Sensors control gas metal arc welding
- National Inst. of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO (United States)
The response time of a trained welder from the time a weld problem is identified to the time action is taken is about one second--especially after a long, uneventful period of welding. This is acceptable for manual welding because it is close to the time it takes for the weld pool to solidify. If human response time were any slower, manual welding would not be possible. However, human response time is too slow to respond to some weld events, such as melting of the contact tube in gas metal arc welding (GMAW), and only automated intelligent control systems can react fast enough to correct or avoid these problems. Control systems incorporate welding knowledge that enables intelligent decisions to be made about weld quality and, ultimately, to keep welding parameters in the range where only high-quality welds are produced. This article discusses the correlation of electrical signals with contact-tube wear, changes in shielding gas, changes in arc length, and other weld process data.
- OSTI ID:
- 474226
- Journal Information:
- Advanced Materials and Processes, Vol. 151, Issue 4; Other Information: PBD: Apr 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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