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AI-based welding process monitoring for quality control in large-diameter pipe manufacturing

2024-04-25 , Gook, Sergej , El-Sari, Bassel , Biegler, Max , Rethmeier, Michael

The paper presents the experimental results into the development of a multi-channel system for monitoring and quality assurance of the multi-wire submerged arc welding (SAW) process for the manufacture of large diameter pipes. Process signals such as welding current, arc voltage and the acoustic signal emitted from the weld zone are recorded and processed to provide information on the stability of the welding process. It was shown by the experiments that the acoustic pattern of the SAW process in a frequency range between 30 Hz and 2.5 kHz contains the most diagnostic information. In the spectrogram of the acoustic signal, which represents the time course of the frequency spectrum of the welding process, the formation of weld irregularities such as undercuts could be reliably identified. The on-line quality assessment of the weld seam produced is carried out in combination with methods of artificial intelligence (AI). From the results obtained, it can be concluded that the use of the latest concepts in welding and automation technology, combined with the high potential of AI, can achieve a new level of quality assurance in pipe manufacturing.

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Laserstrahlhybridschweißen von Türmen für Windkraftanlagen

2022-08-29 , Üstündag, Ömer , Bakir, Nasim , Brunner-Schwer, Christian , Knöfel, Frieder , Gook, Sergej , Rethmeier, Michael , Gumenyuk, Andrey

Das Laserstrahlhybridschweißen ist beim Schweißen von Türmen für Windkraftanlagen eine Alternative zum Unterpulverschweißen von Dickblechen in Mehrlagentechnik und bietet hier ökonomische und ökologische Vorteile. Der industrielle Einsatz des Verfahrens ist jedoch durch prozessspezifische Herausforderungen eingeschränkt. Die im Beitrag beschriebene kontaktlose elektromagnetische Badstütze dient zur Erweiterung des Verfahrenspotenzials im Dickblechbereich >15 mm.

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Process advantages of laser hybrid welding compared to conventional arc-based welding processes for joining thick steel structures of wind tower

2023-12-22 , Brunner-Schwer, Christian , Üstündag, Ömer , Bakir, Nasim , Gumenyuk, Andrey , Rethmeier, Michael

The most common welding processes when joining thick-walled steels in the industry are arc-based welding processes such as GMAW or SAW. For this purpose, the sheets are joined in multi-layer technique, which can lead to productivity losses due to high welding times. The process-specific challenges in welding thick steels using multi-layer technique relate to the high heat input from the process. Therefore, alternative welding processes are being actively sought. A suitable alternative is provided by beam-based welding processes such as the laser hybrid welding processes, which are characterized by deep penetration welds and lower heat input. With implementation of the laser hybrid welding process in the heavy industry, such as the wind tower industry, economic benefits can be reached such as the increase in productivity by reducing the layer number, and the lower consumption of filler material and energy. When comparing SAW welded 25 mm thick steels in five to six layers and single-pass laser hybrid welding, the welding time can be reduced more than 80 % and the costs of filler material, flux and energy can be saved up to 90 %. However, the industrial use of the laser hybrid welding process is still limited to applications, where the material thickness does not exceed 15 mm due to some process-specific challenges such as the sagging, sensitivity to manufacturing tolerances such as gaps and misalignment, limited filler wire mixing, and deteriorated mechanical properties resulting from high cooling rates. To overcome these challenges, a contactless electromagnetic backing based on an externally applied AC magnetic field was used. Eddy currents are induced due to the oscillating magnetic field, and an upward-oriented Lorentz force is generated to counteract the droplets formed due to gravitational forces. It allows to weld up to 30 mm thick structural steels in a single-pass with a 20-kW fiber laser system. Additionally, the gap bridgeability and the misalignment of edges were increased to 2 mm when welding 20 mm thick steels. With the aid of the AC magnetic field, a vortex was formed in the weld root, which had a positive effect on the filler wire mixing.

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Publication

Laserstrahlhybridschweissen von Türmen für Windkraftanlagen - Ökonomische und ökologische Vorteile

2023-12-19 , Üstündag, Ömer , Bakir, Nasim , Brunner-Schwer, Christian , Knöfel, Frieder , Gook, Sergej , Gumenyuk, Andrey , Rethmeier, Michael

Das Laserstrahlhybridschweißen ist beim Schweißen von Türmen für Windkraftanlagen eine Alternative zum Unterpulver schweißen von Dickblechen in Mehrlagentechnik und bietet hier ökonomische und ökologische Vorteile. Der industrielle Einsatz des Verfahrens ist jedoch durch prozessspezifische Herausforderungen eingeschränkt. Die im Beitrag beschriebene kontaktlose elektromagnetische Badstütze dient zur Erweiterung des Verfahrenspotenzials im Dickblechbereich >15 mm.