Costing of Joining Methods -

Arc Welding Costs

ver. 1

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 1

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Overview

• Cost components
• Estimation of costs
• Examples

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 2

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Cost Components

• Materials
• Labor
• Overhead

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 3

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Materials Costs
• Electrodes
– Some electrode sticks contain flux
– Amount of electrode times electrode cost
per unit weight gives electrode cost
• Fluxes / Shielding gases
– Quantity of flux and/or shielding gas
required times unit costs gives flux/gas
cost

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 4

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Material Costs

• Other consumables
– may include cost of electricity, if not in
overhead
– rags,
g , files,, blades,, chisels….

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 5

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Labor

• Direct
Di t titime off welding
ldi
– time to produce a length of weld
– labor rate
– multiplication gives labor cost per length
• Set-up time, etc.
• Personal time

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 6

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Overhead Rate

• Usually a percentage of direct labor rate

• Ranges from 50 - 400%

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Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Deposition Efficiency

• Not
N t allll electrode
l t d iis d
deposited
it d as weld
ld
– lost as splatter, vaporization
– “stub ends” left
• Stick-electrode welding - 65%
• Self-shielded, flux-cored welding - 82%
• Arc welding with shielding gas - 92%
• Submerged arc welding - 100%

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 8

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Operator Efficiency

• Welding time
• Personal time
• Set-up time
• g g time
Electrode changing
• Slag chipping time (for subsequent passes)
–p
poor weld q
quality
y increases time
• Time to beat weld to remove residual
stresses
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 9
Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Manual Operator Efficiency

• 10 - 45%
– 65% is extreme of human achievement
• Personal breaks
• Set-up
• Change position
• g electrodes
Change
• De-slagging
• Removing residual stresses
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 10
Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Semi automatic Efficiency
Semi-automatic

• 25 - 60%
• no need to change electrodes
– wire used
• higher currents
currents, speeds
• some processes require no de-slagging

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 11

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Automatic Efficiency

• Over 90%
– if small set-up
set up time, de-slagging
de slagging time

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 12

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Cost Components

• Cost of electrode/length of weld

=(WE)(CE)
(WE)(CE)
• Cost of flux/length of weld
=(WF)(CF)
• Cost of gas/length of weld
=(VG)(CG)
(VG)(CG)

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 13

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Materials Cost/ Length (CM)
• CM = (WE)(CE)
(WE)(CE)+(WF)(CF)+(VG)(CG)
(WF)(CF) (VG)(CG)

• WE = weight of electrode
• CE = cost of electrode ($/wt)
• WF = weight of flux
• CF = cost of flux ($/wt)
• VG = volume
l off gas
• CG = cost of gas ($/vol)

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 14

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Labor Cost (CL)

• CL = (t) (CR) / (OF)

• t = time / length of weld

• CR = costt off llabor
b + overhead
h d ($/ti
($/time))
• OF = operating factor (efficiency)

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 15

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Labor Cost (CL)

• Alternatively
Alternatively,
• t = 1/S
– S = speed
d off weld
ld

• CL = (CR) / S (OF)

n 1 1 1
• note S= t = + + ... +
1 1 S1 S 2 Sn
+ + ...
S1 S 2

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 16

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
Metal Deposition vs
vs. Labor Cost

1 1
Labor cost $/ ft of weld
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 17
Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Estimated Cost of Consumables
gas = 25-45 ft3/hr, solid flux = wt of deposited metal, 1973 prices

Process Type of Electrode Deposition Cost of

Electrode Cost ($/lb) Efficiency Deposited
(%) Metal
$/lb $/ft
Shielded E7024 0.191 65 0.29 0.045
metal arc
Self-shielded, E70T-G 0.315 82 0.38 0.059
flux-cored
Submerged
Sub e ged EL12 0.199
0. 99 + flux
u 100
00 0.34
0.3 0.053
arc
Gas metal-arc E70S-3 0.243 + flux 92 0.31 0.048

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 18

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 Estimated Costs

• All about 5¢/ft.

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 19

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Trade-off Example
p

• 1/4” fillet weld, 3/32” E7024 electrode,

85 ft/hr, operating factor 30%, labor +
overhead $7/hr
• CL = (CR)/S(OF)
• CL=(7)/85(0.3)
CL=(7)/85(0 3) = $0 $0.275/ft
275/ft

• Can you increase efficiency somehow?

– 40% -> $0.206/ft

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 20

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Comparative Costs
Factor E8018 Electrode and 9000C-1 Wire and
Manual Welding Semi-automatic
W ldi
Welding
Labor and overhead rate (CL) $20/hr $20/hr
Deposition rate (D) 3.11 lb/hr 5 lb/hr
Operating
p g factor (OF)
( ) 0.3 0.45
Cost of labor and overhead to $21.43/lb of weld $8.88/lb of weld
deposit weld
Electrode cost (CE) $0.667/lb $1.019/lb
Deposition efficiency (DE) 0 68
0.68 0 78
0.78
Cost of deposited metal $0.98/lb $1.31/lb
3
Shielding gas flow rate (VG) none 40 ft /hr
Cost of shielding
g ggas ((CG)) $0.72/lb dep.
p metal
Cost of welding $22.41/lb dep. metal $10.91/lb dep. metal

• Labor cost seriously offsets cheap stick cost

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 21

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Costs of Various Processes
(relative for guidance)

P
Process Arc speed
A d Operating
O ti Labor
L b andd Weld
W ld Cost
C t
(ft/hr) Factor Overhead ($/hr) ($/ft)
Shielded metal- 85 0.3 7 0.274
arc
Shielded metal- 85 0.4 7 0.206
arc
Gas metal-arc 80 0.5 7 0.175
semi-automatic
i t ti
Self-shielded 100 0.5 7 0.140
flux-cored, semi-
auto
Submerged arc 110 0.5 7 0.127
semi-auto

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 22

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
Weld Comparison for Mild Steel

a b c

f e

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 23

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Weld Comparison
p Example
p
• 1/4” diameter, manual metal-arc electrode
with solid flux attached
attached, 320 A (a)
• Deposition rate 6.25 lb/arc-hr (b)
• Weld required 0.6 lb of weld metal/ft (c)
• Welding speed 2 in/min (5.75 arc-
minutes/ft) (d)
• Operating factor 20% (e)
• Time is 28.75 minutes/ft, labor cost at
$8/hr is $3
$3.83/ft
83/ft of weld (f)
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 24
Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Other Issues

• Calculations show what can happen, if

yyou have the correct equipment.
q p
• Other costs
– depreciation,
depreciation taxes
taxes, etc
etc.

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 25

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
 Summary

• Costs of arc welding can be calculated

• Calculations give you guidance on:
– process selection
– operating condition targets

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 26

Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems 27
Prof. J.S. Colton © GIT 2009