May 2025 Volume 7

AUTOMATION

Along with that the operator is responsible for general maintenance of the welding robot and weld area. While the welding is being done the operator is responsible for checking proper weld deposition. Are the weld deposits tying into the walls properly? If not, a parallel shift can be applied to move the weld program on the X, Y or Z axis. Is the weld program building up each layer at a consistent rate? If the weld deposit is not building up at a consistent rate on each layer the weld job may not deposit enough weld material and not reach the before mentioned target mesh or welded geometry. Resulting in low spots after machining is done. Conversely, if the weld is building up too quickly the weld job will result in excess weld material being deposited. This issue can be checked and resolved in several different ways. A few more of the operator’s responsibilities are more common in the die welding world. Needle scaling after each layer, wire changes and contact tip replacement as well as other consumables that may wear out. The operator is responsible for checking for proper gas flow, that the correct shielding gas is being used, correct welding wire is being used, and that hand tools are good working order. If all the parameters, steps and procedures are followed the automated robotic welding system will result in continued successful welding jobs for years. Ultimately, resulting in higher quality weld deposits due to a consistent wire stick out and better controlled fluctuation in voltage and amperages. Rather than flood welding the entire impression, the system contours the shape of the die geometry. This results in less material being put into a work piece and less material needed to be removed in the machining process. The automated system is user friendly, and training is just a matter of one to two weeks; one operator can comfortably run up to three systems at a time. Robotically welded dies are yielding higher results with die life by as much as 20% to 30% due to the advancement of specifically designed robotic wire. Eureka Welding Alloys along with partners at DG Weld are successfully advancing the die and component welding industry into the future and will continue to focus on new and better ways to make life a little easier for both the welder and the Forging companies that employ them. If you have any questions regarding this article or would like to learn more about these patented automated robotic welding systems, please feel free to contact us. We would be happy to share what we have learned with you.

Robotically welded die. Rotary, Open, Impression

welding torch and welding table has been created. The weld path calculations are translated into robot movements and lines of code that the robot controller can read are generated. In this portion of the software the entire welding program can be run, or simulated, and the programmer can check for proper workpiece placement, torch collision, singularity in the robot joints etc. This part of the process is referred to as post processing. If an error occurs during post processing the software will let the programmer know at what line of code it happened and the programmer can go in and fix it in the virtual cell rather than have it happen in the real time, thereby decreasing the likelihood of a collision that may damage the welding torch or robot itself. Once post processing has been completed and the welding job has been confirmed to have no errors it is ready to be uploaded to the robot controller by the robot operator. Before welding can begin the operator is responsible for the following: 1. Uploading welding programs 2. Workpiece alignment 3. Dry running beginning of weld program.

Chris Kerchkof Sales Manager

Eureka Welding Alloys Phone: 248-588-0001 E-mail: ckerchkof@eurekaweldingalloys.com

Special thanks to Luca Giamberini, Managing Director of DG Weld Robotics and Andrea Tonoli, Robotics and Automation Project Engineer at DG Weld Robotics.

FIA MAGAZINE | MAY 2025 25