1. High Speed Rotating Arc Welding Process
March 12-14, 2019
Charleston, SC
DCN#
Prepared under ONR Contract N D-4001 as part of the Navy ManTech Program
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Acknowledgements
Project funding provided by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Navy ManTech Program
Navy ManTech program oversight provided by
Neil Graf – ONR Program Officer
Warren Southerland – Center for Naval Metalworking Project Manager
Tim Wallace – Project Technical Representative
Additional technical support provided by
WeldRevolution
Abicor Binzel
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Project Team
Nick Evans – Technical Lead
Rob McKay – Welding Supervisor
Orlando “OJ” Jaramillo – Project Manager
Ken Brill – ManTech Program Manager
Dale Orren – Deputy Director
Paul Blomquist – Technical Director
Warren Southerland – Project Manager
Tim Wallace – PTR
Neil Graf – Program Officer
Nancy Porter – Senior Project Manager / Welding Engineer
Steve Manring – Welding Engineer
Steve Blevins – Project Manager / Welding Engineer
Bill Tomich – Welding Engineer
Todd Hellman PMS 400
David Clark – CSRA
Kevin O’Donnell – Technical Lead
Alex Lark – Groton Welding Engineer
Dave Eubank – Project Manager
John Iraci – ManTech Program Manager
Joe Blackburn – TWH
John McGrorey – TWH
Jeff Farren – NSWCCD TA
Kevin Mendala – NSWCCD TA
Steve Fuqua PMS 397
Larry Becker – BAH
Charles McNamara PMS 450
Dave Hart – LCE
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Agenda
Background
Benefits
Objectives
Results
Next Steps
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Background
Current Navy-approved GMAW processes for welding panels require significant effort to prepare plate joints for welding, such as beveling the plate edges to create a single or double V- groove to ensure 100% weld penetration
High speed rotating arc welding (a.k.a., WeldRevolution’s SpinArc) is a GMAW process variant that as been proven in many non-Navy applications to be an effective means of dramatically reducing the time and effort required to weld thick- plate, which could be used in Navy ship construction
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Background (cont’d)
SpinArc is a GMAW process variant with a rotating contact tip that “spins” the filler wire while welding, allowing the arc to dig into side walls of the weld joint
The centrifugal force propels molten metal spray creating consistent weld beads and eliminating the need for bead contouring
Images courtesy of WeldRevolution
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Background (cont’d)
Adjustable spin diameter, speed, and direction allow for optimization of welds for specific use cases and can easily be combined with existing approved methods of spray/pulse welding
Instead of a “traditional V-groove”, SpinArc enables the use of a “narrow groove” (or reduced angle groove) that requires far less welding wire and “arc-on” time
SpinArc is not currently approved for use on Navy surface ships and submarines
SpinArc requires tailoring to specific Navy applications
Technology Readiness Level 7/8
Images courtesy of WeldRevolution
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Benefits
By using a “reduced angle groove” vs a “traditional V-groove” weld joint preparation the shipyards expect to be able to
Reduce bevel machining costs by using reduced bevel sizes
Reduce weld distortion due to fewer weld passes
Reduce the use of temporary welded attachment (i.e. strong backs) and their associated removal and cleanup costs
Strong backs are used to prevent angular distortion with conventional weld joint designs
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Benefits
Time studies will be performed to compare productivity of baseline mechanized GMAW welding process with the SpinArc welding process on the same materials and thicknesses
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Objective
General Dynamics Bath Iron Works (Bath) and Electric Boat want to determine the advantages of SpinArc welding for Navy surface ship and submarine applications, respectively
Since SpinArc is not Navy-approved, Bath and Electric Boat need to
Determine the feasibility of SpinArc welding surface ship and submarine specific weld joints
Conduct shipyard testing to determine the viability of SpinArc in the shipyard environment
Current weld joint designs will be compared to the weld joint designs that SpinArc enables (i.e., traditional V-groove vs. reduced angle groove joints)
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Technical Approach
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Technical Approach
The team will iteratively narrow the selection of candidate welds, beginning with a relatively wide range of material types, thicknesses, joint types, and welding positions (flat, vertical, and horizontal)
Most promising welds from the initial set of candidate welds will be tested in the lab at EWI
Ultimately a final subset of candidate welds will be down-selected for testing at both shipyards to determine implementation viability
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Status
Task
Description
Status 1
Project Initiation
Complete 2
Identify Candidate Applications 3
Create Technical Acceptance Test Plans 4
Develop SpinArc Parameters for Candidate Weld Joints
In-Process 5
Execute Technical Acceptance Testing 6
Interim Business Case Analysis
Not started 7
Go/No-Go Recommendations to Execute Phase II 8
Phase I Reporting 9
Create Shipyard Evaluation Test Plans 10
Execute Shipyard Evaluation Testing 11
Go/No Go Recommendations to Execute Weld Procedure Testing 12
Develop Procedures for Qualification Joint Designs 13
Create Weld Procedure Test Plans 14
Execute Weld Procedure Test Plans 15
Final Business Case Analyses 16
Implementation Plans 17
Final Reporting
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Results
Task 1 – Project Initiation
Project kicked off
Task 2 – Identify Candidate Applications
Bath and Electric Boat identified the joints that they are interested in using SpinArc to determine if improvements can be realized
Task 3 – Create Technical Acceptance Test Plans
Test plans were created for both shipyards to determine if SpinArc welding can pass NAVSEA Technical Publication 248 (Tech Pub 248) welding procedure qualification
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Results
Task 4 – Develop SpinArc Parameters for Candidate Weld Joints
Initial sets of parameters for Bath were determined and passed limited qualification testing in Tech Pub 248
Parameters for Electric Boat are still being developed
Task 5 – Execute Technical Acceptance Testing
Started testing to determine if the parameters developed in Task 4 can pass full qualification testing in Tech Pub 248
This task compares the baseline welding process vs SpinArc process
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16. Example Joint Design vs SpinArc Joint Design (1G Position)
Red Lines Signify Approximate Included Bevel Angle
Baseline Joint Design Requires 13 Weld Passes
SpinArc Joint Design Required 4 Weld Passes
Not To Scale
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17. Example Joint Design to SpinArc Joint Design (2G Position)
Red Lines Signify Approximate Included Bevel Angle
SpinArc Joint Design Required 2 Weld Passes
Baseline Joint Design Requires 4-6 Weld Passes
Not To Scale
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Next Steps
For Bath:
Complete baseline process welding vs SpinArc weld quality comparison testing
For Electric Boat:
Finish parameter development
Begin baseline process welding vs SpinArc weld quality comparison testing
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Questions?
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