5-axis CNC MIG Welding Machine for Mass Production

Final Year Project Proposal

SANA'A UNIVERISTY | ENGINEERING COLLEGE

Dr . Khaleel Al-hatab

Asem Nabeel
Anas Ameen
Ebraheem Mohammed
Majed Albana
Omar alqadi

ABOUT :

This project will open the doors into Industrial Welding Robots WORLD
 • INTRODUCTION :

Welding is a method of joining metals in which heat and / or pressure are applied to the
area of contact between the two components; a filler metal may be added into the joint

depending on the welding process .

welding methods can roughly be classified into pressure process, fusion process, brazing and

soldering by the mechanism of joining metals as shown in fig. 1.1

Arc welding is a welding process that is used to join metal to metal by using
electricity to create enough heat to melt metal, and the melted metals when cool result in a
binding of the metals. It is a type of welding that uses a welding power supply to create an
electric arc between a metal stick ("electrode") and the base material to melt the metals at the
point of contact. Arc welders can use either direct (DC) or alternating (AC) current, and
consumable or non-consumable electrodes.
The welding area is usually protected by some type of shielding gas, vapor, or
Slag. Arc welding processes may be manual, semi-automatic, or fully Automated. First
developed in the late part of the 19th century, arc welding became commercially important in
shipbuilding during the Second World War. Today it remains an important process for the
fabrication of steel structures and vehicles .

One of the most common types of arc welding is Metal Inert Gas (MIG) is a semi-automatic
or automatic arc welding process. MIG requires a continuously-fed consumable, tubular
electrode containing a flux and a constant-voltage or, less commonly, a constant-current
welding power supply. an externally supplied shielding gas is sometimes used, but often the
flux itself is relied upon to generate the necessary protection from the atmosphere, producing
both gaseous protection and liquid slag protecting the weld. The process is widely used in
construction because of its high welding speed and
portability.

An Industrial Robot is a robot system used for manufacturing. Industrial

robots are automated, programmable and capable of movement on three or more axis.Typical
applications of robots include welding, painting, assembly, pick and place for printed circuit
boards, packaging and labeling, palletizing, product inspection, and testing; all accomplished
with high endurance, speed, and precision. They can assist in material handling.

Robot welding is the use of mechanized programmable tools (robots),

Which completely automate a welding process by both performing the weld And handling the
part. Robot welding is Commonly used for resistance spot welding and arc welding in high
Production applications, such as the automotive industry. Robot welding is a relatively new
application of robotics, even though Robots were first introduced into us industry during the
1960s. The use of Robots in welding did not take off until the 1980s, when the automotive
Industry began using robots extensively for spot welding. Since then, both The number of
robots used in industry and the number of their applications Has grown greatly. In 2005, more
than 120,000 robots were in use in north American industry, about half of them for
welding.[1] growth is primarily limited by high equipment costs, and the Resulting restriction
to high-production applications .

The major components of arc welding robots are the manipulator or the mechanical unit and
the Controller, which acts as the robot's "brain". The manipulator is what makes the robot
move,
Robot Types :

the design of these Systems can be categorized into several common types, such as SCARA
and Cartesian Coordinate Robot (Gantry), which use Different coordinate systems to direct
the arms of the machine as shown in figure 2 .

• DECISION :

we aim to design and fabricate a 3-axis

CNC welding machine. in which the
welding technique is to be the flux-cored
arc welding which uses consumable
electrode .
the machine will be cartesian coordinate
robot ; is an industrial robot whose
three principal axes of control are linear
(i.e. they move in a straight line rather
than rotate) and are at right angles to each
other. The three sliding joints correspond
to moving the wrist up-down, in-out,
back-forth. Among other advantages, this
mechanical arrangement simplifies
the Robot control .
 • COMPONENTS :

✓ Hardware :

• Mechanical Parts :

1. Welding Unit :

Power Supply
To supply the electrical energy necessary for arc welding processes,
a number of different power supplies can be used.The most common
classification
is constant current power supplies and constant voltage power supplies.
In arcwelding, the voltage is directly related to the length of the arc,
and the current is related to the amount of heat input.

Welding Torch :
Consumable Electrode (Continuous Fed Filler
Wire) :

There are two types of flux-cored wire electrodes: gas-shielded and self-
shielded. As its name implies, the gas-shielded type of flux-cored wire
requires an external shielding gas. The self-shielded variety does not.

Self-shielding flux-cored wires do not require an external shielding gas. With

this type of electrode, the weld pool is protected as gas is generated when the
flux from the wire is burned. Because the self-shielding wire produces its own
protective shield and doesn’t require an external gas tank, it is more easily
carried about.

Feeding Mechanism :
it is very important for continuous feeding of the welding wire
.
 2. Table

Ball Lead Screws Set :

used to drive the axial motions

Linear rails set :

to guide the movement of movable parts

Stepper Motors :

Advantages of stepper motor:

1. The rotation angle of the motor is proportional to the input pulse.
2. The motor has full torque at standstill if the windings are energized.
3. Excellent response to starting/stopping/reversing.
4. The stepper motors response to digital input pulses provides open-loop
control, making the motor simpler and less costly to control [6].

Wire Carrier :
are guides designed to surround and guide flexible .

They reduce wear and stress on cables .

 • Control part :

The following figure shows the configuration of the controlling system

X axis
Y axis

Z axis

R1 axis

R2 axis

welding
welding unit
5- axis Controller
Mach 3
It is the most operational controller but it needs a PC , it can't operate with laptop

✓ Software :
Off-line programming is a robot programming method where the robot program is
created independent from the actual robot cell. The robot program is then uploaded to
the real industrial robot for execution .Using a CAM program the welding machine will do the
simulation of the task , and changes it to a G-code ,which is read by the MACH3 controller , allowing it to cotroll
the motion of the stepper motors .
There are two CAM software to do the task

• FREEWELD from a Chinese Welding Manufacturer .but it is Payed 450 $ .

• Robo-DK is used as a plug-in with Solidworks

 COST LIST :
All the parts will be bought from China , from a manufacturer with whom we have messaged
and discussed all the costs .

ITEM DESCRIPTION QUANTITY COST TOTAL

MIG welding torch 1 50$ 50 $

Welding consumables One turn 20$ 20 $

Linear guide rails HGR20 – SCCS 50 * - 2000 for Y axis HGR20 – 2 29 $

SCCS 50 - 1400 for x axis HGR20 – SCCS 50 - 2 21.5 $ 58 $
400 for z axis 2 9.5 $ 43 $
19 $
Guide blocks or slides
HGH20CA 12 8$
96 $

SFU2005* – 2000mm for Y axis 2 for y axis 47.5 $ / set 95 $

SFU2005 – 1400mm for x axis 1 for x axis 42 $ / set 42 $
SFU2005 – 400mm for z axis 1 for z axis 33 $ /set 33 $
Ball screw set
BK\BF 15 Bearing supports 8 two for each
DSG 20 Nut housing 4 one for each

Coupling 4 one for each 4 $ /unit 16 $

Cable carrier 4 8 $ / unit 32 $

Full KIT includes (4 A)Hybrid Stepper motors NEMA 23* 4

Stepper motors (4 A) Closed loop drivers 4

with closed loop 225 $
drivers with two power Power supply 2 For one complete 225$
supplies with 5 axis kit
controller Controller interface board 1

USB and Parallel port connections 1

Arm Stepper motors Stepper motor NEMA 17 2 10 $/unit 20 $

with their drivers (2 A) Drivers 2 10 $/unit 20 $
‫المجموع الكلي يجب ان يتضمن تكلفة الحديد الالزم لبناء طاولة االلة وهو عبارة عن حديد خاوي ومرابيع‬
. ‫حديد شكل حرف سي‬ 769 $ from china + 200 $
The frame will be built from square cross section and C-beams , which made
SUM of structural steel . shipping fees
+ 150 $ frame steel
150 $
= 119 $

• NEMA stands for National Electrical Motors Association

** SFU2005 single flange u-type-nut ball screw with 20 dia. and 5mm pitch
*** HGR20 Horizontal Guide Rail with 20 square cross section dimensions
PROJECT SCHEDULE :

Period Responsibilities

1st term