincoln Electric Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
34 APRIL 2008
Lee 4 08:Layout 1 3/5/08 10:22 AM Page 35
WELDING JOURNAL 35
Madden Feature for April 2008:Layout 1 3/5/08 4:48 PM Page 36
Plasma Cutting
Systems Combine
Versatility with
Efficiency
BY REESE MADDEN
Many people know that a plasma sys- definitely cuts quicker, cleaner, and allows
tem can cut, but far fewer know that it can us to do more.
gouge, or that plasma can cut any type of
electrically conductive metal, that it can be The Measures of Versatility
used on a track system, or that it can be used
to efficiently cut metal up to 112 in. thick. Plasma versatility can be measured in
Their ability to quickly But, in fact, plasma can do all this and more,
and this versatility helps make plasma a
many ways.
36 APRIL 2008
Madden Feature for April 2008:Layout 1 3/5/08 4:48 PM Page 37
A construction worker uses plasma cutting at a job site. A shipyard employee in North Kingstown, R.I., uses plasma cut-
ting on a track system.
heating before cutting or piercing, plasma Plasmas effectiveness on painted, rusted, trically conductive metal, plasma can also
is particularly productive because it re- or dirty metals is also attractive to these efficiently cut many material forms: plate,
quires no preheating of the workpiece. and other users. rod, pipe, beam, and even grating with
The ability to cut multiple metal types no preheating required.
Material Types is a frequently cited reason why plasma Air plasma is an effective tool for cut-
owners make their initial plasma purchase. ting thicknesses from gauge to 112 in. Judg-
One of plasmas biggest advantages Whether owning a plasma system enables ing a plasma systems true capacity is not
over other thermal cutting processes is them to avoid wasting time and money sub- always easy given the lack of consistency
that it can be used on any electrically con- contracting out certain parts of a project, among various manufacturers in how they
ductive metal, including mild steel, stain- or whether it simply enables them to avoid rate their systems. There is, however, a
less steel, aluminum, galvanized steel, wasting time switching from one tool to an- common relationship between cut speed,
copper, cast iron, and others. This capa- other, plasmas material type versatility is a cut quality, and cut capacity: there is an
bility is especially attractive to users who clear productivity enhancer. optimal speed for achieving the desired
may encounter many different types of cut quality on a given metal thickness. In
metals, including farmers, scrapyards, Material Forms and Thicknesses many cases, the speed advantage of
metal fabricators/job shops, facility main- plasma over other cutting methods, such
tenance professionals, and others. In addition to cutting any type of elec- as oxyfuel cutting, is dramatic. Oxyfuel
Application versatility
High productivity
Cost-effective operation
WELDING JOURNAL 37
Madden Feature for April 2008:Layout 1 3/5/08 4:49 PM Page 38
cutting is, however, generally regarded as ond technology makes it possible for the
the superior method for cutting materials system to extract the maximum amount of
more than 112 in. thick. power from any given line.
The versatility of plasma also makes With Auto-Voltage, operators can
the job easier for American Fire Training start a job in their shop, plugged into their
Systems because workers can use the same regular power source, and finish it in the
plasma cutting machine for just about any- field, hooked up to a completely different
thing theyre cutting. power source. Up until about seven years
We use our Powermax1000s to cut ago, this wasnt possible. People moving
through different types of steel and alu- from site to site had to either make sure
minum whether painted, unpainted, or the same voltage levels were available at
rusted, Steffek said. And were able to all of their locations, or go through the
cut through a wide range of sizes from time-consuming process of manually
1
2-in.-thick tube, to 316-in.-thick quarter- rewiring their system to match the avail-
ton steel to thin 14-gauge sheets. able voltage.
Boost Conditioner technology en-
Location ables better, more consistent performance
regardless of fluctuations in input voltage.
This is especially beneficial for operators
At a macro level, plasma can be used in areas with unreliable or low line power.
in any number of locations, indoors and The technology also compensates for
out, from a garage to a shop, and from a weak or varying voltage on motor-
factory to a job site. A plasma cutting and generators, providing improved perform-
gouging system can be used almost any- ance for users in the field.
where that a process gas (compressed air Since this technology is fairly new, not
or sometimes nitrogen) and energy source all systems have it. Therefore, if your par-
are available. When hooked to a portable ticular situation requires lots of moving
motor-generator and a portable compres- around, you may want to check with your
sor or gas cylinder, a plasma system is truly distributor to find a plasma cutting ma-
mobile, making it appropriate for use in chine with these features.
the field, on a construction site, and in
many other locations. Unlike oxyfuel cut- Applications
ting, which requires a flammable process
gas such as acetylene, propylene, or
propane, plasma systems may even be With a simple change of the torch
used in some more highly regulated envi- and/or consumables, a plasma system can
ronments where flammable gases arent switch between manual and automated
permitted. cutting or gouging. With a straight ma-
American Fire Training Systems cited chine torch, a plasma system can easily be
this ability to easily move from location connected to an X-Y cutting table. Plasma
to location as another reason why it de- systems can also be used on robotic arms
pends on plasma. or, more commonly, with a track system
Some of our structures are huge and for effective long, straight cuts. Many
there is no way we can completely cut and plasma systems are used in conjunction
assemble them in one spot, Steffek said. with pipe bevellers or with hole-cutting
We do as much as we can at our plant, tools. Plasma systems can also be used
but a lot of time the final cutting and as- with metal templates or guides for effi-
sembly has to take place at a job site. Our cient replication of cuts.
work would definitely be a lot harder with-
out plasma. Conclusion
Certain plasma systems, especially
those utilizing inverter technology, are
even more portable, and can be easily car- Plasma systems are highly versatile,
ried up a ladder, taken on board a ship, highly productive cutting and gouging
or used in other tight quarters, and can tools. The plasma processs ability to per-
easily be moved from point to point, form various processes and applications,
whether in a facility or in the field. Recent to operate in various locations, and to
engineering developments also contribute work on various metal types, forms, and
to the versatility of plasma. thicknesses gives it distinct advantages
The incorporation of Auto-Voltage over competitive cutting technologies. If
and Boost Conditioner technologies you already own a plasma system, chances
into our Powermax brand of plasma sys- are you can derive greater value out of
tems really gives users much greater flex- your investment simply by expanding your
ibility, said Dennis Borowy, a principal usage occasions. And if you do not yet own
engineer at Hypertherm. The first-men- a plasma system, you may find that you
tioned technology allows people to use a can get more done, in less time, at lower
wide variety of input voltages with no cost by investing in this powerfully versa-
manual linking of any kind, while the sec- tile tool.
For info go to www.aws.org/ad-index
38 APRIL 2008
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fects, improved fatigue resistance over welding methods, should joining of thick
fusion-welded joints, good corrosion re- (3.81 cm.) Al alloy forgings in the config-
Process parameters sistance, and less distortion than for fu- uration shown in Fig. 1 prove difficult. The
E. DALDER, J. W. PASTRNAK, and E. KOKKO are with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif. J. ENGEL, R. S.
FORREST, K. MCTERNAN, and D. WALDRON are with Advanced Joining Technologies, Inc., Santa Ana, Calif.
40 APRIL 2008
Dalder 4 08:Layout 1 3/5/08 10:06 AM Page 41
WELDING JOURNAL 41
Dalder 4 08:Layout 1 3/5/08 10:07 AM Page 42
Fig. 3 Tensile and elastic-plastic properties of friction stir welds as Fig. 4 Properties of friction stir welds in 2219 aluminum in as-
a function of welding speed in 2219 aluminum. Welds were solution welded condition as a function of welding speed.
treated, quenched, and artificially aged to the -T62 condition.
Tensile properties of friction stir welds responding joint efficiencies ranged from tested were several 0.5T fracture tougness
made in the annealed (-O) condition, fol- about 93% at a welding speed of 4 cm/min samples removed from drop-offs from one
lowed by the previously described heat to about 80.8% at a welding speed of 15 of the forgings. All fracture-toughness
treatment, which rendered the weld in the cm/min. samples were heat treated to the fully aged
fully aged (-T62) condition, are presented After review of the weld process devel- (-T62) condition before machining of the
in Fig. 4 as functions of welding speed. opment and tensile test results, LLNL and notch and precracking.
The ductility, expressed in terms of the AJT selected a set of weld process param- Testing was done at room temperature
total elongation in a 5-cm gauge length, eters that yielded the following mean ten- per Ref. 6, and the data analyzed to de-
varied between 0.5% at lower welding sile properties when using a welding speed termine both ductile fracture toughness
speeds (5 to 7.5 cm/min) to as high as 6.6% of 5.75 cm/min: ultimate tensile strength, (Jic) and linear-elastic (Kic) values per
at a maximum welding speed of 15 370 MPa; 0.2% offset yield strength, 293 Ref. 6. All samples yielded valid Jic val-
cm/min. The 0.2% offset yield strength MPa; and total elongation, 5.2%. These ues that ranged from 21.36 kJ/M^M to
values ranged from about 293 to about 267 strength values corresponded to a joint ef- 37.73 kJ/M^M. Kjc results, converted
MPa as the welding speed increased from ficiency of 92.5%, based on minimum ul- from the Jic values by the method de-
4 to 15 cm/min. timate tensile strength of the base metal, scribed in Ref. 8, for the forgings and fric-
Ultimate tensile strength values var- and a joint efficiency of 106%, based on tion stir welds, are compared with pub-
ied widely at lower welding speeds (from the minimum yield strength of the base lished values from friction stir welded Al
4 to 6 cm/min), with values ranging from metal. alloys (Ref. 9) in Fig. 5, in the form of a
280 to about 371 MPa. At a welding speed plot of Kjc vs. 0.2% offset yield strength.
of 7.5 cm/min, the ultimate tensile Ductile Fracture Toughness Note that the individual values for the
strength went through a minimum of heat-treated friction stir welded 2219 Al
about 259 MPa. At higher welding speeds Compact tension samples (0.5 T, Ref. alloy mostly are above the least-squares
(10 to 15 cm/min), the ultimate tensile 6) were removed from the top, center, and trend line for the other Al alloys, indicat-
strength values decreased with increas- bottom thirds of welds made with the op- ing the good fracture resistance of the
ing welding speed from about 354 to 323 timized process parameters. The notch heat-treated 2219 friction-stir welds. No
MPa. As before, using the base metal min- and precrack were located along the weld- consistent difference was seen in the Kjc
imum yield strength value of 276 MPa, axis and running from the face to the root results for friction stir welds with the crack
the joint efficiencies for the postweld of the weld (so-called TL orientation) per oriented in the TL vs. LT orientation. The
heat-treated friction stir welds ranged Ref. 7, or with the notch and precrack lo- fracture toughness values of the heat-
from 97 to 106%. In a similar manner, i.e., cated normal to the weld axis and running treated 2219 forging samples fell some-
using the base metal minimum ultimate from the face toward the root of the weld what below the least-squares trend line
tensile strength value of 400 MPa, the cor- (so-called LT orientation per Ref. 7). Also for the other alloys.
42 APRIL 2008
Dalder 4 08:Layout 1 3/5/08 10:08 AM Page 43
Fig. 5 Correlation between fracture toughness and 0.2% yield Fig. 6 Macrostructure of various friction stir welds in 2219 alu-
strength for friction stir welded aluminum alloys. minum plate.
Macrostructure and B). The same grain growth phenomenon ing was completed, the clamping mecha-
Microstructure of Friction Stir occurred in the self-reacting tool (SRT) nism was disassembled. The tack weld
Welded 2219 Aluminum Alloy welds and in the single-sided welds. Ini- supported the full weight of the free
tial SRT weld tensile specimens failed by half-vessel.
Plates welded in the annealed condi- the same transgranular mechanism. Later
tion had abnormal grain growth in the SRT weld tensile specimens displayed in-
FSW nugget due to weld-induced solution creasing amounts of a microvoid coales- Vessel Self-Reacting Tool
heat treatment Fig. 6. The large grain cence failure mode due to improved weld- Friction Stir Welding
growth in the nugget resulted in decreased ing parameters and tool geometry.
ductility and transgranular fracture. The Once a set of weld parameters was Vessel B was the first to be welded.
large grains in the nugget cause a slight found that yielded acceptable tensile test With the clamping mechanism disassem-
decrease in ultimate tensile strength. results to both LLNL and AJT, two welded bled, a through-hole was drilled at a slight
Plates welded in the -T62 condition had panels were made with these SRT weld angle toward the retreating side of the
much greater elongation than those de- parameters. weld. This was done to compensate for de-
scribed above. However, the welding- One of these welds was cut into two flection seen in the tack welding and in
induced heating caused significant de- pieces, and these pieces were used as con- the circumferential demonstration plates.
creases in both yield strength and ultimate trol samples for vessel heat treatment. Since the joint was within the pin diame-
tensile strength due to precipitate coars- Tensile and ductile fracture toughness ter path and was favoring the retreating
ening in the heat-affected and thermome- samples were removed from these heat- side of the weld, the alignment was ac-
chanically affected zones. Tensile speci- treatment witness plates, and tested as de- ceptable. The self-reacting tool was as-
mens displayed microvoid coalescence scribed above. The results are presented sembled on the outside of the part. The
fractures in the heat-affected zone, with in Figs. 4 and 5. pin was fed through the drilled hole and
less than 75% joint efficiencies based on the lower shoulder was attached. The en-
tensile yield strength. tire clamping mechanism was reassem-
Microstructures of heat-treated welds Welding of the Vessels bled and the circumferential weld was
are shown in Fig. 7. Note the swirled struc- made.
ture in the weld-region (Fig. 7, feature A), Tack Welding Vessel A was prepared in the same
as well as the large grains growing across manner as vessel B. The hole was drilled
the weld region. Contrast the coarse- The vessel halves were tack welded to- favoring the retreating side of the weld.
grained weld region (Fig. 7, features A gether using a single-sided friction stir Again the machine saw minimal deflec-
and C) with the fine-grained thermome- welding tool. The tool created a tack weld tion. Both inside and outside weld sur-
chanically affected zone (Fig. 7, feature that was 1.02 cm deep. Once tack weld- faces were satisfactory.
WELDING JOURNAL 43
Dalder 4 08:Layout 1 3/5/08 10:08 AM Page 44
Fig. 7 Microstructures in friction stir welds in 2219 aluminum plate. Fig. 8 Phased-array ultrasonic examination of a friction stir
weld.
Vessel Friction Plug Welding liptical flaw, 0.25 cm deep by 0.635 cm Acknowledgments
long, was located close to the external or
Both vessels were welded using the tension surface of the vessel. Tensile We gratefully acknowledge the efforts
friction plug welding process developed stresses close to the yield strength of the of C. Henning (design of the vessel), J. R.
on flat plate. Friction plug weld tooling weld, or about 276 MPa, were obtained Hollaway (drafting support), and W.
and the inertial welding machine per- from stress analyses performed during de- Grundler, V. Switzer, and J. Rickard
formed as expected. Ultrasonic inspection sign of the vessel. The minimum linear- (technical assistance).
of the friction plug welds revealed minor elastic fracture toughness, converted in
indications, most of which were within the usual manner (Ref. 8) from the elas- References
0.64 cm of the face surfaces of the welds. tic-plastic fracture toughness values for
These indications were removed by sub- 1. Threadgill, P. 1999. Friction Stir Welding
2219 friction stir welds (Fig. 6) was used.
sequent finish machining of both vessels. The State of the Art, Report 678/1999, The
The results indicate that at stresses of 276 Welding Institute.
Nondestructive examination of the
friction stir welds and the friction plug MPa, the calculated stress intensity for the 2. Dawes, C., and Thomas, W. 1996. Fric-
welds was performed using a combination assumed flaw is about half that expected tion stir process welds aluminum alloys. Weld-
of straight-beam ultrasonic examination for an aluminum alloy with a yield strength ing Journal 75(3): 4145.
and phased-array ultrasonic examination of 276 MPa. Additional fracture mechan- 3. Pastrnak, J. 2001. Unpublished data,
(Fig. 8, Ref. 10). ics analyses, for both static and fatigue Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Ultrasonic inspection performed on the loading, will be carried out once the re- 4. Standard Specification for Aluminum and
circumferential weld on vessel B revealed sults of fatigue crack growth testing of the Aluminum Alloy Die Forgings, Hand Forgings,
a small continuous channel defect located 2219 friction stir welds is completed. and Rolled Ring Forgings, 2002, ASTM B 247-
in the bottom half of the weld. It is likely 02, American Society for Testing and Materi-
that the defect was due to the compound als.
curvature of the spherical vessel. The cir- Conclusions 5. Standard Test Methods for Tension Testing
cumferential weld had been made using of Metallic Materials, 1997, ASTM E 8-96,
process parameters that were based on re- 1. Bobbin tool friction stir welding pro- American Society for Testing and Materials.
sults obtained with the same weld param- duced satisfactory joints in 3.8-cm-thick 6. Standard Test Method for Measurement of
eters used in flat plate and cylindrical plate 2219 aluminum alloy. Fracture Toughness, 1997, ASTM E1820-96,
welding. Repairs were accomplished by 2. Friction plug welding produced sat- American Society for Testing and Materials.
rewelding the vessel with increased pres- isfactory closeout welds in the circumfer- 7. Standard Test Method for Plane-Strain
sure and increased travel speed to elimi- ential welds. Fracture Toughness of Metallic Materials, 1991,
nate the channel defect. The vessel was 3. Postweld solution treatment, ASTM E 399-90, American Society for Testing
rewelded using the procedure described quenching, and artificial aging were nec- and Materials.
above. Ultrasonic inspection revealed only essary to restore the welds to near base 8. Rolfe, S., and Barsom, J. 1987. Fracture
minor indications (less than 0.14 cm2 by metal strength, ductility, and toughness. and Fatigue Control in Structures, Second Edi-
0.635 cm long) in the start and overlap 4. A combination of straight-beam and tion, Prentice-Hall, p. 548.
areas of this weld. Phased-array ultrasonic phased-array ultrasonic examination 9. Dawes, C., Kargee, S., and Przydatek, J.
examination of the circumferential weld found a few defects of about 0.14 cm2 by 2000. Fracture Toughness of Friction Stir Welds
in vessel A revealed no indications. 0.64 cm in length in the welds. in 2014A, 7075, and 5083 Aluminium Alloys.
5. Satisfactory repair welds were made Report 705/2000, The Welding Institute.
Preliminary Fracture Analysis by friction stir welding over the defective 10. Lamarre, A., and Moles, M. 2000. Ul-
region in the original weld. trasound phased array inspection technology
Some preliminary static fracture me- 6. Preliminary fracture mechanics for evaluation of friction stir welds. Proceed-
chanics analyses have been performed. It analyses indicated that the welds are fit ings of the Second International Conference on
was assumed that an undetected semiel- for the intended service. Friction Stir Welding. The Welding Institute.
44 APRIL 2008
arc one:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:51 PM Page 45
Location: Hilton New Orleans Airport (call 504-465-1159 for special rates)
COMING
EVENTS NOTE: A DIAMOND () DENOTES AN AWS-SPONSORED EVENT.
METALFORM. April 13, Birmingham-Jefferson Convention The Aluminum Assn., Inc. Call (800/305) 443-9353, ext. 455, or
Complex, Birmingham, Ala. Contact: Precision Metalforming visit www.aws.org/conferences/aluminum08.pdf.
Assn., (216) 901-8800, or visit www.pma.org, www.metalform.com.
PICALO 2008. April 1618, Capital Hotel, Beijing, China. Third
Ohio Safety Congress & Expo. April 13, Columbus Convention Pacific Intl Conf. on Applications of Lasers and Optics. Visit
Center, Columbus, Ohio. Sponsored by Ohio Bureau of Work- www.laserinstitute.org/conferences.
ers Compensation, Div. of Safety and Hygiene. Call (800) 644-
6292; or visit www.ohiobwc.com. IWOTE 08. April 22, 23, Hotel Munte, Bremen, Germany. Con-
ference language is English. Second Intl Workshop on Thermal
Adept Global Automation Industry Conf. 2008. April 24, Liver- Forming and Welding Distortion. Visit www.bias.de/Events/
more, Calif. Call Adept Technology, Inc., (925) 245-3500; or visit IWOTE08/index_html.
www.adept.com.
MicroManufacturing and NanoManufacturing Confs. & Ex-
Metef-Foundeq Conf. and Show. April 912, Garda Exhibition hibits. April 22, 23, Sheraton Framingham Hotel, Framingham,
Centre, Montichiari, Brescia, Italy. Featuring international alu- Mass. Society of Mfg. Engineers. Call (313) 425-3187, or visit
minum exhibition, high-tech die casting, foundry, extrusion, and www.sme.org/micro; www.sme.org/nano.
finishing. Visit www.metef.com/ENG/home.asp.
INTERTECH 2008. May 57, Contemporary Resort, Walt Dis-
TechEd 2008: 13th Annual Technology in Education Intl Conf. ney World, Orlando, Fla. Topics to include practical applications
& Tech Expo. April 1316, Ontario Convention Center, Ontario, for superabrasives for machining, grinding, drilling, polishing,
Calif. Visit www.TechEdEvents.org. wear parts, wire dies, etc. Visit www.intertechconference.com.
Composites Manufacturing 2008. April 1416, Hilton Salt Lake Intl Laser Technology Congress, AKL 08. May 79, Aachen,
City Center, Salt Lake City, Utah. Society of Mfg. Engineers. Germany. Visit www.lasercongress.org.
Call (313) 425-3187, or visit www.sme.org/composites.
Montreal Mfg. Technology Show. May 1214, Place Bonaventure,
Welding Aluminum 2008, The 11th AWS/AA Aluminum Weld- Montreal, Canada. Society of Mfg. Engineers. Call (313) 425-
ing Conf. April 15, 16, Seattle, Wash. Cosponsored by AWS and 3187, or visit www.smecanada.ca/montreal.
48 APRIL 2008
CE April:Layout 1 3/6/08 3:53 PM Page 49
Automatic Welding Conf. May 13, 14, New Orleans, La. This
conference covers new technologies in automatic controls, train-
ing, and management innovations, and automation break-
throughs for the latest welding processes, including fiber and disk
lasers, friction and thermal stir welding, hot-wire tungsten arc,
laser/GMA hybrid welding, as well as automation technologies for
traditional processes. Contact American Welding Society
(800/305) 443-9353, ext. 455, or visit www.aws.org/conferences.
13th Beijing Essen Welding & Cutting Fair. May 1417, China
Intl Exhibition Center, Beijing. Visit http://essen.cmes.org/en/
info.htm.
20th Canadian Materials Science Conf. June 18, 19, Univ. of Al-
berta, Edmonton, Alb., Canada. Visit: http://cmsc.ualberta.ca.
50 APRIL 2008
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WELDING JOURNAL 51
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WELDING JOURNAL 53
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:55 PM Page 54
Economist Addresses
WEMCO Meeting
fort that they have consistently done over Attending were Ron Pierce, Founda-
the years. The principles, the work ethic tion chair; William Rice, vice president-
that they have embraced, and they have elect; Damian Kotecki, past president;
endured and persevered with, have obvi- Earl Lipphardt, treasurer; Victor Well-known economist Alan Beaulieu pre-
ously been a success for them. I urge you Matthews and John Bruskotter, vice pres- sented his popular and entertaining Eco-
to continue embracing those principles. idents; Neal Chapman, District 6 direc- nomic Forecast at the Welding Equipment
We thank you for the contributions that tor; Mace Harris, District 15 director; Manufacturers Committee (WEMCO) an-
you have made not just here in Miami- Dean Wilson, director-at-large; and the nual meeting. Beaulieu is with the Institute
Dade County but to industry worldwide. AWS staff members. for Trend Research,Concord, N.H.
Tech Topics
he AWS D10Y Subcommittee on A high-quality root pass weld in duplex Guide includes a list of commonly used
RICHARD E. AVERY (richardea@aol.com) is D10Y Subcommittee chairman and consultant to the Nickel Institute; and BARBARA K.
HENON, PhD, is manager technical publications at Arc Machines, Inc.
54 APRIL 2008
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:55 PM Page 55
WELDING JOURNAL 55
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:56 PM Page 56
56 APRIL 2008
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:56 PM Page 57
SECTIONNEWS
Shown at the Green & White Mountains Section vendors night program are (from left) Jerry Ouellette, Ernie Plumb, Jim Reid, Adam Fal-
lon, Gary Buckley, John Steel, Bill McKone, Geoff Putnam, Chair Ray Hendersen, Dean Donovan, Chris Bremer, Chuck Sarcia, Joe De-
Coste, Phil Wittman, Ken Alrich, instructor Rich Fuller, Gordon Snyder, John Erasseur, and Tom Ferri, Boston Section chairman.
District 1
Director: Russ Norris
Phone: (603) 433-0855
BOSTON
JANUARY 28
Activity: The Sections executive board
met at Artisan Industries in Waltham,
Mass. In attendance were District 1 Di-
rector Russ Norris, Chairman Tom Ferri,
Laurie Jones, Carl Richardson, Rick
Moody, Jack Paige, Gary Hyland, Jim
Reid, Bob Lavoie, and Jim Shore.
FEBRUARY 14
Activity: The Green & White Mountains
Section members and CWI Geoff Putnam
judged the test pieces welded by Vermont
students in preparation for their Skills-
USA trials. Larry Kirchoff was presented
the District Educator Award by Russ Nor-
ris, District 1 director.
MAINE
JANUARY 24 Ray Hendersen (left) receives his chair- Larry Kirchoff (left) receives the District Ed-
Activity: The Section hosted its third an- mans pin from Russ Norris, District 1 di- ucator Award from Russ Norris, District 1
nual vendors night program at Southern rector, at the January Green & White Moun- director, at the February meeting of the
Maine Community College in South Port- tains Section program. Green & White Mountains Section.
WELDING JOURNAL 57
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:57 PM Page 58
Shown at the Maine Section program are (from left) Kevin Conley, Art Gallant, Nick Dimastrantonio, Boston Section Chair Tom Ferri,
Chris Bremer, Maine Section Chair Scott Lee, Chuck Sarcia, Gil Lajeunesse, Howard Lunt, Dean Donovan, and presenter Mark Legel.
land. Mark Legel, head instructor, coor-
dinated the program and conducted a
tour of his metal fabrication shop. Arthur
S. Gallant received his Silver Member-
ship Certificate for 25 years of service to
the Society. The vendors exhibiting their
wares included Advantage Gases, Bosch
Tools, Hobart, Miller Electric, Pacific
Laser Systems, Smith Cutting Equip-
ment, Thermadyne, and Bremer Sales.
FEBRUARY 7
Activity: The Maine Section members
met with District 1 Director Russ Norris
to plan for the Maine State SkillsUSA
tests to be held in Bangor. Vice Chair
Shown at the Maine Section SkillsUSA planning session in February are (front row, from Tom Cormier and Jeff Fields, Maine
left) Chairman Scott Lee, District 1 Director Russ Norris, Art Gallant, and Secretary Mike SkillsUSA test co-chairmen, discussed
Gendron. Back row, from left, are Adam Fallon, Vice Chair Tom Cormier, Bob Bernier, Jeff the project then assigned jobs to each at-
Fields, Fran Piccirillo, and Ray Roy. tendee to be completed by March 13. The
meeting was held at Verrillos Restaurant
in Portland, Maine.
District 2
Director: Kenneth R. Stockton
Phone: (732) 787-0805
NEW JERSEY
JANUARY 15
Speaker: Frank Babish, technical mar-
keting and product manager
Affiliation: Sandvik Steel Co.
Arthur Gallant (left) receives his Silver Topic: How to weld the various alloys of
Membership Certificate from Russ Norris, Brian Nowell, a long-time supporter of the stainless steel
District 1 director, at the January Maine New Jersey Section, is shown at the Janu- Activity: The meeting was held in Moun-
Section program. ary meeting. tainside, N.J.
58 APRIL 2008
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:57 PM Page 59
Shown at the February New Jersey Section program are award winners (from left) Steve Dagnall, Al Fleury, Don Smith, George Sheehan,
Sean Bradley, and Sean Mitchell.
FEBRUARY 19
Speaker: Harry Ebert, consultant, weld-
ing engineer
Topic: Discussion of welding terminology
Activity: This New Jersey Section awards-
presentation meeting honored Steve Dag-
nall, Section Appreciation Award; Al
Fleury, Section Meritorious Award; Don
Smith, District Educator Award; George
Sheehan, Section Educator of the Year
Award; Sean Bradley, Section Meritori-
ous Award; and Sean Mitchell, District
Private Sector Award.
PHILADELPHIA
FEBRUARY 6
Speaker: Ben Schiavone, president
Affiliation: Schiavone Electronics Labs Shown are the students who participated in the Lehigh Valley Sections 38th annual weld-
Topic: NASCAR welding and NDE ing competition.
Activity: The program was held in Ess-
ington, Pa., at Ramada Inn.
District 3
Director: Alan J. Badeaux Sr.
Phone: (301) 753-1759
LEHIGH VALLEY
JANUARY 23
Activity: The Section hosted its 38th an-
nual student welding competition at
Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical
School in Bethlehem, Pa. Seven area Shown at the joint York-Central Pennsylvania and Lancaster Sections program are (from
schools each provided two students for left) Ed Calaman, York-Central Pa. Section Chairman Dave Herr, speaker Matt Reiff,
the event. The competitors were Amir Dean Whitmer, and Mike Bunnell.
WELDING JOURNAL 59
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:58 PM Page 60
Shown are the attendees at the joint York-Central Pennsylvania and Lancaster Sections program held at Precision Custom Components.
District 4
Director: Roy C. Lanier
Phone: (252) 321-4285
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA
JANUARY 30
Speaker: Bill Wallace, senior account rep-
resentative
Affiliation: 3M Occupational Health and
Environmental Safety division
Topic: Hexavalent chromium safety stan-
dards affecting the welding industry
Activity: The program was held in
Roanoke, Va.
TIDEWATER
C ALENDAR
April 17: Golf outing, Ron Davis, organ-
Several Student Chapter members are izer.
shown with their instructor Josh Seitzer and Dave Averyt displayed his blacksmithing May 15: Fish fry at Ft. Monroe, shelter 5.
presenters Tom Murphy and Dave Muro at skills for the Atlanta Section members. Sept. 11: Fall kickoff picnic.
the York-Central Pennsylvania Section Oct. 9: Scott Nelson, speaker.
meeting. Contact: Jon Cookson, chair, (757) 865-
YORK-CENTRAL PA./ 3122; cooksonj@tncc.edu.
LANCASTER
JANUARY 10
Speaker: Matt Reiff, welding engineer
Affiliation: Welding Alloys USA
Topic: Metal cored stainless steel subarc
welding wires District 5
Director: Steve Mattson
Activity: This joint meeting with mem-
bers of the Lancaster Section was held at Phone: (904) 260-6040
Precision Custom Components LLC in
York, Pa. ATLANTA
DECEMBER 15
Activity: The Section members observed
YORK-CENTRAL PA. Dave Averyt, senior blacksmith, use forge
FEBRUARY 7 welding to create a variety of objects. He
Activity: The Section members met at presented his techniques in a step-by-step
Shown at the York-Central Pennsylvania York County School of Technology in process to give a better understanding of
Section program in February are Chairman York, Pa., for a demonstration of pipe his art. The meeting was held at Lanier
Dave Herr (center), with presenters Tom welding. Tom Murphy and Dave Muro Technical College in Winder, Ga.
Murphy (left) and Dave Muro. of Pipefitters Local #520, Harrisburg,
Pa., performed the demonstrations, ex-
Ammary, Michael Kozlowski, Tyler Bag- plained the proper techniques to use, FLORIDA WEST COAST
gitt, Corey Virnelson, Dylan Morris, then offered attendees to try their hand FEBRUARY 13
Charles Nichols, Ronnie Bellscheidt, at welding pipe. On hand were welding Activity: Twenty-five Section members
Jake Amelio, Ryan McCollum, Kyle instructor Josh Seitzer and a number of and guests toured Lazzara Yachts fabri-
Rohner, Cody Reiss, Bryon Millham, Student Chapter members who displayed cation facility in Tampa, Fla. All phases
Rich Hoffman, and Eddie Izykowicz. some of their welding projects. of yacht building were studied, high-
60 APRIL 2008
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Florida West Coast Section members and guests are shown during their tour of the Lazzara Yachts fabrication facility.
Shown during the South Carolina Section tour of ESAB are (from left) Odell Haselden, Michael Schenk conducted the Florida
John Letki, David McLain, Nathan Carter, past AWS President Gerald Uttrachi, Joe De- West Coast Section members and guests on
Vito, and Homer Spaulding. a tour of Lazzara Yachts in Tampa, Fla.
SOUTH CAROLINA
JANUARY 17
Activity: The Section members toured
the ESAB Welding & Cutting Systems fa-
cilities in Florence, S.C. Tim Mayhan,
plant manager, conducted the tour and Shown at the Niagara Frontier Section pro-
demonstrations of aluminum friction stir gram are (from left) speaker Tim Herzog,
welding, robotic arc welding, aluminum Chairman Mark Dryjka, Wesley Czaj- Columbus Section Chair Kevin Clear (left)
gas tungsten arc, and pulse on pulse alu- kowski, and Howard Johns. is shown with speaker David Dickinson.
minum gas metal arc welding. Gerald Ut-
trachi, past AWS president, attended the N.Y. Brewery owner Tim Herzog con- held at Mill Road Restaurant & Tavern
program. ducted the program. in Latham, N.Y., was attended by 52
members and guests.
WELDING JOURNAL 61
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Richard Martukanitz (far right) led the Johnstown-Altoona Section members on a tour of
the Penn State Applied Research Lab in November. Speaker Dale Anderson (right) is shown
with Bart Sickles, Johnstown-Altoona Sec-
tion chairman, at the December program.
CHATTANOOGA
JANUARY 22
Speaker: George Mendez, welding and
robotics field service engineer
Affiliation: Panasonic Factory Solutions
Co. of America, Buffalo Grove, Ill.
Topic: Robotic digital controls and tan-
dem wire gas metal arc welding
Activity: Fifty-two Section members and
Chattanooga Section members are shown at the January program. guests met at Komatsu America Corp. in
Chattanooga, Tenn. Following the talk,
Don Russell presented background in-
JOHNSTOWN-ALTOONA formation about Komatsu, then Mendez
NOVEMBER 6 discussed robotic arc welding and expec-
Activity: The Section members toured the tations for its applications in the future.
Applied Research Laboratory at Penn The highlight of the program was a
State University in State College, Pa. demonstration of the tandem wire gas
Richard P. Martukanitz, head of the metal arc welding process.
Laser Processing Division, made a pres-
entation and guided the tour.
HOLSTON VALLEY
DECEMBER 11 FEBRUARY 5
Speaker: Dale Anderson, metallurgical Speaker: Denny Davis, technical repre-
engineer sentative
Affiliation: Concurrent Technologies Corp. Affiliation: The Lincoln Electric Co.
George Mendez discussed robotics controls Topic: Pattern welding Topic: Latest developments in welding
and tandem wire gas metal arc welding at Activity: The event was held in Johns- technology and equipment
the Chattanooga Section program. town, Pa. Activity: The membership determined
regular meetings will be planned for the
Topic: Overview of Project Lead the Way first Tuesday night of each month. The
Activity: Members of The Ohio State
University Student Chapter attended the
program. This meeting was held at Ar-
District 8
Director: Joe Livesay
tour of American Water Heater Co. was
canceled and will be rescheduled. The
meeting was held at Golden Corral
lington Caf in Columbus, Ohio. Phone: (931) 484-7502 Restaurant in Johnson City, Tenn.
62 APRIL 2008
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District 9
Director: George D. Fairbanks
sponsor plaque in appreciation for Air-
gass support for the Sections activities.
The lucky 50/50 raffle winner was Rene
Phone: (225) 673-6600 DeShotel. Eighty members and guests at-
tended the program.
MOBILE
FEBRUARY 14 FEBRUARY 12
Speaker: Gene Lawson, AWS president Speaker: Gene Lawson, AWS president
Affiliation: ESAB Welding & Cutting Affiliation: ESAB Welding & Cutting
Topic: AWS updates and developments Topic: Proposed solutions to the short- Gerard Riche discussed shop gases at the
in FCAW age of welders in the United States New Orleans Section program in January.
Activity: In attendance were District 9 Activity: Rodney Dufour from Inspection
Director George Fairbanks and AWS Specialists, Inc., was presented a spon-
Vice President John Bruskotter. The pro- sor appreciation plaque for his com-
gram was held at Saucy Q Restaurant in panys support of the Sections activities.
Mobile, Ala. About 80 people attended this program
held at Inspection Specialists in New Or-
leans, La.
NEW ORLEANS
JANUARY 15
Speaker: Gerard Riche
Affiliation: Airgas
Topic: Compressed gases
District 10
Director: Richard A. Harris
Shown at the January New Orleans Section
program are (from left) Bruce Hallila, Rick
Activity: Rick Myer was presented the Phone: (440) 338-5921 Myer, and Chairman Travis Moore.
WELDING JOURNAL 63
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District 11
Shown at the Mahoning Valley Section program are (from left) Secretary Rich Polenick,
Chairman Huck Hughes, speaker Dean Phillips, and Rich Harris, District 10 director.
Director: Eftihios Siradakis
Phone: (989) 894-4101
DETROIT
FEBRUARY 8
Activity: The Section held its 68th annual
ladies night party at Atheneum Interna-
tional Banquet Center in Detroit, Mich.
Vice Chair Michael Karagoulis and his
wife, Lynne, hosted the event. Ladies
night has been an important activity for
the Detroit Section for nearly 70 years.
It is an opportunity for the welding com-
munity to come together for camaraderie
and celebration. Most importantly, funds
Emcees for the Detroit Sections ladies raised from the evening are used to sup-
Gordon Carlson discussed welding alloys night event were Vice Chair Michael port the Sections scholarship program.
for the Drake Well Section members. Karagoulis and his wife, Lynne. Since its inception, the Detroit Section
has raised more than $750,000 to fund
scholarships for students pursuing ca-
reers in welding. The event attracted 350
attendees.
District 12
Director: Sean P. Moran
Phone: (920) 954-3828
District 13
Director: W. Richard Polanin
The Indiana Sections welding contest committee members are shown at their January Phone: (309) 694-5404
planning meeting.
DRAKE WELL
FEBRUARY 5
Speaker: Gordon Carlson District 14
Director: Tully C. Parker
Affiliation: Eureka Welding Alloys
Topic: Tool steel electrodes and welding Phone: (618) 667-7744
Activity: The Drake Well Section library
was presented to Venango Technical Cen- INDIANA
ter with Carol Miller, adult services co- JANUARY 23
ordinator, designated as librarian. Dis- Activity: The Sections welding contest
trict 10 Director Rich Harris presented committee members met to finalize plans
Chairman Mike Owens the District Di- for three upcoming projects. Plans were
rectors Award. The program was held at set for the SkillsUSA regional contests,
Double Play Sports Bar in Oil City, Pa. the Section-sponsored Annual Mid-West
Shown at the Saskatoon Section activity are Team Welding Tournament, and the
graduate students (from left) Williams Uju, SkillsUSA Indiana state welding contest.
Songlan Yang, Wenwen Yi, and Srinivasan MAHONING VALLEY The meeting was held at Jonathan Byrds
Sethuraman. JANUARY 10 Cafeteria in Greenwood, Ind.
64 APRIL 2008
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 5:00 PM Page 65
District 15
Director: Mace V. Harris
Phone: (952) 925-1222
SASKATOON
DECEMBER 4
Activity: The Section members partici-
pated in a graduate student seminar at
the University of Saskatchewan in Saska-
toon, Canada. Coordinated by Qiaoqin
Yang and Fang Xiang Wu, the six-hour
program included papers presented by
Songlan Yang, Heather Huenison, Shown at the Nebraska Section bowling tournament are (from left) Monty Rodgers, Vice
Williams Uju, Yang Lin, Jeffrey King, Chair Jason Hill, Secretary Nick Weidenbach, first-place team winners Jeff Rodgers and
Wenwen Yi, Nahshon Bawolin, Chris Gary Barnes, Chairman Rick Hanny, and Treasurer Karl Fogleman.
Zhang, Srinivasan Sethuraman, and
Minggan Li. The event concluded with a
holiday party hosted by the Department
of Mechanical Engineering.
District 16
Director: David Landon
Phone: (641) 621-7476
IOWA
JANUARY 22
Activity: The Section members toured the
ALMACO facilities in Nevada, Iowa, to Shown at the Nebraska Section program are (from left) Vice Chair Jason Hill, Monty
study the manufacture of custom-made Rodgers, scholarship winner Kelsey Orendach, Chairman Rick Hanny, Secretary Nick Wei-
harvesters and planters for the seed corn denbach, and Treasurer Karl Fogleman.
and soybean industry. District 16 Direc-
tor David Landon attended the program.
KANSAS CITY
FEBRUARY 7
Speaker: Mike Ross
Affiliation: Fanuc Robotics
Topic: Advancements in robotics
Activity: The meeting was held at Mas-
terpiece Barbeque in Kansas City, Mo.
NEBRASKA
JANUARY 19 North Texas Section Chair Robert Tessier Student Angela Joldin shows off the set of
Activity: The Section hosted its second (left) presents a speaker gift to Ron Weisz. leathers she won at the North Texas Sec-
annual bowling tournament fund-raising tion program.
and scholarship awards-presentation pro-
gram at Maplewood Lanes in Omaha,
Neb. Seventeen teams competed in a
District 17
Director: J. J. Jones
Scotch doubles nine-pin, no tap contest. Phone: (940) 368-3130
More than $900 was raised for the Sec-
tions scholarship program from entry
fees, lane sponsorships, and a silent auc-
NORTH TEXAS
JANUARY 15
tion. The Jeff Rodgers and Gary Barnes
Speaker: Ron Weisz
team from Praxair took first-place hon-
Affiliation: 3M Corp.
ors. Kelsey Orendach, a senior at West-
Topic: Welding fumes and use of respira-
side High School, was presented the post-
tors
secondary education scholarship for
Activity: Among the 69 attendees at the
$1000. Three $250 secondary education
program were welding students from
scholarships were awarded to Noah
local schools. ATI student Joseph Heck
Banks, Anthony Caniglia, and Andy
won a power grinder, and Tarrent County
Smith. The lane sponsors for the event
College student Angela Joldin won a set
were Davis Erection Co., Ironworkers
of welding leathers.
Local 21, Linweld, Metro Community
College, Olsson Associates, Praxair Dis-
FEBRUARY 19 Welding student Joseph Heck won a power
tribution, and TSA Manufacturing Co.
Speaker: Gene Lawson, AWS president grinder at the North Texas Section meeting.
WELDING JOURNAL 65
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Shown (from left) are past AWS President Ernest Levert, past Chair Howie Sifford, Dewayne Roy, AWS President Gene Lawson, District 17
Director J. Jones, Kirk Jordan, Robert Tessier, Tim Hatten, and Firdosh Mehta, past chair, Alberta, Canada, Section.
Shown at the Ozarks Section program are (front row, from left) Terry Pryor, Brent Evans, Phil Walker, and Virginia Fagan. Back row, from
left, are Kodi Pearce, Paul Holland, Ed Norman, Fred Inman, Jim Gardner, Bryan Walker, Marcia Sommer, Dennis Flattem, Joe DeWeese,
Dick Hoffman, Sean Lambeth, and John Hauswirth.
Affiliation: ESAB Welding & Cutting Activity: The Section members toured
Topic: AWS activities and future plans the newly refurbished welding show at
Activity: Robert Tessier was presented Southwest Area Career Center in Mon-
the District 17 Meritorious Award for his ett, Mo. Ed Norman, instructor and edu-
extensive contributions to the welding cation director, conducted the program.
skills competitions and his work with The Section received an appreciation
local colleges and trade schools. The Sec- award from the Joplin Chapter of the So-
tion was cited for achieving the most ciety of Manufacturing Engineers for its
membership growth in 20052006. In at- contributions to the societys scholarship
tendance were District 17 Director J. program.
Jones, past Alberta Section Chair Fir-
dosh Mehta, and past Section Chairs
Ernest Levert (who is also a past AWS
president), Howie Sifford, Dewayne Roy, TULSA
Kirk Jordan, Robert Tessier, and Tim JANUARY 22
Hatten. This North Texas Section meet- Speaker: Mike Ross, district account
ing was held at Spring Creek Barbeque manager, arc welding and lasers
in Irving, Tex. Affiliation: Fanuc Robotics America
Robert Tessier (left) receives the District Topic: Robotics for welding
Meritorious Award from J. Jones, District Activity: The program was held at the
17 director, at the North Texas program in OZARKS Lincoln Electric district sales office in
February. JANUARY 17 Tulsa, Okla.
66 APRIL 2008
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The Tulsa Section officers are (from left) Publicity Chair Todd Fradd, Secretary Dan Law-
son, Treasurer Paul Morgan, Chairman Barry Lawrence, Vice Chairmen Don Underwood
and Jamie Pearson, and Dave Thomas, technical representative.
Shown at the Houston Section program are past chairs (back row, from left) Ron Theiss,
Dennis Eck, Ron van Arsdale, Larry Wilmesmeier, and Roy Morton; (front row, from left)
John Bartley, Robert Anderson, Robert Hunt, Christopher Bloch, Asif Latif, and John Bray,
District 18 director.
District 18
Director: John Bray
Affiliation: Affiliated Machinery, Inc.,
president
Topic: District 18 activities and a report
Phone: (281) 997-7273 on the recent Weldmex Show
Activity: The program was held at The Gold Membership awardees (from left) V.
HOUSTON Spaghetti Warehouse in San Antonio, C. Reed, John Bartley, and Robert Ander-
JANUARY 16 Tex. son were honored at the Houston Section
Speaker: John Lecour, contractor program.
District 19
Affiliation: NASA
Topic: The U.S. manned space program
Activity: The Section presented Gold
Membership Award certificates for 50 Director: Neil Shannon
years of service to the Society to V. C. Phone: (503) 201-5142
Reed, past AWS President John Bartley,
and Robert Anderson. Recognized were SPOKANE
past Section chairs Ron Theiss, Dennis NOVEMBER 16
Eck, Ron van Arsdale, Larry Wilmes- Activity: The Section members toured
meier, Roy Morton, John Bartley, Robert ASC Machine Tools, Inc., in Spokane,
Anderson, Robert Hunt, Christopher Wash. Rick Eiffert, fabrication supervi-
Bloch, Asif Latif, and District 18 Direc- sor, discussed the history and evolution
tor John R. Bray. of the company, then conducted a tour
of the facility.
WELDING JOURNAL 69
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More than 160 students and teachers from local schools attended the Spokane Section pro- Tom Lienert (left), Albuquerque Section
gram in January. chairman, presents a speaker-appreciation
gift to Fred Hooper following the tour of
Speed of Light2 in November.
District 20
Director: William A. Komlos
Phone: (801) 560-2353
ALBUQUERQUE
NOVEMBER 29
Activity: The Section members met at
Speed of Light2 in Albuquerque, N.Mex.,
for a tour of the facilities and a demon-
Rick Eiffert conducted the Spokane Section Phil Zammit, a past District 19 director, stration of laser welding. Fred Hooper,
members on a tour of ASC Machine Tools spoke at the Spokane Section program in company owner, conducted the program.
in November. January.
COLORADO
JANUARY 12
Speaker: John Steele, professor, PE
Affiliation: Colorado School of Mines
Topic: Should You Consider Automating
Your Welding Operations?
Activity: Steele introduced his graduate
student Gunther Schwab who has since
been awarded his PhD. The program was
held at the Colorado School of Mines in
Golden, Colo.
70 APRIL 2008
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 5:02 PM Page 71
The Albuquerque Section members pose for a group shot during their tour of Speed of Light2.
District 22
Director: Dale Flood
Phone: (916) 933-5844
SAN FRANCISCO
FEBRUARY 6
Speaker: David L. Norris, CWI
Affiliation: ES Geotechnologies
Topic: Case studies where following the
rules ended up in disaster
Activity: Gold Membership certificates
for 50 years of AWS membership were
presented to C. E. Witherell and E. N.
Dalder. Life Membership certificates
were awarded to Alan Demmons and
Ronald Yonekawa for 35 years of service
to the Society. Byron May and Steven
Nekimken received Silver Membership
certificates for 25 years of membership. Shown at the Idaho/Montana Section awards-presentation program are (from left) Norma
The program was held at Spengers and Scott Jensen, Ofilia and Chair Paul Tremblay, Stephanie Eaton, speaker Larry Zirker,
Restaurant in Berkeley, Calif. and Tim McJunkin.
WELDING JOURNAL 71
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72 APRIL 2008
Society News April:Layout 1 3/6/08 5:02 PM Page 73
WELDING JOURNAL 73
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74 APRIL 2008
Page 75:FP_TEMP 3/7/08 8:22 AM Page 75
Abstract Deadline: April 30, 2008 Manuscripts Due: July 31, 2008
The American Welding Society and ASM International are again organizing its world recognized International Brazing &
Soldering Conference (IBSC). This four-day event will begin with Short Courses offered on Sunday, followed by a three-day
Technical Program Monday-Wednesday. IBSC brings together scientists, engineers and technical personnel from around the
globe involved in the research, development, and application of brazing and soldering. Parallel sessions allow us to present the
latest advances in these joining technologies and will be organized to permit interaction between the two disciplines.
IBSC 2009 Program Organizers invite to submit your work for consideration of inclusion in the technical program. They are
accepting 150-200-word abstracts describing original, previously unpublished work. The work may pertain to current research,
actual or potential applications, or new developments. Whereas commercialism must be avoided to maintain the high level of
technical quality and integrity of the IBSC conferences, the new brazing applications and case histories are most welcome.
The technical program will include a special day session focused on practical and innovative applications of brazing and
soldering. The Tabletop Exhibit will provide a forum for commercial presentations and demonstrations of state-of-the-art brazing
and soldering materials, processes and equipment. Check our website for details. The Poster Session will allow yet another
opportunity to present the interesting developments in brazing and soldering technologies.
A Conference Proceedings containing only full manuscripts of the accepted research papers will be published to capture these
high-quality technical presentations for later reference. Presentations focused on practical applications of brazing and soldering will
also be included in the conference proceedings.
NEW
LITERATURE
Guide to Laser Application to profit from using laser technology and
how to tap into the institutes corporate
Resources Online members expertise on all topics relating
to laser technology. The index headings
include beam delivery, job shop, laser
manufacturers, research and develop-
ment, system integrators, plus an exten-
sive glossary of laser-related terms. Twelve
pages detail laser safety information with
diagrams of the human eye and its ab-
sorption characteristics for visible, ultra-
violet, and mid-infrared radiations.
76 APRIL 2008
New Lit April:Layout 1 3/6/08 3:57 PM Page 77
Nicrobraz 31 Brazing
Filler Metal Described
WELDING JOURNAL 77
New Lit April:Layout 1 3/6/08 3:58 PM Page 78
New Text Features Al-Alloy the origin of the data, fatigue testing and Brady Lockout Guide Helps
data analysis procedures, and provides
Fatigue Data guidelines for the use and interpretation
with OSHA Compliance
of the data. Detailed discussions are pre-
The text, Properties of Aluminum Al-
sented on the effect of temperature, pro-
loys: Fatigue Data and Effects of Tempera-
duction process variables, shape, orienta-
ture, Product Form, and Process Variables,
tion, and joining and finishing technolo-
edited by J. G. Kaufman, includes more
gies on aluminum-alloy fatigue. The list
than 1100 fatigue data curves, all drawn
price is $220, $176 to ASM International
to consistent formats conveniently
members.
arranged by alloy and temper. Included
are rotating beam reverse bending fatigue,
flexural fatigue, axial-stress fatigue, tor- ASM International
sional fatigue, and modified Goodman di- www.asm.org
agrams. The first part of the book explains (440) 338-5151, ext. 0
Brady Corp.
www.bradyid.com/bradyid/downloads/down-
loadsPageView.do?file=LOTO_Compliance.pdf
(414) 438-6904
Spanish Editions of
Welding Specs Offered
The company now offers Spanish lan-
guage editions of all of its welding prod-
uct specification sheets. The Spanish edi-
tions correlate directly to the English
specification sheets, allowing direct cor-
relations of the two documents. The spec-
ification sheets include the companys gas
metal arc welding guns, Centerfire con-
sumables, replacement necks, liners, and
direct plug kits, as well as manual weld-
ing products and parts. All of the specifi-
cation sheets may be downloaded free of
charge from the companys Web site as
PDFs.
78 APRIL 2008
arcos 2:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:52 PM Page 79
PERSONNEL
Lincoln Electric
Holdings, Inc., has
announced the pro-
motions of Vincent
K. Petrella, senior
VP and CFO, and
George Blankenship,
senior VP, Global
Engineering and
U.S. Operations, to
Scott Funderburk expanded roles
within the company.
Petrella has been
given the additional responsibility for The
Lincoln Electric Co. of Canada. Blanken-
ship has been promoted to the newly cre-
ated position of president, Lincoln Cleve-
land, responsible for the Euclid and Men-
tor, Ohio, plants. The Lincoln Electric
Co., Cleveland, Ohio, has appointed Scott
Funderburk global business segment di-
rector pipelines. He has been with the
company since 1996. Prior to this time,
Funderburk led the Applications Engi-
neering team that focused on productivity
improvements and sharing of technology
and welding procedures on a global scale.
Michael S. Mintun has been elected vice
president, sales, North America. With the
company since 1984, Mintun previously
served as sales manager, North America.
82 APRIL 2008
CSPEC:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:54 PM Page 83
I want to encourage you to submit nomination packages for those individuals whom you
feel have a history of accomplishments and contributions to our profession consistent with the
standards set by the existing Fellows. In particular, I would make a special request that you look
to the most senior members of your Section or District in considering members for nomination.
In many cases, the colleagues and peers of these individuals who are the most familiar with
their contributions, and who would normally nominate the candidate, are no longer with us. I
want to be sure that we take the extra effort required to make sure that those truly worthy are
not overlooked because no obvious individual was available to start the nomination process.
For specifics on the nomination requirements, please contact Wendy Sue Reeve at
AWS headquarters in Miami, or simply follow the instructions on the Fellow nomination form
in this issue of the Welding Journal. Please remember, we all benefit in the honoring of those
who have made major contributions to our chosen profession and livelihood. The deadline
for submission is July 1, 2008. The Committee looks forward to receiving numerous Fellow
nominations for 2009 consideration.
Sincerely,
Nancy C. Cole
Chair, AWS Fellows Selection Committee
EASTEC:FP_TEMP 3/5/08 1:54 PM Page 87
While no one can provide the definitive share successes and insights about
answer, one thing is certain: the shortage their programs.
of weldersmore than 200,000 by 20101 NAIT operates the provinces
could limit the growth and productivi- largest welding program; SAIT oper-
ty of many industries. ates the second largest. Of the more
While U.S. federal and state gov- than 8000 apprentices requiring train-
ernment agencies dont seem to be ing this year, 1725 will attend NAIT
able to articulate a clear policy on the and 1372 will attend SAIT. NAIT
skilled trades, Canada, and particularly increased its enrollment by 60% after
the province of Alberta, has. The opening a new $15.2 million facility in
extraction of oil and other natural 2006 (Fig. 1), and it increased staff by
resources has created a boom that 63% over an 18-month period beginning
makes Alberta the Texas of the in January 2005. With 51 instructors,
Fig. 2 This SAIT apprentice practices North. You can hardly pick up a news- NAIT comes close to its goal of a 10:1
GMAW in the 3G position. Alberta breaks paper in Alberta and not see headlines student-to-instructor ratio. SAIT has
welding into two trades: wire process operators
(approved to work with GMAW, FCAW, SAW, like skilled worker shortage or doubled its staff from 10 years ago to 40
and other wire processes) and welders, who are labor shortage. instructors (to maintain its 14:1 student-
approved to work with those processes, plus To meet demand, the province to-instructor ratio), increased enrollment
GTAW, SMAW, and oxyacetylene. aggressively recruits young people into by nearly 1000 students, and totally refur-
the trades and invests heavily in techni- bished five welding labs.
cal schools. Educators at two technical
institutions that teach welding Welding Canadian Style
Northern Alberta Institute of
Technology (NAIT, in Edmonton, In the United States, anyone with a
MYLES LANGIER and SCOTT MACKAY www.nait.ca) and Southern Alberta power source can hang up a sign and
are district managers with Miller Electric Institute of Technology (SAIT, in run a welding business (assuming any
Mfg. Co., Appleton, Wis. Calgary, www.sait.ca) agreed to applicable codes and standards are
(www.millerwelds.com), They respectively
serve northern Alberta (Edmonton) and
1. More details regarding the welder shortage are available from the American Welding
southern Alberta (Calgary).
Society at www.aws.org/pr/shortagefactsheet.pdf.
88 APRIL 2008
Langier AmWeld Feature April 2008:Layout 1 3/7/08 1:21 PM Page 89
WELDING JOURNAL 89
Langier AmWeld Feature April 2008:Layout 1 3/7/08 1:22 PM Page 90
mandate for us to train generalists has p.m., and 11:00 p.m. to 6:15 a.m. meters and digital controls for dual sched-
worked very well for the Alberta econo- George Rhodes, SAITs academic ule control, adjustable weld sequence con-
my because of our diversity. Everyone coordinator for welding/NDT and manu- trol, weld process range control, and weld
knows us for the oil and gas work in the facturing and automation, said, We program setup and storage.
tar sands, but theres welding work in trained 728 students in 2006 and told For training students on AC/DC
agricultural, transportation, mining, for- AIT we were at capacity. This year, AIT GTAW and SMAW, NAIT selected 72
est, aerospace, and aluminum boat asked us to train an additional 200 stu- inverter-based, 350-A welding machines
building industries, too. That said, dents. The only way we were going to be with GTAW controls for high-speed
pulsed DC-GTAW (up to 5000 pulses per
training heavily emphasizes the SMAW able to accommodate that was by second) and AC-GTAW controls for
process because so much of the work in upgrading our welding labs and welding independent EN and EP amperage con-
the petrochemical industry revolves equipment. trol, extended balance control (30 to
around pressure vessel welding and field Until 2006, NAIT and SAIT predom- 99% EN), AC frequency adjustment
welding Fig. 4. inantly trained students on a hodge- (20400 Hz), and four AC waveform
Once you get your journeypersons podge of old (sometimes ancient) CC- outputs (advanced squarewave, soft
ticket, thats your license to learn. It gets and CV-only equipment. This bulky squarewave, sine wave, and triangular
you on the job, and then you can go for equipment took up so much space that wave) Fig. 5.
your Canadian Welding Bureau ticket if only one machine fit in a welding booth. Digital controls help students, said
you want to do structural work. If you want In addition, teaching students on old Clark. After we demonstrate a weld
to go into the pressure and oil and gas equipment doesnt do them any favors procedure, students can go back to their
transmission lines, you need to get your B when they get on the job. booths, set the same parameters their
Pressure ticket, and this will open up As a technical institute, we can never instructor used, and feel a lot more con-
another door, explained Bob Clark, asso- let ourselves get behind industry, said fident about getting good results.
ciate chair of NAITs welding program. Clark. We have to be technology lead- To teach AC/DC GTAW and SMAW,
ers. If youre teaching, you want to be on SAIT opted for 60 compact 200-A GTAW
Out with the Old that leading edge and must have the inverters that feature AC-GTAW controls
right equipment. for extended balance control (30 to 99%
As noted, AIT asks just ten institu- For training students on SMAW, DC- EN), AC frequency adjustment (20250
tions to meet training demands. GTAW, GMAW, FCAW, and air carbon arc Hz), and controls for pulsing at up to 500
Shouldering this load required some gouging, NAIT recently installed 203 pulses per second Fig. 6. To make best
institutions to take in five new groups of CC/CV multiprocess inverters with a 350- use of welding booth space, SAIT created a
students each year. The need to share A output at 100% duty cycle. platform to mount these 45-lb GTAW
equipment among so many students Complementing these power sources are inverters on the wall Fig. 7.
required teaching on triple shifts: 7:15 66 dual wire feeders with digital meters Physical space is always a big problem.
a.m. until 2:30 p.m., 9:15 a.m. to 4:30 and 102 dual wire feeders with digital Now, because of space-saving inverters,
90 APRIL 2008
Langier AmWeld Feature April 2008:Layout 1 3/7/08 1:23 PM Page 91
Fig. 6 New CC/CV inverters and dual wire digital feeders keep Fig. 7 To save room in its welding booths, SAIT selected 200-A
SAIT on the leading edge of technology. Shown (from left) are SAIT AC/DC GTAW/SMAW inverters because their compact size and
personnel Mike Hildebrand, welding instructor and team leader; light weight permits mounting them on the wall. Because of the
George Rhodes, academic coordinator for welding/NDT and manu- space savings, this apprentice can practice every welding process
facturing and automation; and Jan Nielsen, welding instructor and required to earn his Red Seal, as well as AC GTAW.
team leader.
what we used to teach in three shops [with because SAIT management has invested to keep 30 old GTAW units running.
our large older equipment] we now teach more than $1 million in welding and
in one shop, said Rhodes. By making all manufacturing equipment, said
five of our weld shops multiprocess, we can Rhodes. Without that support, our Filling the Pipeline
accommodate more students and have enrollment would be limited and stu-
flexibility when scheduling class locations. dents would train on old technology. Canadas tar sands may get more than
You cant train students on vintage $48 billion of investment by 2012, accord-
SAIT also upgraded to CC/CV multi-
equipment and expect them to under- ing to Canadas National Energy Board.
process inverters with a 350-A output, pair-
stand the benefits of the advanced arc This is double the amount spent in the
ing each of its 90 power sources with a dual
controls found on todays inverters. decade ending in 2003. The tar sands in
wire feeder with digital meters. One side of Alberta hold 175 billion barrels of recover-
the feeder runs solid wire for GMAW while While NAIT and SAIT are educa-
able oil, which rivals Saudi Arabias 240
the other runs tubular wire for FCAW. tional institutions, the drivers for retir- billion barrels. Tar sands are deposits of
These processes parallel pipeline and pres- ing old equipment are that compact, bitumen, or viscous oil. About two tons of
sure vessel industry needs that require a multiprocess inverters save space, digital tar sands have to be dug up, heated, and
GMAW root and FCAW intermediate and controls help with training, and processed on location to make a single 42-
cover passes Figs. 8, 9. advanced controls tailor the welding arc. gallon barrel of oil.
We can meet the needs of industry This mimics the activities at the industri- The tar sands have profoundly
al companies for whom theyre prepar- changed Alberta society, as more people
Table 1 Average Hourly Wages in Canada ing students. In fact, like educators recognize that skilled trades are the
for Various Professions in 2004 (according to everywhere who face budget shortages, engine that runs the provinces econom-
www.livingin-canada.com) (The average wage NAIT and SAIT recognize the economic ic success.
for a journeyperson welder is about $30/h.) Its no longer an insult to be a
benefits of new technology.
tradesman, remarked Clark. If you
Accounting Clerk $16 Standardizing on just a few pieces of
look around Edmonton, a city of
Architect $26 equipment makes our stocking easier and
700,000+ people, there isnt a corner
Bookkeeper $16 cheaper to manage, as does using equip-
that doesnt have construction. People
Carpenter $19 ment thats energy efficient. In fact, new
finally recognize that buildings dont go
Computer Engineer (not software) $29 inverters use less than half the power of our
Computer/Info Systems Manager $37 up, and oil doesnt get extracted and
old rectifiers, MacKinnon said.
Data Entry Clerk $13 processed without skilled trades and
Clark noted that because all the new
Dentist $60 we have a shortage.
inverters can use three-phase, 575 VAC Attracting young people (most stu-
Electrician $20
Engineering Manager $35
primary power, We eliminated the need dents range from 19 to 25) into a skilled
Executive Assistant $20 to make major electrical upgrades to trade is easier than it used to be: just
Lawyer $40 accommodate the GTAW equipment. dangle the dollar signs.
Physiotherapist $27 Rather than spend $160,000 on outlets As noted, the average journeyperson
Plumber $19 and switching boxes, its more feasible to earns about $58,000. For welders who
Registered Nurse $27 spend that money on new machinery. specialize in GTAW, pipeline or pressure
Retail Sales /Clerk $12 Rhodes notes that old equipment costs vessel welding, salaries can range from
Social Worker $24 a lot to maintain, saying, We spent close
Truck Driver $19 $120,000 to $150,000 per year.
to $18,000 last year strictly on maintenance If a young person is ambitious and
WELDING JOURNAL 91
Langier AmWeld Feature April 2008:Layout 1 3/7/08 1:23 PM Page 92
Fig. 8 SAIT instructor Derek Wilson demonstrates gas metal arc Fig. 9 GMA welds made by SAIT instructor Derek Wilson.
welding in the 3G position. This instructors area at the front of an
SAIT welding lab provides room for all the students to observe the
instructors techniques, then go back to their booths to duplicate the
procedure.
wants to run a portable welding truck, job requires a lot more academic skill about todays generation of teenagers
Clark said, theyll have to outlay about nowadays because of the code-type work and twenty-somethings.
$80,000 to set it up, but the average rig the petrochemical industry requires, I think we should start training peo-
welder makes $330,000 a year right now. MacKinnon said. You have to have a ple at a younger age in the practicalities
Mike Hildebrand, a welding instruc- good academic background to make a of work, Clark said. I find that work
tor and team leader at SAIT, said, Well- good tradesperson. Then, for those who ethics are almost nonexistent nowa-
paid welders work hard for every penny have the aptitude, they want to become a days. From the time they were small,
they make. They dont work eight to five. supervisor, and those supervisors with an the parents of these educators gave them
They work 12-hour days, six days a week. entrepreneurial spirit may go on to start responsibilities around the house or
Its pretty common for a rig welder to their own company. farm. As teenagers, they worked a paper
work hard eight months out of the year, To help those in designated trades route, bagged groceries, pumped gas,
then shut down and go fishing, golfing, grow skills beyond their technical capa- and more. Kids today turn 18 and realize
or hunting for four months. bilities, Alberta offers an Achievement that society expects them to work hard,
Unlike those who attend university, in Business Competencies (Blue Seal) yet they have zero work experience.
tradespersons dont carry a heavy program. As NAITs Web site notes, If According to Hildebrand, A good
tuition-related debt load for ten years you are a certified Alberta journeyper- tradesperson has a great work ethic. Most
after graduating. Instead, they have lots son in a designated trade or occupation, of our students 75 to 80% will find
earning a Blue Seal proves that you not and hold a good job. Those who fail to hold
of ready cash.
only meet Albertas high industry stan- a job almost always fail because of poor
Theres almost no limit to how much
dards, but you also have the drive to work ethics. The hardest thing for kids who
money a young person can make, said
develop your business skills and succeed slack on the job to realize is that theyre not
Clark. Like most young people, they want in business. going to get pushed through a system like
nice toys: a truck, motorcycle, ATV, boat, Tradespeople can earn their Blue they did in school. There are conse-
or snowmobile. The difference is, welders Seal by completing 150 hours of study in quences: They wont have a job.
can afford anything and everything, espe- the following areas: accounting, adminis- In addition to ethics, Rhodes believes
cially because young people arent thinking tration, business law, operations man- that society (schools, parents, and peers)
about a family or a house. agement, organizational behavior, needs to change its attitude about per-
One common misconception all the supervision, human resource manage- sonal growth.
educators want to dispel is the myth of ment, industrial relations, leadership, There is no shame in failing, he
once a tradesperson, always a trades- economics, entrepreneurship, project said. Nobody wants to hold little
person. For example, SAIT offers a management, public administration, Johnny back because his classmates are
two-year welding engineering technolo- finance, management, and marketing. going to go on without him. Parents want
gy program accredited by the American to make it easier on themselves and their
Society of Engineering Technology. kids, but thats not right. Everybody
Graduates tend to follow career paths in Whats Wrong with Kids learns at a different rate of speed, every-
welding inspection, quality assurance, These Days? body matures at a different level, and
welding department supervision, R&D, everybody learns differently. Parents and
or technical sales support. Like many people with a touch of teachers should teach children to under-
There is always work for someone gray in their hair, the educators at the stand these differences at an early age. If
that just wants to burn rod, but even that two schools have a thing or two to say it takes 13 or 14 years to get an honest
92 APRIL 2008
Langier AmWeld Feature April 2008:Layout 1 3/7/08 3:46 PM Page 93
WELDING JOURNAL 93
2Jason Niewiadomski APRIL:Layout 1 3/7/08 11:02 AM Page 94
94 APRIL 2008
2Jason Niewiadomski APRIL:Layout 1 3/6/08 10:49 AM Page 95
WELDING JOURNAL 95
N. GA Tech College 4-08:Layout 1 3/6/08 3:55 PM Page 96
96 APRIL 2008
N. GA Tech College 4-08:Layout 1 3/6/08 3:56 PM Page 97
WELDING JOURNAL 97
Am Weld Fact 4 08:Layout 1 3/6/08 4:20 PM Page 98
H = horizontal; F = flat; OH = overhead; VU = vertical with upward progression; VD = vertical with downward progression;
DCEP = direct current electrode positive; DCEN = direct current electrode negative.
Source: AWS A5.20/A5.20M:2005, Specification for Carbon Steel Electrodes for Flux Cored Arc Welding.
98 APRIL 2008
Page 99:FP_TEMP 3/6/08 5:42 PM Page 99
DeKalb Technical College The Divers Academy offers the highest Eastern Maine Community College of-
Founded 1961 quality training in the shortest amount fers a comprehensive welding program
of time to jumpstart your career. It is in Bangor, Maine. Students may earn a
DeKalb Technical College Welding known for its full-immersion training diploma or associate degree in welding
program offers a four quarter diploma methodology and its modern training or pipefitting technology preparing them
and six Technical Certificates of Credit facilities. Underwater Cutting and to successfully enter the workplace.
in Oxyfuel, SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, Welding is just one part of a compre- SMAW, GMAW, GTAW and cutting
pipe welding and ornamental iron hensive 5-month curriculum. Founded processes in both structural and piping
worker. DeKalb Tech also offers in 1977, the Divers Academy Interna- applications are studied in a spacious
customized courses to meet employers tional trains divers for commercial deep training facility equipped with modern
needs. The majority of the Welding sea diving and wet welding, providing welding equipment. AWS testing facility
program is hands-on in the lab. If you students with an employers most offering weld testing, welder certification
like working with your hands, building sought-after qualification: on-the-job and customized training for both the
things and dont mind getting dirty, experience. Financial aid is available public and industry.
DeKalb Technical College is the place for those who qualify.
to get your training!
Welding Department
16007 Crenshaw Boulevard Elko, Nevada Welding Department
Torrance, CA 90506 (775) 753-2207 or (775) 753-2170 2112 Mayfield Parkway
(310) 660-3600 Rich Barton e-mail: Cleburne, Texas 76031
www.elcamino.edu richardb@gwmail.gbcnv.edu (817)556-2809 ext.201
Jon Licht e-mail: Email: bbennett@hillcollege.edu
jonl@gwmail.gbcnv.edu www.hillcollege.edu
www.gbcnv.edu
Florence-Darlington
Technical College Hobart Institute of
Founded 1963 Harper College Welding Technology
Founded 1930
Florence-Darlington Technical College Harper College's 16 credit-hour certifi-
(FDTC) offers welding training through cate program provides students with
its Advanced Welding and Cutting Hobart Institute of Welding Technol-
entry-level skills in welding fabrication ogys Course Catalog explains in detail
Center (AWCC). The AWCC offers a and repair. The program emphasizes
one-year certificate program and a one- the wide range of welding classes and
advanced welding theory, extensive certifications offered by Hobart Insti-
year diploma program in welding. In practice in major arc welding process,
addition, through FDTCs Continuing tute of Welding Technology. More than
and out-of-position and multipass arc 25 separate welding courses are de-
Education Division, it offers a Pipe welding including GMAW, SMAW, and
Welding Academy, customer specific scribed by course objective, content,
GTAW. Upon completion of the certifi- and testing requirements. Also inside
welding classes, open enrollment cate program, students are prepared to
welding classes, and robotic welding. the catalog are course schedules, train-
pass guided bend tests to become certi- ing rates, and enrollment forms. Train-
The curriculum teaches skills in oxy fuel fied welders in accordance with AWS
cutting and welding, plasma cutting, ing may be done at our facility or yours.
(American Welding Society) D1.1 Also offered are complete training pro-
SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, FCAW, Structural Welding Code. Harper's
pipe welding, robotic welding, metal grams including DVDs, Instructor
program also provides custom training Guides, and Student Workbooks.
fabrication, blueprint reading, and in welding and fabrication for employees
more. AWS-accredited faclity. of area businesses. For more information,
contact:
Kurt J. Billsten
Coordinator of Maintenance Technology
P.O. Box 100548 1200 West Algonquin Rd.
2715 West Lucas Street Palatine, IL 60067 400 Trade Square East
Florence, South Carolina 29501-0548 (847) 925-6149 Troy, OH 45373
(843) 661-8330 Fax: (847)925-6049 (800) 332-9448
E-mail: Ross.Gandy@fdtc.edu kbillste@harpercollege.edu FAX: (937) 332-5200
www.fdtc.edu www.harpercollege.edu www.welding.org
WELDING JOURNAL 103
AprilSchoolProfiles2008:April School Profiles 2007 3/6/08 12:25 PM Page 104
Rockford, Illinois
(815) 921-3015
(815) 921-3010
Mike Merriman 3000 NW 83rd Street
Technical and Industrial Programs Email: m.merriman@rockvalleycollege.edu. Gainesville, FL 32606
3000 West Scenic Drive www.rockvalleycollege.edu (352) 395-5253
North Little Rock, AR 72118 Fax: (352) 395-5364
501-812-2200 joseph.mahoney@sfcc.edu
www.pulaskitech.edu www.sfcc.edu
swilliams@pulaskitech.edu
San Juan Basin
Technical College
Solano Community College
Renton Technical College Earn a certificate as a Structural Welder, Founded 1945
Founded 1942 Combination/Fitter Welder and Pipe
Welder (low/high pressure, and stainless Solano Community College offers
Renton Technical College, located just steel.) Welding Technology helps to de- welding educatioin and training at its
southeast of Seattle, Washington, offers velop individual entry level or above skills Northern California campus in Fairfield,
preparatory welder training (AAS through hands on experience under su- located between San Francisco/Oakland
degree), supplemental training and pervised instruction. Oxyfuel, SMAW, and Sacramento, California. Earn a
up-grading classes. Placement in the GTAW, GMAW, blueprint reading for Certificate or A.S. Degree with day,
industry is 98% for graduates. We offer evening, Saturday and summer classes.
welders and orbital arc pipe welding is
welder certification in all of the Industrial driven curriculum teaches skills
popular processes. Curriculum is available. We offer quality, affordable in SMAW, GTAW, GMAW, FCAW, Oxy-
constantly updated to stay current with educational training in a new facility. Acetylene and ornamental iron welding
industry. Day, evening, and weekend along with various cutting processes
classes are available in oxyfuel, utilizing manual, semiautomatic and
SMAW, GMAW, GTAW, Fabrication, and automatic processes. Customized courses
Inspection. Our instructors are are available for employers. Benefit from
AWS-CWI/CWE with over 80 years free qualification testing and tutoring,
collective experience. affordable tuition and personal attention.
Elective courses and schedules are listed
in the college website.
33057 Hwy 160
Mancos, Co 81328
(970) 565-8457
3000 NE Fourth Street Fax (970) 565-8450
Renton, WA 98056-4195 www.sjbtc.edu
(425) 235-2352 x5554
Dave Parker at dparker@rtc.edu
www.rtc.edu 4000 Suisun Valley Road
Fairfield, CA 94534-3197
(707) 864-7279
Robert.Johnson@solano.edu
www.solano.edu
WELDING JOURNAL 107
AprilSchoolProfiles2008:April School Profiles 2007 3/6/08 12:11 PM Page 108
Chicago
October 6, 2008
at the FABTECH Intl & AWS Welding Show
To register or to receive a descriptive brochure, call
(800) 443-9353 ext. 455, (outside North America, call
305-443-9353), or visit www.aws.org/conferences
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INDEX
Americ Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 KMT Saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
www.americ.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800-364-4642 www.kmtsaw.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .269-321-8860
American Torch Tip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Koike Aronson, Inc./Ransome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
www.attcusa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800-342-8477 www.koike.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800-252-5232
ArcOne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 LA-CO Industries, Inc./Markal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
www.arc1weldsafe.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800-223-4685 www.markal.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800-621-4025
Arcos Industries, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79, IBC Lincoln Electric Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .OBC
www.arcos.us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800-233-8460 www.lincolnelectric.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .216-481-8100
Astro Arc Polysoude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11, 13 Magnatech Limited Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
www.astroarc.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .661-702-0141 www.magnatech-lp.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .860-653-2573
Atlas Welding Accessories, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 Midalloy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
www.atlaswelding.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800-962-9353 www.midalloy.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .800-776-3300
AWS Certification Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Miller Electric Mfg. Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
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WELDING RESEARCH
SUPPLEMENT TO THE WELDING JOURNAL, APRIL 2008
Sponsored by the American Welding Society and the Welding Research Council
ABSTRACT. Measurement of weld pool Introduction measurement is the coaxial viewing of the
surface is a difficult but urgent task in the weld pool, which was first proposed by
welding community. It plays an important Welding is a labor-intensive operation. Richardson et al. (Ref. 5). It has been
role not only in developing the next- Although welding robots can provide con- widely investigated by some researchers.
generation intelligent welding machines sistent motion to help improve productiv- In the coaxial viewing method, the elec-
but also for modeling complex welding ity, they lack the intelligence that human trode is used to block the arc, but the
processes. In recent years, different tech- welders possess to ensure quality. Since image quality is decreased by the bright
niques have been applied in this area, but skilled human welders can achieve good plasma. Agapakis and Bolstad presented
the specular characteristic of weld pool weld quality through observing the weld an innovative vision sensing system that
surface and the strong welding arc com- pool, the pool surface must contain suffi- used intense stroboscopic illumination to
promise their effectiveness. To better re- cient information to judge weld quality, overpower the arc light in the welding
solve this problem, a new vision-based such as weld joint penetration. Mean- process and produce a clear image with
sensing (measurement) system was pro- while, the precise measurement of the synchronized camera (Ref. 6). This tech-
posed in our previous study, which utilizes weld pool surface can provide critical ex- nique was further applied in the Welding
the reflection property of the weld pool perimental data to validate numerical Research Laboratory at the University of
surface. In that system, a dot-matrix pat- models of welding processes. Hence, the Kentucky by Kovacevic and Zhang.
tern of structured laser light was projected measurement of three-dimensional weld The acquired image is shown in Fig. 1A
onto the specular weld pool surface and its pool surface is a fundamental capability and an image processing algorithm has
reflection was imaged on a self-designed that the next-generation automated weld- been developed to analyze and extract the
imaging plane. Then the distorted re- ing machines and welding researchers two-dimensional boundary of the weld
flected image (pattern) was captured and must possess, and a number of early ef- pool so that control algorithms can use
processed. Based on the obtained infor- forts have been devoted to sensing weld these parameters as feedback to adjust
mation, two reconstruction schemes pool related parameters including ma- welding parameters (Ref. 7). To use this
named interpolation reconstruction chine vision, X-ray radiation, ultrasonic, system in three-dimensional weld pool
scheme (IRS) and extrapolation recon- and acoustic emission (Refs. 14). surface imaging, the structured illumina-
struction scheme (ERS), are proposed in Among these methods, noncontact vi- tion laser was projected through a frosted
this paper in order to rebuild the three- sion-based ones have been studied more glass (Ref. 8), and an image with the three-
dimensional weld pool surface off-line. extensively (Refs. 511). An important dimensional shape information of weld
The experimental results verify the effec- technique for a 2-D weld pool boundary pool surface was acquired as shown in Fig.
tiveness of the proposed methods and 1B. Because of its cost and size, this spe-
show that ERS can achieve better accu- cially designed system is not suitable for
racy than IRS. Meanwhile, the variation KEYWORDS production.
of the weld pool surface in an experiment In a separate effort, Mnich and his col-
is also analyzed by using the proposed Weld Pool Surface leagues (Ref. 9) used stereovision to deter-
measurement system and extrapolation Specular Reflection mine the three-dimensional shape of the
reconstruction scheme. Three-Dimensional weld pool in the GMAW process, but the
Interpolation complexity compromised its suitability for
Extrapolation practical application. Another effort by Yoo
H. S. SONG and Y. M. ZHANG (ymzhang@ Surface Variation and Lee (Ref. 10) used a similar principle
engr.uky.edu) are with Center for Manufacturing and GTAW but introduced the biprism technique to re-
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Control duce the number of needed cameras from
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky. two to one. The accuracy of the system as
mentioned by the authors is reasonable.
WELDING JOURNAL 85 -s
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WELDING RESEARCH
A
B
power continuous structured laser pattern tained data. The first two major steps are
onto the weld pool surface and intercepts briefly reviewed in this section. Detailed
the reflection of the projected pattern procedures can be found in the literature
from the specular weld pool surface. Be- (Refs. 1214).
cause the arc radiation decays very fast The proposed weld pool surface sens-
with the travel distance while the reflec- ing system in a universal coordinate sys-
tion of the projected laser light remains tem is shown in Fig. 2 (Refs. 12, 13). The
intense, it is possible that the reflection of gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) process
the projected laser can be clearly imaged without filler metal was used. The welding
on the interception plane. Since the small direction was along the positive Y axis. A
low-power laser diode is economical and 20-mW continuous illumination laser with
compact, this approach is more cost-effec- a wavelength of 685 nm was used to pro-
tive, convenient, and suitable for manu- ject a 19 19 dot-matrix structured-light
facturing applications. However, although pattern onto the weld pool area under the
the formation of the image is simply based electrode at a certain angle. The inter-
on the reflection law, the reflected image beam angle of the laser pattern was 0.77
itself does not provide an intuitive view deg. During the welding process, the
about the dimensions of the weld pool sur- molten specular weld pool surface can re-
face. Thus, a reconstruction scheme is flect the majority of the incident laser
needed to derive the three-dimensional light. Thus, on the other side of the torch,
shape of the weld pool surface. an imaging plane (a piece of glass attached
Fig. 1 Captured images for weld pool measure- In this paper, two schemes named in- with a grid paper) was placed about 50 mm
ment. A 2-D measurement (Ref. 7); B 3-D terpolation reconstruction scheme (IRS) away in order to intercept the reflected
measurement (Ref. 8).
and extrapolation reconstruction scheme laser pattern. A high-speed camera was
(ERS) are proposed. Their difference lies used to record the reflected images on the
in the methods of reconstructing the pool imaging plane. To minimize the influence
A structured light technique was used surface and determining the surface of the strong arc, the camera was fitted
by Saeed et al. to determine the profile of boundary. Experimental results verified with a 20-nm band-pass filter centered at
the weld pool surface (Ref. 4). In the ac- the accuracy of both methods, and the ex- a wavelength of 685 nm.
quired image, the distortion of the pro- trapolation reconstruction scheme proved In one of the experiments, the laser was
jected laser line clearly showed the shape the better performer. projected onto the workpiece at 31.14 deg
of the weld pool, while the unavoidable with a distance of 31.48 mm to the origin
bright arc affected the observation. An- Sensing System Review of the coordinate system. Figure 3A and B
other vision-based sensing system was de- shows the projected pattern and the ac-
veloped for pulsed GTAW with wire filler There are three major sequential steps quired reflected image. As can be seen,
metal by Zhao et al., which used an im- for using the proposed method to recon- only part of the projected dots located
proved shape from shading (SFS) algo- struct/measure the pool surface. The first within the weld pool area was reflected,
rithm to recover the weld pool surface one is to image the laser pattern reflected and the laser pattern was shaped by the
height (Ref. 11). While all these methods from the weld pool surface. Then, the ac- weld pool surface as convex curves. Al-
have achieved certain success, more accu- quired reflected image is processed to ex- though the intensity of the reflected dots
rate and direct methods are still desired. tract the information of the reflected laser was low, the reflected image can still be
The authors recently proposed a dif- pattern. The third step is to use the three- processed by the proposed algorithms as
ferent approach to observe the weld pool dimensional reconstruction scheme to re- shown in Fig. 3C.
surface (Refs. 12, 13). It projects a low- build the weld pool surface based on ob- After image acquisition, a point locat-
WELDING RESEARCH
A B C
Fig. 3 Captured and processed images. A Projected dot-matrix on workpiece; B captured image; C reflected dots on imaging plane.
A B
Fig. 4 Reflected and projected dots S/S corresponding relationship. A Row-column positions of reflected points; B corresponding positions of projected
dots in dot matrix.
ing algorithm and a feature extraction al- row and the 10th column) is intentionally sents the column corresponding relation-
gorithm are proposed to process the re- absent, and it is introduced as the center ship, and the one after the slash presents
flected images (Ref. 14). First, the re- reference point to ease the matching the row corresponding relationship. In the
flected points in the image are extracted in process although it does not actually exist. proposed system, if the reflected col-
the point locating algorithm by using some In Fig. 3C, the corresponding position of umn/row order is the same as that re-
image processing techniques, such as the center reference point can be easily flected from a flat surface, the relationship
block thresholding segmentation (Ref. found in the 6th row. is defined as sequential; if the order is in-
15), median filtering, and morphological To investigate the possible correspond- versed, the relationship is inverse. Thus,
operations (Ref. 16). It can be seen in Fig. ing relationships between projected and combined with the corresponding position
3B, although the reflected pattern is dis- reflected dots, a corresponding simulation of reference point in the captured image,
torted, the basic row-column relationship was conducted (Ref. 14). In the simula- each reflected dot on the imaging plane
in the pattern remained. tion, part of a sphere was used to present can be successfully matched with a pro-
Then based on the reflected dot posi- the weld pool surface. By testing some jected dot in the matrix by using the cor-
tions, some image features, such as row- convex and concave surfaces with typical responding relationship. The matched
column relationship and the center ref- dimensional values, it can be concluded point-ray pairs can be used to reconstruct
erence point can be successfully that to produce the convex reflected im- the three-dimensional weld pool surface.
determined by the feature extraction algo- ages like Fig. 3B, the corresponding rela- In Fig. 4, suppose R={rk,t ,(k,t) I}
rithm. For instance, there are 7 rows tionship for a convex surface is sequen- presents the set of reflected dots, on the
(curves) and 16 columns found in Fig. 3B tial/sequential (S/S) and the one for a reflected image I, and P = {pi,j ,(i,j) S}
and C. As shown in Fig. 3A, the center concave surface is inverse/inverse (I/I). presents the set of corresponding reflec-
point of the 19 19 dot matrix (at the 10th Here the relationship before the slash pre- tion dots on the weld pool surface S (here
WELDING JOURNAL 87 -s
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WELDING RESEARCH
A
Fig. 5 Flowchart of IRS and ERS. Fig. 6 Computation of new slope-oriented reflec-
tion points based on base point in IRS. A Row
slopes of reflection dots on 5th row plane; B com-
putation of new reflection points using row slopes.
the subscripts present the row and column derive the three-dimensional weld pool sur- Step 1: Use the assumed surface to com-
positions of the dots, and the numbers of face from these matched discrete point sets pute the slope field. Based on the results of
dots in sets P and R are the same). The based on the governing reflection law. It is corresponding simulation (Ref. 14), the
row-column position of the reflected dots apparent that the issue is not to apply the re- tested corresponding relationships are
are shown in Fig. 4A, and the correspond- flection law to calculate the reflection of in- chosen for the different shapes of re-
ing position of the center reference point cident rays. Instead, the issue here is to see flected image. For example, for the con-
p10,10 in the reflected image is r6,7. If the what three-dimensional surface may gener- vex image (Fig. 3B), two corresponding
corresponding relationship is I/I, the ate a set of reflected points that are close relationships (I/I and S/S) are tested se-
matched points pair is rk,t reflection enough to the given R={rk,t ,(k,t) I}. The quentially, which can be seen in Fig. 5.
p10+6k,10+7t. If the corresponding rela- issue is thus an inverse problem of the re- Once the relationship is decided, the pairs
tionship is S/S, the matched points pair is flection law, and it appears an analytical so- of projected and reflected dots can be
rk,t reflection pk+106,t+107 , and the cor- lution does not exist. determined.
responding reflection points are shown in To resolve this issue, an iterative engi- In the first step, the estimate of the
Fig. 4B. For example, the corresponding neering method is needed and the authors weld pool surface was used to calculate the
projected point of reflected point r1,5 is thus propose two schemes, interpolation positions of the estimated reflection dots
p5,8. As can be seen, only those points that and extrapolation reconstruction schemes pi ,j, in set P (P = {pi ,j , (i,j) S}) where
are actually projected on the liquid weld (IRS and ERS), to find an optimally esti- S is the assumed surface and i/j is the
pool surface are reflected onto the imag- mated three-dimensional surface. The row/column number. Thus all the reflec-
ing plane and are imaged and processed to ERS differs from the IRS in the way to tion lines are determined. By using the re-
reconstruct the weld pool surface in the construct the pool surface and determine flection law, the normal of every reflection
proposed method, and those projected on the surface boundary. The details of the point pi,j on the surface can be further
the solid surface will not be reflected to schemes proposed are presented below computed. Then the tangent plane of the
and imaged on the imaging plane. and the flowchart can be seen in Fig. 5. surface at the reflection dot pij can be ob-
Step 0: A flat plane (Z = 0) is used as the tained, which is referred to as its 3-D
Reconstruction Schemes initial estimate of the weld pool surface. slope. This tangent plane intersects with
Since generally the depth of the weld pool the row plane and the column plane of dot
From previous steps, two discrete sets of is much smaller than its width and length pi, j to find two tangent lines and the 3-D
points (R={rk,t ,(k,t) I}, P = {pi,j ,(i,j) for the GTAW process, it is reasonable to slope is thus decomposed into two 2-D
S}) and their possible corresponding rela- use a flat plane, i.e., Z = 0, as the initial es- slopes: row and column slopes. For exam-
tionships were obtained. Now the task is to timate of the weld pool surface. ple, in Fig. 6A the row slopes of reflection
WELDING RESEARCH
dots at the 5th row are shown. Here the B
A
row/column plane of a dot refers to a
plane passing through the laser diode and
all the dots on the same row/column.
These slopes of the estimated reflection
dots form a slope field, which is used to
produce the reflected image.
Step 2: Compute the new slope-oriented
reflection points based on the slope field. It is
obvious that the used surface in the first
step cannot meet the slope requirements
to produce the captured reflected image.
Thus, in the second step the new slope-
oriented reflection point set P (P =
{pi,j, (i,j) S}) is calculated to better ap-
proximate the actual weld pool surface
based on these estimates of slopes. Fig. 7 Steps of computing new reflection points. A For IRS; B for ERS.
Assumption of base point. In IRS and
ERS, the positions of new slope-oriented
reflection points are all calculated in rela- A B
tion to a base point, whose position is as-
sumed. In IRS, the reflection point corre-
sponding to the left-down reflected dot
(r1,5 in Fig. 4) is chosen as the base point.
In Fig. 4, dot p5,8 (p5,8 or p5,8) is the base
point for S/S corresponding relationship.
In IRS, the height of the base point is se-
quentially selected in a range, such as
(0.5 mm, 0.5 mm). While in ERS, the
base point is chosen according to different
corresponding relationships so as to make
it on the left head part of the weld pool Fig. 8 2-D boundary piecewise model. A Boundary points; B five parts of the boundary model.
surface. For instance, in Fig. 4B p11,6
(p11,6 or p11,6) is the base point for S/S
corresponding relationship in ERS. The spectively. Following the same proce- structed surface is not, which makes their
height of the base point can be reasonably dures, all the other reflection points in the ways to determine boundary different.
assumed to be zero instead of searching in 5th row can be calculated as shown in Fig. Step 4: Compute the error of the recon-
a range since the base point is on the 6B. Then based on the middle point of the structed surface. In the fourth step, based
boundary of the head of the weld pool row with base point (p5,12 and p11,12 for on the knowledge of the projected dot
surface. IRS and ERS), the middle points at the matrix and the surface reconstructed in
Computation of new slope-oriented reflec- same column (12th column), but different the third step, the reflected points set R
tion points. Based on the selected base rows can be calculated by using column (R = {rk,t(k,t) I}) on the imaging plane
point, all the other reflection points on the slopes just as done in the previous step. At can be recomputed and compared with
pool surface can be calculated. There are last, row slopes are used to compute the the positions of the captured reflected
three computation procedures for ERS positions of all the other new reflection point set R. The distances between the ac-
and IRS as shown in Fig. 7. First, the new points based on the positions of the mid- tual and computed reflected points can
slope-oriented reflection dots on the same dle points at their rows. Thus, the posi- thus be calculated and be further mapped
row as the base point are computed using tions of all updated reflection dots are cal- to the weld pool surface as reflection
their row slopes. In Fig. 6, the new reflec- culated by using the computed slope field. error, which is discussed later. After
tion points at the 5th row are computed by Step 3: Reconstruction of weld pool sur- error calculation, the estimated surface in
using their row slopes in IRS. Since the po- face using new reflection points. In the third Step 3 is used as the new assumed surface
sition of base point p5,8 is decided, the ad- step, a weld pool surface should be de- to continue the first step within pre-set
jacent dot p5,9 can be located as the inter- duced depending on the reflection points loops for each corresponding relation-
section point of projected ray LM and line P computed in the second step. Here the ship. At last, after all possible corre-
p5,8A, and the slope of line p5,8 A can be interpolation method (Ref. 17) is used in sponding relationships are tried, the com-
decided as Equation 1 IRS and the method (Ref. 18) that can re- puted surface with the minimum
alize both interpolation and extrapolation reflection error is chosen as the optimally
is applied in ERS. They both can produce estimated weld pool surface.
S = sign S i
p A
5 ,8 5,8
p a smooth surface from nonuniformly sam- Step 5: Calculate 2-D surface model and
pled data in the form of Equation 2. use it to find the weld pool boundary. In this
S p A + S p / 2 step, a two-dimensional piece-wise
5,8 5 ,9 (1) z=f(x,y) (2) boundary model r() in a polar coordinate
where the function sign () means the pos- system is developed to determine the
itive or negative sign of the slope and In IRS the area of reconstructed sur- three-dimensional boundary of the weld
Sp5,8 and Sp5,9 refer to the row slopes of face is limited by the reflection points pool surface. First, the two end points in
the reflection point of p5,8 and p5,9, re- while in ERS the area of the recon- each reflection row are selected as bound-
WELDING JOURNAL 89 -s
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WELDING RESEARCH
A A
B B
Fig. 9 Optimal estimated weld pool surface. A The interpolation re- Fig. 10 Computed and actual reflected points compare using differ-
sult of IRS; B the extrapolation result of ERS. ent schemes. A Result of IRS; B result of ERS.
ary points in Fig. 4B, and they are classi- segments). as the largest angle of the boundary point
fied into three sets: left (L), right (R), and
head (H) sets as shown in Fig. 8A. Here,
()
r =r
H ( ) = r ( + 180 deg )
H H
1 2
among (180 deg, 90 deg) in set L. 2 is
defined as the smallest angle of the point
in set R, and 3 is the intersection angle of
S/S corresponding relationship is as-
sumed, and the origin of the system is cho- ( ) ( )ir ( ) + (1 t ( ))i
r =t
L L L l left segment rL( L) and right segment
sen as the middle point of the longest row r ( ) = t ( )ir ( 0 + 270 deeg ) + rR(R). In IRS, the computed 2-D bound-
H H l L
(8th row in Fig. 8). Then the polar coordi-
nate models in Equation 3 are used to de-
(1 t ( ))ir ( + 180 deg)
l H
180<<
1
ary model in Z = 0 plane is assumed to be
the weld pool surface boundary. For ERS
scribe the three parts (left, right, and head since the reconstructed weld pool surface
part) of the weld pool boundary. The ( ) ( ) = r ( 90 deg )
r =r
L L L
180
3 is extrapolated, it is possible to find a more
points in three sets can be used to fit the reasonable boundary based on the pro-
models respectively and the coefficients i ( ) ( )ir ( ) + (1 t ( ))i
r =t
R R R r
posed model. In ERS the established 2-D
can thus be decided by using the mean
square method.
r
H ( ) = t ( )ir (90 deg ) +
H r R
boundary model is used to determine the
X and Y coordinates of the boundary on
( t ( ))ir ( + 180 deg)
1
r H
2
< < 0 the optimally estimated surface. At last,
( ) =
3
+ i i
the newly found boundary points together
r
H H H0 Hi H
i =1
( ) ( ) = r (90 deg )
r =r
R R R
0 <
3
with the optimal reflection points are used
by the interpolation method to get the new
( ) =
3 (4)
+ i i
whole weld pool surface.
r where tl() and tr() are the weights that
L L L0 L i L
i =1 are defined as Equation 5 Reconstruction Results
( ) = () ( )( )
3
r + i i t = / + 180 deg
R R R0 R i R l 1 1 In this section, a reflected image shown
i =1 ( 3) 180 in Fig. 3B is used to test IRS and ERS. The
1
At last, the whole two-dimensional piece-
wise boundary model of the weld pool sur- r ()
t = 1 /
2
0
2 ( 5)
results of the two schemes are compared
and discussed. As can be seen, an iteration
face can be expressed by Equation 4. As process is used in IRS and ERS to find the
shown in Fig. 8B, it is composed of five where 1, 2,0 deg, 180 deg, and 3 are the optimally estimated surface according to
segments (including two transition boundaries for the segments. 1 is defined the computed error. To define a meaning-
WELDING RESEARCH
A
Fig. 11 Fitted two-dimensional weld pool boundary model (on Z = 0 Fig. 12 Results of different reconstruction schemes. A Weld pool sur-
plane). face using interpolation reconstruction scheme (different views); B weld
pool surface using extrapolation reconstruction scheme (different views).
A B C D E
F G H I J
K L M N O
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Song 4 08layout:Layout 1 3/7/08 10:04 AM Page 92
WELDING RESEARCH
resent the horizontal (X axis) and vertical
(Y axis) ranges of the corresponding pro-
jected dots on the workpiece (Z = 0). It
can be seen the error parameter ARE ef-
fectively maps the difference between cal-
culated and actual reflected points to the
error of the reflection points on the weld
pool surface.
B C The optimal surfaces by using IRS and
A
ERS are shown in Fig. 9, and their corre-
sponding relationships are all S/S. By
using extrapolation reconstruction
scheme (ERS), the computed minimal av-
erage reflection error (ARE) is 0.1234
mm, which is a little smaller than the re-
sult of IRS 0.1691 mm. In IRS, the small-
est ARE is achieved when the height of
the base point is 0. It can be seen that the
D E F area of optimally interpolated surface re-
constructed by IRS is limited by the re-
flection points, but it is not the case for
ERS.
In Fig. 10, the positions of actual re-
flection points and computed reflected
points using optimally estimated surface
are shown for the two schemes. These two
results are similar, but for the matching
extent of edge points, the performance of
G H I ERS is better since the extrapolation
method works better than interpolation to
deduce the boundary. One thing should be
noted here. The absent dot r6,7, which cor-
responds to the center reference point in
Fig. 4, is still considered as a reflected
point in the schemes, and its position is as-
sumed in the middle of its adjacent two
dots in the 6th row in Fig. 10.
Based on the results of interpolation or
J K L extrapolation reconstruction methods and
the Sequential/Sequential (S/S) corre-
sponding relationship, the fitted two-
dimensional (2-D) boundary (at Z = 0
plane) shown in Fig. 11 is used to find the
boundary points. The point in the center is
the origin of the used polar coordinate sys-
tem for the model, and it is defined as the
center point of the weld pool. The shape
of the modeled 2-D boundary is similar as
M N O the ones shown in Fig. 1. Because the
welding speed is slow (3 mm per second),
Fig. 14 Computed and actual reflected points comparison. the difference between width (6.7313 mm)
and length (7.1182 mm) is small and the 2-
D shape is like a circle, which can be veri-
ful error that can describe the difference responding reflection point of rk,t , and it is fied by the measurement result after the
between the calculated and actual reflec- defined as Equation 7. experiment. Since the welding electrode is
tion points on weld pool surface, the au- on the Z axis, it can be found in Fig. 11 that
2 2 the distance between the coordinate ori-
thors propose an error measurement pa- W L gin and the weld pool head is smaller than
= ex i
p
+ ez i
rameter: average reflection error (ARE). p
E the distance to its tail.
Its definition is shown in Equation 6. k ,t k ,t W k ,t L
r r
(7) In Fig. 12, the whole 3-D weld pool sur-
ARE = E
k ,t ( )
/ n ,.... k ,t I where exk,t and ezk,t are the distances be-
tween estimated reflected point rk,t and
faces are reconstructed by using both the
boundary model and the optimally esti-
k ,t (6) mated surfaces in IRS and ERS. The two
actual reflected point rk,t along horizontal
where I refers to the reflected image and reconstructed surfaces are both convex.
direction (X axis) and vertical direction (Z
n represents the total number of the re- (This is probably related to the properties
axis) on the imaging plane. Wr and Lr rep-
flected points on the imaging plane. Ek,t of the mild steel workpiece.) The heights
represents the reflection error for the cor- resent the horizontal and vertical ranges
of the reflected dots, and Wp and Lp rep- of the surfaces are 0.3045 mm and 0.2533
WELDING RESEARCH
mm, respectively, in Fig. 12A and B. The
difference is small, while the difference be-
tween their boundaries is obvious due to
different ways to compute the boundary.
The result of the extrapolation reconstruc-
tion scheme is more reasonable since the
boundary is not exactly on Z = 0 plane.
()
15
i =1
surface for each reflected image in Fig. 13. 2 h = E h = h / 15 = 0.2943mm,
One thing should be noted here. In our
study, some unclear dots located in upper
V =E w w
w
i
( ) = i =1
i
2
( ) ( )
15 2
fragmental rows are neglected since some V =E h h = h h /
(w i w ) ( ) mm
15 2 2 h
dots in the row are blocked by the torch / 15 = 0.15 2 i i =1 i
( ) mm
and they are not suitable for the proposed i =1 (8) 2
2
reconstruction schemes, such as the ones 15 = 0.019
where wi represents the width of the ith re- (10)
in Fig. 13H, K, and M. By using the ERS, constructed weld pool surface. The length where hi represents the height of the ith re-
the optimal estimates of three-dimen- of the pool surface varies in the range of constructed surface. The relative variation
sional weld pool surfaces are recon- 7.1303 to 8.1092 mm or 6.4%. The aver- of the height is thus much greater than
structed for each reflected image in Fig. age length and its variance are shown in those of the width and length.
13, and the differences between computed Equation 9. In Fig. 19, the variation of the weld
reflected images by using optimally esti- pool positions is shown. It also can be seen
()
15
mated surfaces and the actual captured l = E l = l / 15 = 7.4549 mm, that the positions of the center point and
i
ones are shown in Fig. 14. i =1 the highest point of the weld pool surface
After the computation of the two- are also changing for the studied images.
2
( ) = (l l )
dimensional boundary model, the whole 15 2
The position of the center point of the
V =E l l /
weld pool surface can be reconstructed by l
i i
weld pool is shown in Fig. 11. The varia-
i =1
using ERS. The results are shown in Fig.
( ) mm tions of these three-dimensional parame-
2
2
15. The shapes variation of these recon- 15 = 0.46
(9) ters discussed above prove that the weld
WELDING JOURNAL 93 -s
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WELDING RESEARCH
Fig. 16 Average reflection errors (ARE). Fig. 17 Variation of weld pool width and length.
Fig. 18 Variation of the pool surface height (depth). Fig. 19 Variation of the weld pool positions.
pool surface has fluctuations even in the some slightly concave regions exist among modeling process. Thus, an error analysis
same nominal welding conditions. The upper rows in some of the reflected im- of the proposed system is needed, and fu-
possible reasons include the possible small ages in Fig. 13, and the irregular concave ture work should be done to improve the
fluctuations in the welding current and regions are embedded in some of the re- accuracy of the reconstructed three-
speed, possible shielding gas turbulence, constructed weld pool surfaces in Fig. 15. dimensional weld pool surface.
and other possible interference factors. Figure 20 shows some of those cases cor-
responding to Fig. 13B, E, and N. For ex- Conclusions
Discussion ample, in Fig. 20A the reflected dots at
4th, 5th, and 6th row form nonsmooth A sensing system has been proposed to
Although the reconstruction results of convex curves with slightly concave re- image the reflection of projected laser pat-
the three-dimensional weld pool surface gions, which gives the reconstructed sur- tern from the specular weld pool surface.
proved the effectiveness of the proposed face an obvious concave region inside it. To derive the three-dimensional weld pool
system, the accuracy of the reconstructed The possible reason is the variation of the surface based on the image processing re-
surface still needs to be discussed. In sec- weld pool surface makes more rays project sults, two reconstruction schemes (IRS
tion 4, the reconstructed pool surfaces are onto the small concave region of the sur- and ERS) are proposed for off-line com-
shown in Fig. 12. There is no obvious con- face. Although the errors of optimal re- putation. Based on the studies and analy-
cave region inside the weld pool surface sults are small, obvious differences be- ses in this paper, the following conclusions
under the torch, which is practical because tween the reflected images still can be can be drawn:
of the arc pressure. The possible explana- seen in Figs. 10 and 14. Since it is a sens- The proposed reconstruction
tion is that the concave region in the weld ing system for a small object, there are schemes can be used to resolve the inverse
pool surface is very small due to the low many factors in the scheme that may cause problem of the reflection law to derive the
welding current (75 A) and/or there is no errors, such as the parameter measure- three-dimensional weld pool surface from
laser dots projected onto it. ment, image processing, the surface inter- the image processing results.
In previous discussion, it was seen that polation/extrapolation, and boundary The proposed error measurement
WELDING RESEARCH
A B
References
11. Zhao, D. B., Yi, J. Q., Chen, S. B., Wu,
L., and Chen, Q. 2003. Extraction of three-di- REPRINTS REPRINTS
mensional parameters for weld pool surface in
1. Groenwald, R. A., Mathieson, T. A., pulsed GTAW with wire filler. ASME J. Manuf.
Kedzior, C. T., and Gaid, I. N. C. 1979. Acoustic
To order custom reprints
Sci. Eng. Vol. 125, pp. 493-503.
emission weld monitor system data acquisi- 12. Zhang, Y. M., Song, H. S., and Saeed, G. of 100 or more of articles in the
tion and investigation. U.S. Army Tank-Auto- 2006. Observation of a dynamic specular weld Welding Journal,
motive Research and Development Command pool surface. Measurement Science & Technol-
Report ADA085-518. ogy 17(6): L9L12. call FosteReprints at
2. Siores, E. 1988. Development of a real- 13. Song, H. S., Saeed, G., and Zhang, Y. M. (219) 879-8366 or
time ultrasonic sensing system for automated 2006. Observation of dynamic specular weld
and robotic welding. PhD thesis, Brunel Uni- pool surface. Proceedings of 2006 ISFA (Inter-
(800) 382-0808.
versity. national Symposium on Flexible Automation), Request for quotes can be
3. Guu, A. C., and Rokhlin, S. 1989. Com- 0252-b(S) pp. 661662, Osaka, Japan. faxed to (219) 874-2849.
puterized radiographic weld penetration con- 14. Song, H. S., and Zhang, Y. An image
trol with feedback on weld pool depression. processing scheme for measurement of specu- You can e-mail FosteReprints
Mater. Eval. 47: 120410. lar weld pool surface. Welding Journal 86(10): at sales@fostereprints.com.
4. Saeed, G. M. 2005. Three-dimensional 241-s to 249-s.
WELDING JOURNAL 95 -s
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WELDING RESEARCH
Predicting Resistance Spot Weld Failure
Modes in Shear Tension Tests of Advanced
High-Strength Automotive Steels
To judge the quality of resistance spot welds in advanced high-strength steels,
the load-bearing ability of the weld should be considered
more important than the fracture mode
ABSTRACT. Finite element modeling weld should be the primary focus in the heat-affected zone microstructures, mi-
and fracture mechanics calculations were evaluation of the shear-tension test results crohardness, and weld tensile tests (Ref.
used to predict the resistance spot weld in AHSS. 3). One type of weld tension test typically
failure mode and loads in shear-tension done is called the shear-tension test
tests of advanced high-strength steels Introduction (sometimes referred to as lap-shear test).
(AHSS). The results were compared to In this test, two sheet samples, 140 mm
those obtained for an interstitial-free (IF) The use of advanced high-strength long by 60 mm wide are overlapped by 45
steel. The results of the work confirmed steels (AHSS), such as dual-phase and mm and joined with a single spot weld lo-
the existence of a competition between transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) cated at the center of the overlapped re-
two different types of failure modes, steels, has been steadily increasing over gion Fig. 1. The sample is then pulled
namely full button pullout and interfacial the past few years in automotive applica- in tension. Due to the offset of the sheets,
fracture. The force required to cause a tions (Refs. 1, 2). This is due to the advan- the application of tension creates a bend-
complete weld button pullout-type failure tages that AHSS grades offer, in terms of ing moment that causes rotation of the
was found to be proportional to the tensile higher strength that enables the automak- weld nugget. This type of deformation is
strength and the thickness of the base ma- ers to decrease the vehicle weight for im- demonstrated with a finite element simu-
terial as well as the diameter of the weld. proved fuel economy and improved crash lation Fig. 2. For clarity, only one half
The force to cause an interfacial weld frac- energy absorption for better occupant of the model is shown. The combination of
ture was related to the fracture toughness protection. The two grades of AHSS that bending and shear loading that results
of the weld, sheet thickness, and weld di- have seen increased use in automobiles from this deformation causes a compli-
ameter. For high-strength steels, it was de- are the dual-phase and TRIP steels. The cated stress pattern to develop in and
termined that there is a critical sheet steel grades that are used commercially in around the nugget.
thickness above which the expected fail- automotive bodies at present are those There are two different failure modes
ure mode could transition from pullout to with minimum strength levels of 500, 590, that are generally observed in shear-
interfacial fracture. In this analysis it was and 780 MPa. Resistance welding is the tension tests, namely, interfacial frac-
shown that, as the strength of the steel in- predominant mode of fabrication in auto- tures and full button pullout Fig. 3.
creases, the fracture toughness of the weld motive production with a typical vehicle in In the interfacial fracture, the weld fails at
required to avoid interfacial failure must North America containing about 4000 to the interface of the two sheets, leaving half
also increase. Therefore, despite higher 5000 welds. Therefore, good resistance of the weld nugget in one sheet and half in
load-carrying capacity, due to their high spot welding behavior is one of the key the other. In the full button pullout, frac-
hardness, the welds in high-strength steels characteristics of any steel grade to be ture occurs in the base metal or in the weld
may be prone to interfacial fractures. Ten- considered for use in automobile body heat-affected zone at the perimeter of the
sile testing showed that the load-carrying production. weld. In this failure mode, the weld nugget
capacity of the samples that failed via in- Several tests are generally used to char- is completely torn from one of the sheets
terfacial fracture was found to be more acterize the resistance spot welding be- with the weld remaining intact. It is also
than 90% of the load associated with a full havior of steels. These include the welding possible to get a combination of the two
button pullout. This indicates that the current range determination, metallo- failure modes in which a portion of the
load-bearing capacity of the welds is not graphic characterization of the weld and nugget is pulled out of one of the sheets
affected by the fracture mode. Therefore, and the rest of the nugget shears at the
the mode of failure should not be the only interface.
criteria used to judge the quality of spot KEYWORDS A review of the literature showed that
welds. The load-bearing capacity of the considerable work has been done to un-
Dual-Phase Steels derstand the behavior of spot welds under
TRIP Steels tensile and shear loading. Work done by
D. J. RADAKOVIC and M. TUMULURU are
with the Research and Technology Center, United Fracture Mechanics Davidson and Imhof (Refs. 46) showed
States Steel Corp., Munhall, Pa. Finite Element Modeling that spot weld strength in the shear-
Based on a paper presented at the 2006 Shear-Tension Test tension test is related to the stiffness of the
FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show, Failure Mode joint. They found that, for stiffer test spec-
Atlanta, Ga. imens the degree of rotation that the spot
WELDING RESEARCH
Fig. 1 Sketches showing the dimensions of a shear-tension test coupon. The Fig. 2 Sketches showing half sections of a shear-tension coupon before (left)
arrows in the bottom sketch show the direction of the application of tensile load and after (right) the application of load. Bending of the sample (shown in the
during the test. right-side sketch) results from the offset of the sheets.
weld undergoes becomes smaller, which in models. Radaj and Zhang developed tests so that welds, otherwise sound, do
turn, leads to increased joint strength. some simplified equations to predict the not get rejected solely based on fracture
Davidson and Imhof correlated the joint stress intensity of spot welds in various appearance. Furthermore, an understand-
strength with weld nugget rotation but did tests, including the shear-tension test. The ing of the fracture behavior may allow the
not offer a relationship for the stress in- correlations were consistent with the com- automotive companies to use these steels
tensity at the weld. Pook (Ref. 7) devel- puter simulations. However, the simula- and enable them to take advantage of the
oped a relationship for the stress intensity tions are computationally intensive and benefits that these steel grades offer. Ad-
at the weld nugget based on analytical so- time consuming. ditionally, the tensile fracture behavior of
lutions. Pook showed that the weld diam- In the evaluation of the shear-tension the recently introduced advanced high-
eter and sheet thickness have an effect on test results in spot welds, it is generally be- strength steels, such as dual-phase and
the stress intensity at the nugget perime- lieved in the automotive industry that an TRIP steels, has not been reported previ-
ter. Chao (Ref. 8) studied the expected interfacial shear failure is indicative of ously. Therefore, a study was undertaken
failure modes and failure loads for spot poor weld integrity. This has generally to examine and predict the fracture modes
welds based on assumed stress distribu- been true for low-strength steels (tensile possible in shear tension tests in dual-
tions around the perimeter of the weld re- strength equal to or less than 300 MPa), in phase steels with a minimum tensile
sulting from a combination of shear and which interfacial failure is normally asso- strength of 590 and 780 MPa and TRIP
tensile loading. Radaj and Zhang (Ref. 9) ciated with insufficient fusion or some sort steel with a minimum tensile strength of
and Zhang (Ref. 10) performed detailed of a weld imperfection, such as gross 780 MPa. An attempt based on finite ele-
finite element modeling of spot welds porosity. However, it is not clear if inter- ment modeling (FEM) and fracture me-
under shear tension load to predict the facial fractures in shear-tension tests indi- chanics calculations on data collected
stress intensity around the weld. This cate poor weld integrity in AHSS grades. from actual shear-tension tests was made
analysis suggested that correlations and With the increased use of these steels in to predict the resistance spot weld failure
trends predicted in earlier work did not automotive bodies, it is important to study modes in shear-tension tests.
correlate well with the detailed computer their fracture behavior in shear-tension
Materials and Experimental
Procedure
Table 1 Welding Conditions
Dual-phase steel coils with a minimum
Welding Machine Manufacturer Taylor Winfield Corp.
Welding Machine Type Pedestal-type
ultimate tensile strength of 590 and 780
Welding Machine Transformer 100 kVA MPa, transformation-induced plasticity
Welding Controller TrueAmp IV
Electrode Face Diameter 6 mm
Electrode Force For IF Steel: 3.1 kN (697 lbf)
For AHSS Grades: 4.2 kN (945 lbf) for 1 mm
5.4 kN (1200 lbf) for 1.2 Table 2 Material Properties Used
and 1.6 mm
Squeeze Time 75 cycles Steel Yield Tensile Elongation,
Weld Time 13 cycles (for 1-mm sheets) Grade Strength, Strength, %
14 cycles (for 1.2-mm sheets) MPa MPa
18 cycles (for 1.6-mm sheets)
Hold Time 10 cycles IF 137 302 45
Preheating None 590 Dual Phase 370 650 25
Postheating None 780 Dual Phase 470 805 19
Electrode Coolant Water Temperature 21C 780 TRIP 440 844 24
Tip Cooling 3.7 L/min (1 gal/min)
Note: Elastic Modulus of 207 GPa and Poissons Ratio
of 0.29 used for each case.
WELDING JOURNAL 97 -s
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WELDING RESEARCH
Fig. 3 A photograph of two shear-tension test samples showing the two different Fig. 4 Schematic showing a three-dimensional finite element model
weld fracture morphologies described in the text. The sample on the top showed in- of spot weld shear-tension test sample. The lower picture shows a close-
terfacial fracture, and the sample on the bottom showed full button pullout. The spot up view of the mesh in the vicinity of the spot weld. Sheet thickness is
welds on both ends of each sample were made to attach shims for tensile testing. 1.0 mm and button size is 6 mm.
(TRIP) steel with a minimum tensile The current required to produce a weld ements. Model strain predictions were
strength of 780 MPa, and interstitial-free button size equal to or 90% of the face di- found to converge for a local element size
(IF) steel with a tensile strength of 300 ameter of the electrode tip used was de- near the weld that is less than 25% of the
MPa were used in the study. The IF steel termined. This was done using the highest sheet thickness for each of the three thick-
was used because it is extensively used for current possible without causing expul- nesses evaluated. An example of a finite
body panels in automobile bodies and the sion in the samples. The welding parame- element model of the shear-tension test
automotive industry is quite familiar with ters used for making the test samples are sample for a 1-mm sheet with a 6-mm but-
its welding and fracture behaviors. There- shown in Table 1. Load to failure and the ton is shown in Fig. 4. The lower picture in
fore, it would be a good candidate to pro- weld fracture morphology were noted in Fig. 4 shows a close-up view of the mesh in
vide a comparison for the fracture behav- each case. In each case, five tensile sam- the vicinity of the spot weld. In order to re-
ior of AHSS grades. ples were tested and the average values duce computation time, symmetry condi-
All the coils were coated with 42/42 reported. tions were applied so that only one half of
g/m2 (42 g/m2 on each side) hot-dipped In order to better understand the sam- the sample had to be represented. In the
galvanneal (HDGA) coating. Coatings are ple behavior and failure modes that occur study, several models were developed to
generally applied to steel sheets used in in the shear-tension test, finite element represent different sheet thicknesses and
the automotive industry for corrosion pro- computer simulations of this test were weld diameters.
tection. A galvanneal coating is obtained performed. The modeling was done using The stress-strain behaviors of the three
by heating the zinc-coated steel at ABAQUS Version 6.5 general-purpose fi- types of steel grades used in the simula-
450590C (8401100F) immediately nite element modeling (FEM) software. tions are shown in Fig. 5. The computer
after the steel exits the molten zinc bath. The simulations were run on a Silicon modeling software allows for the defini-
The nominal HDGA coating weights for Graphics Octane 2 workstation. Three- tion of elastic as well as plastic behavior of
the coils used were 42/42 g/m2. These coat- dimensional models of the test sample materials and the appropriate data points
ing weights are typical of current commer- were developed using eight-node brick el- were defined to describe the load dis-
cial automotive use. All the coils used
were melted, hot and cold rolled at United
Table 3 Results of Simulations for Interstitial-Free Steel Samples (Ultimate Tensile Strength =
States Steel Corp. Gary Works and 300 MPa)
coated subsequently at PRO-TEC Coat-
ing Co. of Leipsic, Ohio. The coils ranged Weld Diameter Nominal Sheet FEM Failure FEM Failure K-Factor
in thickness from 1 to 2 mm. (mm) Thickness (mm) Mode(a) Load (N) IF or PO
Nominally, the dual-phase and TRIP
steels contain about 0.09 to 0.14 wt-% car- 2.5 1.0 IF 1200 0.62
bon and are generally alloyed with various 5.0 1.0 PO 3640 2.32
amounts of manganese, chromium, and 7.5 1.0 PO 5400 2.30
10 1.0 PO 7070 2.26
molybdenum to achieve the required ten-
sile strength (Refs. 11, 12). In addition to 2.5 1.5 IF 1200 0.61
these alloying elements, TRIP steels typi- 5.0 1.5 IF 4720 0.60
cally contain silicon or aluminum to effec- 7.5 1.5 PO 8140 2.31
tively suppress the formation of cementite 10 1.5 PO 10700 2.28
by increasing the time required for its for-
mation and lowering its thermodynamic 2.5 2.0 IF 1200 0.61
stability (Ref. 12). 5.0 2.0 IF 4540 0.58
Tensile test samples were prepared 7.5 2.0 IF 10280 0.58
from coils in the as-received condition 10 2.0 PO 13920 2.22
13 2.0 PO 16700 2.17
without any cleaning of the mill oil used
prior to shipping the coils. Weld shear- (a) IF interfacial fracture; PO full button pullout fracture.
tension tests were conducted per Ref. 3.
WELDING RESEARCH
Fig. 5 Stress-strain curves for the three steel grades used in the study. Fig. 6 Model-predicted deformation around the weld nugget in the shear-
tension test at the onset of a full button pullout failure. Sheet thickness is
1.0 mm and button size is 6 mm.
Fig. 7 Close-up view of the model-predicted plastic strain distribution that occurs during a full button pullout failure in the shear-tension test. Note the neck-
ing of the base metal immediately outside the weld nugget.
placement behavior shown in Fig. 5. The periphery of the weld. This suggested that end. The reaction force was monitored as
material properties defined in the analysis the fracture toughness of the weld and a function of the applied displacement.
are shown in Table 2. heat-affected zone controlled the failure When the failure strain was reached in ei-
As a starting point in the study, the mode and load. Previous work (Ref. 10) ther the weld or the base metal outside the
properties of the entire test specimen provided a means to estimate the stress in- weld, failure was assumed to have oc-
were considered to be homogeneous. It tensity at the root of the notch at the sheet curred. The magnitude of the reaction
was assumed that the properties of the interface and is described in later sections. force at the point when failure strain was
weld and the heat-affected zone were the In the analysis, sheet thicknesses of 1.0, reached was considered to be the load-
same as those of the base metal. The ho- 1.5, and 2.0 mm were simulated. For each carrying capacity of the sample.
mogeneous model was used only to esti- sheet thickness, four or five different weld
mate loads required for pullout failure. sizes were modeled ranging in diameter Results and Discussion
This assumption was made to examine the from 2.5 to 13 mm. For all models, the
effect of button size and sheet thickness sample length and width were held con- The results of the analyses of the ho-
on the behavior of the weld in this test. stant. A total of 39 simulations were run, mogeneous shear-tension test samples are
To predict the failure loads associated 13 for each of the three steel types, namely shown in Tables 35 and in Figs. 611. Fig-
with interfacial fracture, additional con- IF, dual-phase, and TRIP steels. ure 6 shows the model-predicted defor-
siderations were made. It was observed In all models, one end of the sample mation of a sample at the onset of a pull-
that the interfacial failures initiated at the was held fixed and an applied axial dis- out failure. In this failure mode, the
notch created at the sheet interface at the placement was applied to the opposite strength of the material outside the weld
WELDING JOURNAL 99 -s
Radakovic Suppl April 2008 corr:Layout 1 3/6/08 3:57 PM Page 100
WELDING RESEARCH
sults, it is apparent that there is a compe-
tition between the pullout and the interfa-
cial failure modes
For the pullout failure, the results of
the finite element simulations showed that
there was a strong correlation between
failure load and the material strength,
sheet thickness, and weld diameter. The
load to cause interfacial failure was found
to be more strongly dependent on the weld
diameter and less on the sheet thickness.
The predicted failure loads were found to
adhere to the following correlations:
WELDING RESEARCH
discussed the significance of specimen ro-
tation during fatigue testing of spot Table 5 Results of Simulations for Dual-Phase and TRIP 780 Steels (Minimum Ultimate
welded samples. In fatigue testing, shear- Strength = 780 MPa)
tension test coupons are subjected to re-
Weld Diameter Nominal Sheet FEM Failure FEM Failure K-Factor
peated tensile loads in the same manner as (mm) Thickness (mm) Mode(a) Load (N) IF or PO
in static shear-tension testing. Davidson
and Imhof showed that the stiffness of test 2.5 1.0 IF 3000 0.58
samples affected the degree of rotation 5.0 1.0 PO 8950 2.17
and that the weld failure mode was af- 7.5 1.0 PO 13600 2.20
fected by the degree of rotation. They ob- 10 1.0 PO 17780 2.15
served that stiffer samples (less rotation)
failed interfacially, whereas, below a cer- 2.5 1.5 IF 3030 0.59
5.0 1.5 IF 11900 0.58
tain critical stiffness, the samples failed in
7.5 1.5 PO 20500 2.21
the base metal and the weld remained 10 1.5 PO 26400 2.13
intact.
Equations 1 and 2 are plotted graphi- 2.5 2.0 IF 2920 0.57
cally in Fig. 11 for dual-phase 590 steel and 5.0 2.0 IF 11530 0.56
show the predicted interfacial and pullout 7.5 2.0 IF 26760 0.58
failure load as a function of weld diame- 10 2.0 PO 34760 2.11
ter. In this plot, the sheet thickness was as- 13 2.0 PO 43700 2.12
sumed to be 1.5 mm and the sheet tensile
(a) IF interfacial fracture; PO full button pullout fracture.
strength equal to 590 MPa. A sheet thick-
ness of 1.5 mm was chosen because it rep-
resented the mid-thickness of the normal
range of steels (1 to 2 mm) used in auto-
motive bodies. The minimum allowable Table 6 Actual Test Results and Predicted Stress Intensity at Failure
tensile strength of the steel (590 MPa) was
Material Nominal Sheet Weld Diameter Failure Mode Failure Load Stress Intensity
used for this case. According to the analy- Thickness (mm) (mm) IF or PO (N) (N/mm )3
2
WELDING RESEARCH
Fig. 9 Close-up view of the model-predicted plastic strain distribution that occurs during a shear overload of the weld in the shear-tension test.
A B
Fig. 10 Predicted maximum plastic strain in the weld and in the base metal immediately outside the weld as a function of applied displacement in the shear
tension test. There is a competition between pullout (A) and interfacial (B) modes of failure. Sheet thickness is 1.0 mm for both cases. The weld button size is
6 mm (A) and 4 mm (B).
stress intensity at failure. The stress inten- tensities for the samples that failed via out failure occurred).
sities were calculated using Equation 3. button pullout are also shown. For these Table 7 shows additional data compar-
The first three samples listed in the table two cases, the fracture toughness of the ing the model predictions to measured
failed via interfacial fracture. This sug- weld was apparently high enough to avoid data. The table lists the steel grades, weld
gests that the listed stress intensity at the interfacial fracture (i.e., the fracture diameter, sheet thickness, actual failure
time of failure is comparable to the frac- toughness was greater than the values load, and mode as well as the predicted
ture toughness of the weld. The stress in- listed for the stress intensity when the pull- failure load had pullout failures occurred
Table 7 Comparison of Actual Shear Tension Test Results and Model Predictions
WELDING RESEARCH
A B
Fig. 11 Predicted failure load in the analysis of the homogeneous shear-tension test sample as a function of the following: A Weld diameter; B sheet
thickness.
Fig. 12 Comparison of actual failure loads to model-predicted failure loads Fig. 13 Predicted competition between failure modes in the shear-tension
in the shear-tension test for samples that failed via full-button pullout. test.
in each case. The first two samples listed bearing capacity of the weld should be the done by Zhang (Ref. 9), Equation 4
failed via button pullout and the model- primary focus in the evaluation of the (rather than Equation 2) was thought to
predicted failure loads were in good shear-tension test results in AHSS. better represent the parameters govern-
agreement with the actual loads. The fol- In order to get an estimate of the load ing the interfacial fracture mode. The pre-
lowing three samples in the table failed via required for interfacial fracture in the viously determined load to cause pullout
interfacial fracture. For these cases, the shear-tension test, the stress intensity in failure (Equation 1) was, however, consid-
model-predicted loads for pullout failure Equation 3 was set equal to the fracture ered to be appropriate. The predicted re-
are listed. The interesting results shown toughness of the material and the load was lationship for pullout load likely agreed
here are that, although interfacial fracture solved for. This is shown in Equation 4 well with the measured data because this
occurred in the samples, the load-carrying where FIF is the load to cause interfacial failure initiates in the form of necking in
capacity of the weld was greater than 90% fracture of the weld, and KC is the fracture the base metal near the weld heat-affected
of the predicted failure load if pullout had toughness of the material. The fracture zone as opposed to at the notch radius
occurred. This indicates that the load- toughness describes the ability of a mate- around the perimeter of the weld nugget.
bearing capacity of these welds was not rial to carry load in the presence of a flaw Equations 1 and 4 are plotted graphi-
significantly affected by the fracture and is determined from testing. Generally, cally in Fig. 13. In this plot, the weld di-
mode. Therefore, the mode of failure ductile materials tend to have high frac- ameter was assumed to be constant at 8
should not be the only criteria used to ture toughness while the opposite is true mm and the tensile strength assumed was
judge the quality of spot welds. The load- for brittle materials. Based on the work the minimum allowable for this grade (780
WELDING RESEARCH
Fig. 14 Sheet thickness above which interfacial fracture is predicted to occur Fig. 15 Predicted weld toughness required to avoid interfacial fracture in
as a function of sheet tensile strength and the fracture toughness of the weld. the shear-tension test as a function of sheet tensile strength for 1- and 2-mm-
thick sheets.
Fig. 16 Predicted weld toughness required to avoid interfacial fracture in the Fig. 17 Predicted failure load as a function of sheet thickness for a low-
shear-tension test as a function of sheet thickness and tensile strength. strength steel having a weld with poor load-carrying capacity. For a low-
strength sheet, a pullout failure is predicted even when the load-carrying ca-
pacity of the weld is poor.
MPa), and the failure load is plotted as a ness of 1.6 mm. This indicates that for the Figure 15 shows the fracture toughness of
function of sheet thickness. The interfa- high-strength sheet sample, interfacial the weld required to maintain pullout fail-
cial fracture load is plotted assuming a fracture will be the expected failure mode ures increases with the strength of the
fracture toughness of 1560 N/mm , and 3
2 for sheet thicknesses greater than 1.6 mm. sheet indicating that interfacial fractures
the pullout failure load is plotted for a The critical parameters that control are more likely to occur with high-strength
low-strength steel (300 MPa) and a the transition between failure modes can steels. Figure 16 shows that the weld
higher-strength steel (780 MPa). For the be determined by setting Equation 4 equal toughness required to maintain pullout
curve representing the low-strength steel, to Equation 1. Some of these results are failures also increases with sheet thick-
the predicted pullout failure load is less shown in the last four figures. Figure 14 ness. Figure 17 shows the predicted pull-
than the interfacial fracture load over this shows that critical sheet thickness above out and interfacial failure loads for a low-
entire range of sheet thickness. This indi- which interfacial fracture will occur be- strength steel shear-tension test sample
cates that pullout failure will occur in comes less as the strength of the sheet in- that has a weld with poor load-carrying ca-
every case. For the higher-strength sam- creases. Thus, for higher-strength sheet, pacity. The failure load required for pull-
ple, the curve for pullout failure and in- interfacial fracture can become the ex- out is less than that for interfacial fracture
terfacial fracture intersect at a sheet thick- pected failure mode in thicker samples. over the entire range of sheet thickness
WELDING RESEARCH
shown in the plot. This indicates that for for low-strength steels (tensile strength methodology to determine the fatigue life and
low-strength steels, a full button pullout less than or equal to 300 MPa), a full but- related failure mode of spot-welded sheet
failure could be expected even for the case ton pullout could occur even when welds steels. International Conf. on Technology and
where the weld has poor load-carrying ca- have a poor load-carrying capacity. For Applications of High-Strength Low-Alloy
Steels, ASM International Technical Series
pacity. For high-strength steels, however, high-strength steels, however, this was not
8306-022, Metals Park, Ohio.
this was not found to be the case. Interfa- found to be the case. Interfacial fracture 5. Davidson, J. A., Imhof, E. J. Jr., 1984. The
cial fracture was predicted to occur for was predicted to occur in the shear tension Effect of Tensile Strength on the Fatigure Life of
cases where the weld has superior fracture test for cases where the weld has superior Spot-Welded Sheet Steels. SAE Technical Paper
toughness and high load-carrying capac- fracture toughness and high load-carrying No. 848110.
ity. These predictions shown in Figs. 1517 capacity. 6. Davidson, J. A., and Imhof, E. J. 1983. A
agree well with known characteristics of 3. It was determined that there is a crit- Fracture Mechanics and System-Stiffness Ap-
spot welds. ical sheet thickness above which the ex- proach to Fatigue Performance of Spot-Welded
pected failure mode could move from Sheets. SAE Technical Paper No. 830034.
7. Pook, L. P. 1975. Fracture mechanics
Conclusions pullout to interfacial fracture. It was
analysis of the fatigue behavior of spot welds.
shown that, as the strength of the sheet in- International Journal of Fracture Vol. 11, pp.
An analysis was performed in which a creases, the fracture toughness of the weld 173176.
combination of finite element modeling required to avoid interfacial fractures 8. Chao, Y. J. 2003. Ultimate strength and
and fracture mechanics calculations was must also increase. In the higher-strength, failure mechanism of resistance spot weld sub-
used to predict the weld failure modes in less-ductile steels, this is not likely to occur jected to tensile, shear, or combined
the shear-tension tests of resistance spot and interfacial fracture could become the tensile/shearloads. Journal of Engineering Mate-
welds in AHSS grades. In the finite ele- expected failure mode. rials and Technology Vol. 125(4): 125132.
ment model, the base material and heat- 4. The load-carrying capacity of the 9. Radaj, D., and Zhang, S. 1991. Simplified
formulae for stress intensity factors of spot
affected zone and weld properties were as- samples that failed via interfacial fracture
welds. Engineering Fracture Mechanics Vol.
sumed to be homogeneous. The was found to be more than 90% of the 40(1): 233236.
homogeneous model predictions agreed maximum load associated with the full 10. Zhang, S. 1997. Stress intensities at spot
well with the test data for cases where pull- button pullout. This indicates that the welds. International Journal of Fracture Vol. 88,
out failures occurred. This is because the load-bearing capacity of these welds is not pp. 167185.
pullout failures most often initiated in the significantly affected by the fracture 11. Rege, J. S., Inazumi, T., Nagataki, T.,
base metal outside of the notch at the mode. Thus, the mode of failure should Smith, G., Zudeima, B., and Denner, S. 2002.
perimeter of the weld. However, when not be the only criteria used to judge the Development of HDGI/HDGA DP steel fam-
comparing the homogeneous model re- results of the shear-tension test. The load- ily at National Steel Corp. 44th MWSP Confer-
carrying capacity of the weld should be ence Proceedings, ISS, Vol. XL.
sults to actual test data, the predicted fail-
12. Mahieu, J., Maki, J., Claessens, S., and
ure loads for the interfacial fractures were considered the most important parameter De Cooman, B. C. 2001. Hot dip galvanizing of
not consistent. For the case of the interfa- when evaluating the shear-tension test re- Al alloyed TRIP steels. 43rd MWSP Confer-
cial failure mode, a relationship was found sults in AHSS. ence Proceedings, ISS, Vol. XXXIX.
in the literature to estimate the stress in- 13. Tumuluru, M. 2006. An overview of the
References
tensity at the weld notch tip. This rela- resistance spot welding of coated high-strength
tionship was used along with the equation dual-phase steels. Welding Journal 85(8): 3137.
1. Schultz, R. A. 2007. Metallic material
developed for the pullout failure to define trends for North American light vehicles. Paper
variables that affect the failure mode and presented at the Great Designs in Steel Semi- The material in this paper is intended for
load for the shear-tension test. nar, American Iron and Steel Institute, South- general information only. Any use of this mate-
The results of the analyses showed the field, Mich. rial in relation to any specific application should
following: 2. Horvath, C. 2007. Material challenges be based on independent examination and ver-
facing the automotive and steel industries from ification of its unrestricted availability for such
1. The mathematical equation derived
globalization. Paper presented at the Great De- use, and a determination of suitability for the
based on the finite element modeling application by professionally qualified person-
signs in Steel Seminar, American Iron and Steel
showed that the force required to cause a nel. No license under any United States Steel
Institute, Southfield, Mich.
button pullout fracture was found to be 3. D8.9M-2002, Recommended Practices for Corporation patents or other proprietary inter-
proportional to the tensile strength of the Test Methods for Evaluating the Resistance Spot est is implied by the publication of this paper.
sheet as well as the diameter of the weld Welding Behavior of Automotive Sheet Steel Ma- Those making use of or relying upon the mate-
and the thickness of the sheet. terials. Miami, Fla.: American Welding Society. rial assume all risks and liability arising from
2. The present analyses showed that, 4. Davidson, J. A. 1983. Design-related such use or reliance.
ovember 3, 2008, is the deadline ment. The candidate must be 40 years old researchers.
WELDING RESEARCH
Characterization of Welding Fume from
SMAW Electrodes Part I
Size and mass distributions, fume generation rates, and chemistry
are compared for three SMAW electrodes
ABSTRACT. An electrical low pressure cause for concern due to possible health opposed to bulk composition alone. Rela-
impactor (ELPI) was used to collect weld- problems experienced by individuals in tionships between particle size and com-
ing fume from E6010 and E308-16 elec- the welding industry after long-term expo- position have also been found (Refs. 5, 7).
trodes at two heat input levels, and E7018 sure. Welding fume particles may cause Number and mass distributions of welding
electrodes at a nominal heat input level. metal fume fever, and perhaps more im- fumes have been measured with a variety
This paper describes the collection proce- portantly, manganese- or chromium- of techniques including cascade im-
dures and presents data on the fume gen- related poisoning after inhalation and in- pactors, scanning mobility particle sizers,
eration rates (FGR), particle number and gestion into the human body. For exam- and optical particle counters (Refs. 5,
mass distributions as a function of size, ple, it has been proposed that long term, 79). These distributions have typically
and identifies compounds present in the low concentration doses of Mn are linked shown that fume particles are present in a
bulk fume. Part II of this paper describes to nervous system disorders (Ref. 1). Stud- broad range of sizes but are generally pre-
the detailed characterization of this fume ies have also shown that welders working sent in higher concentrations of small par-
conducted using transmission and scan- with stainless steels who have had cases of ticle sizes and higher masses of the larger
ning electron microscopy, and a surface- lung cancer may be due to possible hexa- particle sizes.
sensitive analysis technique known as X- valent chromium exposure, although Fume formation is of great interest in
ray photoelectron spectroscopy. there has been no direct evidence linking order to understand the varying morpholo-
Using the ELPI, the fume is separated the cancer to welding fume exposure (Ref. gies and compositions of bulk fume. The ef-
by particle size in 13 size ranges from 0.03 2). Occupational exposure limits (OEL), fect of aerosol physics on welding fume for-
to 10 micrometers. Size and mass distrib- which are revised quite regularly (Ref. 3), mation have been described in detail by
utions were determined over these size determine the amount of these com- Zimmer et al. (Refs. 9, 10). Jenkins has pro-
ranges for the three consumables using pounds and elements that may be ingested vided a thorough summary of formation
this technique. Fume was also collected without becoming harmful to human tis- mechanisms and corresponding size ranges
using a modified AWS F1.2:1999 bulk col- sues. Though epidemiological reactions to that govern welding fume particle forma-
lection technique to determine fume gen- the different compounds present in weld- tion (Ref. 7). The three mechanisms and ap-
eration rates and provide samples for bulk ing fume are important, they are beyond proximate formation ranges are nucleation
X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. X-ray the scope of this study, which was designed (< 100 nm), accumulation (100 nm1 m),
diffraction revealed that the predominant to characterize the fume particles pro- and the coarse range (> 1 m). The degree
phase in fume generated by all electrodes duced by metal joining processes. of particle growth in the nucleation range is
was a Fe3O4 compound (magnetite) with An aerosol consisting of fume and primarily controlled by the amount of su-
some substitution of Mn and Si for Fe in spatter is produced during welding with percooling following particle nucleation.
the magnetite structure. Fume generation SMAW electrodes. Previous studies have Accumulation describes particle growth by
rates were highest for E6010 followed by shown that SMAW fume consists of an as- collision with other particles from diffusion
E7018 and E308-16, respectively. Varying sortment of metals, oxides, and other and impaction. As particles continue to col-
heat input changed fume generation rates compounds, which form from evaporation lide with one another they may also form ag-
but did not affect the chemical nature of of elements in the arc and fluxes covering glomerates, which may adhere due to a
the fume, nor alter the size and mass dis- the electrode (Refs. 46). The fume parti- number of mechanisms. These include 1)
tributions to any great extent. Particle size cles generally vary over a wide range of contact of multiple particles still in the liq-
distributions of all three electrodes sizes, thus it becomes important to con- uid state, 2) sintering, and 3) electrostatic
reached peak concentrations in the fine sider fume particles in each size range as and Van der Waals forces (Ref. 11).
(0.12.5 m) particle size regions. Agglomerate sizes may be large com-
pared to individual particles, yet their
Introduction KEYWORDS aerodynamic diameters can still be quite
small. An aerodynamic diameter is the di-
Fume generated by the shielded metal Electrical Low Pressure Impactor ameter of a unit density sphere with the
arc welding (SMAW) process may be a (ELPI) same particle mass and particle mobility as
Shielded Metal Arc Welding the particle in question (Refs. 11, 12).
J. W. SOWARDS, J. C. LIPPOLD, and D. W. (SMAW) Aerodynamic diameter can be quite low
DICKINSON are with the Welding & Joining Met- Fume Generation Rates (FGR) for open structured agglomerates, com-
allurgy Group, The Ohio State University, Colum- X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) pared to spherical particles (Ref. 13).
bus, Ohio. A. J. RAMIREZ is with the Brazilian E6010, E308-16, and E7018 Coarse fume particles are formed by me-
Synchrotron Light Laboratory, Campinas, SP, chanical means such as ejection of spatter
Brazil.
WELDING RESEARCH
Fig. 1 Principle of particle impaction and aerodynamic cutoff size ranges Fig. 2 Effect of voltage on fume generation rates of E6010, E308-16, and
of each ELPI stage (Ref. 24). E7018.
Fig. 3 Effect of current on fume generation rates of E6010, E308-16, and Fig. 4 X-ray diffraction spectrum obtained from E6010 electrode (60-s col-
E7018. lection, 16.3 kJ/in. heat input).
from the arc or molten weld pool. These shell around the metallic core due to the ex- isting particles.
formation factors must be considered posure of the aerosol particle to oxygen- Condensation temperature variations
when analyzing composition and particle rich atmosphere; 5) fully react with oxygen between compounds such as Fe3O4 and
size distributions. to form metal-oxides; and 6) coagulate to SiO2 in aerosols have been shown to con-
Fume generation rates (FGR) of form aerosol particle agglomerates. If flux tribute to regions of compositional varia-
SMAW electrodes are second only to flux is used, as is the case with SMAW and tion in the individual particles, leading to
cored arc welding (FCAW) processes FCAW electrodes, then the fume particle a core-shell morphology (Ref. 17).
among the various welding processes that will be exposed to vapor formed from the These different formation mechanisms
are used commercially (Ref. 14). Fume vaporized flux elements resulting in con- will result in a large size-range of particles
generation is a function of different forma- densation of additional elements on preex- during shielded metal arc welding, ranging
tion steps and competing mechanisms
(Refs. 7, 10). The dynamics of aerosol nu-
cleation and fume formation are thor-
oughly described elsewhere (Refs. 15, 16). Table 1 Welding Conditions and Calculated Heat Input
The various elements and compounds Welding E6010 Low E6010 High E308-16 Low E308-16 High E7018 Nominal
within the welding consumable and base Parameter Heat Input Heat Input Heat Input Heat Input Heat Input
material are vaporized as a result of the in-
tense heat produced by the welding arc. A Current, Amps 93 115 81 115 126
general sequence of welding fume forma- Voltage, Volts 27.1 30.8 24 24 23.8
tion is as follows after vaporization: 1) the Travel Speed, in./min 9.6 (4.1) 11.1 (4.7) 10.5 (4.4) 10.5 (4.4) 10.75 (4.6)
aerosol particles will homogonously nucle- (mm/s)
Heat Input, kJ/in. 15.8 (0.62) 19.1 (0.75) 11.1 (0.44) 17.3 (0.68) 16.8 (0.66)
ate from the supersaturated vapor; 2) then (kJ/mm)
they will grow by condensation and/or co- Electrode Diameter, 8 (3.2)
1
8 (3.2)
1 1
8 (3.2) 8 (3.2)
1
8 (3.2)
1
WELDING RESEARCH
Fig. 5 X-ray diffraction spectrum obtained from E308-16 electrode (135-s Fig. 6 X-ray diffraction spectrum obtained from E7018 electrode (60-s col-
collection, 21.2 kJ/in. heat input). lection, 14.5 kJ/in. heat input).
from ultrafine (<0.1 m) to fine (0.l2.5 test the three electrodes in this study as real time. This is accomplished through
m) to coarse (>2.5 m) sizes (Ref. 18). well as a number of other consumable/ various principles including particle
The fine and ultrafine size ranges have process combinations. This testing in- charging, inertial classification, and elec-
been suggested to be the main concern cludes collection of fume and measure- trical detection of the particles using elec-
with respect to possible health problems, ment of FGR using an AWS-type collec- trometers (Ref. 20). Fume is drawn into
since they are more likely to be deposited tion system, coupled with smaller filter the ELPI by means of a vacuum pump,
in the lungs. Techniques, such as those de- pore sizes than those recommended by the and is passed through a particle charger
scribed here, to characterize the nature of F1.2:1999 standard (Ref. 19). A critical before being separated in the impactor.
welding fume as a function of size distrib- component of these studies is the fume The impactor has multiple stages, which
utions are required to fully understand the collection with an electrical low pressure size particles according to their aerody-
health-related impact of welding fume. impactor (ELPI). The ELPI is capable of namic diameter in the range of 0.0310
A fume collection system and proce- separating particles by aerodynamic diam- m. A given stage will trap particles if they
dure has been developed and was used to eter and monitoring size distributions in are unable to make the sharp turn re-
quired, due to their inertia, to reach the
next stage. This principle of particle im-
Table 2 Fume Generation Rates paction along with the particle size
trapped by each stage is shown in Fig. 1.
Electrode E6010 E6010 E308-16 E308-16 E7018 Each stage has the capability to detect the
charge on the incoming particles via elec-
Heat input (kJ/in.) 15.8 19.1 11.1 17.3 16.8
Average FGR (g/min) 0.387 0.598 0.091 0.198 0.365 trometers thus allowing for real-time
monitoring by a PC data acquisition sys-
tem. Weight analyses are commonly used
Table 3 Statistical Analyses Results for Number and Mass Distributions Presented in Figs. 6 in fume studies but the large particles,
and 7. Diameter Values are Reported in Nanometers. even if they are low in concentration, may
dominate a percent weight analysis (Ref.
E6010 E6010 E308-16 E308-16 E7018 21). Therefore, a considerable advantage
Low HI High HI Low HI High HI to using an ELPI system is its ability to re-
trieve a particle number distribution for a
number distributions
fume collection in addition to measuring
dg 102.4 128.7 206.2 252.9 105.1 mass collected on each stage of the system.
g 1.18 1.18 1.18 1.15 1.25
67% 87.1 108.9 175.0 220.4 84.2 Procedure
120.4 152.1 243.0 290.3 131.2
95% 43.6 54.5 87.5 110.2 42.1 A detailed procedure developed by
240.8 304.2 486.0 580.6 262.5 Sowards et. al was followed for the analy-
sis of welding fume from SMAW elec-
mass distributions
trodes (Ref. 22). A36 steel was used as a
dg 592.0 661.5 624.8 556.7 746.5 base material for E6010 and E7018 elec-
g 1.13 1.17 1.11 1.11 1.32 trodes, and Type 304L stainless steel was
67% 524.9 563.6 561.4 501.1 566.1
used as a base material for the E308-16
667.7 776.5 695.3 618.5 984.5 electrode. All welding procedures used
were in accordance with the consumable
95% 262.4 281.8 280.7 250.5 283.0
1335.4 1553.0 1390.6 1237.0 1968.9 manufacturer recommendations, i.e., op-
erating current, voltage, work angle, and
low-hydrogen electrode control (E7018,
WELDING RESEARCH
A B
D
C
E308-16). All welds were performed in the sight into filter per-
flat position, and the base material was formance and indi- E
moved relative to the electrode using a lin- cates when the fil-
ear positioner for ELPI collections and ro- ters become
tary positioner for fume hood collections. saturated with
An arc voltage controller (AVC) was used fume. Due to lim-
in conjunction with a linear positioner to ited physical space
feed the covered electrodes while main- in the fume hood
taining a constant arc voltage, thus main- chamber, a rotary
taining repeatability of heat input. All positioner with DC
welding parameters were monitored and stepper control was
recorded during testing. Averages of the used to provide base
parameters were used to calculate heat metal travel instead
input as shown in Table 1. Heat input is a of the linear posi-
commonly used parameter for specifying tioner used in ELPI
a welding procedure, therefore two levels collections.
were used. It was not a goal of this study After FGR were
to examine the effect of voltage and cur- measured, the ELPI
rent on fume formation. was used to collect Fig. 7 Particle number distributions as a function of particle diameter for
the following: A E6010 low heat input; B E6010 high heat input; C
Fume was collected in a sequence of fume for particle E308-16 low heat input; D E308-16 high heat input; E E7018 nominal
several trials. The first consisted of using number and mass heat input. Vertical lines correspond to geometric mean diameter (GMD) of
the fume hood to measure fume genera- distributions. Parti- distributions.
tion rates and collect bulk samples for X- cle number distribu-
ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. High flow- tions were recorded
rate glass fiber filters with a pore size of 0.3 in real time by the
m and an efficiency of 99.98% were used ELPI. Mass distributions were obtained by
Results and Discussion
for these collections. The filters were non- weighing aluminum collection substrates Fume Generation Rate
hygroscopic so moisture in the atmos- placed on each stage of the ELPI. Follow-
phere had negligible effect on filter ing a collection run, the substrate on each The fume generation results for E6010,
weights. A digital manometer with PC stage was reweighed to find the fume mass E7018, and E308-16 electrodes using the
control was used to record pressure drop deposited during testing. Substrate weight modified fume collection hood are pre-
across the filter during all fume hood col- was measured to an accuracy of 105 grams sented in Table 2. These FGR values rep-
lection. The pressure drop provides in- with an analytical balance. resent an average of three collections for
WELDING RESEARCH
A B
C D
the fume of both mild ing current and voltage (i.e., between the
E steel electrode fumes at two levels of heat input).
the lower heat input
level. Qualitative visual X-Ray Diffraction Results
examination revealed
that the E308-16 welds X-ray diffraction was performed on
had a much thicker slag bulk fume filters from each of the elec-
coating, which likely trodes to identify metallic species or com-
equates to a larger per- pounds present in the fume. The samples
centage of the flux coat- contained the full particle size range as de-
ing ending up as slag in- scribed in the procedure section. Fume
stead of fume as was removed from the bulk filter and
compared with the other pressed onto zero background holders be-
electrodes. Also, melting fore the diffraction experiments took
and vaporization rates of place, providing a better peak to back-
mild and stainless steels ground ratio than the fume filter itself.
are considerably differ- Figure 4 shows the results for the E6010
ent because of differ- electrode after a 60-s collection with the
Fig. 8 Particle mass distributions as a function of particle diameter for ences in thermal conduc- fume hood. The peaks show a strong cor-
the following: A E6010 low heat input; B E6010 high heat input; tivity as compared to relation to a magnetite (Fe3O4) type struc-
C E308-16 low heat input; D E308-16 high heat input; E E7018 ture. However, slight peak shifts were pre-
mild steels. Effects of
nominal heat input. Vertical lines correspond to geometric mean diame-
voltage and current on sent, suggesting the other elements (Mn
ter (GMD) of distributions.
FGR are shown in Figs. and Si) are substituting for Fe and shifting
2 and 3, respectively. the 2 values.
Each point represents X-ray diffraction results for E308-16
the average current and transferred fume are shown in Fig. 5.
each electrode. The total fume generated voltage recorded for a given electrode These peaks show the presence of mag-
for the E7018 was slightly less than the over the duration of the weld. Three welds netite (Fe3O4) and a potassium-rich oxide
E6010 electrode at low heat input sug- were made at each heat input level. For (K2MO4). The M in the formula repre-
gesting E6010 has the highest relative both E6010 and E308-16, an increase in sents Fe, Mn, Ni, or Cr. Based on the spec-
FGR. E308-16 generated less than 25% of fume generation was noted with increas- trum, it is not possible to separate the in-
WELDING RESEARCH
dividual compounds for these peaks. suggesting these are the dominant fume a geometric mean diameter of 0.75 m.
Therefore, M should be considered as a formation mechanisms, though there is The mean diameter is increased since
mixture of the four metals, although TEM some speculation in distinction between higher masses were measured on the
analysis showed that the predominant ele- the two regions (Ref. 9). E6010 distribu- larger stages of the ELPI. The size and
ment is Fe. A weak match for NaF was also tions change only slightly with heat input mass distributions appeared multimodal.
observed in the E308-16 spectrum. The as shown by the similar results in statisti- The size distribution had a mode in the nu-
XRD spectrum for the E7018 fume (Fig. cal methods. The number distribution for cleation and accumulation range. The
6) has strong peaks for Fe3O4, CaF2, and the high heat input welds is slightly skewed mass distribution had an additional mode
NaF. Once again, slight 2 shifts were ob- to larger average particle sizes relative to in the coarse range, which may be associ-
served for the magnetite peaks, which the low heat input collections. Both heat ated with spatter formation (Ref. 10).
were most likely caused by a Mn and Si input levels had the highest percentage
substitution for Fe. based on total weight at approximately 0.6 Summary of Number and Mass
m average aerodynamic diameter. Distribution Results
Number and Mass Distributions
E308-16 Distributions Clearly the number distributions for
The ELPI was used to measure both the three electrodes are biased toward
size and mass distributions using the tech- The average number percentage for smaller diameter particles as compared
niques described previously. The number the E308-16 electrode as a function of the with mass distributions. However, the
distribution, measured by the ELPI as a aerodynamic diameter as measured from mass of these small particles is insignifi-
function of the aerodynamic diameter, the ELPI stages for both heat inputs are cant in comparison with mass of the parti-
was determined for two heat input condi- presented in Fig. 7C and D and mass dis- cle sizes where mass distribution peaks
tions of E6010 and E308-16 and a single tributions for both heat input conditions (0.60.75 m). Some speculation exists as
heat input of E7018. Resulting distribu- are shown in Fig. 8C and D. Similar to to which size range of fume particles,
tions are presented in Fig. 7 where the what was observed for the E6010 elec- whether it is the fine or ultrafine regions,
normalized number of particles (dN/d trodes, there was little change in size dis- are most damaging when inhaled by weld-
log(Dp)) is plotted vs. log of particle di- tribution between the low and high heat ing personnel (Ref. 18). It is generally ac-
ameter, Dp. The mass distributions of the input welds. The number distribution cepted that respirable particles are those
same collections are presented in Fig. 8 shifts to larger particle sizes, and mass dis- that are less than 10 m in size. Agglom-
where normalized particle mass (dM/d tribution decreases slightly in diameter for erates of various sizes were present on all
log(Dp)) is plotted vs. log of particle di- the higher heat input. Particles in the size stages of the ELPI collections for each of
ameter. It is convenient to plot aerosol dis- range of approximately 0.20.3 m were the electrodes tested as observed by char-
tributions vs. the log of particle diameter predominant, accounting more than 60% acterization techniques discussed in Part
to compress the region containing coarse of the total number of particles. Compar- II of this paper. Equivalent aerodynamic
particles and enlarge the fine and ultrafine ing the E6010 to the E308-16, the particle diameters of agglomerates must be con-
regions since these are of greatest interest. size distribution is biased toward the large sidered when analyzing data from the
Percentage of particle size and mass for size particles in the E308-16 fume. This ELPI, since it only provides an average be-
each ELPI stage are also included in Figs. may be related to the degree of super- havior of each stage cut-off size. Agglom-
7 and 8. Error bars indicate one standard cooling between the two materials or be- erated particles may have a large physical
deviation (for percentage scale) of the av- cause of different nucleation rates. The size compared to their aerodynamic diam-
erage of three collections performed for E308-16 fume contains Ni and Cr, which eter. Thus, larger-sized agglomerates may
each condition. Geometric mean diame- have lower thermal conductivities than the be collected on the lower stages of the im-
ters are represented by the vertical dashed strictly Fe-based particles found in E6010 pactor. For all three electrodes, a high per-
line shown on each distribution. Statistical fume. Since these particles may have centage of the fume particles on the lower
analyses may be performed on log-normal slower cooling than the E6010 particles, stages were agglomerates, while the upper
distributions of aerosols to obtain a geo- they could possibly have more time to stages contained a higher fraction of
metric mean diameter and variance of grow by diffusion after colliding with more spherical particles. The higher fraction of
particle size. Results of these statistical particles. The mass distribution between isolated spherical particles on upper
analyses are displayed in Table 3. the two heat inputs is also consistent. Mass stages may be explained by the fact that
distribution was spread over a wider parti- spatter is the dominant fume formation
E6010 Distributions cle size range than the E6010. Once again, mode at the larger size scales as opposed
the mass of particles below 0.1 m is very to particle accumulation (Refs. 7, 10).
Comparing the particle number distri- small, accounting for about 1.5% of the As this occurs, seemingly large ag-
butions between the two different heat in- total fume mass. glomerates are counted on the lower
puts of E6010 fume (Fig. 7A and B) shows stages because their aerodynamic diame-
good consistency. Approximately 95% of E7018 Distributions ter is actually small. Models of the human
particles are less than 0.3 m in diameter, oral-pharyngeal cavities suggest that these
making the bulk of the size distributions Average number and mass distribu- agglomerates that are held together by
for both heat inputs lie in the particle nu- tions for E7018 at a nominal heat input are Van der Waals forces may disperse back
cleation and accumulation size ranges as presented in Figs. 7E and 8E, respectively. into individual particles if the flow rate is
described elsewhere (Ref. 7). More than The number distribution of E7018 is substantially large as in human lung mod-
70% of the fume mass lies in the accumu- shifted toward the small aerodynamic di- els (30200 L/min) (Ref. 23). The ELPI
lation range (particles below 1 m in di- ameters of the ELPI size range as com- used for this study was only operated at a
ameter). The mass of particles below 0.1 pared with number distributions of E6010 flow rate of 10 L/min, which is not ade-
m is very small, representing less than and E308-16, which both exhibited distri- quate to break these loosely attractive
2% of the total fume mass. Geometric butions with the majority of the particles forces. However, many of these agglomer-
mean diameters of the number distribu- falling in the 0.10.2 m size range. The ates are held together by forces other than
tions were both at the transition between mass distribution of E7018 peaks at ap- Van der Waals bonding suggesting ag-
the nucleation and accumulation ranges, proximately 0.6 m average diameter with glomerate disassociation will likely not
WELDING RESEARCH
occur for those other types. Even with ag- ment setup and testing. Funding for this a premixed flat flame. Journal of Aerosol Science
glomeration effects, the ELPI distribu- project was provided by D&L Welding 29(5,6): 687 to 706.
tion, based on aerodynamic diameter, is a Fume Analysis LLC, representing a con- 18. Antonini, J. M., Krishna Murthy, G. G.,
good representation of the respirable sortium of past and current consumable Rogers, R. A., Albert, R., Eagar, T. W., Ulrich,
G. D., and Brain, J. D. 1998. How welding
ranges of these particles. manufacturers.
fumes affect the welder. Welding Journal 77(10):
The information made available in this 55 to 59.
manuscript provides insight on fume for- References 19. American Welding Society. 1999.
mation and size distribution of SMA weld- F1.2:1999, Laboratory Method for Measuring
ing fumes. This information along with the 1. Ashburner, L. 1989. Some hazards of Fume Generation Rates and Total Fume Emis-
characterization of SMA fume in Part II of welding fume. Joining and Materials 2(3): 118, sion of Welding and Allied Processes. Miami,
this study may be useful for future welding 119. Fla.: AWS.
2. NIOSH. 1988. Criteria for a recommended 20. Keskinen, J., Pietarinen, K., and
consumable development, since consum-
standard welding, brazing, and thermal cutting. Lehtimki, M. 1992. Electrical low pressure im-
able composition affects the nature of the NIOSH document no. 88-110. Cincinnati, Ohio. pactor. J. Aerosol Science 23(4): 353 to 360.
fume it generates. 3. Pekkari, B. 2000. Growing concerns about 21. Speight, F. Y., and Campbell, H. C., eds.
health, safety and environment in welding. 1979. Fumes and Gases in the Welding Environ-
Conclusions Welding in the World 44(5): 101 to 116. ment. Miami, Fla.: American Welding Society.
4. Evans, R. M., Flanigan, L. J., Howden, D. 22. Sowards, J. W., Lippold, J. C., Dickinson,
1. Fume generation rate is dependent G., Lee, K. W., Luce, R. G., Martin, D. C., Pat- D. W., and Ramirez, A. J. 2008. Characteriza-
on heat input and varied among the elec- tee, H. E., and Robinson, R. E. 1979. Fumes and tion procedure for the analysis of arc welding
trodes evaluated, being highest for E6010 Gases in the Welding Environment, Batelle- fume. Welding Journal 87(3): 76-s to 83-s.
Columbus. Miami, Fla.: American Welding 23. Li, W., Perzl, M., Heyder, J., Langer, R.,
electrode, followed by E7018 and E308-
Society. Brain, J. D., Englmeier, K. H., Niven, R. W., and
16. 5. Fasiska, E. J., Wagenblast, H. W., and Edwards, D. A. 1996. Aerodynamics and
2. X-ray diffraction of E6010 and Nasta, M. 1983. Characterization of Arc Welding aerosol particle deaggregation phenomena in
E7018 bulk fume samples revealed that Fume. Miami, Fla.: American Welding Society. model oral-pharyngeal cavities. Journal of
the primary phase present was Fe3O4 6. Voitkevich, V. 1995. Welding Fumes: For- Aerosol Science 27(8): 1269 to 1286.
(magnetite). Slight peak shifts suggested mation, Properties and Biological Effects. Cam- 24. Dekati, Ltd. 2003. ELPI Users Manual.
that Mn and Si probably substituted for Fe bridge, England: Abington Publishing. Tampere, Finland, Dekati Ltd.
in the Fe3O4-type structure. The E7018 7. Jenkins, N. T. 2003. Chemistry of airborne
fume had additional peaks for NaF and particles from metallurgical processing. PhD
dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Tech-
CaF2.
nology, Cambridge, Mass.
3. X-ray diffraction of the E308-16 8. Stephenson, D., Seshadri, G., and Ver-
An Important
fume also showed strong peaks for Fe3O4 anth, J. M. 2003. Workplace exposure to sub-
and had additional peaks for K2MO4 (M micron particle mass and number concentra-
accounts for Fe, Mn, Ni, Cr) and NaF.
4. Particle number distributions deter-
tions from manual arc welding of carbon steel.
American Industrial Hygiene Association Journal Event
mined with the ELPI for E6010 and E7018
showed that 95% of the fume particles
64: 516 to 521.
9. Zimmer, A. T., and Biswas, P. 2001. Char- on Its Way?
generated during welding were smaller acterization of aerosols resulting from arc weld-
than 0.3 m. For E308-16, 95% of the ing processes. Journal of Aerosol Science 32: 993 Send information on upcoming
to 1008. events to the Welding Journal
fume consisted of particles less than ap- 10. Zimmer, A. T., Baron, P., and Biswas, P.
proximately 0.6 m. 2002. The influence of operating parameters on Dept., 550 NW LeJeune Rd.,
5. Particle mass distributions for all number-weighted aerosol size distribution gen- Miami, FL 33126. Items can
three consumables was spread over larger erated from a gas metal arc welding process. also be sent via FAX to (305)
particles sizes and most of the mass was Journal of Aerosol Science 33: 519 to 531. 443-7404 or by e-mail to
larger than the size considered to be in the 11. Reist, P. C. 1984. Introduction to Aerosol
woodward@aws.org.
harmful respirable range (> 0.1 m). Science. New York, N.Y.: Macmillan
6. The mass of particles in the ultrafine Publishing.
regime was very low, representing less 12. Kelly, W. P., and McMurray, P. H. 1992.
Measurement of particle density by inertial
than 2% of the total fume mass.
classification of differential mobility analyzer-
7. Varying heat input for the E6010 and generated monodisperse aerosol. Aerosol Sci-
E308-16 electrodes produced little change ence and Technology 17: 199 to 212.
in number or mass distributions.
Dear Readers:
13. Kutz, S., and Schmidt-Ott, A. 1990. Use
8. E7018 produced more particles in of a low pressure impactor for fractal analysis of
the finer regimes than E6010 and E308- submicron particles. J. Aerosol Science The Welding Journal encourages
16, though the highest measured concen- 21(Suppl. 1): S47 to S50. an exchange of ideas through
tration of particles was approximately 0.1 14. Gray, C. N., Hewitt, P. J., and Dare, P. R. letters to the editor. Please send
m for both mild steels and 0.2 m for the M. 1982. New approach would help control your letters to the Welding Journal
fumes at source part two: MIG fumes. Welding
stainless steel. Dept., 550 NW LeJeune Rd.,
and Metal Fabrication 51(1): 52 to 55.
15. Hinds, W. 1999. Aerosol Technology: Miami, FL 33126. You can also
Acknowledgments Properties, Behavior, and Measurement of Air- reach us by FAX at (305) 443-7404
borne Particles, 2d ed. New York: Wiley- or by sending an e-mail to Kristin
The authors would like to thank Matt Interscience.
Gonser of the Welding & Joining Metal- 16. Seinfeld, J. H., and Pandis, S. 1998. At-
Campbell at kcampbell@aws.org.
lurgy Group at The Ohio State University mospheric Chemistry and Physics. New York:
for his valuable assistance in fume collec- John Wiley & Sons Inc.
tion and analysis. Also thanks to Troy 17. Ehrman, S. H., Friedlander, S. K., and
Paskell of WeldQC for help with equip- Zachariaht, M. R. 1998. Characteristics of
SiO2/ TiO2 nanocomposite particles formed in