Quality Audit of BOXNHL Wagon Production at SPJ.

A CASE STUDY G. Chowdhury Prof.(EM)/IRIMEE

INTRODUCTION
QA done on request of CME/ECR Only welding aspects were covered Average production of 25 Wagons/pm So far, SPJ have produced 200 odd nos. Another 250 of combination joint at CS Next 150 of only SS joint at CS Then total HAT section from trade

General Information
BOXNHL stands for BOXN Higher Load Tare Wt.: 20.6 MT Pay Load: 71 MT, Axle Load: 22.9 MT Length over Head Stock: 10034mm, Width:3250mm, Height:3301mm, Vol:61m3 Rake 58 wagons, 636m Coated with PU paint

General Information
whole under-frame and superstructure is made of ferritic stainless steel of IRSM-44, except the end portions of centre sill which are made of mild steel of IS: 2062. Three types of welding are involved;
joining SS to SS M2 Class SS to MS D Class MS to MS C2 Class

General Information
WPS No. WD-WPS-BOXNHL-08. Calls for welders as per IS: 7310 Pt-I Recommended welding practice: MIG/MAG or MMAW Welding ferritic SS needs special expertise
Highly sensitive to heat input Moreover, Cr loss is a serious issue

Welding Equipments
12 numbers of MIG welding machines
Only one is functional Procuring a few new machines

MMAW machines are in good condition.

 All having multiple hand made joints in cables, one just after machine Advised to use lugs if unavoidable

Plasma Arc used for cutting of SS

Welding Consumables
Meticulously using different types of electrodes as specified in WPS Both 3.15 mm dia. and 4 mm dia. Storage conditions also very good Special care for absorption from floor SS wire brush & chisel for SS welding Consumable wire lying unused. Advised to send to workshops using MIG/MAG

Edge preparation & Fitment

Quality of edge preparation is not good Grinding wheel is being used
producing a Double V sort of edge with irregular contour Edge angle & neck not being maintained Taking a long time without quality output

Edge preparation & Fitment

Alternatively, slant cutting by Plasma arc
Avoids grinding & produce a better edge Light dressing by grinding stone (not Wheel) to remove oxide layer & form neck One such piece made & shown to CWM With some fine tuning and practice it is possible to produce good quality edge with much less effort and time

Edge preparation & Fitment

In some places, edge preparation is being done in situ, i.e. after tack welding or partial welding of two pieces together The practice should be discontinued
All edges should be prepared before tacking the pieces together

Edge preparation & Fitment

The quality of fitment is quite poor Large gaps between two pieces to be joined, both in Butt and Fillet weld, even in centre sill joining (HRF to CRF)
Unduly large amount of metal deposition  Higher heat input affecting mechanical properties of SS Increased production cost & aesthetics

Edge preparation & Fitment

In exigency, SS strips can be used as back plate to cover up gap in butt weld
The plate can be removed later during sealing run from the opposite side

The present practice of using copper plate for backing should be discontinued
It may lead to copper entrapment & lack of fusion due to chilling effect

Preheating of Electrodes
Preheating is highly important as it reduces hydrogen content of weld, responsible for delayed cracking Electrode preheating ovens installed in many areas
None of them are working except one in Centre Sill Joining area In most of the places electrodes are being used w/o preheating

Preheating of Electrodes
In that lone oven also, the temperature indicator not showing proper temperature
When checked by a non-contact type pyrometer, the inside temperature was showing only 139C as against 266C shown by the digital indicator As recommended preheating is at 250C/ 350C, basic objective of preheating is getting defeated

Preheating of Electrodes
The ovens must be calibrated periodically A non-contact type pyrometer can be kept in the shop for cross checking For preheating temperature and time, the recommendation given on the packets by the manufacturer must be religiously followed

Preheating of Electrodes
Welders taking out a bunch of electrode
Remaining electrodes are becoming cold and reabsorbing moisture

Procure flask type portable ovens

Plugged in at the actual work Maintain temperature around 1100C Individual electrode can be taken out from the portable oven and consumed

Welding Team
Basic qualification on lower side The WPS calls for welders certified as per IS: 7310 Pt-I, but unfortunately none possesses such certificate. Out of 75 odd welders, only 39 trained in DLW and 10 more being sent now 26 welders have been sent to RCF also.

Welding Team
DLW also not certifying as per IS:7310 Pt-I
Own system of grading All welders secured grade B, i.e. good

Some supervisors also need upgradation of knowledge, particularly in SS welding

The lack of knowledge possibly leads to adoption of non-standard or short cut method of working

Welding Team
At least a percentage of welder be trained and formally certified as per IS: 7310 Pt-I from some reputed training institutes like ESAB, ADVANI etc. Skill may be further supplemented by training in SS welding at RCF Specially employed for welding of structural members of underframe.

Actual Welding & Workmanship

Following proper polarity In many places, much higher welding current than recommended
Electrodes are becoming red hot Totally unacceptable practice Affects the mechanical properties of ferritic SS very adversely in HAZ Also affects quality of weldment

Actual Welding & Workmanship

Calibrated Tong Tester to cross check the actual welding current and OCV Some welders are not following Back Tracing or Whip Back technique In many places, porosity, undercut etc. are found in the centre sill, even though the job has been completed and released for next stage of working

Actual Welding & Workmanship

In assembly area manipulator not used
Poor quality of horizontal/vertical welding

Welding after painting, not healthy General workmanship needs improvement

 Large gaps and misfits are observed  Packing of metal chip was observed  In plain lap joints of two sheets in door area, 3-4 mm gap was observed

Actual Welding & Workmanship

Poor dimensional adherence of trade items aggravating the problem of misfit Welding stopped for some time due to water logging from rain In body sections, rain water accumulations over the sheets due to leakage from roof Cleaning prior to welding was improper
 Welders have been advised to remove all dirt, metal dust etc. before welding

General Guidance
Locking of cracks before repair grinding Adjusting OCV rather than current Use of thermal chalks for cross checking inter-pass temperature Size of tack welds 30-50 mm with one electrode length spacing (350 mm) Stray arc marks Storage of IRSM-44 grade SS sheets

Discussion with Welding Team

A discussion with all supervisors & CWM Major issues like high welding current, preheating, crack repair etc. explained Fitment of electrical lugs Edge preparation by slant cutting Procurement of Tong tester & pyrometer Training of welders & supervisors

Trouble Shooting
A particular lot of SS Z section has given a lot of problem in joining
All the pieces have been rejected after multiple attempt of repairing

Advised given:
welding with preheated electrodes Checking Chemistry, particularly carbon content

Recommendations
Attention in major area of concern
Preheating High Welding current Edge preparation & fitment Training

Formation of weld inspection team Edge preparation from Trade Internal review- follow up recommendations