Acta Materialia Transylvanica 4/2. (2021) 65–70.

DOI: Hungarian: https://doi.org/10.33923/amt-2021-02-01

English: https://doi.org/10.33924/amt-2021-02-01

Characteristics of the Levels of Mechanisation in Arc

Welding
Gyula Bagyinszki,1 Enikő Bitay 2
1 Óbuda University, Donát Bánki Faculty of Mechanical and Safety Engineering, Budapest, Hungary,
[email protected]
2 Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Faculty of Technical and Human Sciences,
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Târgu Mureș, Romania, [email protected]

Abstract
Improvement of quality, reduction of the subjective possibilities of faults may be facilitated with the help of
the technically rational and economically justifiable mechanisation of productive serial production as well
as the use of the wide range of hardware and software IT possibilities. Mechanisation is usually understood
as the mechanisation of technological operations that may otherwise be performed by manual operations
(human movements and effort). Mechanisation is therefore the substitution, in whole or in part, of manual
labour with the help of specialised equipment and the mechanical operation of the various movements. The
present article examines the particular features of mechanisation in the field of outstandingly high signifi-
cance in industrial applications, i.e. arc welding, assisting the forms of training applied in the specialty area.
Keywords: arc welding, automation, robot.

1. Introduction –– the second part is the means of melt protection

(self-protecting: coated, cored, submerged;
The mechanisation levels of arc welding – the
protective gas), and the “behaviour” of the
most commonly used type of welding among
electrode (melting, non-melting),
welding works – may be classified according to
–– the third part serves to designate any addi-
the binding formation and positioning move-
tional distinguishing features of the procedure
ments (Figure 1) [1]. The specialised equipment
variants. The numerical fields opening down-
shown in the tabular figure as well as the robot
wards indicate the possibility of multiple lev-
are automatic, i.e. fitted with its own drive sys-
els of mechanisation. E.g. in case of the widely
tem, capable of adjusting and moving the welding used active protective gas wire electrode arc
head with adequate accuracy. While the robot is welding - coded 135 - the electrode feeding
(re)programmable (program-controlled) in mul- (filler material feeding) is a priori mechanised.
tiple spatial directions and movement paths in Apart from the manual movement of the weld-
a given working range (i.e. by software) the spe- ing head (weld torch), specialised equipment
cialised equipment moves on a bound path and or robots are also possible, at the manual or
direction, i.e. “programmable by hardware”. In mechanical servicing stages (workpiece feed-
this way it adaptable to performing other tasks by ing).
readjustment or modification. In the practice of welding – based on Figure 1 –
The figures indicated in the example are the the following are differentiated:
codes for the welding processes in question in ac- –– manual welding, by which both the perfor-
cordance with the MSZ EN ISO 4063 standard, in mance of welding movements and the work-
which piece feeding are performed by human effort.
–– the first part is the heat source (presently the The operations are performed, controlled and
arc), directed by the welder;
66 Bagyinszki Gy., Bitay E. – Acta Materialia Transylvanica 4/2. (2021)

Bonding positio-
Bonding formation movements
ning movements

Example of
Filler material Welding head Workpiece
Mechanisation level procedure
feeding guidance feeding
mechanisation

Intermittent or With or without With or without

continuous oscillation equipment

manual manual manual manual 111

mechanised manual manual partly mechanised

114
with specialised 141
equipment 131 151
mechanised mechanised manual mechanised 121
135 152
using robots 122
136
123
with specialised 137
124
equipment 125
mechanised mechanised mechanised automated
using robots

Figure 1. Levels of mechanisation of arc welding.

–– partly mechanised welding, by which the per- their drive units. For this, 2 types of movement
formance of welding movements are partly (T = translational, R = rotational) and 3 coordinate
and the workpiece feeding are fully performed axes (along which translation, or around which
by human effort. rotation takes place) can be selected. Of the arm
–– mechanised welding, by which the perfor- systems, control and sensors of arc welding ro-
mance of welding movements are mechanised bots, a systematic overview is provided in [3].
and the workpiece feeding is performed man-
ually; 3. Characteristics of the levels of mech-
–– automatic welding, by which both the perfor- anisation
mance of welding movements and the work- The level of mechanisation is well characterised
piece feeding are performed automatically, by by the number of operations of which the condi-
machines, leaving practically no need for di- tions of mechanisation have been solved concern-
rect human intervention. ing the equipment in question. The classification
scheme of these operations is shown in Figure 4,
2. Robots and specialised equipmen ndicating the corresponding levels of mechanisa-
Therefore the increase of the level of mechani- tion, whose hierarchy and points of connection
sation can be achieved by increasing the number can be traced in Figure 5 [4, 5].
of machine movements, reducing the extent of The equipment implementing the various levels
human intervention (human control). Welding and their main parameters can be summarised as
using specialised equipment and robots can be follows:
categorised as mechanised or automated weld- The zero or baseline level (G0) not shown in the
ing, depending on the mode of workpiece feed- figure is manual welding using coated electrodes
ing. Some aspects of classifying welding robots (111), and the level of mechanisation of the other
are shown in Figure 2. levels are benchmarked against this. Also “classi-
Arc welding equipment at a particular level of fied” between the zero and the first level is (G0.5)
mechanisation may be classified according to gravity arc welding (112) which, although using no
four basic criteria, which can be used to demon- machine movement has its coated electrode “au-
strate the differences in terms of applicability and tomatically” melted off with the help of a simple
level of development (Figure 3) [2]. The number device using the force of gravity.
of the degree of freedom is the number of in- (G1) mechanised filler material feeding (wire
dependently controlled axes of movement and feeding), partly mechanised protective gas
Bagyinszki Gy., Bitay E. – Acta Materialia Transylvanica 4/2. (2021) 67

Figure 2. Classification aspects of welding robots and specialised equipment.

Scope of Mode of seam

Service Degrees of freedom
application formation

With
Partly
Uni- speci- Me- Partly
Ma- me- Ma- Auto- Num- (Coordinate)
ver- alised Mixed chani- auto- Nature
nual chani- nual mated ber system
sal equip- sed mated
sed
ment

1R 1 axis, rotating
Mechanised filler material feeding with mechanised welding head
Mechanised filler material feeding with manual welding head gui-

1
Manual workpiece feeding with manual workpiece positioning

1T or feeding
Mechanised workpiece feeding with mechanised workpiece
Manual filler material feeding with manual welding head

Manual workpiece feeding with mechanised workpiece

2R
2 axis
A particular design for workpieces of different sizes
A particular design for a particular workpiece size

2 1R+1T
Multiple designs for workpieces of different sizes

(planar)
2T
3R
2R+1T 3 or more axes
3
1R+2T (spatial)
3T
4R
3R+1T
positioning

positioning

4
guidance

guidance

2R+2T Humanoid
dance

1R+3T Spherical
5R SCARA
4R+1T
5 Cylindrical
3R+2T
2R+3T Rectangular
6R Tricept
5R+1T (with orienting move-
6
4R+2T
3R+3T ments above 3 degrees

7R of freedom)
6R+1T
7
5R+2T
4R+3T

Figure 3. Characteristics of arc welding equipment.

68 Bagyinszki Gy., Bitay E. – Acta Materialia Transylvanica 4/2. (2021)

Figure 4. Division of welding operations in relation to mechanisation.

Figure 5. The levels of mechanisation and their relations.

arc welding equipment (13, 14, 15) with high was accompanied by a mechanised guidance
melt power and a wide range of applications. of the welding head (welding unit).
It is no longer in use, but there was a mecha- (G2) mechanised submerged (flux) welding equip-
nised, coated electrode arc welding, classified ment with welding heads fitted onto move-
between the first and second levels (G1.5), ment units (12), with parameters adjusted in
where the gravitational electrode feeding advance and very high capacities.
Bagyinszki Gy., Bitay E. – Acta Materialia Transylvanica 4/2. (2021) 69

(A3) equipment of general use, fitted with arc sen- (A6) sensor-controlled multifunctional special-
sors and arc stabilising control, which – by ised equipment (with seam location and/or
correcting the changes having taken place in seam following sensors) using programmed
the main welding parameters – ensure conti- parameters, ensuring consistancy of seam
nuity of welding, but do not take into consid- quality even under varying circumstances.
eration the varying welding conditions. Naturally, these terms only meet the defini-
(A4) single-purpose specialised equipment moving tion of adaptivity to a certain degree. This lev-
along a bound movement path, attributing pro- el represents a certain boundary of special-
grammed parameters to the particular path ised equipment, as the next level is a “quan-
sections, which may be partially or fully mech- tum leap” into the world of industrial robots.
anised, but are not equipped with sensors. (A7) first generation robots, capable of repeating
(A5) single or multiple-head, multi purpose (e.g. the movement according to the program to be
for pipes and tanks) specialised welding currently executed. Their movement is deter-
equipment fitted with arc stabilising control, ministic, and their movement path is “rigid”
using programmed parameters, applicable in the sense that it is independent on changes
for movement paths of varying positions. taking place at the location of work. This is

Figure 6. Welding process monitoring scheme.

70 Bagyinszki Gy., Bitay E. – Acta Materialia Transylvanica 4/2. (2021)

because they do not have devices capable of 4. Conclusion

sensing and modifying their movement pro-
From among the means of mechanisation – due
grams. A basic requirement of their applica-
to their application characteristics – specialised
tion is the accurate machining, orientation
manipulation equipment and flexibly program-
and fitting of the parts in advance.
mable robots cooperating with the peripherals
(A8) second generation robots that are able to
stand out. Their application increases productivi-
adapt to significant changes at the work lo-
ty, the production cycle times are reduced, quality
cation. Their movement is controlled at all
and reproducibility are improved, the flexibility
times by a direction algorithm, based on the
of the production system is increased, monoto-
signals of the sensors activated. For the rapid
nous and heavy physical labour can be reduced,
processing of large amounts of information,
and in areas particularly harmful to human
a high-performance hardware and software
health, they can help substitute human activity.
suitable for sensor communication are used.
The “extent” of their level of mechanisation may
(A9) third generation robots capable of sensing
a number of ambient characteristics and be selected based on technical, economic and or-
adapting to the changes in ambient condi- ganisational aspects.
tions. These are capable of shape and situ- References
ation recognition, based on which they are [1] Bagyinszki Gy., Bitay E.: Hegesztéstechnika I. El-
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help of their artificial intelligence. A structur- Kolozsvár, 2010.
al sketch of one such welding process moni- https://doi.org/10.36242/mtf-08
toring system can be seen in Figure 6 [5]. [2] Bauer F.: A hegesztés gépesítése. Hegesztéstech-
Adaptive control on the one hand approaches nológia 4., 1986.
optimal conditions in case of varying ambient cir- [3] Bagyinszki Gy., Bitay E.: Ívhegesztő robot alkal-
cumstances, and on the other hand, it increasing- mazástechnikai jellemzői. XV. Fiatal Műszakiak
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welding process. This naturally requires as many https://doi.org/10.36243/fmtu-2010.04
[4] Malin V.: Designer’s Guide to Effective Welding Au-
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optimising algorithms, the degree of reality of the ternational Conferfence – Developments in Auto-
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