The choice of automation of the welding process occurs for various reasons, technical, organizational or economical. Everyone agrees that this is the ideal technique for obtaining clean and smooth welds.
High end industrial sectors like the aerospace industry, high speed trains, nuclear or biotechnology lean towards it for obvious reasons of precision and dependability. In other areas like in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and in agribusiness, very smooth welds are indispensable so as to avoid all risk of contamination or the possibility of corrosion in the area of the weld.
#1 Optimal precision
Automated orbital welding involves rotating continuously at 360 degrees in an arc around a cylindrical shaped form. Most metals can be automatically welded in this way: steel, titanium, copper, aluminum and any of their alloys. This is the best technical means to get clean welds, with uniform precision particularly for small diameters of thin widths. It allows for thrust control of the process with the help of the programming of the welding settings. To ensure a work without irregularities, both on the inside as well as the outside of the tubes, it is advisable to choose automation for smooth welds.
#2 Quality, a main objective
Compared to manual welding, the quality of an automatic orbital welding process is much higher. Once the settings have defined a welding program suited to a particular context, the welding phase can be repeated many times without any difference or mistakes in the welding which could, with a manual process, be attributed to the equipment or to the human hand. Automation therefore allows for a very low margin of welding error and guarantees a constant and dependable quality particularly appreciated in sensitive installations.
#3 Repeatability, an essential property
Automation of computer aided orbital welding offers a repeatability without error. The operator chooses the right program, follows the instructions, possibly makes a diagnostic on what is not working. Once the program is developed it is saved in the generator and the repeatability of the welding process is assured. Choosing such an investment is also in the long term a choice of automation for smooth welds with orbital welding equipment.
#4 Savings on a significant scale
Experienced welders are rare in the work force and automated welding is an attractive alternative which allows for the significant reduction of labor costs. An operator, trained for programming and operating orbital welding equipment, is competent to monitor all operations. Automated orbital welding assisted by computers greatly increases productivity, a non negligible economic advantage. The operator generates a higher number of welds than a manual welder. Automation of the welding equipment allows for many clean welds in a simultaneous fashion and all the burdensome secondary operations such as grinding or cleaning become unnecessary.
Choosing automation for smooth and clean welding allows one to achieve a high level of quality. High quality work is therefore guaranteed by orbital welding.
