The submerged arc welding process is used in a variety of industries all that work with thick, heavy and expensive materials. Many of these industries also perform cladding, where weldment material is added to the base material to improve its wear resistance. In many cases, having a cladding process located near the sub arc welding process can increase the health and safety risk for operators who must monitor the welding process close by. Instead, a welding camera could be added to the submerged arc welding process (SAW) to assist the operator in monitoring the process remotely, providing a number of benefits:
1. Cost Savings
One of the first and most substantial benefits a welding camera provides to the SAW process is to eliminate an abundance of rework and set up time. By adding a camera to remotely monitor the welding process, operators can ensure that all welds are lined up correctly and make immediate adjustments if necessary while welding. This reduces scrapped material as well as any machine down time in order to reset the process.
2. Safety Benefits
Remote monitoring of the sub arc welding process provides health and safety benefits to the welding operators by:
o Removing them from a high heat environment without having to compromise their monitoring of the welding process. By working remotely to monitor the weld process, the operator has a quieter, cleaner, healthier work environment while still being able to control the weld alignment and surrounding environment.
o Removing them from dangerous monitoring positions. Some sub arc welding tasks require operators to monitor the weld process from immense heights, or tight spaces in order to ensure weld quality and process efficiency. A welding camera with a remote display screen allows the operators to view the weld in a less hazardous environment, improving employee safety without sacrificing quality.
The Xiris View Camera for Submerged Arc Welding (XVC-S)
3. Eliminates Failure Rates
As already mentioned, SAW involves a lot of costly, heavy materials, many that are used in industries such as shipbuilding. In this high demand, high quality industry, there is no room for failure or risk of low quality welds. It is absolutely crucial that every weld involved is durable, reliable, and of the best standard of quality. The addition of a weld camera would allow an operator to eliminate a possible failure, by monitoring the process as it occurs.
4. Automation Benefits
As the demand in industries such as shipbuilding, bridge-building, spiral pipe applications and green energy technology increases, the demand and expectations of the quality of SAW processes continue to rise. By using automation to improve the consistency and repeatability of SAW processes, fabricators can better meet the quality requirements of their customers. As more advanced technology allows for the manipulation of material, spinning and moving the weld as it occurs, this can make monitoring more difficult. The addition of a welding camera would allow the weld head to be easily installed to most automation equipment, moving with the material or weld torch as it moves.
Secondly, in terms of changing materials, sizes or processes in general, the addition of a welding camera would allow automation lines to changeover much more quickly through faster set ups. As the automation equipment is prepared to run again, the operator can speed the set up process quicklyprocess quickly, making adjustments on the fly so that there is minimal scrap or lost time when changeover begins
There are numerous benefits to adding a welding camera to a SAW process. With the ability to remotely monitor the position, alignment and operation of the weld tip, operators can reduce down time, increase productivity and improve weld quality.
