The

Issue

02
Welding
Institute

2014

www.welding-and-cutting.info Technical journal for welding and allied processes

Celebrating success as £ 43 M Capability of combined thermal Heat treatment of thermally

construction programme takes spray and laser coating centers sprayed Ni-based brazing materi-
shape at TWI to improve production efficiency als / NiCrAlY coating systems for
the repair of turbine blades
 A More Efficient
Surface

To more efficiently crush rock, mining engineers

partnered with Sulzer for the answer.

Without a wear-resistant coating, rock crusher teeth can wear out in a Meet us at:
matter of a few days. So when mining engineers asked us to help them Int. Thermal Spray Conference
decrease their downtime and reduce their maintenance costs, we got ITSC 2014, Booth A05
© 2014 Sulzer Metco

right to work. Together, we developed a laser cladding solution using Palau de Congressos de Catalunya
a MetcoClad™ system and a MetcoClad™ material to create a thick Barcelona, Spain
deposit on all exposed surfaces of the teeth with a hardness better than May 21 – 23, 2014
1500 HV300. The result? Those rock crushers never worked so hard!
They crush more efficiently and stay in service substantially longer. www.sulzer.com/sulzer-metco
 EDITORIAL

What is a Welder?
Despite complaints that there are not enough of them, concerns
that they are all approaching retirement age, and demands that
more should be done to develop new ones, it still seems that some
people are continuing to ask, “What is a welder?”

Please read the editorial on page 113.

Eur Ing Chris Eady BSc(Hons) MSc CEng MRAeS FWeldI

Associate Director Professional Affairs
The Welding Institute

Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2 63

 CONTENTS WELDING AND CUTTING 02/2014

News 66 All-time high for industrial robots in 2013

68 Celebrating success as £ 43 M con-
struction programme takes shape at TWI
69 Free technical support boost to the
offshore wind industry
70 Developing improved laser welding
technology for small and medium-sized
enterprises
71 Industrial services: A new frontier
for business model innovation and
profitability
72 First BEng professional engineering
graduate to achieve IEng through
“Gateways“ programme

68
A ceremony was held at TWI at Granta Park to
mark the end of the steel construction phase 72 Fast access to metals and consumables
of the build programme. data: “MI-21“ celebrates over ten years of
successful operation

From Companies 76 Optimising welding of aluminium

components through robotics
77 Through thick and thin with the
solid-state laser
78 Advanced tube benders speed
construction of subsea wellhead trees
79 Integrity assurance: „UltraSteamLine“
extends high temperature inspection
capabilities
80 6-axis robotic waterjet trimming cell cuts
wide range of materials for automotive,
The wind industry is seen as one of the more developed marine and aerospace applications
forms of renewable energy with a growing demand for
turbines.
81 Synchrotron imaging used to investigate
welding process
82 Short Messages
83 Products

Welding Practice 86 Information about practical welding

Events 88 Second conference about “US/European

Welding Standards“ held in Miami in
January 2014
89 “International Thermal Spray Conference“
ITSC 2014 in May in Barcelona
89 “Svarka/Welding 2014“ exhibition
in June in St. Petersburg

77 The solid-state laser at the “TruLaser 5030“

fibre processes all the usual material qualities
and thicknesses – including nonferrous
metals – at excellent quality.
Reports 90 High-performance arc welding: Variants
and modulation types determine the ma-
terial transfer, the heat input and the arc
96 “Art in steel“ – welded metal sculptures

64 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

 Issue

01
The

02
Welding
Institute

2014

www.welding-and-cutting.info Technical journal for welding and allied processes

Technical journal for welding and allied processes of

the DVS – German Welding Society, Düsseldorf,
the Professional Division of The Welding Institute, Cambridge,
and the Institut de Soudure, Paris

Produced in Collaboration between

78 A new automated tube bending process is

dramatically speeding the production of FMC
Technologies’ hydraulic control systems for
subsea wellheads.

100 Capability of combined thermal spray

and laser coating centers to improve pro-
duction efficiency
103 Choosing a surface coating technology –
Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of
high-velocity oxy-fuel thermal spraying
and laser cladding
Inspection and
monitoring of
Specialist Articles 108 Heat treatment of thermally sprayed Ni- a high temper-
based brazing materials/NiCrAlY coating ature pipeline.
systems for the repair of turbine blades

116
Martin Nicolaus, Kai Möhwald, Friedrich-
Wilhelm Bach, Hans Jürgen Maier
Plasma hybrid welding with an
79
integrated laser and sensor equipment
Claus Emmelmann, Ruslan Kozakov, “International Thermal
Nikolai Petri, Heinz Schöpp, Olaf Stein- Spray Conference“
meier ITSC 2014 in May in
Barcelona

105 Editorial Preview

122 Books
122 Imprint/Ad Index

National Pages 106 Information from the DVS – German

Welding Society
113 TWI News – The Newsletter of
The Welding Institute

89
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2 65
 NEWS
All-time high for industrial robots in 2013
“The global demand for industrial robots
reached an all-time high of about 168,000
units in 2013,” said Arturo Baroncelli, Presi-
dent of IRF – International Federation of Ro-
botics. “The success story of the robotics in-
dustry is continuing.”
Based on the study „World Robotics
2013 – Industrial Robots“ and the results of
the IFR Quarterly Statistics, the IFR estimates
that last year about 168,000 industrial robots
were sold worldwide, 5% more than in 2012.
Robot sales to the Americas continued to
increase due to necessary automation
processes in the North American industry.
Sales to Asia rose considerably due to strong
demand from China, South Korea and other
growing Asian markets. In the fourth quarter
2013, the start of recovery in the euro-zone
pushed robot demand substantially. Due to
the rather weak development in the first
three quarters, robot sales in Europe stag-
nated in 2013.
Between 2010 and 2013 the annual in-
crease of global robot sales was about 12%
on average despite the critical economic
situation in some key countries. “One basic
reason for the continuous growth in the use
of robotics is its never ending technological
development in relation with market and
industrial requirements, accounting for
product quality and competitiveness as
well as safe processes,” explained Arturo
Baroncelli.
Joe Gemma, IFR Vice President added:
“Those of us in the industry are not sur-
prised by the growth as many factors have
66
contributed to the increase use of robotics
worldwide, some of which has been driven
directly from the automation equipment
manufactures. The software to work with
and run robots and automation cells has
developed rapidly over the last few years
and the ease of use has transcended into
more applications under a very demanding
and dynamic manufacturing landscape that
would not have been tackled in the past.
This has enabled manufacturers to provide
products to the market quicker and with
flexibility of variations to meet consumer
demand and at the same time insure the
quality required and the performance de-
manded.”
Booming robot market China
Between 2005 and 2012, sales of indus-
trial robots to China have increased by about
25% on average per year and reached 23,000
units in 2012. This supply does not include
sales of local Chinese robot manufacturers.
At the joint event of the IFR and the Chinese
Robot Industry Alliance (CRIA) at the CIROS
trade show in July 2013 in Shanghai, it was
reported that in 2011, local Chinese robot
suppliers sold about 2,000 units and in 2012,
3,200 units.
China will continue to have a substantial
economic growth rate in the coming years.
Strong investments in automation will con-
tinue in order to increase productivity and
to establish more eco-friendly production
processes. China is one of the most rapidly
growing and largest consumer markets in
the world with an emerging middle class es-
calating the demand for consumer goods,
medical care and high quality lifestyle, all
great reasons for pushing the manufacturing
sector to automate. Besides modernization
of the existing production sites, various types
of industries are building new production
sites in order to gain market share in this
huge consumer market.
The potential for automation in the Chi-
nese manufacturing industry is still huge.
Compared to highly automated countries
like Japan, Korea and Germany with robot
densities in the manufacturing industry be-
tween 270 and 400 industrial robots per
10,000 employees, the robot density in China
is comparably low with about 20 robots. To
reach such a level of robot density, about
one million new robots would have to be in-
stalled in the coming years in China.
In China the faltering economic growth
in 2013 may affect robot investments some-
what. In 2013, the robot supply of foreign
companies will increase by about 5% to 10%
to about 25,000 units. And from 2014 to 2016,
robot sales from the non local robot suppli-
ers will again gain momentum and increase
between by 15% on average per year reach-
ing about 38,000 units in 2016.
Chinese robot manufacturers will in-
crease their robot production in the near fu-
ture, and robot suppliers from abroad will
increase assembly of robots in China. Taking
in account, that China is already one of the
biggest markets but is still in the beginning
phase of utilizing robotics, the Chinese mar-
ket will offer huge potentials for installation
for local and foreign robot suppliers in the
coming years.
Second highest level of robot sales
in Europe
About 41,200 industrial robots were sold
in Europe in 2012 – 6% less than in 2011 –,
the second highest level ever recorded. After
substantial investments of the automotive
industry in 2011 robot installations in this
sector was somewhat reduced, while almost
all the other industries continued purchas-
ing robots. Between 2007 and 2012 the com-
pound annual growth rate (CAGR) of robot
supplies to Europe was about 3% on average.
In 2012, robot sales to Germany – by far
the largest robot market in Europe – were
10% lower than the all-time-high level of
2011. About 17,500 units were sold in 2012,
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
which is the second highest number ever
recorded for one year. Since 2010, the auto-
motive industry was the driver of an almost
unlimited growth of robot installations in
Germany. In 2012, the automotive industry
reduced its investments in industrial robots
while the general industry ordered more. In
2012, total sales of industrial robots to Italy
were down by 14%, to 4,402 units. The au-
tomotive industry considerably reduced ro-
bot investments while the rubber and plas-
tics industry, the industrial machinery in-
dustry, the basic metals industry, the elec-
trical/electronics industry and the pharma-
ceutical industry increased robot installa-
tions in 2012. In 2012, robot sales to France
slightly decreased by 3% to 2,956 industrial
robots from 3,058 units in 2011. The robot
supply to the automotive industry stagnated
while almost all other industries increased
robot investments. Sales of industrial robots
to the United Kingdom almost doubled to
2,943 units in 2012, by far the highest level
ever recorded. The United Kingdom became
the fourth largest European robot market al-
most as high as France. Since 2010, robot
sales have been surging due to the restart of
investments of the automotive industry.
Material handling and welding as
the most important applications
With regard to application areas, 2012
showed again a new peak level for handling
operations and machine tending, at about
70,600 units, up from 68,540 in 2011, and
accounting for 44% of the total supply of in-
dustrial robots. Sales of robots for material
handling decreased from the peak of 24,950
units in 2011 to 24,300 units in 2012, ac-
counting for a share of 15% of the total sup-
ply in 2012. It was again the most important
application. Sales of robots for handling op-
erations for packaging, picking and placing
continued to increase considerably by 25%
to the new peak of 15,480 units in 2012, ac-
counting for a share of 10% of the total sup-
ply. Most of these robots were supplied to
the electronics industry in the Republic of
Korea just as in the past years. There is an
increasing trend toward using robots to au-
tomate packaging in the food and beverage
industry, in the pharmaceutical and cosmet-
ics industry, as well as in the electronics in-
dustry.
In 2012, welding robot sales decreased
by 6% to 45,300 units, accounting for a share
of 28% of the 2012 total supply. Sales fol-
lowed more or less an increasing trend be-
tween 2005 and 2008, but finally slumped
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
substantially in 2009. In 2010 and 2011, the
welding robot application increased sub-
stantially. Spot welding – mainly used in the
automotive industry – was down from the
peak of 24,800 units in 2011 to 23,500 units
in 2012, with a share of almost 15% of the
total supply. Sale of arc welding robots con-
tinued to increase to a new peak level in
2012, at 21,055 units (2011: 21,000 units),
accounting for a share of 13% of the total
supply. Arc welding is not only used in the
automotive industry but also in the metal
industry.
Robots for other welding, e.g. ultrasonic,
gas and plasma welding, were continuously
decreasing from a peak of 1,052 units in
2008 to 200 units in 2010. In 2011, sales al-
most quadrupled to about 770 units. In
2012, sales decreased to 335 units. Laser
welding increased to a new peak level of
590 units in 2011 and declined to almost
400 units in 2012. Soldering peaked in 2007
(585 units) and fell to only 17 units in 2010.
In 2011, almost 800 soldering robots were
supplied, and in 2012 sales of these robots
were again considerably down to just 10
units.
Promising prospects for 2014 to
2016
The IFR Statistical Department estimates
a further growth of robot installations be-
tween 2014 and 2016 by 6% on average per
year. “The growth is based on huge poten-
tials of further penetration of the industrial
segments like electronics or food and on the
on-going industrialization of the emerging
countries. But there are even additional
growth potentials in the future based on
breathtaking advanced and innovative tech-
nological developments,“ commented Dr.
Andreas Bauer, Chairman of the IFR Indus-
trial Robot Suppliers Group the forecast.
“These technologies are opening doors to
completely new applications for robots. Im-
pressive for me are the developments re-
garding human-robot cooperation and op-
portunities that are provided in new fields
for automation, especially in areas where no
robots are currently used.“
The challenges and opportunities are:
• Growing consumer markets require ex-
pansion of production capacities.
• Decreasing life-cycles of products and
increasing variety of products require
flexible automation.
• Technical improvements of industrial
robots will increase the use of robots in
the general industry and in small and
medium sized companies, e.g. easier to
use robots for simple applications, col-
laboration of robots with human work-
ers.
• Improved quality requires sophisticated
high tech robot systems.
• Robots improve the quality of work by
taking over dangerous, tedious and
dirty jobs that are not possible or safe
for humans to perform.
“Whilst these challenges are not insignifi-
cant, they are also far from insurmountable.
In fact, our industry and governments
around the world have already made signif-
icant progress in addressing them. They rep-
resent exciting opportunities for us and
should be embraced to the fullest extent,“
stated Per Vegard Nerseth, Head of ABB Ro-
botics, Switzerland. (According to press in-
formation from IFR / “World Robotics 2013
– Industrial Robots“)
67
 NEWS
Celebrating success as £ 43 M construction programme
takes shape at TWI
A visit to TWI – The Welding Institute on 7
March 2014 by Member of Parliament for
South Cambridgeshire and Leader of the
House of Commons Andrew Lansley CBE,
and Minister for Universities and Science
David Willetts, has given the seal of approval
to the company‘s 25,000 m2 expansion pro-
gramme at its Granta Park headquarters near
Cambridge/UK.
Andrew Lansley and David Willetts, ac-
companied by Vicky Ford MEP and Sir John
O‘Reilly, the government’s Director General
of Knowledge and Innovation, visited the
South Cambridgeshire premises to lead a site
ceremony alongside TWI Chief Executive
Christoph Wiesner and staff member Sarah
Preston to mark the end of the steel construc-
tion phase of the build programme.
The ceremony, which included lowering
into the ground a friction-stir welded capsule
containing examples of research and inno-
vation in materials joining and structural in-
tegrity technologies, was held in front of in-
vited guests from the region, the design and
build teams, government funding bodies, and
partners representing the new National Struc-
tural Integrity Research Centre.
Andrew Lansley said: “The government
is right behind TWI in its work to deliver spe-
cialist skills in structural integrity and mate-
rials joining into industry. We in South Cam-
bridgeshire are very proud to be a part of a
success story focused on the core technolo-
gies that are vital for our economic growth.“
David Willetts said: “I am delighted to
see the new Centre making such great
68
progress and to be present to celebrate an
extraordinary success. We have a need for
R&D centres that stand between universities
and upstream research, and commercial
and business application. TWI began this
process as a research association shortly af-
ter the war and has continued to deliver as
a modern-day Catapult, becoming ever big-
ger and stronger in Britain’s industrial envi-
ronment. I applaud the company in its fan-
tastic achievement.“
Following the burying of the time capsule,
the event concluded with a short tour of
TWI‘s engineering laboratories to see exam-
ples of project work in structural integrity and
inspection technologies, followed by cutting
of a ceremonial cake – a small-scale replica
of the finished buildings.
A ceremony
was held at
TWI at Granta
Park to mark
the end of the
steel con-
struction pha-
se of the build
programme.
The event conclu-
ded with a short
tour of TWI‘s
engineering labo-
ratories.
In 2013, TWI welcomed government sup-
port from the UK Regional Growth Fund to
launch the expansion initiative. This, together
with funding put forward by the company it-
self under the auspices of the industry-led
Structural Integrity Research Founding, will
supply new laboratories and facilities for re-
search and development, with provision of
the new centre for postgraduate studies in an
industry environment at the centre of the
building project.
The completed TWI facilities will cover
36,000 m2 approx. and contain laboratories
for the study and performance of materials
and the impact of welding and joining tech-
niques as applied in industry. These will be
supported by a full range of information serv-
ices, including the library – the world‘s most
comprehensive library of welding and joining
related publications – together with meeting
and conference rooms, and restaurants. The
build programme is being managed by Bed-
fordshire-based construction company SDC,
and is on schedule for completion by the end
of this year. The National Structural Integrity
Research Centre (NSIRC) is a state-of-the-art
postgraduate engineering facility established
and managed by structural integrity specialist
TWI, working closely with lead academic
partner Brunel University, alongside the Uni-
versity of Cambridge and the University of
Manchester and leading industrial partners.
The Centre also receives long-term industrial
commitment from key TWI Industrial Mem-
ber companies. (According to press informa-
tion from TWI)
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

Free technical support boost to the
offshore wind industry
The wind industry is seen as one of the more developed forms of renewable energy with a growing
demand for turbines.
More than 70 manufacturing companies
in Northern England have benefited to date
from access to TWI’s specialist knowledge
in engineering, materials, welding and join-
ing technologies as part of the “Offshore
Wind Technology Transfer“ project. Along
with free technical support and supply-
chain development advice, the company is
providing full use of its expertise and facili-
welding has never been so
comfortable!
join the revolution!
contact your local optrel dealer or visit our website
for more information.
www.optrel.com/weldcap
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
ties to help businesses boost manufacturing
effectiveness and reduce costs. The initiative
is being funded by the Government’s Re-
gional Growth Fund, and is led by the Na-
tional Renewable Energy Centre (Narec).
The wind industry is seen as one of the
more developed forms of renewable energy
with a growing demand for turbines, partic-
ularly in offshore applications. TWI provides
“Offshore Wind Technology Transfer“ pro-
ject participants with free technical support
and consultancy – presenting a valuable op-
portunity to access an independent combi-
nation of materials, fabrication and inspec-
tion expertise gained through practical ex-
perience and an unparalleled record of
working in specialist areas including fatigue
assessment of welded and bolted structures
and wind-turbine towers.
From advanced, high productivity fab-
rication technology and the specification of
corrosion protection standards, to structural
integrity assessment and failure investiga-
tion, TWI can give participants support and
advice on welding procedures and fabrica-
tion standards. Its specialists will also help
to troubleshoot production and quality
problems, explore more effective technolo-
gies and processes, define requirements for
training and development of new skills, in-
crease the effectiveness of supply chains and
accelerate innovation to bring new products
to market.
The industry offer is designed for com-
panies already serving the offshore wind sec-
tor as well as for those progressive business-
es with the potential to supply products and
services to this strategically important
growth industry. Support is tailored to the
needs of each company. For more informa-
tion please visit the project page at www.twi-
global.com/about/support-for-uk-
regions/offshore-wind-technology-transfer-
osw-tt/. (According to press information
from TWI)
69
 NEWS

Developing improved laser welding technology for small

and medium-sized enterprises

The transnational “Tailor:Weld“ project

aims to bridge the gap between the need for
an affordable and easy to use laser welding
technology and the solutions available to-
day. Most existing laser systems are fitted
with either a standard process head or a 2D
galvanometer scanner – both of which de- Typical example of the benefits of laser welding with a tailored energy distribution compared to
liver a “standard” Gaussian or “top-hat” en- existing solutions.
ergy distribution to the work piece. However,
this relatively simplistic energy distribution
is not directly suitable for many applications
and significant laser welding expertise is re-
quired in order to develop acceptable
process parameters.
Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) are
a robust, simple tool and are capable of pro-
ducing (virtually) unlimited tailored energy
distributions. The aim of the “Tailor:Weld“
project which started on 1 November 2013
is to develop and demonstrate an innovative
laser welding system, that uses simple and
robust DOEs, increasing the flexibility and
simplifying the application of laser welding
and, through that, removing the key barrier
to entry for SME fabricators.
The project aims to develop:
• Suitable tailored energy distributions Overview of the “Tailor:Weld“ system – showing how a new SME end-user would use the model to
for a range of selected applications; determine a suitable DOE design and then be able to purchase the welding head (or full laser welding
• A validated process method for deter- system, as appropriate).
mining tailored energy distributions for
future applications and model, easily accessed through a DOE de- tem, which gives the necessary flexibility re-
• A (prototype) laser welding head which sign tool with a Graphical User Interface quired by SMEs whilst it requires little (or
is capable of incorporating interchange- (GUI) that is capable of calculating the nec- no) advanced training to operate.
able DOEs depending upon the re- essary laser beam energy distribution for a The key benefits of the novel
quirements of the work piece (e.g. anal- given joint (taking into account common “Tailor:Weld“ system include:
ogous to interchangeable tool dies used materials and joint geometry). This will al- • A simplified method to determine the
in the metal forming industry). low a simple assessment and adoption of applicability of laser welding for weld-
In order to effectively execute the project, the laser welding process. ing processes undertaken;
the consortium partners will deliver the ob- The second aspect is the production of • Replacement of high-cost and complex
jectives in three phases – research, technol- a DOE laser welding head module, allowing galvanometer scanner systems (approx.
ogy development and demonstration. for quick and simple interchange of DOEs Euro 80,000 to 150,000) with simple
The “Tailor:Weld“ aim will be realised for different laser welding processes, and in- DOE optic element (approx. Euro 2,000
through two critical developments. The first corporating process monitoring for quality per application);
one is the development of a thermo-physical assurance. This will provide a ’turn-key‘ sys- • A low-cost, robust system for producing

70 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

 tailored energy distributions, facilitat-
ing the adoption of laser welding by
new end-users, across multiple indus-
try sectors;
• A novel method of interpreting end-
user requirements and reducing adop-
tion costs;
• A retro-fittable DOE laser welding head
module, suitable for new or existing
laser beam welding systems;
• Built in process monitoring for opti-
mum performance and quality assur-
ance for end users;
Industrial services: A new frontier for business model
innovation and profitability
The poor scope for technological inno-
vation coupled with growing market matu-
rity has motivated major industrial product
suppliers to concentrate efforts on achieving
growth through alternative channels. In this
context, the potential for industrial services
attains center stage, both from the stand-
point of industrial vendors interested in mar-
ket expansion and end-users aiming to max-
imise profitability.
The market has grown significantly in
the last decade. In order to better under-
stand the emerging services market, the
global business consulting firm Frost &
Sullivan has mapped the emerging seg-
ment into the larger framework of Industry
4.0. “The idea of Industry 4.0 assisted us
in identifying a few key criteria like Big Da-
ta, the Internet of Things and the Internet
of Services, as functional pillars catalysing
the transformation of the current organi-
sational architecture”, notes Muthukumar
Viswanathan, Frost & Sullivan Practice Di-
rector Industrial Automation & Process
Control and Measurement & Instrumen-
tation .
According to recent analysis by Frost &
Sullivan, the overall estimates for service
revenues accrued from automation products
like DCS, PLC and SCADA reached nearly
US-$ 15 billion in 2012. The conspicuous
part of this large service base is the increas-
ing demand for new value-added services
that goes beyond traditional repair and
maintenance.
For example analysis on global pump
market finds that the market earned rev-
enues of US-$ 12.65 billion in 2011 and esti-
mates this to reach US-$ 17.55 billion by
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
• Interchangeable DOE module (car-
tridge system), allowing for a variety of
welding operations and/or simple up-
dating as necessary.
The project is comprised of a transnational
consortium which includes nine partners:
• European Federation for Welding, Join-
ing and Cutting (Project management)
• VIP Products Maschinenvertriebs
GmbH
• Holo-Or Ltd
• Nederlandse Instrumenten Compagnie
– Nedinsco BV
2016 with a compound annual growth rate
of 6.8%. Within this segment, value-added
services, such as condition monitoring, pre-
dictive maintenance and advanced diagnos-
tics, are rapidly gaining acceptance and are
anticipated to account for a significant por-
tion of the growing demand for advanced
pump monitoring solutions. Additionally,
stringent regulations pertaining to pump ef-
ficiency and emission control, particularly
in Europe and North America, is also likely
to result in increased demand for superior
value-added services.
From a demand perspective, end-users
are increasingly looking at maintenance and
plant service as a means for maximising
profitability. From a market standpoint, it
can be safely surmised that the demand for
services has improved quite significantly
• Impact clean power technology SA
• Halitic
• Graham Engineering Limited
• Lulea Tekniska Universitet
• TWI Limited
The use of the “Research for the benefit of
SME associations” will ensure the
“Tailor:Weld“ project will be of dedicated
benefit for the European industry. (Accord-
ing to press information from EWF)
over the last decade. There is also a growing
acknowledgement from industrial product
suppliers and the end-user community
about the dawn of services as the next big
frontier for business model innovation and
profitability.
“In order to understand and evaluate
the nature of this new service frontier, Frost
& Sullivan will be initiating a strategic in-
depth analysis, focussing on end-user ex-
pectations and requirements of services
across various product markets”, notes Mr.
Viswanathan. “The study will aim to assist
industrial product suppliers with designing
their service mix and aligning their product
strategies to better serve the needs of the
end-user in a rapidly-changing industrial
landscape”. (According to press information
from Frost & Sullivan)
71
 NEWS
First BEng professional engineering graduate to achieve
IEng through “Gateways“ programme
Christopher Jones is the first engineer in the UK
to graduate at Bachelors level from an “Enginee-
ring Gateways“ degree and then go on to achieve
IEng status.
Christopher Jones is the first BEng Pro-
fessional Engineering graduate in the United
Kingdom to achieve Incorporated Engineer
(IEng) status through the flexible work-
based “Engineering Gateways“ programme.
The BEng Professional Engineering (Power
Systems) programme is the first of its kind
in the UK and has been offered by Aston
University in Birmingham since 2010.
Engineers study on a work-based, blend-
ed, distance learning basis with attendance
at Aston only for examinations. This is an
“Engineering Gateways“ programme which
provides a pathway to professional registra-
tion for working engineers who do not pos-
sess the full exemplifying academic qualifi-
cations, who are interested in becoming pro-
fessionally registered and are unable to com-
mit to full-time study. With the support of
their employer, employees are able to de-
monstrate the required UK-SPEC compe-
tences for professional registration at the sa-
me time as meeting the learning outcomes
for an academic qualification.
The framework for this route was devel-
oped as part of a government-funded initia-
tive “Gateways to the Professions“. The En-
gineering Council led the work which has
been delivered by universities, Professional
Engineering Institutions (PEIs) and employ-
er representatives.
Christopher Jones’ career began in the
Royal Air Force, where he embarked on an
electrical maintenance apprenticeship. He
72
achieved an NVQ3 and then went on to com-
plete an HNC and finally an HND in Mechan-
ical Engineering. After eight years, Christo-
pher continued his successful career by join-
ing National Grid, his current employer.
He started studying at Aston University
on the Foundation Degree in Electrical Pow-
er Engineering and graduated in 2010 with
a Distinction. He then joined the BEng Pro-
fessional Engineering (Power Systems) pro-
gramme and graduated in July 2012 with a
First Class Honours. He is the first engineer
in the UK to graduate at Bachelors level from
an Engineering Gateways degree and then
go on to achieve IEng status. Throughout
this time, Christopher has been supported
by his employer, National Grid. As well as
studying at Aston, Christopher also under-
took training within National Grid and was
awarded a NEBOSH certificate and also be-
came a Senior Authorised Person (SAP).
Christopher said, “The combination of
National Grid‘s practical training, combined
with Aston University‘s theoretical study has
Fast access to metals and consum-
ables data: “MI-21“ celebrates over
ten years of successful operation
“MI-21“, the metals and consumables in-
formation database containing over 65,000
documents, has been providing answers to
Industrial Members of TWI – The Welding
Institute for more than ten years. The “MI-
21“ database and information service is a
result of a collaboration started in 2002 be-
tween the UK public and private sectors, and
funded by the European Commission‘s
Structural Fund and Yorkshire Forward. The
project team comprised TWI, Sheffield City
Council‘s World Metal Index (WMI), Granta
Design and Namtec.
allowed me to become a well-rounded engi-
neer, with a detailed understanding of the
electrical environment around me. The
knowledge obtained has enabled me to be-
come registered as an Incorporated Engineer
and provided foundations which will eventu-
ally allow me to advance my experience and
knowledge for Chartered Engineer status.”
The Bachelors and Masters Professional
Engineering programmes are proving attrac-
tive to many engineers who might otherwise
not have the opportunity to achieve profes-
sional status. More than 120 individuals in
a range of companies are now enrolled on
the programmes at eleven higher education
institutions, with numbers set to grow. 14
professional engineering institutions have
now signed up to support these programmes
and nine candidates have already been reg-
istered as Chartered Engineers. Further de-
tails are available at www.engc.org.uk/edu-
cation—skills/engineering-gateways. (Ac-
cording to press information from the Engi-
neering Council)
The idea was to bring together informa-
tion retained and recorded by both WMI and
TWI from the past 60 years, thus providing a
wealth of data for today‘s metallurgists and
welding engineers. Originally in paper form,
the information was vulnerable and not easily
searchable so the team identified a database
as the best way to preserve it and make it eas-
ily available to WMI members, TWI Industrial
Members and to the public by subscription.
By 2004, Granta Design had designed
and tested a database and WMI and TWI
started data entry for the system, which now
holds over 65,000 datasheets on metals and
welding consumables. It doesn‘t stop there,
however, as datasheets are being entered by
WMI and TWI at a rate of over 7,000 per year.
As it stands today, the “MI-21“ service
encompasses an online database that can be
accessed by all subscribers and an enquiry
service offered by both WMI and TWI Ltd for
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
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 NEWS

their respective members and subscribers.
These now include many engineering com-
panies in the UK and increasingly worldwide.
TWI Industrial Members benefit from free
access to the consumables section of the
database via the TWI website and the enquiry
service from TWI Information Services.
Demand for information from the data-
base continues to grow and in June 2013, at
the end of a five-year exploitation agreement
period set up between the partners, the an-
nual income (2012-2013) for the service
stood at just over £82,000.
Examples of enquiries successfully com-
pleted for users include the following:
1 Enquiry about grade 1.4413
The customer contacted WMI looking
for the above German ’Werkstoff‘ named
grade. WMI confirmed that this ’Werkstoff‘
grade had not made the transition from its
German origin to a European grade. There-
fore WMI was able to offer information to
the “MI-21“ member that enabled it to guide
their customer to a comparable grade
1.4313/S41500/F6NM.
The member knew this was a grade used
by companies that make pumps, requiring
good impact resistance. The member also
required further information about product
analysis and some failures that had been
identified by a classification society inspec-
tor who could not endorse the certificate.
WMI provided an extract from an Amer-
ican standard that described product analy-
sis. This extract of information enabled the
inspector to accept a variation of percentage
of silicon within the material, and re-stamp
the test house certificate. The support from
WMI prevented the member losing the or-
der, as well as saving testing costs and avoid-
ing a bill from the classification society.
2 Enquiry about ASTM A516
Grade 70 for a particular form
(cut blanks)
A customer of an “MI-21“ member com-
pany requested supply of the above grade
in ’cut blank‘ form. Before subscribing to
“MI-21“ this member company would have
spent much time and resource trying to find
out sufficient information to ’regret‘ or refuse
their customer‘s enquiry. Often fruitless ef-
forts would be made contacting various forg-
ing companies and organisations to ask if
anyone else had heard of a particular grade
or what type of material it might be.
In this case WMI was able to do the ’leg
work‘ for the member by identifying the
standard and grade, including the material
(carbon steel plate) and its typical use (for
pressure purposes). Having received a
datasheet from WMI it was clear to the
member that the designated form of this
particular material would not be fit for pur-
pose. Consequently, although the member
refused the order, they could offer sound
reasons for doing so – which enabled its cus-
tomer to search elsewhere. This preserved
the reputation of the “MI-21“ member com-
pany. It also saved it time and money by
drawing on WMI experience rather than
endless ringing round for information and
staff time in waiting for responses.
For more information, please visit the
“MI-21“ web page at www.twi-global.com/
services/information-services/mi-21/. (Ac-
cording to press information from TWI)

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74 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

As a world leading provider of filler metals voestalpine Böhler Welding
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 FROM COMPANIES
Optimising welding of aluminium
components through robotics
The increasing usage of aluminium al-
loys has created further challenges to the
welding industry. It allows for an effective
weight reduction as they replace more tra-
ditional iron and steel materials, but also is
more challenging to weld, and thus requires
additional measures to ensure a proper
process. In this environment, the EC FP7 Re-
search has sponsored the project “FlexiFab”,
which aims to allow fabricators, metal-work-
ers and welding companies to effectively
compete in the growing use of aluminium
alloys in the light-weight transport sector,
replacing traditional iron and steel, and to
reduce the costs associated with the fabri-
cation of aluminium structures.
The project “FlexiFab” (Flexible fabrica-
tion of lightweight aluminium transport
structures), sponsored by the EC FP7 Re-
search for the benefit of SME associations
has started on 1st November 2013 and has
the European Welding Federation (EWF) as
its project leader.
The “FlexiFab” project aims to develop
a flexible Friction Stir Welding (FSW) system
capable of automatically fabricating com-
plex structures, in a variety of joint configu-
rations, from a range of aluminium alloy
grades and thicknesses used in the transport
sector. Aluminium has several unique char-
acteristics which need to be considered
when fusion welding. Given its reactivity to
air and high thermal conductivity/expan-
sion, welds are prone to a wide variation of
defects such as undercutting, excessive melt-
through, incomplete fusion, incomplete
joint penetration, porosity and cracking.
76
The project is comprised of a transnational
consortium, which includes ten partners:
• European Federation for Welding,
Joining and Cutting (EWF)
• Asociatia de Sudura din Romania
• Meta Vision Systems Limited
• Innora SA
• igm Robotersysteme AG
• Bodula Division Industrial SL
• RRS Schilling GmbH
• TRA-C Industrie
• TWI Limited
• Lund University
“FlexiFab” will develop an automated
robotic system to enable welding of alumini-
um components and parts. This will have
the following key competitive advantages to
the (SME dominated) European metal work-
ers and fabricators:
• Significant reduction in the costs asso-
ciated with the welding of aluminium
components and structures, mainly due
to the lack of scrapage and re-working
Examples of
aluminium
structures cur-
rently used in
the transport
industry.
required from an automated system.
• Enhanced working conditions for Eu-
ropean welders, as expert welding
knowledge will still be required, but the
physical demands will be greatly re-
duced.
The solution “FlexiFab” is developing has a
wide scope for a number of application areas
covering all industrial aluminium welding.
It seeks to address the needs to improve
labour productivity in the metal-working
sector and alleviate the serious lack of skilled
aluminium welding personnel in Europe.
Also, as part of the commitment made
at the EU to move into a “knowledge-based”
manufacturing sector, “FlexiFab” will be one
more initiative to support the development
of new and protectable IP in the area of au-
tomated aluminium welding systems, with
clear benefits for the metal working and fab-
rication industry. The use of the “Research
for the benefit of SME associations” will en-
sure the “FlexiFab” project will be of dedi-
cated benefit for the European industry.
(According to press information from EWF)
The “FlexiFab“ con-
cept will allow FSW
to be able to be ap-
plied to more gen-
eral geometries and
with some novel
FSW tools.
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Through thick and thin with the solid-state laser
It took no more than 36 months before
Martin Krämer, at mid-2013, dared the leap
into the first division. Having previously
bought two “TruLaser 1030” units, he in-
vested in the “TruLaser 5030” fibre. “Our de-
but in laser cutting was after the BlechExpo
in 2010, and it sparked an enormous re-
sponse among our customers. The “Tru-
Laser 1030”, with its modest investment
costs, was the ideal vehicle for that first step.”
But again and again, Krämer bumped up
against limits – in terms of either productiv-
ity or maximum sheet metal gauge. This was
particularly true for stainless steel. That is
why Krämer took two steps at once. The
transition to the high-performance “Tru-
Laser 5030” fibre was simply the logical con-
sequence for him. “I had long been fasci-
nated by the solid-state laser technology.
And I wanted to achieve genuine produc-
tivity growth.” He estimated that output has
increased by a factor of four to five when
compared with the “TruLaser 1030”. The rise
is even more significant when working thin-
ner sheet metal.
He especially values the change – on the
fly, so to speak – between amazing produc-
tivity in thin sheet metal and quality cuts in
thicker material. Responsible for this is the
“BrightLine” fibre function. Martin Krämer:
“BrightLine fibre has pushed back the phys-
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
ical limits that formerly prevailed. That
makes the “TruLaser 5030” fibre a real all-
purpose machine. That helps us – as a job
shop – to achieve the unlimited flexibility
that the market requires.” It’s true that the
machine only operates in a “single shift” –
but at Krämer, this has a special connotation.
On average, the “TruLaser 5030” fibre is in
operation a good 13 hours a day. He is fas-
cinated by his system’s reliability: “With per-
fect programming, we achieved availability
of 99.9 % during the first six months.”
Using his 5-kilowatt “TruDisk” laser,
Krämer today cuts stainless steel up to 25
mm thick in outstanding quality. Cutting alu-
minum of the same thickness is also possible.
Martin Krämer, owner of
Krämer Brennteile pro-
duces “steel in the stalls”
– the laser cutting ma-
chine is located in the
cowshed
and is surrounded by
sheet metal storage racks.
(Photos: Trumpf)
In addition, Krämer has already successfully
completed his first orders for brass parts. The
option of using nitrogen to cut copper with-
out any oxide formation whatsoever – and
in a very reliable process – will open up ad-
ditional markets in the future. Essential here
is the perfect interplay of beam generation,
beam guidance, and focusing. With Trumpf
products, all three of these central compo-
nents are from a single source – from the
laser resonator through to the cutting head
and the matching nozzle technology. Martin
Krämer: “Even when working thicker mate-
rials, “BrightLine” fibre considerably reduces
the formation of burrs while smoothing the
cutting edge. At the same time, process sta-
bility rises when cutting mild steel.”
He is especially impressed by the new,
multi-stage piercing process in combination
with “BrightLine” fibre. This keeps slag from
being ejected when the laser beam first
pierces the sheet. This eliminates the need
for the machine to work its way around the
starting hole and that makes possible con-
tours that are even more delicate. In addi-
tion, this laid the foundation for a new serv-
ice being offered by Krämer. Customers are
ever more frequently asking him to deliver
parts incorporating threads. The laser can
cut the small mounting holes needed at ex-
actly the desired spot – in thick or thin sheet
metal. (According to press information from
Trumpf GmbH + Co. KG)
The solid-state laser at the “TruLaser 5030“
fibre processes all the usual material qualities
and thicknesses – including nonferrous metals –
at excellent quality.
77
 FROM COMPANIES
Advanced tube benders speed construction of
subsea wellhead trees
All-electric tube bending machines from
Unison from Scarborough/UK are helping
FMC Technologies, Houston/USA – a sup-
plier of subsea tree hydraulic control systems
for wellheads – to substantially reduce build
times and multiply its manufacturing capac-
ity. Six sites worldwide now use Unison tube
bending machines in a new production
method pioneered by FMC Technologies
employees in Norway and Scotland.
The subsea systems supplier used to
plan the routes for the hydraulic tubing runs
that interconnect the valves and other com-
ponent parts of the subsea trees, and then
fabricate the custom tubular part shapes, as
the trees were being built. This process
slowed down the build cycle and limited the
total number of trees that could be assem-
bled in the company’s sophisticated system
building cells.
FMC Technologies decided to investigate
the use of 3D modelling of tubing, which
would allow the tubing system required for
Unison’s all-electric tube bending machines for
helping reduce build times and multiply the
manufacturing capacity of subsea hydraulic
control trees.
78
subsea tree orders to be designed and bent
in advance of system building and then de-
livered to the manufacturing cells ready for
immediate assembly. As part of this process
re-engineering initiative, FMC Technologies
also purchased a Unison tube bending ma-
chine with servomotor-based actuation, to
provide a complete CAD/CAM solution.
The Unison machine’s advanced all-
electric architecture was preferred over the
more traditional hydraulically-powered
bending approach because of the greater
precision and inherent repeatability that it
supports, which allows tubular part shapes
to be bent right-first-time – avoiding scrap.
This is ideal for the subsea tree production
environment which demands lots of tubing
parts with unique shapes – which FMC
Technologies fabricates as a single batch for
each tree project. The tubular materials be-
ing bent are often very expensive alloys as
well such as e.g. Super-Duplex, so avoidance
of scrap is a major saving.
Custom tube washers are part of the automated
tube fabrication machinery Unison supplies to
FMC Technologies for the fabrication of hy-
draulic control systems for subsea wellheads.
A new automated tube
bending process is dra-
matically speeding the
production of FMC
Technologies’ hydraulic
control systems for sub-
sea wellheads.
FMC Technologies selected Unison as
its bending machine partner – after talking
to numerous machine manufacturers – pri-
marily because of the company’s willing-
ness to engineer a bending process to meet
the company’s precise needs. Unison
worked closely with FMC Technologies on
developing and streamlining the tubular
part manufacturing process including au-
tomating the transfer of data from its CAD
system and simplifying the subsequent part
shape programming process. Unison also
supplies benders complete with applica-
tion-specific tube washing machines,
which ensure that tubular parts are provid-
ed to FMC Technologies’ assembly bays
clean and ready to weld – to minimise any
welding failures.
Using the new process, the time required
for tubing assembly in FMC Technologies’
cells has fallen by around two thirds, with
the additional advantage of introducing a
standardised process with a consistent qual-
ity that negates possible human error or fa-
tigue.
“The new tube bending process is a win-
win solution for our business, as it provides
us with a highly consistent and repeatable
manufacturing process, and is considerably
faster than before – boosting FMC Technolo-
gies’ productivity and shortening our deliv-
ery times to customers,“ said Richie Barker,
a Manufacturing Specialist (Global Manu-
facturing) at FMC Technologies.
Unison’s Steve Haddrell adds: “We have
been very proud to be selected for this proj-
ect as the aims have been so far-reaching –
our machines are now an integral element
of a design-to-manufacturing strategy that
is helping one of the world’s best-known oil
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
and gas companies to maintain its leading
position in a highly competitive market.“
FMC Technologies has now rolled this
production methodology out to other FMC
sites around the world – and produces tub-
ing for subsea trees using Unison machines
at production locations in Angola, Brazil,
Norway, Scotland, Singapore and the USA.
(According to press information from Uni-
son)
The ITW Orbital Cutting & Welding group with
its brands ORBITALUM TOOLS and E.H. WACHS
provides global customers one source for the
finest in pipe & tube cutting, beveling and orbital
welding products.

Integrity assurance: „UltraSteamLine“

extends high temperature inspection
capabilities
Visit us:
A new project, part-funded by the UK’s sures experienced in these pipelines, par- Stand F40
Hall 06
innovation agency, the Technology Strategy ticularly for ageing plants, can lead to creep,
Board, and launched by Plant Integrity Ltd, fatigue and corrosion type defects. There- Open Orbital Weld Heads
Great Abington, Cambridge/UK, and Brunel fore, safety is of paramount importance and ORBIWELD

University, Uxbridge, Middlesex/UK, in Sep- regular maintenance is carried out during

tember 2013, aims to enable effective con- planned outages at ambient temperatures ORBITAL | CUTTING & BEVELING
dition monitoring of steam lines which ex- employing conventional non-destructive
perience temperatures up to and in excess testing (NDT) techniques such as visual in-
of 350°C. The project, “UltraSteamLine“, will spection, manual ultrasonic techniques and
also be valuable for use with high tempera- eddy current.
ture pipelines in oil refineries. “UltraSteam- “UltraSteamLine“ will extend these op-
Line“’s three-year programme of work will tions, using the “Teletest Focus+” guided
develop Plant Integrity’s own “Teletest Fo- wave system to allow inspection and condi- ORBITALUM E.H. WACHS ORBITALUM
cus+” guided wave system to increase its tion monitoring in high temperature condi- Pipe Cutting and Portable Milling Tube Squaring Machines
temperature capability, and will culminate tions and making it easier to inspect large Beveling Machines Machines Trav-LCutter: RPG: The required,
GF & RA: Safe cold cutting and high-quality tube
in industry field trials. areas without, for example, removing insu- The optimum prepara- beveling. Compact end preparation for
There is a need for inspection and con- lation and erecting scaffolding. tion for automated design, easy set-up. orbital welding! Space
welding! Square, Horizontal and vertical saving, light weight
dition monitoring of high temperature “Teletest Focus+” is already in extensive burr-free and cold preparation. and portable machine;
pipelines in petrochemical and electrical use by industry to inspect large areas from machining process. burr-free and square
tube end.
power plants. High temperatures and pres- a single location for temperatures up to
120°C. With its most recent version incor-
porating a more robust encapsulation
method, new sensors and a collar design to ORBITAL | WELDING
enable inspection up to 240°C, operators
currently add the “Permamount” system for
condition monitoring.
The “UltraSteamLine“ project consor-
tium will design new sensors to enable the
system to operate at temperatures in excess
of 350°C, signal processing routines to en-
ORBITALUM ORBITALUM ORBITALUM
able temperature compensation, and robust Open orbital weld P16 AVC: Tube-to-tube- HX 16 series: Open weld
trend analysis software to realise a high tem- heads ORBIWELD with sheet orbital weld heads especially made
extremely compact heads with electronic for heat exchanger
perature and permanently installed “Teletest design: Arc length is arc voltage control applications – the
Focus+” guided wave system. Field trials will kept at a constant gap (AVC). Welding with optimum solution for
mechanically. Water- the highest of accuracy welding of pre-mounted
be carried out in the final year of the work cooled TIG Torch head and consistent quality. elbows.
and a number of companies have already can be swiveled in any
direction.
expressed an interest in assisting the con-
sortium with these trials. For further infor- www.orbitalum.com
mation about the “UltraSteamLine“ project
or in order to get involved as an end user to
trial the prototype system please contact
Keith Thornicroft on +44(0)1223 899505 or
ultrasteamline@plantintegrity.co.uk. ORBITALUM TOOLS GMBH | An ITW Company
Inspection and monitoring of a high temper- (According to press information from TWI) Josef-Schuettler-Str. 17 | 78224 Singen, Germany
ature pipeline. Tel. +49 (0) 77 31 792-0 | Fax +49 (0) 77 31 792-524
tools@orbitalum.com | www.orbitalum.com

Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

CUT. PREP. WELD. ONE SOURCE.

 FROM COMPANIES

6-axis robotic waterjet trimming cell cuts wide

range of materials for automotive, marine and
aerospace applications
Jet Edge, Inc., St Michael, MN/USA, and Alliance Automation’s
Alliance Automation, LLC from Grand robotic waterjet trimming
Blanc, MI/USA announced that Alliance Au- cells combine Motoman
tomation, a designer and manufacturer of “HP20D“ robots and Jet
Edge’s 60,000 psi iP60-50
custom industrial automation and robotic
waterjet intensifier pumps.
systems, is powering its latest generation of
(Photos: Alliance Automa-
robotic waterjet trimming cells with Jet Edge tion, LLC)
intensifier pumps.
Featuring the dual wall-mounted Mo-
toman “HP20D” robots and Jet Edge’s
“60KSI” (4100 bar) iP60-50 waterjet intensi-
fier pumps, Alliance Automation’s new 6-
axis robotic waterjet trimming cell leads the
industry in precision and dependability with
Motoman’s ±0.06 mm repeatability and Jet
Edge’s reliable tie-rod intensifier design. The
cell’s sturdy, compact frame design allows
stability to both the tool and robots to ensure
consistent tight part tolerances.
Most commonly used in the automotive
industry, Alliance Automation’s robotic wa-
terjet trimming cell precisely cuts shaped
parts with many angles from a wide variety
of materials, including carpeting, fibreglass,
foam and plastic. The system has numerous
automotive interior applications, including
trimming headliners, dashboards, dash lin-
ers, bed liners, wheel liners, door panels,
trunk trim, car carpet and acoustic damp-
ening components.
Alliance Automation’s Steven Cranston Programming is accomplished via the Teach
said the company’s robotic waterjet trim- Trace Method Control/Program Engineer.
ming cell features numerous design inno-
vations that distinguish it from other robotic ming dies, he added. It is set up so that many
systems and promise to increase productiv- different parts can be programmed to make
ity, lower operating costs and improve work- a quick change of tools or products. Jobs Wall-mounted robots allow for the first 2-axis
er safety. also can be installed with multiple parts to to be mounted forward, over the part.
The wall mounted robots allow for the maximise productivity. In addition, the in-
first 2-axis to be mounted forward, over the novative design of the coil package on the “Knowing that Jet Edge is a leader in wa-
part, Cranston noted. This feature allows for robots allows for a quick change. All coils terjet technology, we knew we could trust
a larger work envelope and motion to work are a standard design (for each specific robot the dependability and consistency of the Jet
easier around larger shaped parts. The ro- model), factory wound, pre-coned and pre- Edge intensifier,” Cranston said. “We have
bots also are able to quickly retract to a home threaded. been involved in the robotic waterjet market
position out of the way for the loading and Cranston said Alliance Automation for a number of years and utilising the Jet
unloading of parts, drastically reducing cycle chose Jet Edge waterjet pumps to power its Edge intensifier helps us to provide the prod-
times and increasing operator safety. latest systems based on Jet Edge’s reputation uct and support we need to satisfy our cur-
The system lowers operating costs by for quality, support and free lifetime train- rent and future customers.” (According to
eliminating the need for complicated trim- ing. press information from Jet Edge)

80 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

 Synchrotron imaging used to investigate
welding process
We wouldn’t have cars, skyscrapers or
space rockets without it, but although weld-
ing is a highly skilled occupation, it is not a
subject normally associated with high-end
mathematics, engineering and computing.
Now, a team of researchers from Leicester
University, Leicester/UK, are investigating
how the welding process can be improved
using a range of state-of-the-art computer
modelling techniques.
Welding is the most economical and ef-
fective way to join metals permanently and
is a vital component of the manufacturing
economy. It is estimated that more than 50%
of global domestic and engineering products
contain welded joints. In Europe, the weld-
ing industry has traditionally supported a
diverse set of companies across the ship-
building, pipeline, automotive, aerospace,
defence and construction sectors.
The ability to weld a metal to itself and
to other materials is determined by the
chemistry at the interface and by the com-
F
BERKENHOF
Professor Hongbiao Dong of Leicester University,
Leicester/UK: Director of the FP7 Project
“MINTWELD“.
plex morphology of the individual crystals
at the weld centre. These boundaries are the
critical regions where most catastrophic fail-
ures occur. If two parts don’t join perfectly
during welding, a minor imperfection can
sometimes become a major crack which can
potentially lead to disaster.
Professor Hongbiao Dong of Leicester
University is Director of the FP7 Project –
MINTWELD (Modelling of Interface Evolu-
tion in Advanced Welding) consortium,
which applies mathematics, engineering
and computing to investigate how the weld-
ing process can be improved.
“Welding is a process that joins matters
together, which can be steel to nickel-based
alloys, aluminium to steels or even polymers
to polymers,” Prof Dong says. “During weld-
ing three processes occur, the first of which
is the melting of the two solid pieces. A
molten pool is then formed in which the dif-
ferent materials will mix together; this is the
second process, known as mixing, and ide-
ally you want the chemistry inside this pool
to be fairly uniform. The third process is so-
lidification in which the liquid solidifies and
forms the solid joint.”
For permanent
joining
®
bercoweld
High-tech wire solutions made of
copper for brazing and welding.



 

 
good gap bridging

 
 
  

www.bercoweld.com
 FROM COMPANIES
“We are investigating how metals are
melted and the way in which they mix to-
gether within the molten pool. We want to
find out how the welding process can be im-
proved by using a range of state-of-the-art
computer modelling techniques and knowl-
edge gained from industrial experiments.”
There are a number of different forces
that can have an effect on the fluid dynamics
within a weld pool. For example, if surface
tension varies along the weld pool surface,
an imbalance of forces is created which
causes flow. This is known as the Marangoni
effect, which many may know from the
school experiment in which a small paper
boat can be made to move using a drop of
soap due to the difference in surface tension
between the detergent and the water.
Lorentz force – the force experienced by a
charged particle in a magnetic field – also
plays a role in the complex fluid dynamics
of the weld pool, as does the pressure of the
plasma used to carry out the welding and
the process of melting and solidification.
Up until recent years, studying the in-
ternal flow of a weld pool would have been
impossible, but the rapid development of
Short Messages
New Manager in Jenoptik’s Lasers
& Materials Processing Division
Dr. Mario Ledig is the new head of the
Lasers business unit within Jenoptik’s Lasers
& Material Processing division, Jena/Ger-
many. In this position, he is responsible for
the entire business unit on a global level. He
was also appointed as managing director
holding operational responsibility for Jenop-
tik Laser GmbH – one of the two companies
within this business unit. Dr. Mario Ledig
earned his doctorate in laser physics at the
Friedrich Schiller University in Jena and has
Dr. Mario Ledig,
Head of Lasers
business unit
within Jenoptik’s
Lasers & Material
Processing Divi-
sion. (Photo:
Jenoptik AG)
82
synchrotron X-ray imaging techniques has
provided a useful tool for this. The high en-
ergy X-ray beam and fast readout photon-
counting X-ray detector at I12 JEEP beam-
line at Diamond Light Source was used to
characterise the dynamic and complex
welding process. “We were able to trace and
visualise the properties of single streamlines
of flow within the melt pool during steel
welding,” says Dong. “The results have been
inspiring.”
The dynamic nature of fluid flow and
melting/solidification represents significant
challenges. These have been addressed first-
ly by introducing tungsten particles to trace
the flow, secondly by the accurate and so-
phisticated control of power supply to the
welding gun, and by using high beam energy
and a high frame rate in radiographic imag-
ing.
These experiments will provide new and
important information about the fluid flow
and the motion of solid-liquid interfaces with-
in the solidifying weld pool. “MINTWELD is
the first the project to study the welding
process over multi-scale and multi-physics
phenomena,” says Dong. “We are modelling
more than 20 years of professional experi-
ence in the fields of optics/photonics. He
has held various executive positions at Qiop-
tiq all over the world. By joining Jenoptik,
Dr. Mario Ledig has become part of one of
the leading internationally active technology
companies that has been operating in the
field of laser technology for over 20 years.
Jenoptik is one of the few suppliers world-
wide to mass-produce the entire technology
chain in the field of laser sources – from
semiconductor material and diode lasers up
to solid-state lasers – providing top quality
and process reliability.
The biggest pipeline project in
Italy
The largest pipeline in Italy is under con-
struction in the south part of the Lake Garda
on behalf of SNAM Rete Gas, San Donato
Milanese (MI)/Italy. Max Streicher S.p.A. is
carrying out two of the four lots. They cover
the construction of 53 and 42 km partial
tracks of the DN1400-Pipeline. For the laying
of the 56“ pipes, Max Streicher S.p.A. is ex-
ploiting the proven know-how of the Max
Streicher GmbH & Co. KG aA head office in
Deggendorf/Germany. With the Opal Baltic
Sea Pipeline Link and NEL North European
Gas Pipeline in Germany, Streicher has al-
and simulating from the bonding among dif-
ferent atoms, to the nano-scale grain bound-
ary structure and defects, the microstructure
of crystals, the fluid flow and the life predic-
tion of welded components. Our methodol-
ogy has been used as exemplary for materials
modelling by the Research Council of the
European Commission.”
The findings have been exciting, allow-
ing the accurate computation of bond po-
tentials among atoms in steels and identify-
ing nano-scale features in weld joints. These
atomic scale findings have been linked to
large scale solid mechanics modelling to
give insight into welding failure from atomic
and nano-scale defects.
Although many don’t realise it, welding
is used in so many day-to-day products that
one is almost certain to use at least one of
these items every single day. The results gar-
nered from the work done by the MINTWELD
consortium will improve our understand-
ing of this economically important process,
as well as helping to ensure that welds can
be made more reliable in the future. (Ac-
cording to press information from Leicester
University)
The soil in the region south of Lake Garda re-
quires an enormous effort prior the laying of the
pipeline.
ready experience in the construction of
pipelines of this dimension. The pipeline
with a total length of 170 km will run from
Zimella through the regions of Veneto and
Lombardy to Cervignano. The first lot, exe-
cuted by Streicher, starts in the north Italian
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
municipality of Carpenedolo and leads to
Casaletto di Sopra in the Province of Cre-
mona/Italy. It covers 53 km. In 2014 Max
Streicher S.p.A. will start with the construc-
tion of the second lot, running for 42 km be-
tween Carpenedolo and Vigasio. Further-
more the project covers the construction of
15 valve stations and some smaller connec-
tion lines.
New Senior Vice President at
Messe Essen
Claus-Peter Re-
giani, new Senior
Vice President at
Messe Essen.
Messe Essen, Essen/Germany, has made
a new appointment in a managerial posi-
tion: Claus-Peter Regiani has been the Sen-
ior Vice President for Business Division I
since 10 February 2014. The premier global
fairs Schweissen & Schneiden, Security Es-
sen and Metpack, the guest events as well
as the foreign fairs of Schweissen & Schnei-
den and Reifen are under the control of the
business graduate. Thus, he is succeeding
Klaus Reich who retired in November 2013.
Claus-Peter Regiani has been employed at
Messe Essen GmbH since 1989. After sta-
tions as a Project Manager for Camping +
Touristik (amongst others), he established
Fibo in Essen. In 1992, he assumed respon-
sibility for the project management of
Schweissen & Schneiden as well as the for-
eign fair Beijing Essen Welding & Cutting.
The foreign fairs in the Schweissen & Schnei-
den product family in India, Brazil, Russia
and the United Arab Emirates were success-
fully established under his management.
From 2010 onwards, Claus-Peter Regiani
was, as a Fair Director, responsible for the
premier global fairs Schweissen & Schnei-
den, Security Essen and Metpack. Since 1
December 2013, he was the Provisional Sen-
ior Vice President for Business Division I.
Seamless titanium tubing for
Airbus and Liebherr
Fine Tubes from Plymouth/UK, a man-
ufacturer and global distributor of precision
tubes for critical applications, is currently
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
In terms of weight saving and strength titanium
is an ideal material for high performance air-
craft applications. (Photo: Mark Dunk)
producing seamless Grade 9 and Grade 5 ti-
tanium tubing for Airbus, Toulouse/France
and Liebherr, Bulle/Switzerland. The com-
pany is one of the few suppliers with the ca-
pability to produce products of this type.
The tubing will be used for the high pressure
hydraulic systems required for the Airbus
A380 and for the high lift transmission sys-
tems designed and produced by Liebherr
for the A350 XWB, due to go into service in
2014. The density of titanium is about 60%
of that of steel- or nickel-based alloys giving
significant weight savings even though its
tensile strength is greater than that of
austenitic or ferritic stainless steels. Highly
corrosion resistant, titanium also exceeds
the resistance of stainless steels in most en-
vironments, is non-magnetic and has good
heat transfer properties with a melting point
higher than steel alloys. Seamless tubes are
typically superior to welded products in
terms of resistance to high pressures and fa-
tigue and Fine Tubes uses multiple combi-
nations of different processes, including cold
reductions and heat treatments, to manu-
Products
“StarCut Tube” – Making the best
even better
With several hundred successful instal-
lations worldwide, Rofin’s 4-axes precision
laser cutting system “StarCut Tube” (Fig. 1)
continues to set the benchmark. It’s the first
choice for high-precision processing of tube
material for medical implants (e.g. stents)
and instruments (e.g. endoscopes) and var-
ious other tube and sheet material applica-
tions, e.g. in the automotive and aerospace
industry. Recently, Rofin revised the current
5th “StarCut Tube” generation and added
several improvements. The new high-preci-
sion cutting head BAK-MC features excellent
facture to the exact and demanding specifi-
cations demanded by customers such as Air-
bus and Liebherr.
Esab announces Colfax’s
acquisition of Victor Technologies
Holding, Inc.
Esab, London/UK, a member of the Col-
fax group of companies, announced that Col-
fax, Fulton, MD/USA, has entered into a
binding agreement to acquire Victor Tech-
nologies Holdings, Inc., (“Victor”), St. Louis,
MO/USA. In its 110th year, Esab is one of the
largest and most experienced manufacturers
of welding and cutting products with sales
and support established in 80 countries and
manufacturing plants across five continents.
Victor has a century-long history of innova-
tion and is recognised for its leading brands,
including “Victor”, “Tweco”, “Cigweld” and
“Stoody”, which are manufactured, sold and
serviced around the globe. The combination
of Esab and Victor creates a comprehensive
product portfolio that brings a broader array
of solutions to the global welding and cutting
industry. Two of the leading suppliers in the
industry, both with large, well-diversified ge-
ographic footprints, Esab and Victor will to-
gether deliver more value to more customers
in more areas of the world. Esab places
strong emphasis on constant innovation and
improvement guided by the voice of the cus-
tomer. The Colfax Business System (CBS) will
drive Esab and Victor’s joint efforts to devel-
op new products, provide added value to ex-
isting products, and deliver differentiated
customer solutions.
Fig. 1
optical properties. It now allows to micro-
adjust the assist gas nozzle in the x/y plane
without changing the beam guidance. With
the integrated drawer, changing the protec-
tive glass is a breeze and requires no disman-
tling. The company offers also an enlarged
working chamber with a width of 600 mm
83
 FROM COMPANIES
and provides enough room for long parts
and/or customer-specific handlings. A draw-
er allows to remove finished parts at any time
during ongoing production – even during
wet-cutting. If 600 mm are not enough, for
instance for hypo-tube cutting, the automatic
part removal system can be added. (Rofin-
Baasel Lasertech, Petersbrunner Str. 1b,
82319 Starnberg/Germany; www.rofin.com)
Welding jacket for ladies
The manufacturer in welding protection
expands its range of clothing by introducing
a welding jacket for ladies (Fig. 2). Together
with the small sizes welding gloves, that are
also in the company’s product range, lady
welders can now also find the right and com-
fortable protection. These new products are
tested and certified according to EN 11611
by TÜV/Germany. (Weldas Europe B.V.,
Blankenweg 18, 4612 RC Bergen op
Zoom/The Netherlands; www.weldas.com)
Fig. 2
Ceramic surface protection for
fixtures and welding torches
News 2/2014
www.dvstv.de/international
The ceramic surface protection spray
KRA-1000 protects surfaces exposed to tem-
peratures up to 1,000° C (Fig. 3). The lifetime
of MSG gas nozzles and contact tubes, elec-
trodes of resistance welding machines and
outlet nozzles of cold wire feeders for laser
and plasma welding will be prolonged sig-
nificantly. The surfaces of welding fixtures
and clamping elements are optimally pro-
tected from weld spatter or other sparks. The
benefits are:
• Spatter will either stick not to the sur-
face or will be much easier to remove
from nozzles or fixtures,
84
Fig. 3
• Less downtime and maintenance costs
due to less frequent cleaning,
• Up to ten times lifetime of nozzles and
devices,
• Stable welding processes, and thus less
scrap.
(Mig Weld GmbH International, Wattstrasse
2, 94405 Landau (Isar)/Germany; www.
migweld.com)
Full monitoring of dust collection
equipment
The touch screen controller from Camfil
Air Pollution Control (APC) provides full
monitoring and control of all functions of
an industrial dust collector and associated
equipment (Fig. 4). The easy-to-use con-
troller is equipped with a touch screen in-
terface that allows ready access to all of its
functions. It is designed for the use with the
“Farr Gold Series” dust collectors or other
types of collectors if integrated with a motor
starter or variable frequency drive (VFD)
package. A built-in differential pressure sen-
sor monitors the primary filter pressure
drop. Four analog inputs can be used to
monitor the secondary filter as well as other
devices such as leak detectors, flow meters
and compressed air pressure monitors. Six
digital inputs are also included to monitor
hopper level, smoke detection, remote
cleaning and other functions. Four relay out-
Fig. 4
puts are provided to signal faults from any
of the digital or analog inputs or from inter-
nal device faults. The 4 to 20 milliamp output
will remotely monitor air flow or pass
through any analog input to a remote loca-
tion. The controller can also monitor the fan
power consumption, and can provide the
data logging of a system performance with
multi-language capability. (Camfil Air Pol-
lution Control, 3505 South Airport Road,
Jonesboro, AR 72401/USA; www.camfilapc.
com)
50th anniversary with new
inverters
Fig. 5
GYS, the French manufacturer of weld-
ing machines and battery chargers, is cele-
brating its 50th anniversary. To coincide
with the Practical World fair in Cologne/
Germany, GYS is launching several new
products including three new inverter MIG
welders, the “Pearl” range. The “Pearl 150”
offers a high level of welding performance
from a compact and light weight machine.
The “190” (Fig. 5) range offers advanced
functionality, with fully synergic control,
and includes the capability for MIG brazing.
The “190” is available in super compact for-
mat, or as the larger XL version which can
accommodate a 15 kg wire reel. The “Pearl”
range is suitable for a wide range of appli-
cations. Throughout its anniversary year
GYS has on offer through its dealers a wide
range of “ready to weld” kits at special ‘an-
niversary’ prices. These kits come with
everything the welder needs to get started.
Customers can choose from a wide range
of models for MMA, MIG/MAG and TIG.
Last but not least, to mark the 50 years since
the creation of the company in 1964, GYS
has published a limited edition book. It
takes the reader on a journey from how it
all started and through an eventful half cen-
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
tury of company history. Most of all the
book provides an entertaining, colourful
and fascinating insight into the modern
manufacturing facility and R&D centre that
GYS has become today. (SAS GYS, ZI, 134
Bd des Loges - BP 4159, 53941 Saint-
Berthevin/France; www.gys.fr)
Mobile basic device for
occasional use
With the “SmartMaster” (Fig. 6), the
company addresses businesses with minor
welding volume – for example in metal con-
struction – that do not want to sacrifice the
protection of their employees through an
extraction. A compact design and rotatable
and swivelling exhaust hood enables use in
a 360° radius. This leads to very few adjust-
ments during welding. The “SmartMaster”
welding fume filter apparatus is suitable for
welding chrome, nickel and steel due to its
W3 approval. Hence the air is freed from car-
cinogenic substances such as nickel oxides
or chromium compounds at more than 99%.
These substances are emitted during weld-
ing of stainless steel or other high-alloy met-
als. The purified air can be recycled to the
work areas with a W3 certified extraction
and filtration device only. The device can be
adapted to the requirements of the work-
place. Instead of the exhaust arm, the
“SmartMaster” can also be connected by a
hose below the welding table, so that the
suction of the smoke particles is carried out
directly at the source. The three-stage dis-
posable filter of the welding fume filter de-
vice ensures clean air when welding with a
maximum suction capacity of 950 m3/h.
(Kemper GmbH, Von-Siemens-Str. 20, 48691
Vreden/Germany; www.kemper.eu) Fig. 6

Chinese Steel Grades

Comparison of Chinese steel grades with steel designations according to EN and DIN
This bilingual (German/English) reference work explains the Chinese standards system as well as the classification and designation
systems for Chinese steels. The correspondence between the most common Chinese steel grades and their European equivalents
are presented in several tables according to application or product form. The overview of Chinese steels with the corresponding
European material numbers allows quick and easy conversion.

From the Content:

System and Codes of Chinese standards (CN standards)
Classification and designation system for Chinese steels
Overview of CN standards according to steel products
CN, EN, DIN and EN DIN steel names
CN steel grades

1st edition 2010

Peter Marks, Heinz Günter Trost
280 pp.; Paperback
Publisher: DIN, Berlin
Price: 26.80 Euro
Oder by email to: britta.wingartz@dvs-hg.de

DVS Media GmbH • Aachener Straße 172 • 40223 Düsseldorf

Tel: +49 (0) 211/1591 161 • Fax: +49 (0) 211/1591 250 • media@dvs-hg.de • www.dvs-media.info

Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2 85

 WELDING PRACTICE

Friction welding Fire extinguishers in the welding

workshop
On building sites and in workshops (par-
ticularly in specialist welding plants), great
significance must be attached to fire protec-
tion because, there, the welding processes
do indeed frequently lead to spattering and
the grinding work to flying sparks. Even if
the greatest caution is exercised, they may
nevertheless cause a fire. Fire extinguishers
are indispensable in order to be able to fight
this properly.
The correct use of the fire extinguishers
may be of decisive importance in order to
stop a fire in its origination phase. In this re-
spect, the following factors are important:
• An adequate number of suitable fire ex-
tinguishers must be available.
• The fire extinguishers are easily visible
and freely accessible and can be used
at any time (Fig. 1 shows a positive ex-
ample and Fig. 2 a fire extinguisher with
difficult accessibility).
• Any storage locations which are not vis-
ible are identified clearly.
• If at all possible, all the employees
should have been instructed and trained
in the use of the fire extinguishers.

Fig. 1 • Friction-welded valve.

Fig. 1 shows a friction-welded discharge

valve of an internal combustion engine.
These valves consist of a valve disc for which
highly heat-resistant steel is used and a valve
stem made of a hardenable steel. The disc
and the stem were joined with each other
by means of friction welding which is a pres-
sure welding process, i.e. there is no burning
arc or flowing current between the joining
members. As in the case of the discharge
valve, very different materials can also be
welded with each other.
Both workpieces are clamped tightly.
One workpiece is made to rotate and both
workpieces are pressed against each other
at a defined force. They are heated by the
mechanical friction until they plastify. Fig. 1 • Easily reachable and clearly identified Fig. 2 • Poorly accessible fire extinguisher.
Then, the rotation is stopped and an in- fire extinguisher.
creased joining pressure is applied. This
results in a uniform weld with a very small Fire Class Fuel Examples
heat-affected zone. The lip-like welding
beads typical of the process are subse-
Solid substances Wood, paper, coal, hay, straw,
quently removed by means of chip-produc-
plastics, textiles etc.
ing machining.

Substances which are Petrol, alcohol, tar, wax, many plastics,

or become liquid ether, varnishes and resin

Gaseous substances Acetylene, hydrogen, natural gas,

methane, propane, butane and town gas

Metals Aluminium, magnesium, sodium,

potassium, lithium and their alloys

Fig. 2 • Diagram of friction welding.

Edible oils and edible fats Edible oils and edible fats (plant or animal oils and fats)
in deep fat frying or fat baking devices and in
other kitchen appliances and devices

86 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2


• The fire extinguishers are checked by
qualified people at least every two
years.
During the training, it is very recommend-
able to train the employees in the use and
handling of the fire extinguisher in reality
too, i.e. a genuine (exercise) fire is extin-
guished independently. The training should
be repeated regularly – similar to the first
aid training. Fig. 3 gives an overview of the
Tungsten electrode
In the case of TIG welding, the welder
needs a tungsten electrode. These elec-
trodes have a light-grey appearance and,
at one of their ends, a colour code from
which the chemical composition can be
derived. The tungsten electrode consists
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
correct utilisation of fire extinguishers for
various types of fires.
Now, you might think that one fire is the
same as another. That does not apply to fire
fighting. Here, it is a question of what sub-
stance is burning. Therefore, fires are divid-
ed into fire classes (see the table). Different
fire extinguishers are used for the various
fire classes and are identified by correspon-
ding stickers. Commercially available pow-
of approx. 98% tungsten and the balance
is made up of oxides. These improve the
ignition of the electrode and the current-
carrying capacity. When a tungsten elec-
trode is taken out of the packaging, it can-
not be used for welding in this form. It
must be sharpened in order to obtain the
desired arc shape. This happens by sharp-
ening it to a tip angle of approx. 30° in the
longitudinal direction. The sharpening is
carried out longitudinally since the elec-
trons always emerge perpendicular to the
surface. If the sharpening were mistakenly
carried out in the circumferential direc-
tion, the surface rippling caused by the
grinding would result in a wide arc cone.
In order to achieve a concentrated arc, the
sharpening is therefore carried out in the
longitudinal direction of the tungsten elec-
trode. In this respect, it becomes as sharp
as a needle at the end.
Fig. 3 • Correct
use of fire
extinguishers.
der extinguishers are suitable for Fire Classes
A, B and C and are thus often designated as
”ABC extinguishers”. If aluminium or mag-
nesium is also processed in the welding
workshop, fire extinguishers for Fire Class
D are needed in addition. Please address
any inquiries about how many fire extin-
guishers must be available in the workshop
or about any additional tips to your employ-
ers’ liability insurance association.
Long arc
In the case of gas-shielded metal arc
welding, a distinction is made between
short, long, spray and intermediate short
arcs.
The long arc arises at welding voltages
over 20 V and at welding currents in the
medium to high power ranges. The droplets
are not transferred without any short circuits
whatsoever. Extreme spattering is the con-
sequence. The long arc only arises in CO2
as the shielding gas. It is particularly suitable
for the welding of thicker workpieces as from
approx. 5 mm since it permits a high depo-
sition rate. The weld pool is very liquid.
Therefore, out-of-position welding is not
possible.
87
 EVENTS

Second conference about “US/European Welding

Standards“ held in Miami in January 2014
AWS – The American Welding Society
and GSI – Gesellschaft für Schweißtechnik
International mbH, represented by NL SLV
München (Welding Training and Research
Institute Munich) in overall charge, have
again cooperated in the organisation of the
second conference about “US/European
Welding Standards“. The event took place at
the AWS headquarters in Miami, Florida/USA
on 26 to 28 January 2014. The background to
the event is the increasing demand of both
European and North American companies
for knowledge, experience and further edu-
cation possibilities with regard to national
and international requirements on manufac-
turing plants and products as well as to the
corresponding standards and sets of rules.
In times of continuously advancing glob-
alisation and the associated increase in the
complexity of the economic relationships,
ever more companies are being confronted
with the questions relating to what must be
borne in mind when they want to fabricate
their products abroad or to sell their products
abroad. The first conference about these
questions was already staged very success-
fully at SLV München in Munich/Germany
in 2012.
This year as well, the great interest and
the high number of participants confirmed
the concept of the joint event. Various lecture
and discussion units on the following subjects
were lined up in the proven way: manufacture
of construction products made of steel and
aluminium, manufacture of pressure devices
as well as manufacture of rail vehicles and
heavy machines.
In order to facilitate the comparison be-
tween the American and European sets of
rules, the individual subjects were introduced
by presentations from American and Euro-
pean viewpoints. In detailed discussion cir-
cles, differences and common features were
subsequently discussed intensively with com-
panies, notified bodies and certification so-
cieties. European manufacturers which want
to supply to the USA and North American
manufacturers which want to supply to Eu-
rope received a lot of valuable information
as a result of these presentations and discus-
sions. For example, the following subjects al-
so played a significant role throughout the
event: The partly different opinions about the
role and responsibility of the welding super-
visor during the planning, execution and as-
sessment of orders, the significance of ISO
3834 in the USA and the associated need for
the qualification of personnel and the partly
different opinions about the significance of
the training and qualification testing of per-
sonnel in Europe in comparison with the sig-
nificance of the certification of personnel in
the USA.
The AWS head-
quarters in
Miami/USA (Pho-
tos: Georg Wa-
ckerbauer)
The German
delegation to-
gether with Dr.
Dennis Harwig,
Chief Techno-
logy Officer of
AWS (second
from left)
The subjects of this conference were em-
bedded into the topical discussion about the
economic treaty between Europa and the
USA which is being negotiated at present
(TTIP – Transatlantic Trade and Investment
Partnership). The actual status of this was
discussed with representatives of the Ameri-
can National Standards Institute (ANSI).
The members of the German delegation
were Prof. Heidi Cramer and Georg Wacker-
bauer (GSI SLV München), Jörg Mährlein
(GSI SLV Duisburg), Peter Gerster (Gerster
Engineering Consult Ehingen) as well as
Christian Ahrens and Dr. Klaus Middeldorf
(GSI mbH).
Heidi Cramer, Munich/Germany and Klaus
Middeldorf, Duisburg/Germany

88 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

“International Thermal Spray Conference“
ITSC 2014 in May in Barcelona
The expert world of thermal spraying
will congregate in the Palau de Congressos
de Catalunya (PCC) in Barcelona in May
2014. In the cosmopolitan Spanish city, DVS
– German Welding Society and ASM – Ther-
mal Spray Society will await their guests on
the occasion of the “ITSC – International
Thermal Spray Conference & Exposition“
2014, the leading event for everything to do
with thermal spraying.
This year, the well-known English-lan-
guage event will take place on 21 to 23 May
under the motto of “Not Fiction: Thermal
Spray the Key Technology in Modern Life!“.
“Svarka/Welding 2014“ exhibition in June in St. Petersburg
The 16th international exhibition “Svar-
ka/Welding 2014“ will take place in St. Pe-
tersburg/Russia on 24 to 27 June 2014. Within
its 40 years of history the exhibition has taken
a leading position among other largest in-
dustrial forums of Russia, CIS and Baltic
countries; it is now regarded as a very impor-
tant event, targeted to develop the Russian
welding industry and make for the moderni-
sation of the industrial sector of the Russian
economy and its rapid technical upgrade.
Main topics of the exhibition are:
• Modernisation of welding processes at
industrial enterprises,
• Introduction of advanced, innovative
technologies into welding industry,
• Automation and robotics in technologi-
cal processes,
• Power-saving technologies in welding
and thermal production processes,
• Training of qualified specialists and
welders, innovations in education.
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
As accustomed, ITSC will consist of a con-
ference and an exhibition. The programme
has already been finalised and any interest-
ed parties can already submit their registra-
tions too.
One main focal point at this year’s ITSC
will be the introduction of applications for
thermal spraying, concentrating on aviation,
energy generation, automobile industry and
future applications. On the three days, the
lecture programme will encompass over 180
international lecture contributions and, ac-
companying the conference, will provide an
exhibition for the leading suppliers of this
At the end of May,
the international
expert community
of thermal spraying
will meet in Barce-
lona for the ITSC
2014 (Picture:
Frank Müller)
Special sections of the exhibition:
• Quality testing, measuring equipment
and technical diagnostics,
• Surface treatment,
• Methods of corrosion protection.
The international scientific and technical
conference “Modern Issues of Welding Pro-
duction Efficiency Improvement” will be-
come the central event of the business pro-
gram. Its aim is to deepen cooperation in the
welding industry and to support the adoption
of energy-efficient technology.
St. Petersburg is the maritime and inno-
vative capital of Russia with big scientific in-
dustrial potential. It hosts the leading indus-
trial enterprises in the sphere of shipbuilding,
energy machine-building, transport. Ad-
vanced technologies are needed at more than
500 enterprises of St. Petersburg and the
North-West region – that is why the develop-
ment of welding industry in this region is es-
pecially important.
technology. A practice-oriented Industrial
Forum and an extensive Poster Show will be
offered in addition. However, ITSC will also
be the stage for the presentation of interna-
tionally renowned prizes such as the “Sulzer
Metco Young Professionals Award“ or the
“René Wasserman Award“. Moreover, DVS
will offer the participants the proceedings
including a CD with the complete manu-
scripts of the conference and poster contri-
butions on the occasion of ITSC 2014.
ITSC takes place at a different location
every year. Last time, more than 800 visitors
were able to obtain information about topi-
cal subjects and innovations relating to ther-
mal spraying in Busan/South Korea on 13
to 15 May 2013. The “International Thermal
Spray Conference & Exposition“ is staged
alternately by ASM/TSS and DVS. The
American society is the organiser in North
America and DVS in Europe. In Asia, both
stage ITSC together. More information is
available online at www.dvs-ev.de/itsc2014/
The event is organised by ExpoForum in
collaboration with the Alliance of Welding of
St. Petersburg and North-West Region of the
Russian Federation as well as Messe Essen
GmbH, Essen/Germany. The event is sup-
ported by the Russian Academy of Sciences,
National Agency of NDT and Welding
(NAKS), German Welding Society (DVS) and
Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society
(CMES). More information is available online
at www.welding.lenexpo.ru/en/.
89
 REPORTS
High-performance arc welding: Variants and
modulation types determine the material transfer,
the heat input and the arc
The requirements set on the joining
processes in welding technology today are
numerous and the demands are becoming
ever more stringent. There is a growing de-
mand for welding processes which guarantee
an outstanding welding quality as well as an
increase in the productivity and the econom-
ic viability at the same time. This led to the
development of high-performance welding
processes with a higher deposition rate and
a rise in the welding speed. The high-per-
formance welding processes include:
• T.I.M.E. welding,
• GMA tandem welding,
• GMA flat wire welding (strip welding),
• GMA welding with large wire electrode
diameters,
• laser/GMA hybrid welding.
A new epoch with regard to the all-electronic
welding power sources for high-perfor-
mance arc welding has been initiated with
the development of the latest generation of
all-electronic digital welding devices and
welding installation technology, with the
modern control techniques appropriate for
these. Since the introduction of the all-elec-
tronic digital welding devices and welding
installation technology, it has been possible
to show a lot of users with what flexibility
High-performance GMA welding
Welding processes
(single-head welding)
GMA welding with one
wire electrode, MIG/MAG
(single-electrode welding)
With a spray arc
(MIGs/MAGs)
With a pulsed arc
(MIGp/MAGp)
Arc types
With a rotating arc
(MIGr/MAGr)
With a high-performance
short arc (MAGhk)
With a high-performance
spray arc (MAGhs)
Fig. 1 • Classification of the high-performance welding processes according to the DVS 0909 1
technical bulletin with the classification of the welding processes and the arc types.
90
new welding tasks with the specified strin-
gent requirements and demands could be
tackled and solved in the shortest possible
time.
In the modern metal processing indus-
try, welding technology has occupied a sig-
nificant place within fabrication technology
in the meantime. Because of their specific
properties, the high-performance welding
processes have a great potential for organ-
ising economically viable sequences in in-
dustrial fabrication. Due to the high depo-
sition rate, the throughput times can be
shortened considerably since there is either
the possibility of reducing the number of
passes with thick-walled components or sin-
gle-pass welds can be manufactured at high
welding speeds.
In many cases, welding permits techni-
cally and economically viable fabrication.
The automation of the fabrication processes
by means of welding technology increases
the scope of the application of welding tech-
nology in the most important branches of
industry. In a lot of fields, the welding robot
is meanwhile being used in order to support
welding technology. This makes the require-
ments on the welding device and installation
technology and the associated subject of the
GMA welding with two
wire electrodes
(two-electrode welding)
One potential Two potentials
GMA twin-wire welding, GMA tandem welding,
MIGD/MAGD MIGT/MAGT
(parallel-arc welding) (single-arc welding)
With a spray arc With a spray arc
(MIGDs/MAGDs) (MIGTs/MAGTs)
With a pulsed arc With a pulsed arc
(MIGDp/MAGDp)
(MIGTp/MAGTp)
With a short arc
Source: DVS 0909 1 (MIGTk/MAGTk)
technical bulletin
“robot / welding device“ interface more
stringent. The refinement of joining tech-
nology is accompanied by the development
of welding devices and installations because,
as a rule, the refinements are based on new
findings from arc physics [1], on the optimi-
sation of the welding processes and welding
devices as well as on new materials. Thus,
modern, totally digitally controlled power
sources with extensive peripheral equip-
ment, improved striking and welding behav-
iour as well as a good price/performance ra-
tio are available today. At the same time, the
operating concepts were simplified and
adapted to the needs of the users or the
welders.
High-performance arc welding
processes
History
Two-wire or twin-wire welding is one
process variant of gas-shielded metal arc
(GMA) welding. As early as the 80s, a few
manufacturers of welding devices took up
this process and pushed ahead with it but,
at that time, the inadequate device technol-
ogy led to their failure because the welding
process could not be mastered. The intro-
duction of the digitised welding devices
made the high-performance welding
process feasible and reproducible. In the
90s, none of the refinements of the metal
active gas (MAG) welding process such as
the utilisation of argon-rich mixed gases or
the utilisation of high-performance welding
processes such as “T.I.M.E.“, “Rapid Arc“ or
“Rapid Melt“ led to the actual objective of
raising the welding speed to any noticeable
extent. Although it was possible to raise the
deposition rate, the energy per unit length
also rose at roughly the same welding speed.
In practice, this resulted in substantial re-
strictions with various materials.
From submerged arc (SA) technology, it
is well-known that a rise in the welding speed
can only be achieved by utilising several arcs.
This fact was the basis for the refinement of
the GMA two-wire or twin-wire welding
process at Cloos. As early as 1994, the mod-
ern, computer-controlled pulsed arc welding
installations and the associated tandem
welding torches were being used in series
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

Fig. 2 • Perfor-
mance ranges of
Welding speed [cm/min]
the MAG and
high-perfor-
mance MAG
welding proces-
ses for structu-
ral steels (accor-
ding to the DVS
0909 1 technical
bulletin).
Deposition rate [kg/H]
production. These served not only to raise
the deposition rate but also principally, as
the main aim, to achieve an increase in the
welding speed with a stable welding process.
It was possible to reduce the energy per unit
length in this way. Depending on the utili-
sation conditions and the weld shapes, the
welding speed could be doubled or trebled.
The function of the GMA two-wire or twin-
wire welding process for the welding tests is
based on pulsed arc technology at very high
pulse currents, on the controllable, synchro-
nous material transfers and on the stable arc
conditions. As early as 1995/1996, Cloos elec-
trically isolated the two arcs using two syn-
chronised welding installations and a newly
developed tandem welding torch (type:
ZMW 600) [2]. In 1996, it was possible to suc-
cessfully utilise this GMA tandem welding
technology with a synchronised pulsed arc
in a robot on the premises of the customer
FormTec in Bielefeld [3].
Classification of the high-performance
arc processes
The high-performance arc welding
processes are classified according to the DVS
0909 1 technical bulletin, „Fundamentals of
high-performance GMA welding with solid
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Deposition rate
- a higher welding speed with the same
weld volume or
with two wires
- larger weld volumes at roughly the
same welding speed
or in which
• wire electrodes with larger wire diam-
eters or flux-cored wires (high-perfor-
with one wire
mance single-wire or multiple-wire
processes) are applied, with the result
conventional of:
Wire - deposition rates over 8 kg/h, Fig. 2.
diameter For example, the users convert the higher
deposition rate either into a larger weld
Total of the wire feed speeds [m/min] cross-section or into a higher welding speed.
Due to the utilisation of modern high-per-
Fig. 3 • Perfor- formance welding processes, the deposition
Laser/GMA hybrid welding
mance potentials rate or the welding speed can be roughly
GMA two-wire welding
GMA single-wire welding of various high- trebled.
(large-diameter wires) performance
GMA single-wire welding welding processes What do the high-performance
(conventional) in comparison welding processes yield for the
with the conven- user?
tional GMA In general, joining is amongst the growth
welding process.
sectors. The authorities on the sector are ex-
pecting the highest rates of increase from
laser welding. However, manufacturers and
research institutes consider that the GMA
welding processes also still have growth po-
tentials (rise in the welding speed, increase
in the deposition rate and higher produc-
wire electrodes - Definition and terms“ [4], tivity). The manufacturers are in agreement
and to the DVS 0909 2 technical bulletin, with regard to the significance of hybrid
„High-performance GMA welding with solid processes. 65% designate “laser hybrid weld-
wire electrodes – Notes about application ing“ as the dominant process in the future.
technology“ [5], Fig. 1. High-performance In this respect, the greatest potential is at-
GMA (HP GMA) welding designates gas- tributed, above all, to the laser/GMA process
shielded arc welding processes in which: [6]. Shorter cycle times and higher produc-
• either one solid wire or several solid tivity are the central demands on production
wires with diameters of 1.0 mm or 1.2 in global industrial competition. In practice,
mm are utilised at a wire feed speed two trends correspond to this:
(vD) of more than 15 m/min, individu- • higher production capacities and
ally or in total, with the objective of • increasing large-scale series produc-
achieving: tion.
Fig. 4 •
Examples from
practice - from
the welding
operation to the
finished pro-
duct; top: truck
axle beam, bot-
tom: welding of
extruded alumi-
nium sections
for ICE trains.
91
 REPORTS
In welding technology, high-performance
welding processes are solving these tasks to
an increasing extent, Fig. 3. Not only the
joining or welding speeds but also the dep-
osition rates are rising. That primarily ap-
plies to high quantities, e.g. in the automo-
bile and component supplier industries, as
well as to the joining of large-volume com-
ponents with large joint cross-sections or to
the weld surfacing of large areas. Depending
on the outline conditions of the application,
Fig. 4, and of the user, different solutions are
available in the meantime.
State of the art: high level achieved
A partly turbulent development process
with distinct innovation thrusts is charac-
teristic not only of the development of weld-
ing technology in general in recent years
but also of that of high-performance weld-
ing. Today, the three main demands of the
user are:
• power sources with high powers and
the possibility of setting the modulation
type,
• simple operator guidance,
• highest possible availability of the weld-
ing systems.
All the high-performance welding processes
have one thing in common. They are, at
least, mechanised but, in most cases, auto-
mated and, to an increasing degree, robot-
assisted.
Fully digitised power sources: flexibility
and quick process control
The three processes (GMA, GMA tan-
dem and laser/GMA hybrid welding) are
characterised by one common feature: the
digitisation of the hardware and the soft-
ware. The powers of the devices today, the
results of the processes and the quality of
the joints would not be conceivable without
the digitally controlled welding currents,
the digital process control and the digitised
“welding know-how“. For high-perfor-
mance welding processes, it is not enough
for the power source to supply an ade-
quately high current but the entire equip-
ment must instead be adapted correspond-
ingly.
Applications
The first step towards high-performance
welding processes is to increase the wire
feed speed in the case of single-wire weld-
ing. The next step is to develop tandem
welding (two wire electrodes deposited at
the same time). While single-wire welding
92
round wires can be achieved by increasing
the wire diameter (up to 3.2 mm). These
wires are available as solid and flux-cored
wires in the customary materials (alumini-
um, aluminium alloys, steel, copper etc.)
and are usually processed in the PA or PB
welding position. The disadvantage of these
wire electrodes lies in the wire feed:
• Very soft wires (e.g. made of alumini-
um) are difficult to feed since they have
hardly any inherent stability.
• In contrast, hard wires (e.g. made of
steel) cause problems during feeding
as a result of their high stiffness.
Fig. 5 shows investigations which were con-
ducted using a flux-cored wire with a diam-
Fig. 5 • High-performance welding on compo-
eter of 2.4 mm. The wire feed speed was 11.5
nents for forest machines using a flux-cored
m/min and a deposition rate of 25.0 kg/h
wire electrode with a diameter of 2.4 mm. A de-
could be achieved in this way. The deposi-
position rate of 25.0 kg/h is achieved in this case.
tion rate can be increased substantially by
utilising large-diameter wires. This makes it
at high wire feed speeds entails the problem possible to execute fillet welds with large
of “cutting“, it is difficult to position the torch design throat thicknesses in one pass while
during the tandem welding of non-linear two or more passes would be necessary with
contours since the relative orientation of conventional wires. Therefore, the cycle time
both electrodes and the welding direction can be shortened considerably and the pro-
must be kept constant. ductivity raised.
High-performance weld-
ing has a large number of util-
isation fields, e.g. the automo- Power
bile industry, heavy structural Source 1
steel engineering or rail vehi-
cle construction. Both joining
welding and weld surfacing
can be carried out. Various ap-
plications of high-perfor-
mance welding, i.e. welding Common
with large-diameter wires and contact tube
tandem welding, are de-
scribed more exactly below.
Another example deals with
laser/GMA hybrid welding.
Welding using wire elec-
trodes with large wire cross-
Power Power
sections Source 1 Source 2
In the case of the conven-
tional “round wire welding“,
the wire feed speed can only
be increased up to a certain
value since the problem of
“cutting“ arises then. A further
increase in the deposition rate
in single-wire welding with
Two contact tubes
with separate
Fig. 6 • Principles of the potentials
structures of twin-wire (top)
and tandem (bottom) welding
installations.
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

Welding Power
Source 1
Welding Power
Source 2
Modulation type a) Normal/normal
Welding Power
Source 1
Welding Power
Source 2
Modulation type d) Pulsed/pulsed alternating by 10%
Tandem welding
In practice, a distinction is made be-
tween tandem welding and twin-wire weld-
ing today. In the case of tandem welding,
the contact tubes are electrically isolated so
that both wire electrodes may have different
electric potentials, Fig. 6. Therefore, the arc
type (standard arc or pulsed arc), the arc
length, the welding current, the power etc.
can also be set separately for both arcs. Via
the arc length, the controller produces a sta-
ble arc which ensures perfect droplet de-
tachment and thus little spatter.
Both standard and pulsed arcs can be
chosen as the arc type. Today, the standard
arc types also include the “heat-reduced“
arc types and processes, e.g. the “Control
Weld“, “Cold Weld AC“ and “Cold Weld DC“
welding processes. The “forced“ arc types,
e.g. “Rapid Weld“, can be used too. Alter-
nately combined with the various arc types,
this results in four modulation types (mod-
ulation variants). Three of these are partic-
ularly interesting in practice, Figs. 7a to 7c.
The “normal/normal“ modulation type,
Fig. 7a, is an interesting variant especially at
low powers. The most frequent application
is offered by the pulsed arc for both wire elec-
trodes. In this respect, the material transfers
are mostly phase-displaced by 180°, i.e. while
the background current is being applied to
one electrode, the second electrode is in the
pulsed current phase and vice versa, Fig. 7b.
If the focus is on a maximum welding speed
and gap-bridging capacity, the leading wire
electrode welds with the pulsed arc and the
trailing wire electrode with the standard arc.
For deep penetration, the pulsed arc is rec-
ommended for the leading wire electrode
and the standard arc for the trailing wire elec-
trode, Fig. 7c.
The combination of the tandem welding
process and the digitisation, Table 1, results
in another benefit for the user. Each of the
wire electrodes can optionally perform the
“leading“ or “trailing“ function. In the case
of multiple-pass welding, there is no need
for the otherwise necessary reorientation at
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Fig. 7 • The possible
modulation types (modulation
variants) of which only
the a), b) and c) types are
b) Pulsed/pulsed synchronised c) Pulsed/normal interesting in practice.
e) Pulsed/pulsed alternating by 50% f) Pulsed/normal alternating by 90%
Table 1 • Possible combinations of the processes for tandem welding.
Process Wire 1 Wire 2
(Lead): (Trail): Application
name
Process Process
Preferred process, quick
and for thicker sheets
Rarely in use
Preferred for deep
penetration
Rare, thin sheets
Rare, quick and for thick sheets
Quick, controlled penetration
for thin and thick sheets
Quick and for thin to
thick sheets
Quick and for thin sheets
the end of the weld. This reduces the cycle osition rate may be as much as 30 kg/h.
times considerably and improves the acces- Fig. 8 shows two GMA welding torches
sibility. The maximum welding speeds are for tandem welding, one from the 70s and
two to three times higher or even higher in one current welding torch. Tandem welding
tandem welding than in GMA single-wire torches equipped with two “DuoDrive“ units
processes and still twice those in the T.I.M.E. (two drives per wire) can also be supplied.
process. Values up to 7 m/min are regarded That improves the wire electrode transport.
as realistic for steel. In this respect, the dep- This is particularly important in the case of
soft wire electrodes. The advantages of tan-
dem welding are a high welding speed, little
spatter and high flexibility. Tandem welding
can be carried out with a large number of
filler materials. Fig. 9 shows the GMA tan-
dem welding of an excavator bucket with a
Cloos robot.
“Tandem Rapid“ welding process
Both the “Rapid Weld“ and “Control
Weld“ welding processes were combined at
Cloos. This combination is outstandingly
suitable for increasing the welding speed on
workpieces with low sheet thicknesses. Lap
welds were executed on real components
with sheet thicknesses of 3 mm using G3Si1
(EN 14341 A) wire electrodes and a shielding
Fig. 8 • GMA tandem
welding torches; top: gas consisting of 82% Ar and 18% CO2. A
model from the 70s, welding speed of over 4 m/min was
bottom: current tandem achieved with these. One great advantage
welding torch. of the “Tandem Rapid“ process lies in the
93
 REPORTS

Table 2 • A few examples of applications of GMA tandem welding.

Fig. 9 • GMA tandem
Component Weld geometry Welding speed welding of an
Fillet weld excavator bucket.
Refrigerator compressor
Aluminium section in Single V weld
a carriage underbody with laser weld guiding
High-grade steel catalytic Fillet weld
converter housing
Lap weld
Fire extinguisher vessel
Longitudinally stiffened Fillet weld
panels in ship sections
Single V weld
Hot water reservoir

Car axle component Lap weld

Substructure module Fillet weld

of truck cranes
Car wheel rim Fillet weld

fact that the energy per unit length is con- sisting of 82% Ar and 18% CO2. A welding ness of 8 mm are achieved in one pass – at a
siderably lower than in the tandem speed of over 4 m/min was achieved with favourable energy per unit length at the
pulsed/pulsed process. Thus, the process these. same time. Even on aluminium, the welding
energy is exploited in a better way and that speed can be doubled – depending on the
decreases the component distortion and any Intelligent fabrication method for component. A few examples of applications
possible warpage. economically viable welding operation are listed in Table 2.
An extremely high welding speed con-
“Tandem Speed“ welding process nected with a considerable rise in produc- Laser/GMA hybrid welding -
Cloos also combined both the “Speed tivity is a decisive criterion of the GMA tan- more economically viable than
Weld“ (pulsed arc: U/I modulation) and dem technology in all applications. For ex- ever before
“Control Weld“ welding processes. This com- ample, welding speeds of more than 6 Compared with conventional tandem
bination is outstandingly suitable for increas- m/min can be achieved in the thin sheet and MAG welding, substantial savings not
ing the welding speed on workpieces with range (2 to 3 mm) using the GMA tandem only in the processing time but also with re-
medium sheet thicknesses. Lap welds were process subject to a favourable groove gard to the filler material can be achieved
executed on real components with sheet geometry. In the case of thick-walled com- during laser/GMA hybrid welding which is
thicknesses of 3 mm using G3Si1 (EN 14341 ponents, deposition rates of 24 kg/h, speeds always applied in an automated form be-
A) wire electrodes and a shielding gas con- of 80 cm/min as well as a design throat thick- cause full connections can be welded with-
out any weld preparation. Moreover, high
Fillet weld Laser beam welding speeds are possible with both thin
MIG torch and thicker sheets. Today, components not
Outflowing
plasma only for construction machine, rail and com-
mercial vehicles but also for the automobile
Keyhole industry are fabricated on laser/GMA hybrid
Liquid molten welding installations from Cloos.
material Filler wire As an example, Fig. 10 shows a double T
Solidified Arc
Fig. 10 • Fillet molten joint in which both welds were fabricated
welds in a material from one side by means of laser/GMA hy-
double T joint, brid welding. Typical welding parameters
in each case for the laser/GMA hybrid welding of fillet
welded from and butt welds on structural steel (S235) are
one side using
specified in Table 3. In the comparison be-
the laser/GMA
tween GMA tandem and laser/GMA hybrid
hybrid process.
welding on low-alloyed steel with a sheet
thickness of 10 mm, it is possible to highlight
the following properties:
• shorter processing time - up to 57%,
Fig. 11 • Principle of the
• less filler material - up to 70%,
laser/GMA hybrid welding
process (top) and metallo-
• great penetration depth using the laser
graphic section through beam,
a weld executed with it • reliable sidewall fusion due to the GMA
(bottom). process.

94 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

 Parameter
Wire diameter
Table 3 • Typical welding Wire feed
parameters for laser/GMA hybrid Welding speed
welding on the S235 structural Welding voltage
steel with a sheet thickness Welding current
Laser beam power
of 10 mm.
The advantages over GMA welding result
from more productivity due to a higher weld-
ing speed, fewer weld preparations with
greater sheet thicknesses, less workpiece dis-
tortion due to a lower energy input and a sta-
ble process due to the interaction between
the processes. For example, it can be utilised
on materials like mild, low-alloyed and high-
strength steels, aluminium, chromium-nickel
materials and coated sheets.
Laser/GMA hybrid welding is an inno-
vative welding process in which laser weld-
ing is combined with a conventional gas-
shielded metal arc welding process. In this
respect, the advantages of the individual
Fig. 12 • Examples of the designs of
laser/GMA hybrid welding heads.
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Fillet weld Butt weld
mm 1,2 1,2
mm/min 10 10
cm/min 85 150
V 27 27,5
A 260 280
kW 8/12 8
processes (e.g. a high welding speed and a
small heat-affected zone) complement each
other. Their specific disadvantages (e.g. the
low gap-bridging capacity during laser weld-
ing alone) are compensated for nearly com-
pletely in this case. With the laser/GMA hy-
brid process, Fig. 11, full-penetration weld-
ing can be carried out from one side in one
pass with a component thickness up to 25
mm and the large number of otherwise nec-
essary welding passes can be avoided in this
way. This process permits high welding
speeds, good gap bridging and the minimi-
sation of the heat-affected zone. Two com-
mon laser/GMA hybrid welding heads can
be seen on Fig. 12.
Summary and perspectives
High-performance welding processes
have occupied important positions in a rel-
atively short time. Because higher produc-
tivity represents a decisive success factor in
global competition, it will continue to be
the driving force behind higher powers as
well as flexible and innovative solutions in
the case of welding. Various objectives are
recognisable here. As far as the robot and
handling systems are concerned, higher
speeds mean the better exploitation of the
resources already available in welding tech-
nology. The objective of the higher deposi-
tion rate applies to all the current high-per-
formance welding processes.
In principle, all-encompassing consid-
eration and approaches offer strong
chances. In concrete terms, they lie in all
the participating partners cooperating at
the right time. By inputting the different
know-how of the partners, they exert effects
on the optimum material selection, on the
designing appropriate for welding, on the
coordination of the process parameters, on
the installation technology including the
clamping and robot systems and, as a con-
sequence, on the welding result. This ap-
plies quantitatively, qualitatively and also
economically.
Klaus-Peter Schmidt,
Carl Cloos Schweißtechnik GmbH,
Haiger/Germany
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author would like to thank Carl Cloos
Schweißtechnik GmbH, Haiger, and the busi-
ness partners dealing with welding technolo-
gy for the handed-over image and documen-
tation material.
Literature
[1] Maecker, H.: Was ist Plasma? Fachbuchreihe
Schweißtechnik, Bd. 27, DVS Media, Düssel-
dorf 1962, p. 1.
[2] N. N.: ROMAT-Schweißroboter und MIG/
MAG-Hochgeschwindigkeitsschweißen mit
MSG-TANDEM-Technik. Prospekt 10/96
and Prospekt 09/97 TH. Carl Cloos Schweiß-
technik GmbH, Haiger.
[3] N. N.: Ergebnisorientierte Investentschei-
dung. Blech (1998), No. 5, Sonderteil
Schweißtechnik, pp. 102/09.
[4] Merkblatt DVS 0909-1 „Grundlagen des
MSG-Hochleistungsschweißen mit Massiv-
drahtelektroden – Definition und Begriffe“
(September 2000 Edition). DVS Media, Düs-
seldorf 2000.
[5] Merkblatt DVS 0909-2 „Grundlagen des
MSG-Hochleistungsschweißen mit Massiv-
drahtelektroden – Anwendungstechnische
Hinweise“ (June 2003 Edition). DVS Media,
Düsseldorf 2003.
[6] Matthes, K.-J., and E. Seliga: Gerätetechni-
scher Forschungsbedarf in der Fügetechnik
aus Sicht mittelständischer Anlagenherstel-
ler oder Systemanbieter. Studie im Auftrag
der Forschungsvereinigung des DVS. Inst.
für Fertigungstechnik/Schweißtechnik, TU
Chemnitz 2003.
[7] N. N.: MIG/MAG-Doppeldraht-Schweißen.
Prospekt 01/94 and Prospekt 02/96 TH. Carl
Cloos Schweißtechnik GmbH, Haiger.
[8] Merkblatt DVS 3216 „Laserstrahl-Lichtbo-
gen-Hybridschweißverfahren“ (January
2005 Edition). DVS-Media, Düsseldorf 2005.
[9] Miklos, E., et al.: Vollmechanisches MAG-
HL-Schweißen. DVS-Berichte, Bd. 204, S.
30/37. DVS Media, Düsseldorf 2006.
[10] Knoch, R., and A. W. E. Nentwig: Schneller
MAG-Schweißen mit mehreren Drahtelek-
troden. DVS-Berichte, Bd. 162, DVS Media,
Düsseldorf 1994, pp. 77/81.
[11] Schmidt, K.-P.: Geräte und Anlagen in der
Schweißtechnik: Modulationsarten bestim-
men den definierten Werkstoffübergang
beim Lichtbogenschweißen und Lichtbo-
genlöten. DVS-Jahrbuch 2005, DVS-Media,
Düsseldorf 2004.
[12] Schmidt, K.-P.: Neue Prozessvarianten er-
weitern den Anwendungsumfang des MSG-
Verfahrens. DVS-Jahrbuch 2006. DVS Media,
Düsseldorf 2005.
[13] N. N.: Wirtschaftlichkeit von Hochleistungs-
schweißprozessen. Seminar document, SLV
Halle 2005.
95
 REPORTS
“Art in steel“ – welded metal sculptures
Herefordshire (UK) based artist Alan Ross about his work and inspiration
Sculptor Alan Ross lives and works near
Hereford in West England.
I have been working full time as a sculp-
tor for seven years, and business has really
taken off over the last couple of years. I start-
ed welding by accident, 13 years ago I was
in between hobbies, and in the way in the
house. I have always been interested in prac-
tical things, especially motorbikes and push-
bikes.
A genuinely exciting moment
My wife suggested a night class in weld-
ing. I was not too sure but was effectively
sent along to have a look. I was advised to
try a basic gas and arc welding course as my
tutor reckoned it would give me the best un-
derstanding of how metal behaves when be-
Fig 1 • Wyvern Dragon made of recycled materials.
96
ing welded. I went along to my first night
and immediately knew I had found some-
thing that would be important to me, in fact
I knew instantly that this was something that
might change my life, a genuinely exciting
moment. Luckily my Dad realised that his
’lad’ had it real bad and bought me a gas
welding setup for christmas.
I started dabbling in sculpture to get my
hand in at welding. My master plan was to
build myself a nice recumbent bike. I started
using reycled bicycle components and made
a few small dragons, these started to sell and
paid for my tooling up and buying materials.
Initially I was using recycled materials and
what I could find lying around. The Wyvern
Dragon, Fig. 1, gives an idea of this area of
my work.
As my skills developed I was able to buy
a small Clarke meta-inert gas (MIG) welder
and my work scaled up and improved in
quality. Around this point I realised that I
might be making ‘art’. Some kind soul as-
sured me that I was not a proper artist be-
cause I had not been to art college – some
people are so supportive.
I was developing an approach and set
of ideas regarding sculpture but was not sure
what I was after achieving. I was then intro-
duced to the “Thames and Hudson Manual
of Direct Metal Sculpture“ by Trevor Faulk-
ner; published in the late 60’s. In this he de-
scribed how metal can be used as a sculp-
tural medium as it is, not modified by either
casting or forge work. I.e., metal can be a
feature in itself and does not need to be hid-
den or modified. This made complete sense
to me and helped me to define what I was
trying to do. I realised that my sculpture is
made of steel and is welded and that these
are things that should be a feature of the
work.
The ’overwelding’ technique
I started using the MIG welder to create
textures and surfaces, and decided not to
grind my welds out partly out of laziness (we
all hate grinding) but also to show how
things go together. I also developed a tech-
nique that I called ’overwelding’ in which a
surface of weld is applied over an armature
of metal bars to give an integrated surface.
The Monkey King sculpture, Fig. 2, was
made this way, and amazingly did not blow
up my Clarke hobby welder. Duty Cycles?
Never heard of them.
I carried on working like this in my
garage as a self financing hobby that gradu-
ally became a small part time business. I
then bought a Metal Craft Strip Metal Work-
er. This opened up a whole new direction
for me to work in, enabling my to shape and
bend larger strip and bar and so to scale my
work up. I also bought a plasma cutter at
around this time. The details on the fins of
my Sun Fish sculpture, Fig. 3, are applied as
simple stringers of weld, a slow process but
a great result.
Eventually my ’hobby’ took off to the
point I was able to go part time in my day
job as a care worker. Then seven years ago
when I was so stressed by the day job on the
spur of the moment I decided to leave and
see if my ’hobby’ could become a full time
occupation. I was then working full time in
my domestic garage and getting by.
Fig. 2 • Monkey King sculpture made by the
‘overwelding’ technique (a surface of weld is
applied over an armature of metal bars to give
an integrated surface).
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Fig. 3 • Large Sun Fish sculpture. Fig. 4 • Welded Giant Ants.

Fig. 5 • Hand
sculpture made of
gas welding rods.

Fig. 6 • Life
sized Concert
Grand Piano.

Fig. 7 • Model of a
short section of a
DNA molecule, using
pennies and gas
welding rods.

A lucky break
Then I had a lucky break: I was involved
in a small exhibition at Longleat and Tommy
Parker, the Estate Manager, said ‘I like your
stuff, I want something for me garden.’ I
thought he meant his own garden. Then he
showed me the ‘garden’ and asked what I
would put in it. I mentioned that I had a
thing about ants. His reaction threw me:
‘Yes! Eight of them giant ants, 5 m long each,
you’ve got the job!’ and he walked off. A few
days later a letter turned up on headed note
paper offering me the job of making eight
giant ants – an unusual approach to business tures and surface textures. My current needed as people can visualise the space
and an unusual job. I ended up making them welder is a Butters AMT 180 model. I also themselves. It means that I spend an awful
in my tiny garage and got them together. Fig. use brazing occassionally mainly for the ef- lot of time doing simple butt welds and an
4. A lucky meeting indeed. fect of the contrasting colour provided by awful lot of them, but this process suits my
At this point I moved out into a larger the brass filler rod or for very fine work such style. Fig. 6 shows a life sized Concert Grand
workshop which has enabled me to work on as the tiny hands on my small human fig- Piano that I made last year for a well known
a large scale and take on more demanding ures. The hand in Fig. 5 is made of 1.6 mm composer of film soundtracks. The main
jobs. Almost all of my sculptures are MIG gas welding rods. structure is made of 30 × 5 mm mild steel
welded, I find MIG welding to be a versatile A lot of my work is made of simple round strip; each section is made of two strips
process, very quick to do and very forgiving bars and strips. Initially this was because I joined edge to edge to make the angle sec-
of things like loose tolerances in fit etc. It was not that good at sheet metal working, tion, one bent on its edge, one on its side.
also allows the application of decorative fea- then I realised that flat surfaces are not really The lid opens and closes and the keyboard

Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2 97

 REPORTS
Fig 8 • Electron microscope image of a Saddle
Diatom (left) and sculpture of the same structu-
re from a different angle (right).
is anatomically correct. The strip is bent
using a Metal Craft Powerbender, a simple
and very powerful hand operated tool that I
use in almost everything I make.
As well as working on a large scale, I en-
joy working on tiny delicate structures and
have recently started using pennies in my
work (I was struggling to find a reliable sup-
plier of steel slugs and stampings) and it
turns that the newer pennies are made of
steel and weld beautifully. A double bonus:
attractive work and the irony of using
money. Fig. 7 shows a short section of a 1.2
m DNA molecule; MIG welded up using
pennies and 2 mm gas welding rods. A fiddly
and painful process, lots of tiny burns, but a
lovely result.
Note I am not breaking any laws. I con-
tacted the Treasury and under section 10
of the 1971 currency act I am not breaking
up or melting down the coins and the welds
are a temporary addition. I keep the Treas-
ury letter handy at exhibitions, there is al-
ways someone telling me off for defacing
coin of the realm. I admit I was hoping for
a legal case, it would have made a great
promo tool.
Finding inspiration
I am often asked about inspiration. I
find inspiration easy. The DNA molecule
98
Fig. 9 • Chopper bike.
was set off by seeing an animation of DNA
section during the credits of a film. I see
things when I am walking down the street
or in the supermarket. As a kid I was always
been told off for daydreaming, now I do it
for a living.
A subject I have been exploring for a few
years is plankton, I admit to becoming a
plankton nerd. These single celled plants
and their skeletons are only visible through
a microscope, and yet at this scale they look
like engineered products, they are organic
but also have a manufactured look. Fig. 8
left shows an electron microscope image of
a Saddle Diatom and Fig. 8 right my fabri-
cated sculpture of the same structure from
a different angle.
A couple of years ago I was asked if I ran
courses in metal sculpture. A definite ‘No!’
was my answer. I used to run training cours-
es in my old job and hated doing it. Luckily
the customer was persistant and persuaded
me to give it a go. To my surprise I really en-
joyed it and am now running about 12-14
one or two day courses a year. I have had
anybody from older ladies or children being
terrified of welding and them finding that
they love it to proper engineers struggling
with measurements of ’about like this’ or
fairly straight and straightish.
An artist within us
Whatever, we all have an artist within us
just waiting to find the right medium. I was
fortunate in finding my medium. Being use-
less at drawing does not mean being no good
at art. I can’t draw for a toffee. Neither can a
lot of artists who work in three dimensions.
I mentioned bicycles at the beginning. I
figured that before buying a set of Reynolds
531 tubing for my nice recumbent I should
dabble in bike building by making a daft
chopper for a bit of fun. So I did, see Fig. 9. I
enjoyed building it so I made another vari-
ant. In fact I made loads of them and started
a Freak Bike gang. Sadly I never built my
nice recumbent; but the idea is resurrecting
itself.
I feel incredibly lucky to be doing this
for a living and would possibly not be doing
it without the support I have received over
the years from people in the metalworking
industries. I would like to thank everybody
out there for helping me along the way, es-
pecially the members of the internet forum
at www.mig-welding.co.uk. I am based near
Hereford in West England and have an open
door policy for visitors. To see more of my
work, please feel free to visit my website
www.artinsteel.co.uk.
Alan Ross, Ross on Wye, Herefordshire/UK
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
 Join together.
In India.
6TH INDIA ESSEN WELDING & CUTTING
OCT. 28 – 30, 2014 MUMBAI
International Trade Fair
Joining Cutting Surfacing

In conjunction with:

BOOK NOW! &

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 REPORTS
Capability of combined thermal spray and laser coating
centers to improve production efficiency
Abstract
Novel coating centers permit control of
both thermal spray and laser based surface
treatment processes. Laser cladding produc-
tion rates and efficiencies can be improved
by substrate or feedstock preheating tech-
niques. The benefit of these techniques
compared to the basic laser cladding process
are presented and evaluated concerning
their impact on industrial production. Spe-
cific advantages are demonstrated for in-
dustrial applications like hydraulic pistons,
continuous casting copper molds and pot
rolls for continuous galvanizing lines in steel
mills.
1 Introduction
Nowadays thermal spray and laser based
surface modification processes are applied
in various industrial fields. Choice of process
depends on the surface layer properties to
Fig. 1 • Combined thermal spray and laser surface treatment center.
Fig. 2 • Laser cladding on HVOF coating.
100
be realised, required bond strength, edge
stability and thickness of material build-up,
if necessary.
Many companies own thermal spray in-
stallations and equipment for laser based
surface treatment processes. Often utilisa-
tion rate of both is low. Many components
of these installations are identical or can ful-
fill the demands of both processes with only
minor modification. This holds true e.g. for
PLC based control units with process visu-
alisation on a Human Machine Interface,
mass flow controlled process gas lines, pow-
der feeder, chiller, handling, suction and fil-
ter systems as well as cabin.
Recently flexible combined production
units that are capable to control both dif-
ferent thermal spray and laser based
processes as a cost advantageous alternative
to two independent installations have be-
come commercially available. At GTV’s
Fig. 3 • Laser cladding center with pre-heating
by oxy-acetylene torch.
headquarter in Luckenbach, Germany, a
demonstration center has been installed
that operates various powder and wire
flame, arc, HVOF and plasma spraying
torches as well as laser based surface mod-
ification processes (Fig. 1).
Controllers of combined thermal spray
and laser surface processing centers are also
capable of controlling modified laser
cladding processes that include pre-heating
of substrate and/or feedstock. Substrate pre-
heating can be carried out by autogenous
heating torch with typically homogeneous
preheating of a significant volume of the
component to be coated in a separate
process step prior to conventional laser
cladding. Also, simultaneous pre-heating of
a limited volume around the area of actual
material deposition is possible. In case of
inductive pre-heating the according hybrid
process is then referred to as inductively as-
sisted laser cladding [1]. Substrate pre-heat-
ing results in lower required laser power lev-
el compared to conventional laser cladding,
since less heat transfer is needed to form a
melt pool on the substrate.
Pre-heating of feedstock also aims for
savings of laser power. No or only little laser
power is needed to contribute to melting of
the feedstock material. This portion of en-
ergy can be provided by autogenous flame
for powder feedstock [2] or by resistance
heating for wire feedstock [3].
2 Cost saving potential of com-
bined surface treatment centers
Flexible coating centers combining
thermal spray and laser based surface treat-
ment processes permit improved load fac-
tor especially for companies that need to
cover many different surface treatment jobs
with small lot sizes. Improvement is par-
ticularly good in case of components that
require application of different processes
locally, since down time for in-plant trans-
portation and clamping of components is
minimised.
Examples include pot rolls of continu-
ous galvanising lines in steel mills and tur-
bine blades of aero engines. While the
mantle surface of pot rolls is typically coat-
ed with HVOF hardmetal and special seal-
ers for protection against zinc melt corro-
sion and adhesion of dross, bearing seats
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Fig. 4 • Inductive preheating.
are often laser clad with iron based alloys
reinforced by spherical fused tungsten car-
bides [4]. For aero engine turbine blades
there is a large variety of surface treatments
based on thermal spraying and laser
processes that permit improved compo-
nent life time, e.g. laser shock peening of
leading edges, plasma or HVOF sprayed
cermet coatings on midspan shrouds of fan
and compressor blades and arc or plasma
sprayed CuNiIn coatings for fretting wear
protection of blade roots. For clearance
control blade tips receive hardfacings con-
sisting e.g. of cubic boron nitride and cop-
per or nickel based matrices. Besides fur-
nace brazing also laser brazing is success-
fully applied [5].
Production cost savings due to min-
imised down time for in-plant transporta-
tion and clamping of components also ap-
plies for laser remelting of e.g. self fluxing
alloy thermal spray coatings [6]. At first sight
laser remelting seems too expensive com-
pared to remelting by autogenous flame or
induction. However, due to minimal heat
transfer to the base material, distortion is
minimised by the use of lasers. Costs for
straightening of fused components by ac-
cording experts can even exceed the costs
for coating deposition and fusion and gen-
erally production time will increase. Also,
closed-loop control of fusion process can be
realized more securely compared to alter-
native heat sources due to unsurpassed pre-
cision and fast response of laser power con-
trol [7]. Glazing of ceramic coatings is gen-
erally only possible by high energy density
tools like laser beams.
Thermal spray coatings can also provide
advantageous function for laser cladding. A
HVOF coating with a thickness of not more
than 50 μm deposited on copper crucibles
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Fig. 5 • Coated hydraulic piston.
for continuous casting lines in steel mills re-
sults in strongly decreased reflection of laser
light. While direct laser cladding requires
laser power of about 4.5 kW to deposit nickel
based self fluxing alloy coatings at 2.5 kg/h,
laser cladding on HVOF coatings is possible
at less than 3.0 kW laser power (Fig. 2).
3 Technological and economical
potential of advanced laser clad-
ding installations
3.1 Substrate pre-heating technologies
Pre-heating of components prior to laser
cladding is often a key factor to avoid cracks,
especially for deposition of high hardness
alloys. Also, preheating results in economi-
cally favorable boundary conditions, be-
cause less laser power is required to form a
melt pool on the component to be coated.
Automatic pre-heating by oxy-acetylene
torches can be incorporated in advanced
laser cladding centers (Fig. 3). Accordingly
down time and undefined heat loss during
in-plant transportation and clamping is
minimised. For adequate design of carriers
for heating torch and laser heads pyrometers
installed in the optical path of the laser for
online substrate temperature monitoring
can also be used for monitoring and closed-
loop control of autogenous preheating pro-
cedure.
Components to be coated can also be
pre-heated inductively in the area of actual
material deposition. Such hybrid process is
particularly easy to control and efficient for
coating of cylindrical components like hy-
draulic piston rods or oil drilling tools, be-
cause inductive coupling by full coil around
the surface is applicable [1] (Fig. 4). Com-
mercially available hybrid head COAXpow-
erline has proven to permit long term stable
production (Fig. 5). For coating of hydraulic
pistons with corrosion protective nickel alloy
NiCr22Mo9Nb (material no. 2.4856) at 6–9
kW laser power deposition rate could be in-
creased by about 50% compared to conven-
tional laser cladding using a 50 kW induction
power supply [1, 8]. Up to 12.5 kg/h deposi-
tion rate is possible for inductively assisted
cladding at 9 kW laser power. In case of wear
protective coatings consisting of a mass frac-
tion of 40% self fluxing nickel based alloy
and a mass fraction of 60% spherical fused
tungsten carbide particles for oil drilling
tools deposition rate can even be increased
by more than 80% [1]. At the same time ad-
vantageous smaller temperature gradients
during inductively assisted laser cladding
result in significantly reduced crack density
of carbide reinforced coatings.
3.2 Feedstock pre-heating technologies
3.2.1 Laser hot wire cladding
The approach to improve deposition
rate of laser cladding process with resistance
heating of wire feedstock exists already since
1989 [9]. However, its potential has not been
exploited widely so far, because extremely
high costs of laser sources restricted laser
cladding to applications in the field of pre-
cision cladding and positioning of laterally
fed wire tips with respect to laser beam foci
is difficult.
As laser source prices reduced strongly,
various large area cladding applications with
deposition rate as a crucial factor opened up.
Also, axial wire feed possible due to beam
splitting laser optics with common focus on
the substrate surface permits easy wire tip po-
sitioning. Such technology also shows the ad-
vantage that the quality of deposited material
does not change depending on the welding
direction. For use of 3.5 kW laser beam power
and 1.0 mm diameter NiCr22Mo9Nb wire
101
 REPORTS
Fig. 6 • Laser hot wire cladding.
deposition rate could be increased from 1.3
kg/h for laser cold wire cladding to 1.9 kg/h
for laser hot wire cladding without any draw-
backs concerning coating quality [10] (Fig. 6).
At the same time significantly improved sur-
face quality (Rz ≈ 100 μm) compared to laser
powder cladding (Rz ≈ 250 μm) is achieved,
which results in reduced necessity for ma-
chining. As laser wire cladding offers deposi-
tion efficiency of practically 100% and wires
are typically cheaper than powders, laser hot
wire cladding offers particularly high cost sav-
ing potential.
3.2.2 Laser hot powder cladding
The publicly funded research project
Spraynergy [2] aims for qualification of laser
cladding with powder feedstock pre-heated
by oxy-acetylene flame (Fig. 7). Heating of
powder feedstock by oxy-acetylene flame is
meant to save laser power required for melt-
ing of the material to be deposited. Com-
pared to laser wire cladding the applicable
spectrum of coating materials is much wider.
In tests with lateral powder injection
through a conventional powder flame spray-
ing torch type GTV Variobond that features
small flame diameter and low particle speed
practically pore free coatings with low dilu-
tion by substrate material could be achieved
(Fig. 8). However, so far deposition efficiency
was less than 50%, which can be attributed
102
Fig. 7 • Laser cladding unit with powder
feedstock preheating by oxy-acetylene flame.
Fig. 8 • Micrograph of a virtually pore-free
coating achieved by laser cladding with powder
feedstock preheating.
to lateral powder injection. Axial injection
of pre-heated powder feedstock inside a
beam splitting laser head is expected to per-
mit to overcome the presently remaining
shortcomings of laser hot powder cladding.
4 Conclusions
In comparison to independent coating
centers, installations combining thermal
spray and laser based surface treatment
processes open up potential for significant
production cost savings due to increased
load factor, minimised down time due to in-
plant transportation and clamping as well
as production space and investment savings.
Combined coating centers also permit high
cost efficiency by laser post treatment of
thermal spray coated components due to
minimised component distortion and down
time. In special application fields like laser
cladding on copper components pre-de-
posited thermal spray coatings enable sav-
ings of laser power.
Efficiency of laser cladding process can
be improved significantly by pre-heating of
either substrate or feedstock material. Tech-
nologies like induction assisted laser
cladding or laser hot wire cladding have al-
ready reached the state of industrial maturity,
while other processes like laser hot powder
cladding require further research and devel-
opment in order to exploit their potential.
Andreas Wank, Frank Beck and Thomas
Schläfer, GTV GmbH, Luckenbach/
Germany, as well as
Steffen Nowotny, Frank Brückner, Holger
Hillig, Martin Pfennig and Sebastian
Thieme, Fraunhofer Institut für Werkstoff-
und Strahltechnik IWS, Dresden/Germany
Literature
[1] Jonnalagadda, A.; S. Scharek, C. Bratt, D. Al-
bert, T. Weitzer: Induction assisted laser
cladding for high deposition rates. Procee-
dings 30th ICALEO 2011, Orlando, FL, USA,
23-27 Oct. 2011, pp. 283/94.
[2] N. N.: Informationen zum Forschungspro-
jekt “SPRAYNERGY“. www.spraynergy.de.
26. February 2013.
[3] Nurminen, J.; J. Riihimäki, J. Näkki, P. Vuo-
risto: Comparison of laser cladding with
powder and hot and cold wire techniques.
Proceedings 25th ICALEO 2006, Article no.
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[4] Fukubayashi, H. H.: Present Furnace and
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Thermal Spray 2004: Advances in Techno-
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[5] Wilson, S.; T. Peters: Advanced sealing sys-
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Q. Lei: Study on microstructure of laser re-
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[7] Nowotny, S.: Oberflächenbeschichten und
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Fraunhofer IRB Verlag, Stuttgart, 2004.
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produktives Laser-Auftragschweißen durch
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[9] Mordike, B. L.; H.D. Burchards: Process for
coating of component surfaces with laser
beams, Patent application DE3928092, 1989.
[10] Thieme, S.; R. Kager, S. Nowotny: Neuent-
wicklungen zum Laser-Heißdraht-Auftrag-
schweißen. Proceedings 5th GTV-
Colloquium, Luckenbach/Germany 2012,
pp. 85/91.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors thankfully acknowledge public
funding for part of the above described re-
search carried out in a project funded by the
German Federal Ministry of Education and Re-
search, BMBF, under grant no. 02PK2127. The
authors are responsible for the content of this
publication.
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Choosing a surface coating technology – Knowing
the strengths and weaknesses of high-velocity oxy-fuel
thermal spraying and laser cladding
When various surface technologies have
many similarities, it can be difficult to
choose the most appropriate for specific
jobs. This occurs frequently when deciding
between laser cladding and thermal spray,
specifically high velocity oxy-fuel spray
(HVOF).
Once considered radically different,
both technologies have advanced to the
point that either is suitable for certain ap-
plications. HVOF coatings are growing thick-
er, while laser coatings are becoming thin-
ner. Additionally, HVOF has reduced poros-
ity to levels that verge on being considered
fully dense.
Still, the technologies behind HVOF and
laser cladding – for the majority of applica-
tions – remain fundamentally distinct.
HVOF coating involves spraying the material
at a high velocity and temperature, which
softens the particles and forms a mechanical
bond with the roughened substrate. In con-
trast, laser cladding melts both the material
being applied and the surface of the sub-
strate to form a metallurgical bond.
Functional similarities
Both laser cladding and HVOF will con-
tinue to converge for the next two to five
years, which will then create a shift in com-
mercial assessment. Presently, HVOF is the
only technology for thinner coatings, such
as 200 to 300 μm (0.008 to 0.012 in). Howev-
er, despite HVOF advances in producing
thicker coatings in excess of 0.5 mm (0.02
in), laser cladding is preferred over HVOF
for thicker coatings.
Another area of convergence is porosity.
The fundamental principle behind thermal
spray necessitates that particles are softened
by heating and compacted in a solid state,
leaving small spaces between them that re-
sult in a porous coating. HVOF has reduced
its porosity levels to less than 0.5%, which is
nearly fully dense. Still, these pockets can
cause penetration of the coating when parts
are exposed to high-pressure environments
or long-duration tests. Despite HVOF’s de-
creasing porosity levels, laser cladding re-
mains the only completely dense solution.
Both coating technologies can create
residual stress on the substrate, distorting
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
it and potentially forming cracks in the coat-
ing and/or the substrate. When a laser
cladding material is heated, melted and so-
lidified, it shrinks and these temperature
fluctuations cause internal stresses that can
warp a thin part. Though laser cladding has
advanced to minimise distortion levels,
HVOF still causes less stress and distortion
risk because the material is neither fully
melted nor metallurgically bonded. The in-
ternal stresses in HVOF coatings are what
limit the thickness.
Difference in application
One major application difference be-
tween these two technologies has to do with
how the coatings adhere to the substrate.
HVOF creates a mechanical bond between
the coating and substrate surface, allowing
manufacturers to use any material. Laser
cladding creates an intermetallic alloy in the
interface zone between substrate and coat-
ing material and, as a result, is limited by
being able to bond only to materials that are
weldable. Manufacturers should ensure that
the selected materials will create a successful
metallurgical bond, such as a nickel deposit
to iron substrate to create a nickel-iron alloy.
Materials that are not compatible, such as
titanium and iron, could result in a weak in-
termixed layer that can easily crack.
Additionally, laser cladding has a small
melt pool, meaning the application process
can take longer than HVOF. Thus, extra time
for the application of laser cladding materi-
als can offset other cost savings. HVOF still
has a significantly higher deposition rate but
adds time with increasing thickness of the
coating.
Surface conditions
The part’s surface conditions play a role
in determining the appropriate coating.
Thermal spray’s limited bond strength is less
ideal for parts that will be subjected to high
stress or impact loading. The mechanical
bond may cause the coating to shatter or
spall if subjected to too much stress, partic-
ularly point-loaded stresses such as with a
hammer. The stress may weaken laser
cladding’s alloyed coating but will likely not
cause it to debond.
The same rule of thumb can be applied to
parts that will endure many thermal cycles.
Fluctuating temperatures cause different
metals to expand and contract independ-
ently. This thermal shock can stress and
weaken the HVOF bond interface but this is
not the case with laser cladding because it
creates a metallurgical bond.
Corrosion
Coatings are also vulnerable to corro-
sion, which can be aggravated by porosity.
Despite advances in HVOF, the lingering
pores, if interconnected, render the coating
vulnerable to environmental pressures that
deteriorate the surface. For example, a valve
coated with the minimally porous HVOF
would eventually succumb to harsh sea wa-
ter leaking through the coating, causing cor-
rosion at the interface.
Such high-pressure environments often
necessitate laser cladding to produce a fully
dense coating but these are limited to ma-
terials that are weldable.
Manufacturing environment
Both coating technologies also have dif-
ferent requirements with regard to manu-
facturing environments. Compared to laser
cladding, HVOF covers a larger spray area
but is less precise. The relative velocities of
the spray gun and part need to be moved
quickly or the coating will accumulate too
rapidly, which will create excessive residual
stress and bond failure.
While thermal spray can be applied both
manually and via automated technology,
laser cladding requires an automated factory
environment for safety reasons and because
of the application precision. Each weld track
has to be positioned with tolerances below
1 mm (0.04 in), necessitating a robot to apply
the coating. With such a small coverage area,
what laser cladding gains in precision it loses
in application time. Comparing the two
technologies, laser coatings are applied in a
narrow but relatively thick layer while HVOF
uses many wider but thinner layers.
However, because HVOF is applied in
fine layers to mitigate the stress and shrink-
age issues, care must be exercised to prop-
erly cool the part during the spray process
103
 REPORTS

or the substrate may overheat. This is not

typically a concern with laser cladding. With
some HVOF coatings requiring 50 passes,
this process can decrease efficiency. Laser
cladding may also require a waiting period
for the part to cool as the materials are heat-
ed locally beyond the melting temperature.
As mentioned previously, the differences
in deposition rates, or material mass per unit
of time, are notably large with HVOF having
a significantly higher rate. Though HVOF
coatings can exceed 0.5 mm (0.02 in), laser
cladding tends to be more efficient as often
only one layer is required.
When both technologies are automated
and implemented using standard industrial
robots, the comparison becomes more “ap-
ples-to-apples“. Laser cladding previously
Graph for illustration purposes only, not scientifically exhaustive
required complicated manipulation using
copper mirrors. Now laser cladding uses the Key surface enhancement process.
more simplified fibre-optic bundles to con-
trol the laser beams. On the other hand, a With HVOF generating heat loads up to to power it. Fortunately, laser cladding is
thermal spray gun can easily be mounted at 1 million BTU, thermal spray booths typi- now 30% efficient, a radical enough im-
the end of a robot or manually manipulated. cally require large volumes of air exchange provement to be considered power effi-
Thermal spray also requires speedy ma- to keep temperatures within reasonable lim- cient.
nipulators and when covering a large area, its. Another requirement is a dust collector Because of the energy-intensive gas
a large robot. However, this presents a par- with closed-circuit air filters to vacuum the stream needed to heat the particles, HVOF
adox as a very large robot is also slower. dust generated from sub-25 μm particles. spray is considered less efficient than laser
The gun generates extremely high temper- cladding.
Safety atures and a piercing noise that register From a material standpoint, laser
When incorporating such potent tech- above safe levels, so workers need to wear cladding is more than 90% efficient, outper-
nologies, safety is at the forefront of consid- appropriate protective gear if manually ap- forming thermal spray’s 40 to 60% efficiency.
eration. Both laser cladding and HVOF have plying the coating. This is due to the imprecision of the HVOF
their respective safety precautions for work- spray cone, which does not emit some of the
ers and are always enclosed in an isolated Energy and material efficiency particles at a fast-enough velocity. As a re-
cell. Laser cladding requires compliance Both technologies consume energy and sult, many particles bounce off the substrate
with general laser regulations, such as pro- materials at different rates. Laser cladding and fail to bond.
tecting eyes with special glasses, shielding was previously a notorious energy consumer Though laser cladding and HVOF use
the workers, and safeguarding against weld- with an efficiency of less than 10%. For ex- powder-based materials at similar price
ing fumes and laser light wavelength. ample, a 5 kW laser would demand 50 kW points and availability, the particle sizes dif-

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104 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

fer. Laser cladding particles are coarser and
heavy enough that no filtration device is
needed. Thermal spray’s finer particles are
light enough to become airborne, necessi-
tating the dust collector and air filters.
Application equipment
The thermal spray gun can be easily
moved – up, down and into awkward corners
while the target part remains stationary. If
the part has a more complicated design, the
HVOF gun can be easily maneuvered to cov-
er all contours. In addition to manual ap-
plication, HVOF is versatile in that it can be
also used with an automated system. Be-
cause thermal spray essentially blankets an
area with a continuous coating, the auto-
mated programming is relatively simple in
most applications.
On the other hand, laser cladding is
much more complex. Each weld track in-
volves a repeated start-stop approach where
the laser starts and stops. As mentioned pre-
viously, each laser application is comparably
precise. Thus, the programming effort is
much more sophisticated and requires the
precise location and dimensions of the part.
Crucial to reducing this time-consuming
process, offline programming tools are
needed.
Access
Both technologies are line-of-sight pro-
cesses with different distance requirements.
While the laser cladding powder nozzle needs
to be less than 25 mm (1 in) from the sub-
strate, for HVOF a typical distance range from
150 to 300 mm (6 to 12 in) is common. When
coating the small space inside of a tube, ther-
mal spray can turn to the plasma spray
process as specialised internal spray guns can
be easily placed into a 100-mm part. Howev-
er, this is another area of convergence as laser
heads are continually becoming smaller and
can presently fit inside a 3-inch bore.
Both guns operate at extremely high
temperatures, which affect the application
processes. Laser cladding creates local tem-
peratures above the melting point of the ma-
terial.
When laser cladding, the powder nozzle
must be cooled because one-third of the
laser light is reflected toward the processing
head and not absorbed by the melting
process. The closer the powder nozzle is lo-
cated to the substrate, the greater the risk of
harming it.
The HVOF gun uses air and/or water
cooling to dissipate the heat of combustion
from the internal gun components.
Maintenance
With typical use, the laser itself is
durable enough to operate without mainte-
nance for several months. There are neither
moving parts nor sensitive optical compo-
nents. Because of the robot’s movement, the
fibre-optic cables eventually need replace-
ment but that is often measured in years.
Depending on the material being used, pow-
der nozzles may need to be replaced after
100 to 500 hours.
With HVOF, the extremely high temper-
atures and velocities cause the components
to wear quickly, measuring nozzle life in
hours. Though frequent, nozzle replace-
ments are simple and quick. The materials
used also determine the change-out fre-
quency. Materials such as carbides are abra-
sive and applied at a much higher velocity,
making the HVOF barrels and nozzles wear
out quicker than with metallic materials,
with which the nozzles last several days.
Conclusion
There are many factors to enter into the
equation of whether to use HVOF or laser
cladding. Some are obvious choices, such as
if a thick and fully dense coating is needed
or if material compatibility is a concern. As
these technologies continue to evolve, their
applicability will broaden. In the meantime,
it is critical that users work with material and
equipment suppliers that are knowledgeable
about both technologies to ensure a success-
ful coating application with the most efficient
and cost effective surface solution.
Thomas Peters, Project Manager Laser
Cladding, Sulzer Metco, Wohlen/CH,
and Thomas Glynn,
Product Line Manager, Metals and Alloys,
Sulzer Metco (US) Inc, Westbury, NY/USA

Welding and Cutting – editorial preview

Issue 3 (May/June) Issue 4 (July/August)
• Automation using robots and sensors for joining and cutting • Brazing/soldering for the joining of metals and ceramic
• Adhesive bonding technology • Welding and brazing of light weight constructions
• Special joining processes

Closing date for advertisements and editiorial contributions: Closing date for advertisements and editorial contributions:
7 April 2014 23 June 2014

The editorial preview is subject to modifications.

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For information about submitting editorial contributions, please contact:

Anja Labussek, DVS Media GmbH, Düsseldorf/Germany, e-mail anja.labussek@dvs-hg.de
Penny Edmundson, TWI, Cambridge/UK, e-mail penny.edmundson@twi.co.uk

Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2 105

DVS with a new campaign

Campaign picture: Sony-Center Berlin Campaign picture: Shopping trolley Campaign picture: Motorcycle rider
(picture credit: Berlin4Real) (picture credit: Stockbyte – gettyimages.com) (picture credit: lassedesignen – fotolia.com)

DVS – German Welding Society is
working with a new campaign which por-
trays the multitude of appearances of join-
ing technology in everyday life. Thus, the
motto is “Fügetechnik. Überall. Überzeu-
gend.“ (“Joining Technology. Everywhere.
Convincing.“) and should address the ex-
pert world as well as precisely those people
who have little to do with joining technol-
ogy. Therefore, the campaign shows motifs
from everyday life: No matter whether a
motorcycle, a shopping trolley or the Sony-
Center in Berlin – these are just three ex-
amples in which joining, cutting and coat-
ing play a role.
The large-area campaign posters im-
pressed for the first time at the interna-
tional trade fair SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEI-
DEN in September 2013. The motifs show
that a lot of familiar objects or buildings
would not be conceivable at all without
joining technology. Thus, they also stimu-
late the viewer to contemplate: In what
place is joining technology utilised in a
motorcycle? What does a shopping trolley
have to do with joining, cutting and coat-
ing? Even if not everybody recognises the
corresponding joining technologies, the
large, impressive campaign motifs are def-
initely eye-catchers.
The posters for the new campaign can
be found on the DVS homepage at
www.dvs-ev.de/kampagne.

Professor Boris E. Paton celebrated his 95th birthday

The E. O. Paton On the occasion of the 95th birthday of Pro- 25 simultaneously interpreted lectures de-
Electric Welding fessor Boris E. Paton, the E. O. Paton Electric livered by speakers from twelve countries and
Institute hosted Welding Institute invited guests to the inter- approx. 200 posters reported on the trends
the international national conference “Welding and Related and the newest developments in welding and
conference Technologies Present and in Future“ in Kiev, joining technology in the most diverse sectors.
“Welding and
Ukraine, on 25 and 26 November 2013. Over These were followed by a lively exchange of
Related Tech-
200 experts in welding and joining technol- opinions and experience between the experts.
nologies Present
ogy from Europe, North America and Asia Unfortunately, Professor Paton was un-
and in Future“ in
came to the celebration. DVS was also rep- able to take part in the events for health-re-
Kiev, Ukraine, on
the occasion of
resented and gave Professor Paton a gift in lated reasons. His welcoming address to the
the 95th birth- the form of the welded sculpture called participants and a comprehensive presen-
day of Professor “Curriculum Vitae“ created by the Krefeld- tation of his life’s work were transmitted into
Boris E. Paton. based artist Katja Kleutges. the lecture hall in an audiovisual form.

106 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

DVS organises 8th international Aluminium Brazing Congress
The International Aluminium Brazing
Congress is being held for the 8th time and is
now organised for the second time by the DVS
– German Welding Society. It will take place
from 3 to 5 June 2014 in Düsseldorf/ Germany
in the Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel.
Successful 7th DVS/GMM Conference “EBL 2014“
With more than 200 participants, this
year’s EBL (Electronic Modules and Printed
Circuit Boards) Conference organised by DVS
– German Welding Society and GMM – Soci-
ety for Microelectronics, Microsystems Tech-
nology and Precision Mechanics in the As-
sociation of German Electrotechnologists/As-
sociation of German Engineers was a total
success. On 11 and 12 February 2014, experts
from the industrial and scientific fields con-
gregated in Fellbach near Stuttgart for the
seventh time in order to exchange opinions
about the trends relating to the fabrication of
electronics under the motto of “From High
Current to High Integration“.
With a packed programme of 60 lectures
on two days, the organisers presented a mir-
ror image of current developments to the vis-
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Leading specialists and authorities from
the sector, well known experts from industry
and research and other important decision
makers from this field will further promote
surface technology by means of presenta-
tions, comments and technical discussions.
The 8th Inter-
national Alumi- include:
nium Brazing
Congress will
take place in
Düsseldorf in
June 2014.
(Photo: Solvay • Research and development.
Chemicals)
itors. Starting with printed circuit boards, sub-
strates and components via assembly and
connection technology right up to analysis,
reliability investigation and development ten-
dencies, it was possible to portray the entire
value added chain. The breaks provided not
only the opportunity for intensive discussions
but also the possibility of obtaining informa-
tion about the ranges of products and services
offered by the exhibitors on the 20 tables at
the table-top exhibition.
Within the framework of the event, the
prize winner was also distinguished for the
“Best Article at EBL 2014“ out of the articles
submitted in advance. Timo Herberholz from
Robert Bosch GmbH in Schwieberdingen
who was honoured together with his co-au-
thors Andreas Fix and Mathias Nowottnick
Impressions of
the exhibition
The congress will also provide numerous
opportunities to establish or strengthen
business relationships, establish personal
contacts and expand networks. An exhibi-
tion of participating companies running
concurrent to the congress will help getting
further contacts.
The topics of the conference will
• Materials,
• Application,
• Equipment,
• Process and quality control,
Further information is available online at
www.dvs-ev.de/aluminium-brazing.
was able to be glad about the prize. The sub-
ject of their article was “Ageing behaviour of
lead-free tin-based brazing metals in the tem-
perature range up to 200°C – Refinements“
and went down very well with the listeners.
The organisers were particularly pleased
about the very positive response of the par-
ticipants. In a survey, 90 % of the visitors rated
the event as “Good“ or even “Very good“ on
average. This related to various aspects such
as the expert competence of the lectures, the
venue, the organisation, the evening event as
well as the possibility of establishing contacts.
Thus, the majority of the participants would
like to come again on the occasion of EBL
2016 too. Then, the 8th DVS/GMM Confer-
ence will take place in Fellbach once more
on 16 and 17 February 2016.
The prize winner of the “Best
Article at EBL 2014“, Timo
Herberholz (centre), sur-
rounded by the Scientific
Conference Manager Klaus-
Dieter Lang, the co-authors
Mathias Nowottnik and An-
dreas Fix as well as the
Chairman of the Programme
Commission Udo Bechtloff
(from left to right). (Photos:
Michael M. Weinreich)
107
SPECIALIST ARTICLES
Heat treatment of thermally sprayed Ni-based
brazing materials/NiCrAlY coating systems for the
repair of turbine blades
The objectives of this research project are not only to carry out the appli-
cation of the brazing material together with the hot gas corrosion protection
coating but also to integrate the brazing together with the alitising in a
common process for the repair of turbine blades. During the experimental
work performed here, investigations were conducted into the heat treat-
ment of thermally sprayed Nibased brazing materials/ NiCrAlY coating
systems on high-alloyed Cr-Ni steel. The executed process combinations
yield technical and economic advantages. Above all, the shortening of the
process chain up to the turbine blade repair may be specified here.
1 Introduction
High-temperature brazing for turbine blades made of
nickel-based alloys has become established as a repair
procedure and the following steps are basically taken ac-
cording to the state of the art [1-3]: First of all, the coating
is removed from the turbine blade which is then cleaned
THE AUTHORS
Dr. rer. nat. Martin Nicolaus, born in 1968, stud-
ied Chemistry at the University of Dortmund/Ger-
many. After his studies, he was a scientific employ-
ee at the Professorship of Physical Chemistry 1a at
the University of Dortmund. In 2003, he obtained
his Dr. rer. nat. title there under the guidance of
Prof. Dr. R. W. Schmutzler. Since 2003, he has been
a scientific employee at the Institute of Materials
Science at the Leibniz University of Hanover.
Dr.-Ing. Kai Möhwald, born in 1961, studied Me-
chanical Engineering concentrating on the field of
Fabrication Technology at the University of Dort-
mund/Germany. In 1996, he obtained his Dr.-Ing.
title at the Professorship of Materials Technology
(LWT) under the guidance of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing.
E.h. H.-D. Steffens. After his studies, he was em-
ployed as a scientific employee at LWT where he
was responsible for the management of the ”Braz-
ing/Soldering Technology and PVD” Department.
Since 2001, he has been the director of the ”Join-
ing Technology, Surface Technology and Microsys-
tems” Division (IW-FORTIS) at the Institute of Ma-
terials Science at the Leibniz University of
Hanover, based in Witten. In 2009, he obtained his
habilitation at the Leibniz University of Hanover
with venia legendi for the specialist field of Mate-
rials Technology.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Friedrich-Wilhelm Bach, born in
1944, studied Mechanical Engineering at the Tech-
nical University of Hanover/Germany. In 1983, he
obtained his Dr.-Ing. title and was promoted to
professorial status with venia legendi for the spe-
cialist field of Materials Technology. He is the di-
108
right down to the base material. Depending on the turbine
blade as well as on the assessment of the existing defects
and of the repair process chain resulting from them, nick-
el-based brazing material (amongst other substances) is
applied using a spatula, a paintbrush or a dosing needle.
Because of the utilised materials, the brazing process takes
place in a high vacuum (<10-5 mbar) at a brazing tempera-
ture above the liquidus temperature between 1,100°C and
1,200°C.
The turbine blade is remachined after the brazing
process. This includes the grinding to the final contour
and the resinking of the cooling air boreholes, for example,
by means of laser drilling. Thereafter, the hot gas corrosion
protection coating (NiCrAIY, CoCrAIY or NiCoCrAIY) is
applied to a large proportion of turbine blades by means
of thermal spraying (VPS – Vacuum Plasma Spraying, APS
rector of the Institute of Materials Science and the
dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at
the Leibniz University of Hanover. Earlier manage-
rial positions included the managing director of
the Underwater Technical Centre in Hanover
(UWTH), the director of the research and training
agency ”Underwater and Environmental Technolo-
gy in the Hanseatic City of Greifswald (UTEG)” in
Lubmin, a professor at and the holder of the Pro-
fessorship of Materials Technology at the Universi-
ty of Dortmund as well as the provisional director
of the Institute of Nuclear Technology and Non-
Destructive Test Procedures at the University of
Hanover.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans Jürgen Maier, born in 1960,
studied Materials Sciences at the Friedrich-Alexan-
der University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU). In
1990, he obtained his doctorate at the Professor-
ship of Corrosion and Surface Technology. From
1990 to 1993, he was the leader of the Electron
Microscopy Working Group at the Professorship of
General Material Properties at FAU. With his ap-
pointment as a senior engineer in 1993, he be-
came the leader of the Material Fatigue Working
Group at the Institute of Materials Technology at
the University of Siegen. In 1996, he undertook a
one-year research stay at the Dept. of Mechanical
& Industrial Eng. at the University of Illinois/USA.
In March 1999, he was nominated as the holder of
the Professorship of Materials Science at the Uni-
versity of Paderborn. He became a Professor of
Materials Science in 2012 and is the institute di-
rector of the Institute of Materials Science at the
Leibniz University of Hanover.
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
– Air Plasma Spraying or HVOF – High Velocity Oxygen Table 1 • Compositions of the utilised spraying materials
Fuel Spraying). In order to increase the oxidation resist-
Spraying material Ni Cr Si B Fe Al Y
ance of thermally sprayed coatings (especially APS), the
Ni650 71% 19% 10% - - - -
McrAlY coating is also alitised by means of chemical NiCrAlY 67% 22% - - - 10% 1%
vapour deposition (CVD). In this respect, the process tem-
peratures are approx. 1,100°C. Finally, the cooling air bore-
Table 2 • Spraying parameters
holes are resunk.
As has already been explained in earlier papers [4-6], Ar / H2 / I/A Kerosene / O2 / Nozzle distance /
the process chain for the turbine blade repair can be short- L min-1 L min-1 L h-1 L min-1 mm
ened in this case by applying the brazing material and the APS 55 9.5 600 - - 120
hot gas corrosion protection coating in one step by means HVOF spraying - - - 24 800 300
of thermal spraying and by integrating the brazing process
into the alitising diffusion annealing process as TLP bond-
ing. In these papers, it was also possible to show that nick-
el-based brazing materials could be applied by means of
thermal spraying. The APS, HVOF spraying and CGS
processes were used. The utilised nickel-based brazing
materials are Ni650 and Ni620. Ni-material 2,4668 (Inconel
718) and high-alloyed Cr-Ni steel were used as substrates.
The compositions of the brazing materials are indicated
in Table 1. Fig. 1 portrays the crack infiltration capacity
and the wetting angle using brazing material applied by
means of APS. The brazing temperature was 1,150°C and
the brazing time 10 min. In [4], it was also shown that the
formation of the brazed structure and the wetting angle Fig. 1 • Crack infiltration capacity and wetting angle using brazing material applied
by means of Air Plasma Spraying (APS).
are independent of the subtrates utilised here. Therefore,
high-alloyed Cr-Ni steel was used as the substrate for the
experimental work performed here. Initial results of the materials can be applied directly after each other in one
heat treatment of the thermally sprayed brazing materi- spraying process using two separately controlled powder
al/NiCrAlY coating system are presented in this article conveyors. This results in technical and economic advan-
and serve as preliminary tests for the combined tages. The heat treatment was carried out in a high vacuum
brazing/alitising process. at a temperature of 1,150°C which corresponds to the
brazing temperature of the utilised nickelbased brazing
2 Experiments material. The hold times at the brazing temperature were
The execution of the experiments corresponds to the 15, 45 and 90 min. This was followed by free cooling. A
procedure described in [4, 5]. The specimens were blasted hold time of 90 min was chosen since this represents a
with high-grade corundum (EKF 20), the blasting agent process duration typical of alitising. Sections and optical
was cleaned off them using an ultrasonic bath and they micrographs were prepared in order to be able to evaluate
were subsequently coated. The nickel-based alloys (brazing the thermally sprayed coatings and the results of the heat
material and hot gas corrosion protection coating) were treatment.
coated by means of APS (F4 torch from GTV) and HVOF
spraying (K2 torch from GTV). The brazing material was 3 Results
Ni650. NiCrAlY was used as the hot gas corrosion protection Fig. 2 shows the metallographic sections through spec-
coating. The composition is also indicated in Table 1. imens coated by means of APS. The metallographic sec-
Since the spraying parameters utilised here (Table 2) tion with the “as sprayed“ designation shows a specimen
are identical not only for the Ni-based brazing material without any heat treatment and the other metallographic
but also for the hot gas corrosion protection coating, the sections are specimens with heat treatment for 15, 45 and

Fig. 2 • Coating combination consisting of Ni650/NiCrAlY (APS).

Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2 109

SPECIALIST ARTICLES
Fig. 3 • Coating 90 min. The coatings applied by means of APS can be
combination con- clearly distinguished from each other. After the heat treat-
sisting of ment, three zones form in the coating. Starting from the
Ni650/NiCrAlY substrate, there is completely molten brazing material,
(HVOF spraying). followed by an interfacial region consisting of brazing ma-
terial and NiCrAlY as well as NiCrAlY as the final region.
The formation of the three regions and, linked to this, the
solubility of the Ni-based alloys amongst each other can
be explained by infiltration effects. In the case of infiltra-
tion, capillary forces cause molten brazing material to
flow into the pores of the NiCrAlY coating. This infiltration
basically takes place until the brazing material solidifies
isothermally. The proportion of pores in the NiCrAlY coat-
ing was established using image analysis and is approx
3%. The proportion of pores in the infiltration region is
less than 1% and is independent of the process time. The
interfacial region increases along with the hold time but,
at the same time, cavities form in the centre of the brazed
seam and at the boundary between the brazing material
and the infiltration region (approx. 30% with a heat treat-
ment duration of 90 min). These cavities are pores which
are initially caused by the corresponding infiltration vol-
ume. After an advancing heat treatment duration, this
pore volume is enlarged even further by additional diffu-
sion effects.
There are different conditions in the case of the coating
Fig. 4 • Proporti-
systems applied by means of HVOF spraying, as can be
on of pores in the
recognised in the metallographic sections on Fig. 3. The
brazing material
coating which is applied by means of HVOF spraying and
(left), infiltration
front and silicide is not subjected to any heat treatment (as sprayed) has
proportion depen- no distinct delimitation. Two regions form after the heat
ding on the heat treatment. The first region which is directly adjacent to
treatment durati- the substrate is completely molten brazing material. With
on (right). brazing material coating thicknesses or gap widths of more
110
than 150 μm, it is not possible to avoid the formation of
brittle phases [7, 8]. With a constant heat treatment dura-
tion, the distinctness of the structure is therefore basically
independent of the coating thickness. The coating system
finishes with the NiCrAlY coating and an infiltration region
is not formed. This observation may be explained by the
fact that the HVOF-sprayed NiCrAlY coatings which ex-
hibit a porosity proportion of approx. 1.5% are denser
than the APS coatings. A eutectic zone which consists of
(Cr and Ni) silicides (dark region) and becomes smaller
with an increasing heat treatment duration forms in the
centre of the brazed seam. Here as well, the proportion of
cavities in the brazed seam also rises by up to 5% with a
90 min heat treatment duration. On average, the propor-
tion of pores in APS coatings is about six times higher
than in HVOFsprayed coatings.
The findings obtained here are summarised on the
diagrams on Fig. 4. The portrayed parameters are, on the
one hand, the proportion of pores in the brazing material
(diagram on the left) and, on the other hand, the infiltra-
tion front (APS and HVOF spraying) and the silicide pro-
portion in the brazing material in the HVOF-sprayed coat-
ing system (diagram on the right), in each case as a func-
tion of the heat treatment duration. During the heat treat-
ment, diffusion processes take place permanently in the
boundary layers between the brazing material and the
NiCrAlY and between the brazing material and the base
material and alter the composition of the brazing material.
In turn, the consequence of this is that the colligative
properties of the system change. With an adequately long
process time, this leads to isothermal solidification (TLP
bonding) which corresponds to a rise in the melting point
of the brazing material (diffusion brazing). The occurrence
of the cavities may also be attributed to diffusion processes
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
in the liquid phase and to additional segregation effects.
Furthermore, volume contractions which lead to the for-
mation of microshrinkage cavities may arise during the
solidification of the molten material. Ultimately, a com-
bination of the portrayed mechanisms (infiltration, dif-
fusion and volume contraction) is responsible for the for-
mation of the cavities. This effect is substantially more
distinct with APS coatings than with HVOF-sprayed
coatings.
4 Summary and outlook
The heat treatment of the Ni650/NiCrAlY coating sys-
tem applied by means of APS results in three regions:
brazing material/(brazing material + NiCrAlY)/ NiCrAlY.
A graduated brazed repair structure forms and yields me-
chanical-technological advantages. However, cavities
which are caused by infiltration, diffusion and volume
contraction form in the brazed seam with an increasing
process time. These effects are not very distinct in the
case of HVOF-sprayed coatings. In order to be able to
make a quantitative statement about the diffusion
processes, it is necessary to conduct additional investi-
gations (e.g. EDX analyses and GDOS analyses). Further-
more, the temperature/time regime is optimised to the
effect that it ultimately results in a homogeneous brazed
repair structure.
Fig. 5 shows one solution approach schematically. At
a corresponding brazing temperature, the actual brazing
process is limited to 10 to 15 min. Thereafter, the process
temperature is set (just) below the solidus temperature of
the brazing material. The alitising and the diffusion an-
nealing are carried out simultaneously at this set temper-
ature with typical alitising times of approx. 90 min or
longer. This prevents the formation of pores and the alu-
minium can neverthless diffuse into the coating quickly
according to the temperature. The experimental work per-
formed here shows that the brazing material can be ap-
plied together with the hot gas corrosion protection coat-
ing in one common thermal spraying process. The results
of the heat treatment of such coating systems also show
that the process combination of brazing/alitising exists
in principle and that there is the possibility of shortening
the process chain during the repair of turbine blades using
this two-stage hybrid process.
Literature
[1] Henderson, M. B., Arrell, D., Larsson, R., Heobel, M., Mar-
chant, G.: Nickel based superalloy welding practices for in-
dustrial gas turbine applications. Science and Technology
of Welding and Joining, 2004, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 13/21.
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
[2] McGraw, J., Anton, R., Van Deventer, G., Burns, A.: Advan- Fig. 5 • Tempera-
cements in gas turbine vane repair. Proceedings of PWR ture/time course
2006: ASME Power, 2-4 May 2006, Atlanta, Georgia/USA. of the brazing/
[3] Stolle, R.: Conventional and advanced coatings for turbine alitising process.
airfoils: Company publication MTU Aero Engines, Mu-
nich/Germany 2004, URL: http://www.mtu.de/en/techno-
logies/engineering_news/development/conventional_and
_advanced_coatings.pdf (retrieved on 12 August 2008).
[4] Nicolaus, M., Möhwald, K., Bach, Fr.-W.: A New Hybrid Pro-
cess for Repair Brazing and Coating of Turbine Blades,
Thermal Spray 2012: Proceedings from the International
Thermal Spray Conference and Exposition. Materials Park,
Ohio/USA: ASM International, 2012, pp. 110/13.
[5] Nicolaus, M., Möhwald, K., Bach, Fr.-W.: Reparaturlöten
von Turbinenschaufeln mittels Thermischen Spritzens. In:
Schriftenreihe Werkstoffe und werkstofftechnische Anwen-
dungen, Vol. 43, 2011, pp. 231/36, Chemnitz/Germany,
ISBN 978-3-00-035117-8.
[6] Nicolaus, M., Möhwald, K., Bach, Fr.-W.: Neue Lösungs-
wege für das Reparaturlöten und -beschichten von Turbi-
nenschaufeln. Machining Innovations Conference,
Proceedings, 23-24 November 2010 Hannover/Germany.
In: Neue Fertigungstechnologien in der Luft- und Raum-
fahrt. Machining Innovations Conference. Garbsen: PZH
Produktionstechn. Zentrum (Berichte aus dem IFW, 2010,
8), pp. 435/47, ISBN 978-3-941416-78-9.
[7] Yu, Y. H., and M. O. Lai: Effects of gap filler and brazing tem-
perature on fracture and fatigue of wide-gap brazed joints,
Journal of Materials Science, 30, 1995, pp. 2101/07.
[8] Lugscheider, E., and K.-D. Partz: High Temperature Brazing
of Stainless Steel with Nickel-Base Filler Metals BNi-2, BNi-
5 and BNi-7. Welding Journal, 62(6), 1983, pp. 160/64.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The presented work is being promoted by the German Research
Association (DFG) within the framework of Subproject B1, “Near-
net-shape turbine blade repair using hybrid joining and coating
technology processes“, of the special research field SFB 871,
“Product regeneration“ (SFB 871/1-2010). We would like to ex-
press our gratitude for this promotion.
111
Recommended for global players in the steel industry

International Comparison of Steels

In a time of growing international interdependence in the
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This English and German tabular comparison of steels
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pes. The European material numbers provide the basis for
this comprehensive tabular comparison of steel types from
major industrial regions of the world (EU, USA, Russia,
China, India and Japan).

Contents

1. Country codes
2. Steel grades compared with chemical analysis
3. Steel names, listed alphanumerically by
index number (EU/DE material no.)
4. List of cited standards
4.1 German and European material standards
4.2 Chinese material standards
4.3 Indian material standards
4.4 Japanese material standards
4.5 Russian material standards
4.6 US material standards
4.7 ISO material standards

Internationaler Stahlvergleich /
International Comparison of Steels
German/English, Peter Marks, Walter Tirler,
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 NEWS
Editorial
What is a Welder?
In Welding and Cutting Journal Issue 5 of 2013, I posed the question,
“What is a welding engineer?” The role and the responsibilities of
a welding engineer are not formally defined and can vary signifi-
cantly in scope and extent between sectors and between employers.
I hope that the explanation I gave and the support that The Welding
Institute offers has helped to enable employers and individuals to
better define the requirement and the fulfilment of the role and re-
sponsibilities of a welding engineer.
Discussion of the definition of a welding engineer seemed to be an
obvious topic and one that will need to be revisited in the future.
However, writing an Editorial in The Welding Institute News sec-
tion of the Welding and Cutting Journal, I never expected to have
to pose the question, “What is a welder?” Whilst, for some time, I
have been working to address various aspects of welder education,
training and competence assurance that might benefit from addi-
tional focus, over the past week a number of matters have come to-
gether to begin to develop an alternative view of the challenges we
all face in developing competent industrial welders.
This time last year, I wrote about paradox in the welding skills sys-
tem, and there are many stakeholders continuing to express views
on the constant innovation and change in the skills system that they
feel is impeding planned delivery and stability; true paradox. That
being said, when in the space of a week I meet a mother whose son
is now looking for alternative employment as he has been ‘let go’
part way through a welding apprenticeship, I meet youngsters who
are enthused about potential careers in welding but have no contact
with local employers or training providers, and I receive a question
about how the increasing requirement for welders to be qualified
in accordance with ISO 9606-1 may detrimentally impact recruit-
ment of welding apprentices, a new paradox appears; the paradox
of having an exciting job role, with the potential for a worthwhile
and fulfilling career in essential industries, and with vacancies, yet
there seeming to be little support for the necessary quality and vol-
ume of training and education required to develop young people
for the opportunities it presents. What can we do about the paradox
where highly competent welders are demanded but the develop-
ment system has little capacity or capability to develop them?
Part of the issue surrounds the question, “what is a welder?” If we
subscribe to the fundamental definition of ISO 9606-1 that a welder
is a “person who holds and manipulates the electrode holder, weld-
ing torch or blowpipe by hand”, then developing new welders
should not be too difficult. As we all know, the ability to manipulate
an electrode holder or welding torch is only part of the competence
required to make an effective weld and contribute to the realisation
of quality in welded products. In discussion with a welder who had
moved across from another sector into the construction sector, he
explained to me that he had never seen such large weld preps be-
Eastern Counties Branch
The para-Olympics, London 2012 : a helper’s view of the engineer-
ing and medical repair welding workshops supporting the athletes
Phillip Calthorpe EngTech, IncMWeldI
15 January 2014
Phillip began his presentation with an outline of the selection
process which whittled thousands of applicants down to the 80 or
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
March
April
2014
The Newsletter of The Welding Institute
fore. When I asked what additional training he had received to
make the move, he said, “None, the Foreman just told me to squirt
it in and fill it up”.
The introduction of ISO 9606-1 does state that “it is presumed that
the welder has received training and/or has industrial practice
within the range of qualification”, meaning that prior to the quali-
fication test, the welder is expected to have knowledge, skill and
experience relating to the relevant welding process, product type,
type of weld, filler material, material dimensions, welding position
and weld details. So even though the examination of job knowledge
is not a mandatory part of the welder qualification test, the requisite
knowledge and understanding to support competence in making
the respective weld is obligatory.
The IIW International Welder (IW) Guideline seeks to achieve har-
monisation in the training, examination and qualification testing of
welders. The Guideline recognises and delivers the ISO 9606 re-
quirement for qualification testing of welders, to evaluate their skill
for limited ranges of welding conditions. However, the industry
needs competent welders with greater levels of knowledge and un-
derstanding than the minimum requirement, and the International
Welder Guideline provides a structured combination of theoretical
education and practical training, assessed through tests of increas-
ing difficulty, including ISO 9606 qualification tests and theoretical
examinations for fillet, plate and pipe welders. The IW diploma has
been successfully implemented in 30 countries Worldwide, with
over 20,000 diplomas awarded, and strongest take-up in Scandi-
navia, Germany, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.
The Welding Institute, supported by the Association for Welding and
Fabrication Training and Education (AWFTE), developed the Na-
tional Welder Training Standard (NWTS) in 2004, to bring the Inter-
national Welder Guideline into the UK vocational education and
training system. Once the first National system for welder education
and training to be harmonised with the IW requirements, NWTS is
now lagging behind our European colleagues. With its structured
progression from Code of Practice 1, through CP 2 and on to CP 3
taking a welding trainee through fillet, plate and pipe welding, sup-
ported with the relevant education, welder qualification testing and
a licence to practice, the NWTS was ahead of its time, and remains
ahead of the alternatives. The time is now right to work with our in-
dustry partners to review and reinvigorate the NWTS as part of a
Trailblazer Apprenticeship project to define the Future of Welding
Apprenticeship in England. The project will be led by Tim Jessop
(tim.jessop@twi.co.uk) and Ashley List (ashley.list@twi.co.uk), and
news of the project consortium and plan will be issued soon.
Eur Ing Chris Eady BSc(Hons) MSc CEng MRAeS FWeldI
Associate Director Professional Affairs
The Welding Institute
so deemed to have the required skills and temperament. Phillip felt
lucky to be selected even though welding was an important and
necessary skill.
The maintenance activity was sponsored by the company Otto Bock
Healthcare. The company is a supplier of high quality, innovative
and practical solutions that restore human mobility and help people
to rediscover personal independence. Otto Bock founded the Or-
thopädische Industrie GmbH in 1919 in Berlin to supply war veter-
113
TWI NEWS ··· TWI NEWS ··· TWI NEWS ··
Northumbria Branch
Visit to Messer Cutting Systems
5 December 2013
Hosts: Richard Bennett, Gary Dobson

The visit commenced with a presentation by Gary Dobson, Regional

Sales Manager.
Gary gave an overview of Messer Cutting from its inception in
Frankfurt, Germany by the founder Adolf Messer up to the present
day.
Messer were originally manufacturers of acetylene generators and
then progressed into manufacture of acetylene cutting torches in
1908 under the name Original Messer. They then expanded into
TIG repair of an aluminum manufacture of arc welding equipment and welding electrodes.
alloy wheel chair Messer expanded through merger to form Messer Griesheim Gmbh
with branches around the world.
Para-Olympic athlete Evan
O'Hanlon, Gold medal winner Additional mergers with Eutectic Castolin and Messer Cutting &
of the 200m sprint achieved Welding AG under the leadership of The Carlyle Group resulted in
in a world record time, and the formation of MEC Holding GmbH. This was followed by the
myself.
acquisition of the company from the Carlyle Group by Messer In-
dustrie Holding GmbH.
This resulted in the formation of the Messer Group of which Messer
Cutting Systems is part, with manufacturing plants in Germany,
ans with prostheses and orthopedic products. From the very begin-
USA, Brazil, India and China.
ning, Otto Bock continually tested new materials for their applica-
Messer Cutting System’s product portfolio includes oxyfuel gas ,
bility in manufacturing processes. Despite setbacks following the
plasma and laser cutting systems with an extensive range offering
Second World War, the company survived and expanded its base to
industry a total solution including cutting equipment software, en-
become the worldwide organization it is today.
vironment protection, training and after sales service.
The 6,500 sq ft games workshop, something between a laboratory,
garage and Community Centre, had 80 technicians from 18 coun-
tries working from 0700-23.00 hours daily throughout the games.
They including prosthetists, orthotists, wheelchair technicians and
welders.
Each day provided a different story and challenge. Wheelchair
rugby players, whose fierce contact sport is sometimes referred to
as murder-ball, were regular visitors, but athletes from every sport,
from boccia players to sprinters, passed through the doors needing
help.
The damage to the chairs was not solely from the rough and tumble
of competition and many chairs need work done on them when
they first arrived at the village.
One of the most common repairs was welding of wheelchair rugby
and other sports wheelchairs. At times extra reinforcement had to
be made in the joint area requiring strengthening pieces to be made.
In doing so we had to be careful not to upgrade the machine. First
there are regulations governing upgrades and also you had to care-
ful as changes may not be in the interest of the athlete. They could,
Equipment ranges from handheld and portable cutting torches to
for example, change balance and this could negatively impact on
the more advanced multi-head, beveling systems which can be
their performance and their health.
CNC programmed and include fully automated material handling
Most welding repairs involved TIG welding of Luminal alloy
units.
frames. However, some mild steel welding was also carried out.
Following the presentation, members and guests were given a live
It was a rewarding job but it could be difficult dealing with anxious
demonstration of the Problade plasma marking and cutting system
athletes, especially those not speaking English. They were so keen
that has the capability of cutting up to 3m in width.
to get on and compete that they often needed calming to enable us
The visit was concluded with an interesting and lively question and
to get on with the repair.
answer session.
It was a great experience and I am putting my name down to help
The TWI Northumbria Branch members and guests wish to thank
at the next para-Olympic games. I just hope I am selected.
Messer Cutting Systems for their hospitality and for hosting an in-
It was unfortunate that the presentation technology failed us and
teresting, informative presentation and demonstration.
we were not able to get the full benefit of the video clips that Phillip
had compiled.
Keith Temperley

John Weston

114 Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2

·· TWI NEWS ··· TWI NEWS ··· TWI NEWS
Obituary
A tribute to Jim Edwards
Mr J Edwards SenMWeldI, was born in February 1918 and died
1 January 2014. He joined The Welding Institute in 1944, receiving
a Loyal Service Award in 1986. He served on the Professional Board
of the Institute and was an active committee member of the Eastern
Counties Branch until 2009. During this time he held all of the of-
fices and only resigned because of difficulties in driving to evening
meetings. He was very forward thinking in his work and a great
mentor.
Jim spent most of his working with Paxman's of Colchester and I
quote from Richard Carr's History (www.paxmanhistory.org.uk)
“Jim Edwards was Paxman's acknowledged expert on welding;
highly respected by colleagues for his abilities, experience and
knowledge in this field. He commenced his apprenticeship with the
Company in December 1933 and very quickly displayed a strong
natural aptitude for welding. He came up with solutions to a num-
ber of welding problems which the business needed to resolve.
Among these were the introduction in the early 1950s of techniques
for welding aluminium engine crankcases and larger aluminium
structures. Jim Edwards was a strong believer in eliminating or re-
ducing the human element wherever possible by using automatic
New members
machines and jigs. In September 1955 he was appointed Paxman's
Welding Methods Engineer and later Chief Methods Engineer, a po-
sition he held up to his retirement in January 1981.”
Indeed through Jim, Paxman's were the first Company in the UK,
and probably Europe, to MIG weld aluminium. He supported other
innovations, introducing column and boom submerged arc weld-
ing, stainless steel welding and its use in pressure vessels and he
actively promoted electron beam welding as a technology to man-
ufacture large diesel engines.
He gave excellent support to his colleagues, the apprentices at Pax-
man's and the students at the Colchester Institute, many of whom
went on to be key figures in our industry. One, Paul R Rose, wrote
a moving tribute to Jim in 1998. It touched Jim then and is a fitting
memorial to him now.
Edwards, Jim
(with apologies to Rudyard Kipling's Gunga Din)
It's some 30 years ago today
when we tried it the Paxman Way
and met there our mentor Edwards, Jim.
He laid down the rules
and gave us mental tools
to carry out the job the Paxman way.

Name Member Grade Branch

It was Jim, Jim, Jim, how can we Edwards, Jim,
Declan Foley Member Overseas
Stephen Paul Wisniewski Member Sheffield do the job as efficiently as you?
Robert McNeish Member Overseas We try the best we can
Jim McLuckie IncMember Scottish but it was not always in the plan
Adrian Evans IncMember West Midlands
Phairat Into Technician Overseas for us to do it the Paxman Way.
Clive Thomson Technician Scottish
Kurt Roger Andersen Technician Overseas It wasn't till we left
Michael Hollis Technician West Midlands
Neco Horne Technician Overseas when we thought ourselves bereft
Paul David Wiseman Technician Southern Counties of anything to help us on our way.
Jeffrey Grundy Technician Liverpool It was then that we found
Steven Raju Technician Overseas
Danny John Whitton Technician Overseas
your advice had been sound
Mohd Shafique Siddiqui Technician Overseas and blessed the day we tried the Paxman Way
Ramil Ilagan Giman Technician Overseas
Chengchuan Luo Technician Overseas
It is Jim, Jim, Jim thank you Edwards, Jim
Tae Dong Hwan Technician Overseas
Rama Parvateswara for teaching us the way that we should go,
Rao Janapareddi Technician Overseas for the life we later led.
Paul Leslie Jones Technician Manchester Now the time has come for us to say
Stefano Balducci Technician Overseas
Russell Mark Mayers Technician Eastern Counties
Federico Gervasio Technician Overseas In your teachings and your chidings
Paolo Di Blasi Technician Overseas we have somehow found good tidings
Jameel Amod Technician Overseas
Saville Gary Collopen Technician Overseas and it was really all because of you.
Keith Brew Technician North Western Though we cursed you and praised you
Suresh Puthuparambil by the living God that made you,
Karuna Karan Technician Overseas
Denis Denisov Technician Overseas
You are still a better man than we are
Adam John Brown Technician North Scottish Edwards Jim
George Urquhart Technician Highlands and Islands
Martin Ivan Thomas Technician Teesside
Simon Lorne Reid Technician North Scottish
John Weston
Deceased
Name Grade Joined Branch

Jim Edwards Senior Member 1944 Eastern Counties

Sid Tempest Fellow 1964 Leeds
Ron Sherburn Associate 1972 West Midlands
Derek Warne Kent

Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2 115

SPECIALIST ARTICLES
Plasma hybrid welding with
an integrated laser and sensor
equipment
The objective of the “PiLS“ research project carried out by iLAS and INP
was to refine the plasma welding process in the current range up to 200 A
without any filler material for steel sheets with sheet thicknesses between
2  mm and 5  mm. The aims were a substantially higher process speed, a
raised weld quality as well as lower component distortions at system costs
which are well below the costs of laser beam or laser beam hybrid processes.
The arc attachment was to be influenced by the targeted and controlled uti-
lisation of a low-power laser beam with certain focusing. However, contrary
to the original assumption, it was not possible to spectroscopically prove
any interactions of the laser beam with the plasma gas or the shielding gas
(argon) or any interactions of the laser radiation with the metal constituents
(material: S235), i.e. essentially iron. Instead of this, high-speed photographs
served to reveal that the addition of the laser beam gives rise to an inversion
of the flow in the molten pool which contributes to the formation of the key-
hole. As a result of the investigations, it was possible to confirm the positive
effect on the welding process exerted by the support of a low-power laser
beam (less than 500 W). The welding speed as well as the process stability
and the gap-bridging capacity were increased considerably with an added
laser. Even difficult geometries and welding paths with corners and curves
did not constitute any problems and the welding could be carried out reliably
without any intervention in the process.
1 Introduction
For nearly 50 years, plasma arc welding has been uti-
lised for joining sheets with different thicknesses. In this
respect, a transferred arc is ignited between the plasma
torch and the material surface and is bundled by nozzles
as well as by the lateral inflow of additional cold gases
into the jet. The jet intensities arising in this case are in
the region of approx. 104 W/cm2. At powers of several ki-
lowatts, the material can thus be melted locally and deep
melting zones arise in the material with the formation of
a keyhole [1].
The first disadvantage with regard to plasma welding
proves to be the relatively large molten pool volumes cau-
sed by increased energies per unit length. This may lead
to the drop-through of the molten pool and may entail
larger metallurgical notches. The consequences are an
increase in distortion and residual stresses with a resulting
decrease in the service life of the component. Secondly,
there may also be process instabilities, e.g. in the case of
slight changes in the distance between the nozzle and the
material surface. If the transferred arc could be bundled
and stablised more extremely than until now, it would be
possible to produce higher jet intensities, to manufacture
smaller and deeper weld pools and to achieve higher
welding speeds, i.e. a decisive reduction in the problems
listed above [2]. Not only in plasma welding but also in
gas-shielded metal arc (GMA) or tungsten inert gas (TIG)
welding, the energy input into the material can be focused
even further using the combination with a high-power la-
116
ser which gives rise to deep complete melting [3, 4]. Laser
beam hybrid welding thus permits higher process speeds
and a lower heat supply. Disadvantages are the relatively
large dimensions of the processing heads and the high
installation costs which are determined, in particular, by
the high investment and operating costs of a laser beam
source [5].
An innovative approach well-known only from the re-
search until now consists of the combination of the arc
welding process with low-power laser radiation (under
1 kW). An improvement in the deep-penetration welding
effect is to be achieved without any considerable increase
in the installation costs. The effective mechanisms are the
subject of controversial discussions at present and are
hardly proven [6...8]. However, the latest investigations
prove that laser intensities in the range of 105 to 106 W/cm2
(on the material surface) have an influence on the root
attachment of the welding arc. It was possible to prove
distinct effects, such as the guiding and focusing of the
arc attachment using a low-power Nd:YAG laser, by ma-
king optical and spectroscopic analyses, e.g. for TIG pro-
cesses on aluminium and magnesium alloys as well as for
GMA processes on steel [9, 10].
The utilisation of low laser beam powers in the plasma
welding process had been the subject of only few investi-
gations at the beginning of the project (apart from the
authors’ own promising preliminary tests) and has not
yet been implemented commercially. In particular, small
companies avoid the high installation costs of pure laser
processes or laser-dominated hybrid processes. They
could strengthen their competitive situation to a crucial
extent using a supported plasma welding process with a
higher process reliablity and speed.
2 Plasma hybrid head
Commercially available optical components were cal-
led upon for the optical designing of the system. In this
respect, it was necessary to take account of the working
distance as well as the striven-for diameter of the focal
point. Furthermore, the structure of the optical system
had to guarantee the adjustability of the focus position in
order to permit investigations depending on it.
The mechanical structure makes it possible to com-
bine this optical system with a commercially available
plasma welding torch. A hybrid welding head which offers
a high flexibility of the geometrical arrangement of the
plasma torch in relation to the optical system as well as a
sufficient stiffness of the components in order to guarantee
the exact positioning during the welding process was de-
signed and manufactured for this purpose. The newly de-
veloped processing head has a clearly defined tool center
point (TCP), Fig. 1. Thus, the handling is facilitated and
programmed-in paths do not have to be altered even after
the intervention in the geometrical constellation of the
plasma torch or the laser optics.
3 Optical diagnostics
A measuring setup which, especially as a transportable
system too, allows optical emission spectroscopy (OES)
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
as well as photographs taken using a high-speed camera
(HSC) was assembled for the execution of the tests plan-
ned in the project. The spectroscopic system makes it pos-
sible to analyse the optical radiation with different spectral
resolutions. The HSC serves to observe the processes dur-
ing the welding and permits not only statements about
the process stability but also, if narrow-band metal inter-
ference filters (MIFs) are utilised, the determination of
the surface temperature of the molten pool. Furthermore,
spectrally selective photodiodes were utilised in order to
be able to draw conclusions about possible control strat-
egies from their signal courses.
4 Results
4.1 Optical and physical investigations
One example of an overview spectrum is portrayed
on Fig. 2. Not only line radiation (above 650 nm) but also
continuum radiation (under 650 nm) are visible. The line
radiation mainly consists of argon lines (marked in red)
and oxygen lines (marked in blue).
THE AUTHORS
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Claus Emmelmann
studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Ha-
nover im Hanover/Germany specialising in Production
Technology. Thereafter, he set up the Hanover Laser Cen-
tre for his dissertation supervisor Prof. Tönshoff and obtai-
ned his doctorate on the subject of the “Cutting of
ceramic with laser radiation“ in 1992. At the international
laser manufacturer Rofin-Sinar, he was subsequently en-
trusted with the responsibility for the division relating to
solid-state lasers which were new at that time. After ten
years of the successful development of this field, he was
offered a chair at the Hamburg University of Technology.
There, he today passes on his experience to the students
and, in research, development and consultancy projects,
deals with know-how and technology transfer from the
photonic research to the industrial laser application. Since
2009, he has also been the Managing Director of the
North Laser Centre (LZN) in Hamburg.
Dr. Ruslan Kozakov
born in 1975, studied Physics in St. Petersburg/Russia and
concluded his doctorate there in 2002. He has worked at
the Institute of Plasma Research and Technology INP-
Greifswald in Greifswald/Germany since 2005. The main
focal points of his activities included plasma-physical in-
vestigations of switching arc plasmas and plasma light
sources including health supporting lighting situations as
well as, in recent years, investigations into welding arcs.
Dipl.-Ing. Nikolai Petri
born in 1981, studied Mechanical Engineering at the
Hamburg University of Technology in Hamburg/Germany
and specialised in the field of Materials Engineering. He
already collaborated in the developments of new magne-
sium alloys at the GKSS Research Centre (today, HZG)
during the studies and has explored possibilities for the
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
Fig. 1 • The newly
developed pro-
cessing head per-
mits the simple
and targeted ad-
justment of indi-
vidual parameters
not only for the
plasma torch but
also for the laser
beam input along
the indicated ar-
rows (Point P
marks the “tool
center point“).
Measurements for establishing the arc temperatures
were taken at a distance of 1 mm above the sheet with
variable welding parameters such as the laser beam
power, the process gas flow rate and the feed speed. Plas-
ma parameters were determined from high-resolution
friction stir welding of titanium alloys. Within the frame-
work of a research stay in Ottawa/Canada in 2009, he
examined the subject of the fracture-mechanical beha-
viour of dual-phase steels and magnesium alloys. From
2010 to 2012, he dealt with plasma/laser hybrid welding
at the Institute of Laser and System Technologies. Since
2012, he has been in charge of the optimisation of the
process management for hot forming at AWS Schäfer
Technologie GmbH.
Dr. Heinz Schöpp
born in 1952, studied Physics in Berlin/Germany and
worked in technological fields in various establishments.
The essential investigation objects included, in particular,
plasma light sources with questions relating to electrode
problems, service lives, temperature distributions (in the
plasma, the electrodes and the vessel walls) as well as
the production of light which is efficient and good for
health. Building upon this wealth of experience, he has
been able to process projects relating to welding arc phy-
sics to an increasing extent in the last ten years. These ac-
tivities resulted in quite a lot of promotion applications
with regard to GMA and hybrid welding processes. He
was the Manager of the IGF project “PiLS“ on the subject
of plasma hybrid welding with an integrated laser.
Dipl.-Ing. Olaf Steinmeier
is a graduate of the Hamburg University of Technology in
the Mechanical Engineering course of study, specialising in
Fabrication Technology, and has been a Scientific Employee
at the Institute of Laser and System Technologies since the
start of 2012. There, he investigates and develops laser-
based and laser-supported hybrid welding processes, above
all, for utilisation in the field of shipbuilding and equivalent
large structures.
117
SPECIALIST ARTICLES
Fig. 2 • Overview
spectrum of a hybrid
process (the lines
above 740 nm are
overexposed in part;
the positions and
relative intensities
of the argon lines
are marked with red
spots and those of
oxygen lines with
blue spots; metal
lines are not identi-
fiable in the back-
ground radiation of
the molten pool).
spectral measurements. A comparison of the temperature
courses during the welding with and without a laser beam
does not show any essential differences. They are appro-
ximately identical within the framework of the measuring
errors.
During the evaluation of the diode signals, it was
established that particularly the infrared-sensitive diodes
displayed changes in the signal when the laser was switch-
ed on or off. As an example of this change, Fig. 3 shows
the signal course with and without laser radiation for a
diode sensitive at 2 μm as well as the corresponding weld-
ing current course. The top part of the figure indicates the
current and the bottom part the diode signals. One striking
feature is the point in time when the keyhole forms (blue
curve). The right part of the signals in the subsequent
time exhibits a uniform course while the left signal course
turns out to be higher and is characterised by fluctuations.
One possibility of developing process sensor equip-
ment consequently consists of using the reflected laser
radiation. The behaviour of the molten pool without a
keyhole is very irregular and thus leads to very irregular
reflection of the laser radiation. In this respect, the laser-
beam-sensitive photodiode (placed on the sheet side fa-
cing the incident laser beam) supplies a signal with very
great variance when a laser is added. Immediately after
the keyhole has occurred, the laser radiation is reflected
to a considerably lesser extent and the variance of the sig-
nal is reduced substantially. The occurrence of the keyhole
may thus be related to the variance of the signal of the la-
ser-beam-sensitive photodiode.
Thermographs (HSC photographs with MIFs) on the
bottom side of the workpiece show that the laser beam
inputs the heat deep into the workpiece. On the high-
speed photographs, it was recognisable that the molten
pool is inverted when the laser beam is added. The alter-
ation in the molten pool is associated with the formation
of the keyhole. The bulges on the molten pool without a
laser and the flat edges of the molten pool with an acti-
vated laser are recognisable on Fig. 4. A side view of the
sheet, including the keyhole as well as the marking of the
top edge of the sheet, the torch tilt, the normal to the sur-
face and the direction of incidence of the laser beam, is
portrayed on Fig. 5. Fig. 3 • Example of diode signals under the influence of the laser radiation.
118
As a conclusion, it is postulated that the laser beam
does not fundamentally lead to an increase in the surface
temperature of the molten pool but instead that the effect
presumably consists of a depth effect and redistribution
of the energy input as well as influences on the melting
properties immediately in the position of incidence of the
laser beam.
4.2 Welding tests
In investigations in order to determine welding para-
meters for the new hybrid process as well the dependence
on various factors (e.g. the laser beam power and the vo-
lume flow of the plasma gas), parameters suitable for plas-
ma/laser beam hybrid welding as well as the process tol-
erances were initially determined on bead-on-plate welds.
It could be observed that the process underwent a signi-
ficant rise in efficiency above a threshold intensity of the
laser beam. Fig. 6 illustrates what effects the increasing
laser beam power has exerted on the welding results, par-
ticularly the weld-penetration depth. It was possible to
double the process speed in comparison with the plasma
process alone.
Moreover, an analysis was made of the influences of
various disturbing variables during the production of butt
joints without any weld preparation. These investigations
indicate a verifiable improvement in the process stability
by adding the laser (wavelength: 1,064 nm). The plasma
process alone reacts very sensitively to the alterations in
the parameters, e.g. the volume flow of the process gas,
the arc length or the feed speed. For example, changes of
±2% in the volume flow of the process gas led to welding
results rated as inadquate. In contrast, the hybrid process
had a wide tolerance with regard to any deviations from
the optimum parameter settings. Thus, it was possible to
vary the volume flow of the process gas in the range of
±10% without any significant changes occurring in the
process. This phenomenon could be observed more dis-
tinctly with a sheet thickness of 2 mm. All in all, the thinner
sheets exhibited a higher sensitivity to changed process
parameters than specimens with a thickness of 4 mm.
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
 Fig. 4 • Formation of a keyhole with
an added laser (top) and without any
laser influences (bottom; there,
attention must be paid to the bulges
at the edge of the molten pool).

Fig. 5 • Keyhole forma-

tion with lateral photo-
graphy of the sheet - the
front edge of the key-
hole corresponds to the
point of incidence of the
laser beam; by
redistributing molten
material, the laser cre-
ates a path for the
plasma flow (dashed
lines: top edge of the
sheet as well as torch
alignment in relation to
the normal to the sheet
surface, red line: laser
beam direction).

Fig. 6 • Effect of an
increasing laser
beam power in the
hybrid process on
the welding results;
left: top bead, cen-
tre: weld root, right:
transverse specimen.

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SPECIALIST ARTICLES
Fig. 7 • Welded bend paths; left columns: top bead without any
laser beam support and with 300 W laser beam support, right
columns: transverse specimens from weld sections after the
change in the angle in the feed direction.
Furthermore, the investigations indicated that tracks
in one plane can be welded in a very stable process with
laser beam support. Even paths which are difficult for wel-
ding technology (such as corners and curves) did not con-
stitute any problems and could be completed without any
intervention in the welding process. The sole limiting
factor was the arrangement of the head in relation to the
welding direction. Thus, it was possible to execute welds
successfully when the processing head was aligned in
such a way that the plasma torch was oriented in the range
from 0° to 90° in a plunging position with regard to the
welding direction but not when an angle of 90° was ex-
ceeded. Fig. 7 shows a comparison of the test results. The
use of the laser even led to an improvement in the weld
quality after the change in the welding direction, as proven
by the weld pictures and the transverse specimens with
30°, 60° and 90° deflection.
The measured hardness values represent an objective
criterion for assessing the welding results because they have
arisen in the uniformly stipulated conditions of the Vickers
procedure. The results of the hardness testing of the plas-
ma-welded and hybrid-welded specimens are very similar
and prove that the laser beam does not lead to any additional
increase in the hardness of the material. Fig. 8 indicates the
typical traverse of the hardness values in the cross-section
using the example of a welded specimen with a sheet thick-
120
ness of 4 mm. With all the specimens, the series of testing
points was located at the height of the centre line, i.e. at half
of the sheet thickness, and covered a width of approx. 20 mm
transverse to the welding direction.
During investigations into the gap-bridging capacity
on square butt welds, it was established that the addition
of the laser beam exerts a positive influence on the gap-
bridging capacity (investigation arrangement on Fig. 8).
Thus, it was possible to bridge gaps with widths of max.
0.5  mm without a laser beam. With the aid of the laser
beam, this value increased to a width of 0.6 mm with a
sheet thickness of 2 mm and to a gap width of 0.75 mm
for twice the specimen thickness. With the same gap
width, the weld quality was visibly improved in each case
using the laser beam.
Fig. 8 • Hardness tra-
verse in the weld cross-
section of a sheet
(S235) with a thickness
of 4 mm during plasma
and hybrid welding at a
feed speed of
25 cm/min and with a
plasma gas flow rate of
0.9 l/min.
Fig. 9 • Structure for the investiga-
tion into the gap-bridging capacity
without using any filler material.
4.3 Economic evaluation
Table 1 indicates the calculated investment and ope-
rating costs of applying the plasma hybrid welding process
with laser beam support in comparison with the sole uti-
lisation of the two individual processes. The underlying
performance parameters of the welding installations meet
the needs of steel sheets with thicknesses up to 5 mm. The
costs of a welding cell including a handling device for au-
tomated welding are incurred irrespective of the chosen
welding process. In the plasma hybrid process, the laser
Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2
 Table 1 • Consi-
Only laser 200 A Plasma hybrid, laser power 300 W Only laser 3 kW deration of the
€ € € economic viabi-
Investment lity of the
Plasma welding device (power source, plasma torch and cooler) 15,000 15,000 - plasma hybrid
Laser (beam source, processing optics and fibre-optical waveguide) - 15,000 150,000 welding process
Handling device (six-axis welding robot) 60,000 60,000 60,000 in comparison
Welding cabin (12 m² housing) 5,000 5,000 5,000 with the indivi-
dual processes.
Total 80,000 95,000 215,000
Operating costs (without wage costs)
Depreciation (per year; utilisation duration: five years) 16,000 19,000 43,000
Interest (interest rate: 3 % per year) 1,200 1,425 3,225
Electricity costs (€ 0.2 per kWh; workload: 1,500 h per year; 1,440 1,674 3,600
degree of utilisation: 0.6)
Room costs (room cost rate: € 100 per m² per year) 1,200 1,200 2,200
Maintenance (maintenance factor: 3 % per year) 2,250 2,700 6,300
Total per year 22,090 25,999 58,325
Hourly rate of the machine (workload: 1,500 h per year) 14.73 17.33 38.88

beam support with a power of 300 W yields a speed ad- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

vantage of 50% on average with the same weld quality.
That entails a time saving of one third compared with pure
plasma welding. In the comparison of these processes, the
hourly rate of the machine resulting from the investment
and operating costs of the overall welding installation in
each case only rises by approx. 18%. Therefore, the unit
costs of the machine can be lowered by more than 20%
using the additional laser. On top of everything, the hybrid
process offering particular process stability and defect tol-
erances reduces the required scopes of work in the weld
preparation and positioning of the joining components
and thus decreases the unit wage costs as well but the
quantification of these is workpiece-dependent.
The extra investment of just approx. €  15,000 for a
300  W laser as a supplement to the plasma welding in-
stallation makes it possible even for small and medium-
sized enterprises (SMEs) to utilise the hybrid process and
to exploit its advantages. In relation to this hybrid process,
pure laser beam welding produces more than twice the
required investment also in conjunction with substantially
higher electricity, room and maintenance costs which
cannot be borne by SMEs in most cases.
5 Concluding remarks
Using the presented plasma hybrid welding with an
integrated laser, it is possible to raise the welding speed
by as much as 60  % for butt joints without any quality
losses. The gap-bridging capacity and the weld quality
can be improved. The process as a whole becomes less
sensitive and less susceptible to disturbances. Additional
costs of approx. € 15,000 for a 300 W laser are required for
this purpose. This leads to a position-tolerant high-per-
formance welding process which, as a consequence of
the relatively low required investment, is interesting for
small and medium-sized enterprises in particular.
Literature
[1] Fortain, J. M.: Plasma welding evolution and challenges.
IIW Doc. XII-1948-08 (2008), pp. 1/11.
[2] Böhme, D., et al.: Plasmaverbindungsschweißen. DVS-Be-
richte Bd. 123, S. 101/05. DVS Media, Düsseldorf 1989.
[3] Dilthey, U., and A. Wieschemann: Prospects by combining
The IGF Project 16.414 / DVS Number 03.098 of the research
association “Forschungsvereinigung Schweißen und verwandte
Verfahren des DVS, Aachener Straße 172, 40223 Düsseldorf“
was, on the basis of a resolution of the Lower House of the
German Parliament, promoted by the German Ministry of Eco-
nomic Affairs and Energy via the Industrial Research Alliance
(AiF) within the framework of the programme for the promotion
of joint industrial research and development (IGF).
We would like to thank DVS and AiF for the logistical and fi-
nancial support as well as the participating companies for their
collaboration in the project-accompanying committee. Our
thanks also go to Mr. G. Gött (INP) for
elaborating Fig. 5. Particular gratitude
is owed to Prof. Dr. G. Sepold because
his active cooperation provided es-
sential impetus during the initiation
and execution of the project.
and coupling laser beam and arc welding processes. Wdg.
in the World 44 (2001), No. 3, pp. 37/46.
[4] Walz, C., et al.: Nahtgeometrie und Prozessstabilität beim
Laser-MIG-Schweißen. LaserOpto 33 (2001), No. 2, pp.
64/67.
[5] Stelling, K.: Laserstrahl-Plasma-Hybridschweißen austeni-
tischer Stähle. BAM-Dissertationsreihe Bd. 39. Bundesan-
stalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung, Berlin 2008.
[6] Rippl, P.: Laserstabilisiertes Lichtbogenschweißen mit
Strahlquellen niedriger Leistung für das schnelle, prozess-
sichere Fügen von Stählen und Leichtmetallen. DVS-Be-
richte Bd. 250, S. 331/37. DVS Media, Düsseldorf 2008.
[7] Stute, U., et al.: Interactions between electrical arc and
Nd:YAG laser radiation. CIRP Annals 56/1 (2007), pp.
197/200.
[8] Schnick, M., et al.: Numerische und experimentelle Unter-
suchungen zur Wechselwirkung zwischen einem Plasma-
lichtbogen und einem Laserstrahl geringer Leistung.
DVS-Berichte Bd. 275, pp. 612/17. DVS Media, Düsseldorf
2011.
[9] Hao, X., and G. Song: Spectral analysis of the plasma in low-
power laser/arc hybrid welding of magnesium alloy. IEEE
Trans. Plasma Sci. 36 (2008), pp. 1/7.
[10] Liu, L., et al.: Behavior and spectrum analysis of welding arc
in low-power YAG-Laser-MAG hybrid-welding process.
IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 36 (2008), pp. 1937/43.

Welding and Cutting 13 (2014) No. 2 121

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ISSN 1612-3433

122 Schweißen und Schneiden 1/2012

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ABC (2014) No. 2 21

 Software

Preparation of welding procedure specifications, management of welding

procedure testing and welder performance qualifications.

The software was specially designed as a welding pl-
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ment for welder qualification management.
Also integrated are parent material, filler metal and
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DIN EN ISO 15614.
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Welding Planner
Bilingual: German and English
Single User Version, 3rd edition 2012
Order No. 101085, Price: 298,00 EUR
Up-Date, 3rd edition 2012
Order No. 101197, Price: 98,00 EUR
System Requirements: Processor 1 GHz
Random Access Memory 512 MB
Disc space 33 MB
System Software: running under Windows-Systems

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