Industrial Factory Automation

Hobart Brothers has introduced a wire designed for welding high-strength steels that require good low-temperature impact toughness. The Hobart Fabco 107G all-position, gas-shielded, flux-cored wire offers a tensile strength in the 100-110ksi range in the as-welded or the post-weld heat-treated (PWHT) condition and is suitable for welding A515, A710, EQ56 and similar HSLA and QandT steels found in offshore and structural applications. According to the company, the wire can also be used to weld 4130 chrome-moly or 8630 nickel-chrome-moly pipes and provides excellent strength and toughness after PWHT (minimum 20ft/lbs at -20F). Hobart Brothers is offering the wire in two diameters: 0.045in (1.143mm) and 0.052in (1.321mm). The Fabco 107G wire has a smooth, stable arc that produces an excellent bead profile and helps to minimise downtime for the rework associated with quality issues. The wire also produces low spatter levels and has a removable slag to help increase productivity and reduce...

Miller Electric will present several MIG and fume-extraction solutions in booth 2336 at the Westec 2010 Exposition taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, from 23-25 March 2010. Products on display will include the Alumafeed Synergic aluminum welding system - designed to produce 'stacked dime' pulsed MIG welds with minimal training, the Filtair 130 portable fume extractor, the Millermatic Reach wire feeder and the Arcstation welding workbench. Miller's Alumafeed Synergic aluminum welding system is designed for high-volume, high arc on time industrial aluminum applications requiring conventional MIG and pulsed MIG welding outputs. With Alumafeed, there is no learning curve for experienced MIG welders in order to understand system controls. Novice welders can make production-quality pulsed MIG welds within hours using the system's synergic control and the Profile Pulse output, which creates a 'stacked dime' weld bead appearance without torch manipulati...

The single-phase 230V 50/60Hz Minarcmig Adaptive 170 from Kemppi features a load capacity that is rated 170A at 25-per-cent duty cycle and 120A at 60-per-cent duty cycle. The OCV is 22-31V, while the maximum wire-feed speed is up to 12m/min. This lightweight, compact, ergonomically designed machine, with its sturdy casing and easy-to-carry handle, is suitable for MIG/MAG welding on site or in the workshop by welders carrying out thin-sheet-metal fabrication, installation and setup work, as well as general repair and maintenance work.  It is particularly suited to welding with ferrous and ferrous-flux cored wires with diameters of 0.6-1.0mm diameter fed from 200mm diameter spools. It is said to be very easy to use due to the adaptive-welding-parameter control, where the user only needs to select the thickness of the sheet and pull the welding-gun trigger. Minarcmig will automatically adjust to the correct welding parameters, while the MMG 20 welding gun is designed to help make the...

Laser Lines has explained the key advantages of laser welding. Nylon welding processes are split into two categories: low-energy-density, and high-energy-density processes. Low-energy-density processes are those such as traditional arc and resistance welding technologies that rely on heat conduction through the material from a surface point to provide melting. High-energy-density processes using lasers create a heating filament, known as the keyhole, which penetrates the depth and offers 2D line heating, causing a highly efficient heat transfer into the weld joint. The key advantages of laser welding are a small heat-affected zone (HAZ), accurate control of heat input, and the ability to direct the beam precisely to the weld point. This means reduced thermal distortion, the ability to weld close to heat-sensitive parts, and precision welding capabilities. Major applications for sub-kilowatt lasers are in precision-welding and heat-sensitive welding processes, such as hermetic sealing,...

The Fabtech International and AWS Welding Show, including Metalform, co-sponsored by the FMA, will take place in Chicago's McCormick Place from November 15-18. The event will feature metal fabricating, forming, tube and pipe, stamping, thermal spraying, laser and welding technologies. In addition to the exhibits, the show will host over 100 technical and non-technical educational sessions and a number of events available to all attendees.

A feature of Kemppi's three-phase Mastertig MLS 3000 and 3003 AC/DC welding systems is the Microtack function, available on the optional ACX control panel. This function has been specifically developed to tack weld carbon, stainless steel and titanium thin sheet components up to around 4mm thickness. Microtack welding resembles spot welding in that it uses a high current pulse to create a low heat input to weld thin sheet materials and thin sheet to thicker sheet materials.  This method of TIG welding is made possible by the control technology used in the Kemppi power source, which creates a tailored current pulse that is efficient and fast, a matter of a few dozen milliseconds to create the low heat input. The result is a clean, small tack weld, which is similar to a laser weld in appearance and characteristics, resulting in lower risks in burn. Although Microtack welding is very fast and easy to use, it does not use any filler material and the heat input is low, so there is littl...

Lincoln Electric has teamed up with custom car designer Chip Foose to create Vista Hemisfear, an auto-darkening welding helmet inspired by Foose's Hemisfear hot rod. The Vista Hemisfear is the company's first using a lightweight shell design, bringing the total helmet weight to 567g or less depending on configuration. All Vista helmets feature: solar-powered auto-darkening, eliminating operator error and alkaline corrosion; grind and TIG modes, as well as variable delay settings for greater operator control; four independent arc sensors to ensure reliability; different view sizes for user preferences. The complete series of Vista helmets also includes various colours and graphic designs, including textured black, Patriot, Nascar heavy metal, Red Rod and SurfRod. Every helmet includes a Personal-Pak with a soft helmet bag with zip-up pocket, a graphic Lincoln bandana and an owner ID label. Lincoln Electric's complete line of Vista auto-darkening helmets is available at loca...

The Spotchecker from GE Sensing And Inspection Technologies is a hand-held flaw detector with application-specific software, which allows it to be used as a portable solution for spot weld testing. Contained within an environmentally protected housing, the instrument does not require intensive training and offers an 'expert' system for less qualified people in weld inspection. Spotchecker will allow inspection to be carried out at the place of welding, rather than having to move welded parts to dedicated inspection points. Spotchecker is sealed to IP65 and weighs 3.5kg. Its ergonomically designed operator interface features an 8in LCD touch screen, six programmable function keys and twin track balls to allow ease of use, even in the most restricted of testing locations. It is battery operated and batteries can be 'hot swapped' to ensure continuous operation. Battery charging can be done with batteries inside or outside the instrument, using an external charger. The ins...