The design of pressure vessels is quite interesting. At first it may appear extremely complicated. Then, you learn the basics of pressure vessel design and realize it is not that big of a deal. But, then you get into all variations of vessel heads and shells, the different kinds of loading conditions (it’s not just […]
Spatter is present in welding. It’s all over welding. But it doesn’t have to be. Spatter costs fabricators millions of dollars every year. Its removal constitutes rework that significantly and negatively impacts productivity. Many fabricators work under the assumption that spatter is a necessary evil, a part of welding. However, this couldn’t be further from […]
Selecting the best welding process is a critical step in developing a welding procedure that attains the desired quality and optimizes productivity. Many times we look for the welding process that can give us the highest deposition rate to optimize productivity. However, every welding process has limitations. For example, submerged arc welding (SAW) has extremely […]
A question we often ask of our customer is “how to do you determine the minimum level of quality for your welded product and how do you verify you are reaching or exceeding that quality level?” Responses included comments such as: We just weld and know our welds will hold because we know our trade […]
Both hot rolled and cold rolled steels can easily be welded. However, there are differences between the two that will impact which you choose to use. Making this choice depends on several factors such as strength, surface finish, dimensional accuracy and cost. To understand the difference between hot rolled and cold rolled steel and how […]
Troubleshooting of welds and other welding problems increases costs in welding, causes delays and affects weld quality. Even a moderate understanding of welding problems, their symptoms, causes and potential solutions can help tremendously. The more informed you are the better. To successfully troubleshoot and fix welding discontinuities, welding defects and other welding problems we need […]
Bigger is not always better, at least not in welding. Making welds bigger than they need to be is not only wasteful and costly, but can cause other problems such as distortion and premature failure. Below are 3 reasons why you may need to pay close attention to your weld sizes. 1. Bigger welds cost […]
When bidding jobs several fabricators end up calculating their costs associated with welding and then double that number to be safe. In some cases, that isn’t even enough. It is important to have a clear understating of how to translate the amount of welding to be done to actual manufacturing costs. One of the biggest challenges is that rework and overwelding is […]
Many fabricators can lower their welding costs significantly if they paid close attention to weld sizes. If a print calls for a ¼” fillet weld and in production you make a 5/16” fillet weld, you are overwelding by 56%! If the print calls for a 3/16” fillet, the 5/16” fillet weld you deposit would be […]
As discussed in our previous article, and many times in the last 50 or so, preheat is necessary in steel welding to control the cooling rate. More specifically, preheat is used to slow the cooling rate down in order to prevent excessive hardness in the heat affected zone (HAZ) which can lead to cracking. Before […]
