You are on page 1of 6

International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue7- July 2013

ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3078



Automation in Sheet Metal Tig Welding Process: A Case Study
Author: Roshan W.Ttulankar Author: Suraj S. Dehankar
Student Student
Department Of Mechanical Engg. Department Of Mechanical Engg.
J.D.I.E.T. Yavatmal, India J.D.I.E.T. Yavatmal, India

Abstract- The paper deals with the designing of mechanism, which
can weld the silencer shells of sheet metal in a linear motion with an
improved degree of fineness and are relatively less cumbersome than
traditional welding process. The technical constraint that has to be
considered while designing and developing the mechanism was to
achieve the stability, linear and uniform speed of welding torch and
uniform weld thickness for quality product. The details of testing on
various silencer shells are given in paper. In near future variable
frequency drive (VFD) can be installed for its full atomization.
Keyword: TIG Welding, VFD.
I. INTRODUCTION
Unlike other developed countries, we are still lagging
behind in advancement of machineries. Instead of utilizing
automated machines, we are quite habitual of the traditional
methods of production. On the other hand, developed countries
are more focused to bring automation in every sector of
production. This has immensely helped them in reducing
production time, wastage of material, etc. Automation provides
accuracy, quality as well as requires less time and man power.
Despite of losses in old methods of manufacturing and hazards
associated with them, small scale industries do not prefer
automated machines or special purpose machines for specific
work. Most of the work in production is done manually.
Manpower is involved in the process instead of the machine as it
is unaffordable for small scale industries. It is needed to enhance
the old machineries by automating themin order to get more
benefits.
Whereas the arena is somewhat different in large scale
industries, they generally buy too costly special purpose
machines for TIG welding. But in the long run it would again
turnout to be an expensive affair as regards maintenance, repair
or replacement of any of the machine parts.
This creates the need for an indigenously made
automatic TIG welding mechanism which would minimize direct
exposure of welder to hazardous fumes and bright light of arc.
Also minimize the time consumption for TIG welding, thus
overcoming the drawbacks in the present manual welding
process.
In manual TIG welding process the production rate is
less & due to the non-uniformity in the linear motion, the
accuracy and quality of welding gets adversely affected. But in
case of this mechanism, the motion is uniformwhile welding & it
helps to avoid the pits and bulges forming due to an-uniformity in
the movement of welders hand.

II. TIG WELDING
TIG welding (Tungsten inert gas welding) is also called
as gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) uses a non consumable
electrode and a separate filler metal with an inert shielding
gas.[5] This is the termused by welding engineers on blueprints,
and in welding procedures. When TIG was introduced around the
1940s it used to be referred to as HeliArc because the
shielding gas used was helium.[6] It is no longer called HeliArc
because in most cases the shielding gas used is Argon.
It is an arc welding process that uses a non-consumable
tungsten electrode to produce the weld.[4] Some welds, which
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue7- July 2013


ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3079
join thin materials, (known as autogenous or fusion welds) can be
accomplished without filler metal; most notably edge, corner, and
butt joints. The weld area is protected from atmospheric
contamination by an inert shielding gas (argon or helium). A
constant-current welding power supply produces energy which is
conducted across the arc through a column of highly ionized gas
and metal vapour known as plasma.[1,2&3]

Fig.1 Setup of TIG Welding.
Manual GTAW is often considered the most difficult of
all the welding processes commonly used in industry. Because
the welder must maintain a short arc length, great care and skill
are required to prevent contact between the electrode and the
work piece. TIG welding is most commonly used to weld thin
sections of stainless steel and non-ferrous metals such as
aluminium, magnesium, and copper alloys. The process grants
the operator greater control over the weld than competing
processes such as shielded metal arc welding and gas metal arc
welding, allowing for stronger, higher quality welds. However,
GTAW is comparatively more complex and difficult to master as
it requires greater welder dexterity than MIG or stick welding and
furthermore, it is significantly slower than most other welding
techniques. A related process, plasma arc welding, uses a slightly
different welding torch to create a more focused welding arc and
as a result is often automated.[3]
Weld Discontinuities: Undercutting, Tungsten inclusions,
Porosity, Weld metal cracks, Heat affected zone cracks.
TIG Welding Problems: Erratic arc, Excessive electrode
consumption, Oxidized weld deposit, Arc wandering, Porosity,
Difficult arc starting.[1]
TIG Welding Benefits :i. Superior quality welds. ii. Welds can be
made with or without filler metal. iii. Precise control of welding
variables (heat). iv. Free of spatter. v. Low distortion.[2]
III. THE NECESSITY OF AUTOMATION
The TIG welding process is carried out for welding the
shells of cylindrical and conical shape which are made by metal
sheet of 1.2 & 1.5 mmthickness. previously this work was done
manually.
The reasons which were discussed are as follows,
Adverse effect on Health of welding gun operator due to
amount of Tungsten fumes produced in welding process;
Non -Uniformity of the weld due to shaking of hand
while moving of torch.
safety of the operator;.
The available SPM in the market is very costly, small
scale industries doesnt afford this SPM.
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue7- July 2013


ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3080


Fig.2 Fumes produced during welding


Fig. 3 Irregularities in weld


IV. DESIGN OF COMPONENT
Design of belt:
Centre distance=3.5diameter of larger pulley [12]
=3.510
=35 inch
Length of belt=L=2C+
(D2+D1)
2
+
(D2-D1)
2
4C
L=89inch
Design of pulley:
Size of larger pulley 10inch
Size of smaller pulley 2.5inch
Calculation for pulley
D1
D2
=
N2
N1
[10]
2
D2
=
300
1425

D2=10 inch
Design of lead screw
Overall Length : 35inches
Length of threaded portion : 25 inches
Calculation of lead screw
P=180 watt
T=
P
W
=
P60
2 N

=
18060
21425

=4.47 N-m
T=
1
16
d
3

=42 Mpa (Given) [12]


d =8.7 mm
By considering Bending Moment
When torch is at center position then,
M=
wL
4
=
29.81660
4

International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue7- July 2013


ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3079

=3237.3 N-mm.
Twisting Moment
T
e
=H
2
+I
2

T
e
=5519.14 N-mm.
T
e
=
1
16
d
3
d=8.74mm.
V. WORKING
The TIG welding machine should be in off condition
before starting an operation. Torch should be kept on either side
of the mechanism. Silencer shell which is to be weld is then kept
on the magnetic fixture. The distance is adjusted between sheet
shell surface and tip of tungsten electrode by slight adjustment of
nuts provided on the bolt attached to the fixtures. Also edge line
is matched by moving the pointers over it. This given
arrangement provides the scope to fixture to move in both X & Y
direction. Current, voltage and Argon gas flow is checked and
adjusted themall to the required value. TIG welding machine is
switched ON. Then the supply is given to the motor, motor starts
rotating and torch starts welding automatically as soon as
electrode come in front of metal sheet cylinder surface and
electrode. The welding was held continuously till the shell ends.
After completion of welding in this forward stroke motor was
stopped and shell was replaced by new un-weld shell and motor
allowed to start rotating in reverse direction. In the same way that
shell also welded and same procedure is repeated for other shells
for welding. In this the reverse-forward motion and stopping of
the torch is controlled by the R/F switch.

Fig.4 Mechanism
I. PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS
The percentage of quality achieved is considered on the basis of
proportion of fine welded length as to total length welded
Table 1 For sheet thickness =1.2mm(Conical Shell)
No
of
trials
Length(mm) By Manual By Mechanism
Time
(sec)
Quality
%
Time(sec) Quality
%
1 610 35 76 % 33 92 %
2 610 36 75 % 34 94 %
3 610 34 80 % 33 92 %
4 610 37 73 % 33 95 %
5 610 36 75 % 33 94 %
6 610 35 77 % 33 93 %
7 610 36 74 % 34 93 %
8 610 34 80 % 33 92 %
9 610 37 76 % 33 95 %
10 610 36 79 % 33 94 %
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue7- July 2013


ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3080

Table 3 For sheet thickness =1.5mm(Cylindrical Shell)




Table 2 For sheet thickness =1.2mm(Cylindrical Shell)

Table 4 For sheet thickness =1.5mm(Conical Shell)




II. CONCLUSION
The mechanismreported in this study can weld silencer
shells for variety of popular bikes like Splendor, CT-100, CD-
Dawn, Passion, Pulsar, Discover, etc. A lead screw is used to
convert rotational motion into uniform linear motion. TIG
welding torch is mounted on the lead screw nut. The lead screw
is coupled to an induction motor with V-belt. R/F switch helps in
reversal of the direction of movement. From the table of
performance analysis, It observed that the silencer shell welded
using this mechanismdiscussed in this study are better in quality
and required less time than manual welding. Thus the mechanism
offers an efficient and less expensive alternative for the TIG
welding process and also reduces the human involvement thereby
reducing the health hazard and safety hazard.


No
of
trials
Length(mm) By Manual By Mechanism
Time
(sec)
Quality
%
Time(sec) Quality
%
1 610 33 75 % 31 90 %
2 610 32 80 % 31 97 %
3 610 34 73 % 31 92 %
4 610 31 70 % 30 95 %
5 610 32 74 % 30 95 %
6 610 34 70 % 30 96 %
7 610 33 72 % 31 95 %
8 610 35 75% 31 95 %
9 610 34 72 % 31 96 %
10 610 32 78 % 30 98 %
No
of
trials
Length(mm) By Manual By Mechanism
Time
(sec)
Quality
%
Time(sec) Quality
%
1 520 27 76 % 27 96 %
2 520 28 75 % 27 93 %
3 520 26 55 % 27 90 %
4 520 29 72 % 26 92 %
5 520 29 81 % 27 97 %
6 520 27 76 % 27 94 %
7 520 28 75 % 27 94 %
8 520 26 73 % 27 96 %
9 520 29 66 % 26 96 %
10 520 29 81 % 27 98 %
No
of
trials
Length(mm) By Manual By Mechanism
Time
(sec)
Quality
%
Time(sec) Quality
%
1 520 25 71 % 24 92 %
2 520 27 73 % 25 95 %
3 520 26 74 % 24 93 %
4 520 28 72 % 25 94 %
5 520 26 75 % 25 94 %
6 520 25 56 % 25 92 %
7 520 26 60 % 25 95 %
8 520 26 74 % 25 93 %
9 520 28 74 % 25 94 %
10 520 27 72 % 25 94 %
International Journal of Engineering Trends and Technology (IJETT) - Volume4 Issue7- July 2013


ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 3079


REFERANCES
[1] Modern Welding Technology-Howard B. Cary & Scott C. HelzerPublisher
Pearson/Prentice Hall 2005.
[2] Welding Principles & Application Larry J effus Publisher Cengage
Learning, 1997.
[3] Gas Tungsten Arc Welding WilliamH. Minnick Publisher Goodheart-
Willcox Co.,1995.
[4] Kuang-Hung Tseng, Ko-J ui Chuang Application of iron based powder in
tungsten inert gas welding Powder Technology 228 (2012) 3646.
[5] Ahmed Khalid Hussain, Abdul Lateef, Mohd J aved, Pramesh. T Influence of
welding speed on tensile strength of welded joint in TIG welding process
Iinternational J ournal of Applied Engineering Research, Dindigul volume 1, No 3,
2010.

[6] S. P. Gadewar, Experimental investigations of weld characteristics for a
single pass TIG welding with SS304, International J ournal of Engineering
Science and Technology Vol. 2(8), 2010, 3676-3686.

[7] Kripa K. Varanasi, Samir A. Nafeh The dynamics of lead screw , J ournal of
Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control vol. 126, 388-396, 2004.
[8] Gerbert, B.G., Force and Slip Behavior in V-Belt Drives, ActaPolytechnica
Scandinavica, Mech. Engrg. Series, Helsinki (67) (1972).
[9] Pundaleek. B. H., Manish G. Rathi, Vijay Kumar M. G. Speed Control of
Induction Motor IJ CSNS International J ournal of Computer Science and
Network Security, VOL.10 No.10, October 2010
[10] Machine design By- Khurmi & Gupta , S. Chand publications
[11] Production Engg. By P.C. Sharma, S. Chand publications
[12] Datahand book By- B.D. Shiwalkar.
[13] Theory of Machine By-Khurmi& Gupta, S. Chand publications.

You might also like