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Q: We would like to decrease the development time for new MIG welds. Is there a way to pre-calculate
wire-feed speed, travel speed and voltage, to get us close before we strike the first weld?
A: Yes it is possible to calculate starting wire-feed speed and travel speed. This is a very common question
from manufacturers welding with solid wire or flux-cored wire. Most welding professionals know the wirefeed speed (WFS) where a process runs well based on their experience, or can quickly get WFS from
manufacturer's recommended procedures. However, determining how fast to travel for a particular size
weld bead ends up being an iterative, time-consuming process. By understanding a few concepts and doing
some math with a few simple formulas, we can determine at least a good starting point for a welding
procedure that produces the desired weld.
Deposition rate It is essential to recall that Deposition Rate is directly proportional to the speed at
which a particular wire diameter emerges from a welding gun during welding. Deposition rate has nothing
to do with how fast the gun is traveling nor the voltage setting on the machine. Deposition rate is simply a
measure of how many pounds of wire come from the welding gun in a certain amount of time, typically
measured in lb./hr. If wire-feed speed increases, deposition rate increases. We also understand that if we
maintain the wire-feed speed and change to a larger diameter wire, deposition rate will increase as well.
Armed with this understanding, calculating deposition rate ends up being a very powerful exercise that
gives you a number that can be used to calculate key welding parameters.
Let's look at the formula and an example:
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Calculating travel speed with deposition rate Knowing the deposition rate, we can calculate the
travel speed in inches per minute (IPM) for a particular weld. Let's say we want to make a 3/8-in. steel fillet
weld (assume 10% reinforcement or 0.4125 in. leg) using 0.045-in. solid wire at 300 IPM, the weight of
weld metal per foot can be calculated by multiplying the density of steel (0.283 lb./in3 ) by the volume of
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Weight of Wire
(lb./ft)
Weight of Wire
(lb./ft)
0.035
0.0033
3/32
0.023
0.040
0.0043
1/8
0.042
0.045
0.0054
5/32
0.065
0.052
0.0072
3/16
0.094
1/16
0.01
7/32
0.128
5/64
0.016
Of course, the travel speed for a one-pass, 3/8 in. fillet weld at 12 lb./hr deposition rate would be 8.31 IPM
as calculated below.
Travel Speed = (deposition rate)(# of passes)/5(weight of weld metal {lb./ft}) = (12)(1)/5(0.2887) =
8.31 IPM
Making it easier The Bartonian Conversion Factor (Table 2) makes things a bit easier for fillet welds.
The example below uses the conversion factor to calculate travel speed at 5.57 IPM for that same 3/8 in.
fillet weld using a 0.045 in. solid wire.
Travel Speed = 7.960.7 = 5.57 IPM (.2887)
Table 2: Bartonian Conversion Factor
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B*
3/16
.072
2.7
1/4
.129
1.5
5/16
.201
3/8
.289
0.7
1/8
3/16
1/4
3/8
1/2
1/8
0.027
0.053
0.080
0.106
0.159
0.213
3/16
0.040
0.080
0.120
0.1559
0.239
0.319
1/4
0.053
0.106
0.159
0.213
0.319
0.425
5/16
0.066
0.133
0.199
0.266
0.398
0.531
3/8
0.080
0.159
0.239
0.319
0.478
0.638
7/16
0.093
0.186
0.279
0.372
0.558
0.744
1/2
0.106
0.213
0.319
0.425
0.638
0.850
3/4
0.159
0.319
0.478
0.638
0.969
1.28
0.213
0.425
0.638
0.850
1.28
1.70
1 1/2
0.319
0.638
0.956
1.28
1.91
2.55
0.425
0.850
1.28
1.7
2.55
3.40
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Flat weld
Convex weld
Concave weld
1/8
0.032
0.041
0.036
3/16
0.072
0.093
0.081
1/4
0.129
0.165
0.145
5/16
0.201
0.258
0.226
3/8
0.289
0.371
0.325
7/16
0.394
0.505
0.443
1/2
0.514
0.6595
0.578
3/4
1.16
1.48
1.30
2.06
2.64
2.31
20
30
45
60
70
75
80
90
1/8
0.0065
0.009
0.014
0.022
0.031
0.037
0.041
0.045
0.053
3/16
0.015
0.021
0.032
0.049
0.069
0.084
0.092
0.100
0.119
1/4
0.026
0.037
0.057
0.088
0.123
0.149
0.163
0.178
0.212
5/16
0.041
0.058
0.089
0.137
0.191
0.232
0.254
0.278
0.332
3/8
0.059
0.084
0.128
0.198
0.276
0.334
0.366
0.401
0.478
7/16
0.080
0.115
0.174
0.269
0.375
0.455
0.499
0.545
0.650
1/2
0.104
0.150
0.227
0.352
0.490
0.594
0.651
0.712
0.849
3/4
0.235
0.337
0.512
0.791
1.103
1.338
1.466
1.603
1.910
0.417
0.599
0.910
1.407
1.961
2.378
2.606
2.850
3.396
1 1/2
0.938
1.347
2.047
3.165
4.412
5.350
5.863
6.412
7.641
1.668
2.395
3.640
5.627
7.843
9.512
10.423
11.398
13.584
1/8 in.
3/16 in.
1/4 in.
3/8
0.027
0.053
0.080
0.106
1/2
0.040
0.080
0.120
0.1559
3/4
0.053
0.106
0.159
0.213
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0.066
0.133
0.199
0.266
1 1/4
0.080
0.159
0.239
0.319
1 1/2
0.093
0.186
0.279
0.372
1 3/4
0.106
0.213
0.319
0.425
0.159
0.319
0.478
0.638
Sample Calculation No.1 1/2-in. plate Vee groove weld with 90 included angle and 1/8 in.
reinforcement using 0.052 in. solid wire, 90%Ar/10%CO2 shielding gas. Manufacturer recommends WFS
at 325 IPM and 30 volts.
Deposition Rate (lb./hr) = 13.1(0.052)2 (325)(1.0) = 11.51 lb./hr
Travel Speed for fill and cap passes = (11.51)(6)/5(0.849 + 0.199) = 13.18 IPM
Sample Calculation No.2 3/8 in. plate square butt weld into a backing, with a 3/16 in. gap and 1/8 in.
reinforcement using 1/16 in. cored wire, 75%Ar/25%CO2 shielding gas. Our process runs great with WFS
at 285 IPM and 26 volts.
Deposition rate (lb./hr) = 13.1(1/16 in.)2 (285)(.85) = 12.39 lb./hr
Travel speed for fill and cap passes = (12.39)(1)/5(0.239 + 0.053) = 8.49 IPM
Sample Calculation No.3 What should my wire-feed speed be if I want to make a fat, 1/4 in. fillet
weld at 20 IPM travel speed using 0.045 in. solid wire and 90%Ar/10%CO2 shielding gas?
Re-arranging the Travel Speed calculation above to solve for Deposition Rate we get:
Deposition rate = 5Travel speed(Weight of weld metal {lb./ft})/(# of passes)
Depostion rate = 520 IPM(0.165)/1 = 16.5 lb./hr
Re-arranging the Deposition Rate calculation above to solve for Wire-feed Speed we get:
Wire-feed speed = Deposition rate/13.1(Wire diameter)2 (Efficiency) = 16.5/13.1 (.045 in.)2 (1) = 622
IPM
Summary Using math and these simple formulas can reduce your weld-development time, and
improve your pre-WPS documentation. These calculations will get you close, but some tweaking may have
to be done to achieve your desired weld. Having a good starting point for welding procedure development
will decrease time and guesswork on the shop floor.
Kevin Beardsley, Application Engineer at Lincoln Electric, is a registered Professional Engineer with 21
years of manufacturing experience. Send your questions to Kevin by e-mail to: AskKevin@penton.com.
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