Available online at www.sciencedirect.

com
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
ScienceDirect
ScienceDirect
Procedia Manufacturing
Available 00 (2018) 000–000
Availableonline
onlineatatwww.sciencedirect.com
www.sciencedirect.com
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
ScienceDirect
ScienceDirect 
Procedia Manufacturing 25 (2018) 412–417
Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2017) 000–000
www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia
8th Swedish Production Symposium, SPS 2018, 16-18 May 2018, Stockholm, Sweden
8th Swedish Production Symposium, SPS 2018, 16-18 May 2018, Stockholm, Sweden
Variation in welding procedure specification approach and its effect
Variation in welding procedure specification approach and its effect
Manufacturing Engineering Societyon
on
productivity
International Conference 2017, MESIC 2017, 28-30 June
productivity
2017, Vigo (Pontevedra), Spain
Anna Ericson Öbergaa*, Erik Åstrandbb
Anna Ericson Öberg *, Erik Åstrand
Costing models forVolvocapacity b
a
optimization
Construction Equipment,
a
Box 303, SE-671 27in Industry
Arvika, Sweden 4.0: Trade-off
VolvoVolvo Construction
Construction Equipment,
Equipment, CarlBox 303, SE-671
Lihnells väg, SE 27 Arvika,
-363 Sweden
41 Braås, Sweden
between
Volvoused capacity
Construction b
and
Equipment, Carl operational
Lihnells väg, SE -363 41 Braås,efficiency
Sweden

Abstract A. Santana , P. Afonso , A. Zanin , R. Wernke

a a,* b b

Abstract a
University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal
The research described was investigatingb the variation in Preliminary Welding Procedure Specifications (pWPSs) created at
Unochapecó, 89809-000 Chapecó, SC, Brazil
The research described was investigating
five weld shops. The purpose was to investigate thethe
variation in Preliminary
variation Weldingvalues
in chosen parameter Procedure Specifications
at each site as well (pWPSs) created
as to identify anyat
five weld shops.
differences Theresult
in weld purpose was
when to investigate
welding according thetovariation in chosen
the pWPSs. parameter
The study showedvalues
a vastatvariation
each site between
as well asthetosites,
identify
bothany
in the
differences in weldand
chosen parameters result when
weld welding
result. according
In order to use atoWelding
the pWPSs. The study
Procedure showed a (WPS)
Specification vast variation
as a toolbetween the sites, both in the
to facilitate
chosen parameters
standardization the and weld result.
variation In order tosystems,
in measurement use a Welding Procedure
tolerance Specification
setting and (WPS)
starting points as atotool
needs to facilitate
be considered.
Abstract
standardization the variation in measurement systems, tolerance setting and starting points needs to be considered.
© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Under
© 2018 the concept Published
The Authors. of "Industry 4.0", B.V.
by Elsevier production processes will be pushed to be increasingly interconnected,
© 2018 The under
Peer-review Authors. Published by
responsibility of Elsevier B.V. committee of the 8th Swedish Production Symposium.
the scientific
scientific
Peer-review under
information basedresponsibility
on a real of
time the
basis and, committee of the
necessarily, 8th Swedish
much ProductionIn Symposium.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 8th more efficient.
Swedish Production this context, capacity optimization
Symposium.
goes beyond
Keywords: weld;the traditional
variation; WPS; aim of capacity maximization, contributing also for organization’s profitability and value.
productivity
Indeed, lean management and
Keywords: weld; variation; WPS; productivity continuous improvement approaches suggest capacity optimization instead of
maximization. The study of capacity optimization and costing models is an important research topic that deserves
contributions
1. Introduction from both the practical and theoretical perspectives. This paper presents and discusses a mathematical
1. Introduction
model for capacity management based on different costing models (ABC and TDABC). A generic model has been
developed and it was
The research used towas
conducted analyze idle capacity
investigating and to design
the variation strategies towards
in Preliminary Weldingthe maximization
Procedure of organization’s
Specifications
TheThe
value.
(pWPSs) research
trade-off
created conducted
capacity
at several wasmaximization
weld investigating
shops. A Welding theoperational
vs variation
Procedure inefficiency
Preliminary is Welding
Specification (WPS) Procedure
highlighted and it isSpecifications
is according shown
to Weman thatacapacity
(pWPSs)
documentcreated
optimization might
defining at parameters
several
hide weldto shops.
operational usedAforWelding
be inefficiency. Procedure
a specific Specification
application in order to(WPS)
assureisrepeatability
according to[1].
Weman a
The process
document
for
© Thedefining
creating
2017 a WPS parameters
Authors. bytoElsevier
is standardised,
Published bee.g.
used for a specific
according
B.V. to SSapplication
EN ISO 15607 in order
[2]. to assure
The repeatability
process [1].development
starts by the The process
for creating
of the a WPS
procedure
Peer-review under by isthestandardised,
manufacturer
responsibility e.g.
intoaccording
of the scientifica pWPS. toThe
committee SS EN ISO 15607and,
ofmanufacturer
the Manufacturing [2].ifThe process
applicable,
Engineering starts
an
Society by the development
examiner/examining
International Conference
of thewill
2017.
body procedure by the manufacturer
do the qualification resultingintoin a Welding
pWPS. The manufacturer
Procedure and, if applicable,
Qualification an examiner/examining
Record (WPQR). The manufacturer
body
can thenwillfinalize
do the qualification
the WPS based resulting
on the in a Welding Procedure Qualification Record (WPQR). The manufacturer
WPQR.
can Welding
then Cost
Keywords: finalize the
Models; WPS
ABC; based
TDABC; on the
Capacity WPQR.
Management;
procedures are developed to assure the right Idle Capacity; Operational
resulting quality Efficiency
by stating parameters to be used. In this
work Welding procedures
procedure, are developed
a weld becomes to assure
a standard when theit right resulting
reaches qualityquality.
an accepted by stating
Theparameters
first one totoreach
be used. In this
the desired
work procedure, a weld becomes a standard when it reaches an accepted quality. The first one to reach the desired
1. Introduction
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +46 73 765 6441
* Corresponding
E-mail address:author. Tel.: +46 73 765 6441
anna.ericson.oberg@volvo.com
The cost
E-mail of idle
address: capacity is a fundamental information for companies and their management of extreme importance
anna.ericson.oberg@volvo.com
in modern©production
2351-9789 systems.
2018 The Authors. In general,
Published it isB.V.
by Elsevier defined as unused capacity or production potential and can be measured
in several©under
2351-9789
Peer-review ways: tons of production,
2018responsibility
The Authors. Published
of available
by Elsevier
the scientific B.V.hours
committee of Swedish
of the 8th manufacturing, etc. The management of the idle capacity
Production Symposium.
Peer-review underTel.:
* Paulo Afonso. responsibility
+351 253of the761;
510 scientific committee
fax: +351 253 604of741the 8th Swedish Production Symposium.
E-mail address: psafonso@dps.uminho.pt

2351-9789 © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Manufacturing Engineering Society International Conference 2017.
2351-9789 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 8th Swedish Production Symposium.
10.1016/j.promfg.2018.06.111
 Anna Ericson Öberg et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 25 (2018) 412–417 413
Ericson Öberg A, Åstrand E / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 2

quality level is however not the only solution and most likely not the one with the lowest cost. The parameters stated
in the WPS also have tolerances due to variation in performance and measurement. It is therefore not certain that the
welds tested are representing the entire range or combination of varying parameters that can occur. This means there
is a risk of false security. That means e.g. relying on a WPS to enable the desired result, but if the variation
occurring is not accounted for, the output result will therefore vary as well. Hence, unexpected defects or lower
productivity could occur. It is useful for the industry to know if it is possible to move the welding procedures
between sites with a consistent quality. Numerous research studies have been performed in the area of finding the
optimal welding procedures for certain conditions. However, knowledge about how the variation in the process of
developing welding procedures affects the result is lacking. The motivation of the study was therefore to understand
the extent of variation affecting the process as well as the effect in terms of quality and productivity.
The study was set up to investigate the intended repeatability; firstly to investigate the variation in chosen
parameter values for the pWPS at each site and secondly to identify any differences between sites in resulting output
when welding according to the pWPSs. A fillet weld was chosen as test sample since that is the most common weld
[3]. An overall aim of the study would be to see if it is possible to control quality as well as productivity, by using
the right parameters in the pWPS. That would give a great potential to increase the competitiveness of Swedish
welding industry, making it possible to produce more with the already available resources.

2. Set-up of the case study

The variation in the WPS approach was studied by a case study, as a part of the research project Suman. This
study is described in detail by Stridh and Hurtig [4]. Five weld shops were asked to develop one welding procedure
each to produce a weld according to specified requirements. All pWPSs were then sent to all other participating sites
where they were welded. The result was then evaluated to see how much the developed pWPSs differed as well as
the difference in result when they welded according to the same pWPS in the different weld shops. The five
different weld shops had the task to create a pWPS according to the following requirements:

 T-joint in base material S460MC, t = 6mm and 10mm

 Welding position PA with zero gap
 Throat size min 4mm, max 5mm
 Wire diameter 1,2mm, SG2 or equivalent
 Shielding gas 82% Ar and 18% CO2
 Min 1mm root penetration
 Equal leg length
 Mechanized or automated welding

3. Result

The case study showed a vast variation between the sites, both in the developed pWPS and the repeated welding
of the same pWPS.
In the first step, when the weld shops had to choose parameters it was obvious that they had different purposes
with the chosen procedure. In general it is a balance between fulfilment of visual outer requirements, inner
penetration requirements and productivity. The deposition rate varied between as much as 3.8 and 7.1 kg/h in the
pWPSs as can be seen in Table 1. The welding speed varied between 330 and 550 mm/min.
414 Anna Ericson Öberg et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 25 (2018) 412–417
Ericson Öberg A, Åstrand E / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 3

Table 1. Result of pWPS

pWPS Wire Welding Heat Deposition Welding Machine Wire Total

feed speed input rate time/m cost/m cost/m cost/m
(m/min) (mm/min) (kJ/mm) (kg/h) (min) (SEK) weld weld
(SEK) (SEK)
A 7,5 330 0,96 3,8 3,1 51,9 2,9 54,8
B 14 550 1,32 7,1 1,9 31,7 3,2 34,9
S 10,2 450 1,16 5,1 2,3 38,4 2,9 41,3
H 10 510 1,22 5,0 2,0 34,1 2,5 36,5
E 8,45 430 1,09 4,3 2,4 40,1 2,5 42,6

The variation in heat input was between 0,96 to 1,32 kJ/mm. However, the heat-input was not the main focus in
this study. For this steel grade and joint type, the heat input is not critical. Instead the geometrical factors of the joint
are of higher interest. The stress concentration and potential defects at the weld toe as well as to minimize the root
crack of the fillet weld by maximizing the penetration is more important in this fatigue loaded applications, e.g.
construction equipment. Figure 1 illustrates important criteria for fatigue loaded fillet welds, e.g. penetration i and
weld toe radius r.

Figure 1 Quality criteria for a fatigue loaded fillet weld.

In the second part of the study the different weld shops should produce weld samples according to the five
welding procedures. The study gives an indication of the large variation related to the welding process based on the
chosen parameter and the possibility to reproduce welds according to a defined specification. As Figure 2 shows,
large variation occurred in the result when the same pWPS was welded at the different weld shops, both concerning
outer geometry, penetration and defects.

Figure 2 Differences in welding result when using the same pWPS at the different weld shops.
 Anna Ericson Öberg et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 25 (2018) 412–417 415
Ericson Öberg A, Åstrand E / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 4

When looking at certain properties, like penetration, interesting results could be seen. Figure 3 shows the
differences between the pWPSs. The pWPS originally created at the “A” weld shop has the least penetration while
the one from the “B” weld shop has the largest spread in result. Figure 4 indicates that there is a large variation at all
weld shops even though weld shop “A” has the smallest range of almost 2.5 mm.

Figure 3 Differences in penetration for the five pWPSs.

Figure 4 Differences in penetration for the pWPSs at different weld shops.

416 Anna Ericson Öberg et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 25 (2018) 412–417
Ericson Öberg A, Åstrand E / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 5

4. Discussion

For a study like this it would have been tempting to define which pWPS or which weld shop that was the best and
try to apply that particular pWPS for all welds of this type. As an example pWPS A gives no outer defects, but fails
to fulfil the penetration requirement and offers lower productivity. For pWPS B it is the opposite; it gives no
deviation at the root side, but gives good penetration and higher productivity. The major issue here is the variation
itself, or rather the unawareness of it. Other research shows great productivity improvement potentials if the
variation can be controlled in the right way [5].
What might not have been fully considered is the variation stemming from the measuring systems and no
measuring system analyses have been conducted. That means the measuring systems could be an important source
of variation. As an example travelling speed could be easy to program in the same way at different sites but how to
set the correct angle of the welding gun could probably be more difficult. Therefore those measurements probably
contain both variations in repeatability and reproducibility.
Of course it is also important to consider if any of the weld properties are more important than others, e.g. outer
geometry at the expense of penetration. Other research in the area, conducted e.g. by Hammersberg and Olsson [6],
shows that parameters controlling the quality and productivity could be decoupled. That means it should be possible
to find which parameters to control to reach the desired quality and the rest should be set to their most economically
beneficial value. Their research shows that the angles are important for the weld quality which even more
emphasizes the need of understanding the influence of the measurement system variation. The WPS normally
describes several parameters, with a tolerance range. In many cases that tolerance range is set as a percentage, e.g.
±10 %, however not properly investigated. There might be parameters that are very influential while others could
have a wider tolerance range. It is necessary further study this, otherwise the WPS will only offer false security.

4.1. Variation in cost

According to the rule of thumb, welding cost is directly connected to the deposition rate, meaning that the cost
will be half if the deposition rate is doubled. In this study the variation in deposition rate, already in the
specification, varies from 3.8 to 7.1 Kg/h. However, in practice, this large difference is not really possible to transfer
into a higher welding speed. The 87 % higher deposition rate resulted in 67 % higher welding speed. The difference
here rather results in larger over-welding, with a larger weld than specified.
An interesting conclusion from Table 1 is that over-welding in an automated process not necessarily is a
considerable cost, because the wire cost in comparison with the machine cost is very small. Instead it is the welding
speed that drives and defines the cost. Therefore the procedure offering the largest weld might even be the cheapest.
Another influencing fact occurs in terms of over-welding. In some of the weld standards describing weld defects,
e.g. [7], a larger throat size is not considered as a defect, hence there is no strong incentive to avoid it.
The total cost is however not that obvious, since inspection and adjustment cost also often will be added after the
automated welding. Inner defects are seldom found and repaired, while outer defects are.

4.2. Variation in quality

It would be interesting to study how the initial parameter decisions are made by the programmer. The initial
starting point is probably highly influenced by the requirements in the current production. If the focus is on outer
defects, like weld toe radius, the programmer is probably using settings creating good visible properties, focusing
less on other properties. As an example the procedure with the no visible defects had the most penetration deviations
in the study. This however needs to be further studied.
 Anna Ericson Öberg et al. / Procedia Manufacturing 25 (2018) 412–417 417
Ericson Öberg A, Åstrand E / Procedia Manufacturing 00 (2018) 000–000 6

4.3. WPS as quality assurance

The resulting suggestion from this study must be that this area needs further research. Having a WPS does not
solely guarantee the quality. It is necessary to identify the critical parameters and investigate how much a small
change in them will affect the result, to be able to set correct tolerance ranges. The starting point should also be
changed for the WPS, from a merely quality focus, with limitations, towards a tool which also includes productivity.
The productivity index, not only the heat input, should be considered as important.

5. Conclusions

The study showed a vast parameter variation between the sites and also a large variation in output from the same
pWPS. This indicates a large potential for productivity improvements as well as the fact that an approved WPS does
not guarantee high and even quality. Some results from the study are contradictive in comparison to what was
expected where the largest weld was the cheapest and the welds with no visible defects had the most penetration
deviations. A standardized welding procedure gives no standardized output, not even for the controlled conditions in
this study. The variation occurring in measurements, starting point and tolerance settings needs to be considered.

Acknowledgements

This has been possible only thanks to the work done by the participating companies and University West in the
research project SUMAN, partly funded by The Knowledge Foundation.

References

[1] Weman K. Welding processes handbook. Cambridge: Woodhead publishing limited; 2003
[2] Swedish Standard Institute, SS-EN ISO 15607:2004 Specification and qualification of welding
procedures for metallic materials – General rules. Issue 1; 2004.
[3] Cozens M. Fillet welded joints - a review of the practicalities. 2013 [cited 2013 28-03-2013]; Available from:
http://www.twi.co.uk/technical-knowledge/job-knowledge/job-knowledge-66-fillet-welded-joints-a-review-of-the-practicalities/.
[4] Stridh L-E, Hurtig K. Can a Welding Procedure Specification be transferred maintaining quality as an issue?. In: International Conference
on Joining Materials - JOM 19, Helsingor, Denmark; 2017.
[5] Öberg AE, Åstrand E; Improved productivity by reduced variation in gas metal arc welding (GMAW); IJAMT, 2017, 92: 1027-1038.
[6] Hammersberg P, Olsson H. Proactive control of weld dimensions in robotised MAG welding. In: The second Swedish conference on design
and fabrication of welded structures, Borlänge, Sweden; 2013.
[7] Volvo Group, STD 181-0004 Fusion welding - Weld classes and requirements life optimized welded structures steel, thickness ≥ 3mm;
2011.