DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF SEMI AUTOMATIC

WELDING MACHINE
A PROJECT REPORT
Submitted by
ROHAN.K (922116114065)
SHRIRAM.M (922116114075)
TAMILARASAN.AR (922116114079)
HARIKUMARAN.S (922116114305)
In partial fulfillment for the award of the degree
Of
BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING
In
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
SSM INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY,
SINDALAGUNDU POST, PALANI ROAD, DINDIGUL – 624002
Submitted to
ANNA UNIVERSITY: CHENNAI 600 025
MARCH 2019
 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Certified that this project report “DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF “SEMI

AUTOMATIC WELDING” is the bonafide work of “K.ROHAN
(922116114065), M.SHRIRAM (922116114075), AR.TAMILARASAN
(922116114075), and S.HARIKUMARAN (922116114305)” Who carried out the
project work under my supervision.

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE

Dr.G.SANKARANARAYANAN, M.E., (Ph.D) Mr. E.SIVASELVAM, M.E,

HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,

Department of Mechanical, Department of Mechanical,

Engineering. Engineering.

Submitted for the ANNA UNIVERSITY, CHENNAI Examination held on ………………

at SSM Institute of Engineering and Technology, Dindigul-624002.

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

For any beginner who finally succeeds, there will be a major support and
powerful word of encouragement and appreciation shown behind and so with our
successful completion of our project.

I extend our thanks to our management’s staff especially our belonged

chairman Thiru. P.S.VELUSWAMY, B.A., B.L., and to our director
Dr.R.CHANDRAN, M.Tech. M.B.A., Ph.D.,

We are very much grateful to our principal Dr. M.SARAVANAN, M.E.,

Ph.D, Mr .G.SANKARANARAYANAN, M.E., Ph.D, Head of the department
of Mechanical Engineering for his encouragement.

We feel great Mr. E.SIVASELVAM, M.E., Assistant professor of

Mechanical Engineering, SSMIET as our internal guide without whom successful
completion of our project would not have happened.

We also thank Mr. M. Mayilvahanan, Mr. P. Arumugam lab

technicians of Mechanical Engineering, SSMIET for sharing technical
details with us.
 ABSTRACT

Automation systems are rapidly taking the place of the

human work force. One of the benefits is that this change
provides the human work force with the time to spend on
more creative task. Increased quality requirements for
products and the trend to automate production processes
along with increased profitability result in the use of
automation in modern manufacturing .With the rapid
developing of economy, India has gradually become a
manufacturing giant in the world. Welding is one of the most
important technologies of materials forming and processing in
modern manufacturing industry. Welding is the primary
connecting process in various constructions. Automated
systems play an important role in achieving higher quality and
productivity in a cost – effective way. The welding is the one of
the main process that to connect the two pieces to make joint
that can be done by the mechanical process. The semi –
automated welding is the one of the easy way to make our
work easy and it can reduce our time. The objective of this
project is to reduce the time and cost required for welding
process .
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER NO TITLE PAGE NO

COVER i

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iii

ABSTRACT iv

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES vii

1. INTRODUCTION 1

2. LITERATURE REVIEW 2

3. SEMI AUTOMATIC WELDING 4

3.1. Working principle 4

3.2. Mechanism used 5

4. TYPES OF WELDING 6

5. MATERIAL SELECTION 10

6. DESIGN OF PROTOTYPE 14

7. COST ESTIMATION 16

7.1. Bill of material 16

8. PHOTOGRAPHY 17

9. CONCLUSION 18

10. REFERENCES 19
TABLE .NO LIST OF TABLES PAGE NO

1. Cost estimation 16
FIGURE NO LIST OF FIGURES PAGE NO

4.1 Gas tungsten arc welding 5

4.2 Gas metal arc welding 6

4.3 Stick welding 7

4.4 Flux-Cored Arc Welding 8

5.2 Electodes 12

5.3 Consumable Electrodes 13

6.1 Front plane 14

6.2 Top plane 14

6.3 Isometric view 15

6.4 Roller 15

8.1 Design and Fabrication of Semi 17

Automatic Welding Machine

(Prototype)
 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

Welding is one of the most important technologies of materials forming and

processing in modern manufacturing industry. Welding is the primary connecting
process in various constructions. Automated systems play an important role in
achieving higher quality and productivity in a cost-effective way. The objective of
this project is to reduce the time and cost required for arrangement of Welding
purpose. With ever increasing demand for both high production rates and high
precision, fully mechanized or automated welding process have taken prominent
place in the welding field. The rate at which automation is being introduced into
welding process is astonishing and it may be expected that by the end of this
century more automated machines than men in welding fabrication units will be
found. In addition, computers play critical role in running the automated welding
processes and the commands given by the computer will be taken from the
programs, which in turn, need algorithms of the welding variables in the form of
mathematical equations. To make effective use of the automated systems it is
essential that a high degree of confidence be achieved in predicting the weld
parameters to attain the desired mechanical strength in welded joints. Semi
automatic Welding is a fabrication process to make high strength joint between
two or more parts by heating to their melting temperature, with or without the
application of pressure and with or without the use of filler metal

1
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

A weld is defined in the Australian Standards [AS2812] as “A joint

in a material produced by means of heat or pressure or both in such a
way that there is continuity in the nature of the metal between the parts.
A filler metal, the melting point of which is of the same order as that of
the parent metal, may or may not be used”. Welding is usually the most
economical way to join components in terms ofmaterial usage and
fabrication costs.

Lakshminarayanan A.K., Balasubramanian V. and Elangovan

K. [1] investigated the AA6061 Aluminium alloy joints mechanical
properties welded by gas metal arc welding, gas tungsten arc welding
and friction stir welding. Single V joint configuration, pure argon
shielding gas and AA4043 filler wire were used for the gas metal arc
welding and gas tungsten arc welding. Non consumable high carbon
steel tool was used for the friction stir welding. Diamond compound was
used for a final polishing. The friction stir weld joints produced the high
strength values than GMAW . The strength value 34% higher than the
GMAW and 15% higher than the . The base metal and heat affected
zone produced the high hardness values than the weld metal. FSW
produced the high hardness value and GMAW produced low hardness
value. Equiaxed uniformly distributed fine grains increased the high
tensile properties in the weld region for FSW joints.

Balasubramanian V., Ravisankar V. and Madhusudhan Reddy

G.[2] studied the high strength aluminium alloy joints produced by gas
metal arc welding and gas tungsten arc welding under the effect of
continuous current and pulsed current technique. Pure argon used as a
shielding gas. The pulsed current gas metal arc weld joints produced
high strength values and high joint efficiency than other welded joints.
Due to that of fine grains the Base metal and heat affected zone regions
produced high hardness values than weld metal.

2
 Chakravarthy M., Ramanaiah N. and RaoB.S.S. [8] described
the effect of pulsing of 90 Cu10Ni and 70Cu30Ni alloy welds
mechanical and microstructure properties produced by TIG welding.
5mm thick 90 Cu10Ni and 70Cu30Ni alloy plates and ER CuNi filler
wire were used in this process. Two types of current were used in study;
Pulsed current (1Hz, 3Hz, 5Hz) and continuous current. Pulsated current
(1Hz,3Hz) 90 Cu10Ni and 70Cu30Ni alloy welds produced high
hardness & tensile strength values than the continuous current 90Cu10Ni
and 70Cu30Ni alloy welds. Continuous current welds produced more
hardness fluctuations than the pulsed current welds.

AjitHooda, AshwaniDhingra and Satpal Sharma [7] optimized

the MIG welding process parameters like welding voltage, wire speed
and gas flow rate of AISI 1040 medium carbon steel joints. AISI 1040
(300mm×150mm×8mm) plate was welded by 1.2mm diameter ER70S-6
welding wire. The wire tip globule formation was eliminated by fresh tip
treatment technology. The four factor, three level, face centered
composite design matrix were used for obtained the optimized input
process values for transverse yield strength and longitudinal yield
strength in joined AISI 1040 steel.

3
 CHAPTER 3

SEMI AUTOMATIC WELDING MACHINE

3.1. Principle

When automatic welding is not advisable due to different reasons, the most
prospective welding technology employed at the present time in the construction of
cross country pipelines is one which combines manual stick welding (either basic
or cellulose) for the root pass with semi–automatic welding of fill and cap passes
using flux–cored wire such as Innershield.
The equipment needed for this technology comprises:
• a universal welding power supply with CC (for stick electrode welding)
and CV (for wire welding) volt ampere characteristics,
• a wire feeder with welding torch and adapter.
The advantage of self–shielded flux–cored wire (FCAW–
SS) Innershield lies in its high deposition rate and the fact that it requires no gas.
Over the last few years a new technology of semiautomatic welding has
emerged in which the root pass is welded by wire using the Surface Tension
Transfer STT process, and the fill and cap passes are welded
using Innershield wire. There are numerous advantages to using this method:
guaranteed penetration, the lowest hydrogen content in the weld metal, a
magnificent back bead, high production characteristics, lack of smoke and spatter,
less skill required of the welder. These advantages clearly outweigh the small
inconvenience of needing to use gas
for the root pass. Success has been achieved in using semiautomatic welding for
the entire girth weld with STT from the root pass to the cap pass, all on a pipe with
wall thickness up to 10 mm. technology, When wall thickness exceeds 12.7 mm, a
combination of technologies is recommended, in which the root is welded
with STT, while the fill and cap passes are welded with Outershield wire in a gas
environment. The use of Outershield flux–cored wire, with its high arc deposition
rates, increases welding productivity even more without any additional overheads.
A set of equipment for welding the fill and cap passes
includes:
• welding power supply (CV);
• wire feeder with welding torch and adapter.

4
3.2. Mechanism used: CHAIN DRIVE

• Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to

another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle,
particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of
machines besides vehicles.
• Most often, the power is conveyed by a roller chain, known as the drive
chain or transmission chain,[1] passing over a sprocket gear, with the teeth
of the gear meshing with the holes in the links of the chain. The gear is
turned, and this pulls the chain putting mechanical force into the system.
Another type of drive chain is the Morse chain, invented by the Morse Chain
Company of Ithaca, New York, United States. This has inverted teeth.[2]
• Sometimes the power is output by simply rotating the chain, which can be
used to lift or drag objects. In other situations, a second gear is placed and
the power is recovered by attaching shafts or hubs to this gear. Though drive
chains are often simple oval loops, they can also go around corners by
placing more than two gears along the chain; gears that do not put power
into the system or transmit it out are generally known as idler-wheels. By
varying the diameter of the input and output gears with respect to each other,
the gear ratio can be altered. For example, when the bicycle pedals' gear
rotate once, it causes the gear that drives the wheels to rotate more than one
revolution.

5
 CHAPTER 4

TYPES OF WELDING
4.1. GAS TUNGSTEN ARC WELDING:
Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), also known as tungsten inert
gas (TIG) welding, is an arc welding process that uses a non-
consumable tungsten electrode to produce the weld. The weld area and electrode is
protected from oxidation or other atmospheric contamination by an inert shielding
gas (argon or helium), and a filler metal is normally used, though some welds,
known as autogenous welds, do not require it. A constant-current welding power
supply produces electrical energy, which is conducted across the arc through a
column of highly ionized gas and metal vapors known as a plasma.
GTAW is most commonly used to weld thin sections of stainless steel and
non-ferrous metals such as aluminum, magnesium, and copper alloys. The process
grants the operator greater control over the weld than competing processes such
as shielded metal arc welding and gas metal arc welding, allowing for stronger,
higher quality welds. However, GTAW is comparatively more complex and
difficult to master, and furthermore, it is significantly slower than most other
welding techniques. A related process, plasma arc welding, uses a slightly different
welding torch to create a more focused welding arc and as a result is often
automated.

Operation

Fig 4.1 Gas tungsten arc welding

6
4.2.GAS METAL ARC WELDING:

Fig 4.2. Gas Metal Arc Welding

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW), sometimes referred to by its

subtypes metal inert gas (MIG) welding or metal active gas(MAG) welding, is
a welding process in which an electric arc forms between a
consumable wire electrode and the workpiece metal(s), which heats the workpiece
metal(s), causing them to melt and join.
Along with the wire electrode, a shielding gas feeds through the welding
gun, which shields the process from contaminants in the air. The process can be
semi-automatic or automatic. A constant voltage, direct current power source is
most commonly used with GMAW, but constant current systems, as well
as alternating current, can be used. There are four primary methods of metal
transfer in GMAW, called globular, short-circuiting, spray, and pulsed-spray, each
of which has distinct properties and corresponding advantages and limitations.
Originally developed for welding aluminium and other non-ferrous materials
in the 1940s, GMAW was soon applied to steels because it provided faster welding
time compared to other welding processes. The cost of inert gas limited its use in
steels until several years later, when the use of semi-inert gases such as carbon
dioxide became common. Further developments during the 1950s and 1960s gave
the process more versatility and as a result, it became a highly used industrial
process. Today, GMAW is the most common industrial welding process, preferred
for its versatility, speed and the relative ease of adapting the process to robotic
automation. Unlike welding processes that do not employ a shielding gas, such
as shielded metal arc welding, it is rarely used outdoors or in other areas of moving
air. A related process, flux cored arc welding, often does not use a shielding gas,
but instead employs an electrode wire that is hollow and filled with flux.

7
4.3 STICK WELDING:
Before you get started welding – and this is very important – get
comfortable, use two hands to hold the handle, and brace yourself in any and every
possible way to make sure you are in a comfortable position. This is one of the
biggest secrets journeyman welders use all of the time. I had to go to a very
expensive welding school to learn this. I was originally thought to weld with one
hand and all that means for you is less control. Control is the biggest factor when it
comes to welding technique!

Fig 4.3 stick welding

Getting the arc started is easier said than done. In the beginning, you will
find that the rod sticks and the flux will likely chip off and ruin a small part of the
rod. It’s almost unavoidable and you have to take it like learning to ride a bike.

8
4.4.Flux - Cored Arc Welding (FCAW)

Fig 4.4 Flux-Cored Arc Welding

This technique is rather similar to the MIG welding method, as it also

requires an uninterruptedly fed electrode, but instead of a solid wire, it needs a
tube-shaped wire full with flux. You can choose from two types of flux core wire,
which are socially and will shield wires. social good wires are a good solution for
outdoor use, as they work even in windy situations. n the other hand, double shield
uses an external shielding gas and the flux in order to guard the modern weld
puddle.

The main advantages of this technique include the higher electrode

efficiency that creates less waste than other types of welding methods, as well as
the lower hit inputs. With the flux-cored arc welding, there is no need for external
shielding gas, and you get reduced welding fumes regardless of the metal used for
welding. This is also a rather clean type of welding, as you don't have to deal with
lots of debris.

9
 CHAPTER 5

MATERIAL SELECTION

5.1.Mild Steel

Mild Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon and other elements. Because of its
high tensile strength and low cost, it is a major component used
in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, automobiles, machines, appliances,
and weapons.

Iron is the base metal of steel. Iron is able to take on two crystalline forms
(allotropic forms), body centered cubic (BCC) and face centered cubic (FCC),
depending on its temperature. In the body-centred cubic arrangement, there is an
iron atom in the centre of each cube, and in the face-centred cubic, there is one at
the center of each of the six faces of the cube. It is the interaction of
the allotropes of iron with the alloying elements, primarily carbon, that gives steel
and cast iron their range of unique properties.

In pure iron, the crystal structure has relatively little resistance to the iron
atoms slipping past one another, and so pure iron is quite ductile, or soft and easily
formed. In steel, small amounts of carbon, other elements, and inclusions within
the iron act as hardening agents that prevent the movement of dislocations that are
common in the crystal lattices of iron atoms.

The carbon in typical steel alloys may contribute up to 2.14% of its weight.
Varying the amount of carbon and many other alloying elements, as well as
controlling their chemical and physical makeup in the final steel (either as solute
elements, or as precipitated phases), slows the movement of those dislocations that
make pure iron ductile, and thus controls and enhances its qualities. These qualities
include such things as the hardness, quenching behavior, need
for annealing, tempering behaviour, yield strength, and tensile strength of the
resulting steel. The increase in steel's strength compared to pure iron is possible
only by reducing iron's ductility.

10
 Mild Steel was produced in bloomery furnaces for thousands of years, but its
large-scale, industrial use began only after more efficient production methods were
devised in the 17th century, with the production of blister steel and then crucible

steel. With the invention of the Bessemer process in the mid-19th century, a new
era of mass-produced steel began. This was followed by the Siemens-Martin
process and then the Gilchrist-Thomas process that refined the quality of steel.
With their introductions, mild steel replaced wrought iron.

Further refinements in the process, such as basic oxygen steelmaking (BOS),

largely replaced earlier methods by further lowering the cost of production and
increasing the quality of the final product. Today, steel is one of the most common
man-made materials in the world, with more than 1.6 billion tons produced
annually. Modern steel is generally identified by various grades defined by
assorted standards organizations.

11
5.2.ELECTRODE

Fig.5.2. Electodes
The welding rod is the piece of wire connected to the welding machine. A
current is fed through this wire, which helps to join two pieces of metal together
firmly.
In certain cases – namely SAWM and stick welders – the wires actually
melt, becoming part of the weld itself. These welding rods are referred to as
consumable electrodes. For TIG welding, the welding rods do not melt, so are
called non-consumable electrodes. Within both of these groups, there are many
different variations and types, which will be covered in more detail later.

Welding rods are usually coated, although the materials that make up this
coating can vary widely. Bare electrodes (those made without any additional
coatings) are also available, although they’re much less common. These are used
for certain specific jobs, such as welding manganese steel.

It is important to choose the right type of welding rod for your job in order
to create clean, strong welds with excellent bead quality.

12
5.3.Consumable electrodes
As mentioned previously, stick welders usually use consumable welding
rods, which will be referred to as stick electrodes here. These include light coated
electrodes, as well as shielded arc or heavy coated electrodes.

Fig.5.3 Consumable electodes

As the name suggests, light coated electrodes have been finished with a thin
coating which has been applied by techniques such as brushing and spraying. This
is usually made up of a combination of several different materials, which are likely
to be similar to the metals which you are welding together.

The arc streams created when using bare rods can be difficult to control, so
if your job allows it then using a light coated electrode increases the arc stability.
This will make your life quicker and easier.

However, that is not the only purpose behind having a light coating on the
welding rods. Other benefits of using light coated electrodes are that impurities
such as oxides and sulfur are reduced (or eliminated altogether), the drops of metal
at the end of the welding rods are more regular in both size and frequency –
meaning that your welds are smoother and neater – and they only produce a thin
slag. Shielded arc electrodes are similar to light coated electrodes, except for the
fact that they have a heavy coating. Due to their tougher, heavy duty nature, they
are better suited to applications such as welding cast iron.

13
 CHAPTER 6

6.1.DESIGN

Fig.6.1. Front plane

Fig.6.2.Top plane

14
Fig.6.3.Isometric view

Fig.6.4.Roller

15
 CHAPTER 7

COST ESTIMATION

7.1.BILL OF MATERIALS:

Goods Quantity Rate Amount

/(Kg) /(Kg) (Rs)

L-angle 13.9 Kg 43.22 Rs.600.75

Square-rod 3.00 Kg 42.37 Rs.127.11

Table no.7.1 Cost Estimation

16
 CHAPTER 8

PHOTOGRAPHY

Fig.8.1.Design and Fabrication of Semi Automatic

Welding Machine (Prototype)

17
 CHAPTER 9

CONCLUSION

This work is made with preplanning and it provides flexibility in

operation. This innovation is more desirable and economical and makes the
use of peculiar mechanism.

This design and fabrication of semi automatic welding machine use

chain bar mechanism is designed and fabricated with the hope that it is very
economical and according to the rotation of the chain it may be used in
different fields.

This work helped us to know the periodic steps in completing a

project work, and how to work in group and achieving the goal. Thus we
have completed the project successfully.

18
 CHAPTER 10

REFERENCES

1. Lakshminarayanan A.K., Balasubramanian V. and Elangovan

K., 2009 " Effect of welding processes on tensile properties of AA6061
Aluminium alloy joints". International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology, vol 40, pp 286-296.
2. Balasubramanian V., Ravisankar V. and Madhusudhan Reddy
G., 2008 “Effect of pulsed current welding on mechanical properties of
high strength aluminium alloy". International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology, vol 36, pp. 254-262.
3. Chakravarthy M., Ramanaiah N. and RaoB.S.S., effect of
pulsing on mechanical properties of 90/10 and 70/30 CuNi alloy welds.
International Journal, 2012.
4. AjitHooda, AshwaniDhingra and Satpal Sharma, 2002
"optimization of MIG welding process parameters to predict maximum
yield strength in AISI 1040".International Journal of Mechanical
Engineering and Robotics Research, vol 1,pp 203-213.

19