Automatic welding: types and benefits

Currently, an increasing number of plants are engaged in the conversion and modernization of their shops, improving technological equipment. And, of course, there is a general replacement of manual arc welding machines with apparatus that automatically welds. This re-equipment allows to increase productivity, and also provides wide possibilities for the restoration of parts by industrial method in industrial volumes.
The most commonly used is automatic submerged arc welding. This allows for the surfacing of parts, which is considered an economically viable solution that increases productivity, and also improves the quality of the welded seam.

If automatic welding of parts is carried out in the open air, but at the same time there is a surfacing of the flux to the seam formed, it is said that the burning of the arc takes place in an enclosed space. This phenomenon is explained by the fact that the flux layer is a kind of electrode coating, and therefore serves to protect the welding site from the harmful effects of ambient air. In addition, the flux surfacing is used to prevent the possible spattering of molten metal.

Automatic welding under a layer of flux is traditionally carried out using an electrode wire without coating. This method allows to eliminate a significant number of drawbacks inherent in electric arc welding. At the same time, the metal of the welded parts becomes more homogeneous, which contributes to the quality and density of the welded seam.

If you carefully consider the process of passing the welding current through the welded parts, it can be seen that the arc burns in a small gap between the electrode wire and the workpiece to be welded. Of course, it should be noted that this wire is fed from a coil that is unwound automatically and fed into the weld zone as the welding end melts. For these events, a special mechanism is built in the welding machine. Thus, the flux comes from a small container - a bunker. A small fraction of it melts under the influence of an electric arc . However, after the weld is cooled and solidified, the previously melted flux is easily removed. Unused comes back to the hopper cavity and is used in subsequent welding processes.

Automatic welding involves many methods that improve its characteristics.

1. Increasing the welding current. It is used to increase the depth of welding, the so-called depth of metal penetration. In this case, it is important that the width of the weld is practically unchanged.

2. Increase the cross section of the electrode. This, on the contrary, leads to an increase in width and a decrease in the depth of the weld. In turn, inverse transformations, that is, a reduction in the cross-section of the wire, entail deeper welding and reduce the width of the weld.

3. Studies have shown that even with a slight increase in the rate of arc advance, the height of the weld bead significantly increases, while the depth of penetration and the width of the seam decrease.

Thus, it can be fairly noted that automatic welding is significantly superior to manual electric welding.