About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2025 AWS Professional Program
|
| Symposium
|
2025 AWS Professional Program
|
| Presentation Title |
Process Control of a Custom Designed Adaptive Weld Head |
| Author(s) |
Dylan S. Lewis, Devon Goodspeed, Shems-Eddine Belhout, Jonathan Tatman, Darren Barborak, Bradley Howell Jared |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Dylan S. Lewis |
| Abstract Scope |
The welding industry is facing a critical shortage of workers estimated to be on the scale of 400,000 men and women. This workforce gap has created an ever-growing need for automated welding systems that can perform complex welding processes for industries including power generation and oil. For many of these welding applications, gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is the preferred method due to its precise heat control, cleanliness, and consistent weld quality. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have collaborated to develop an automated welding system specifically designed for GTAW welding research for the nuclear power industry. The end goal for this machine is to demonstrate control systems and accompanying algorithms to perform multi-pass welds without human interactions after the initial system setup. The research platform is designed around linear motion stages with five degrees of freedom. Three of the axes are dedicated to tungsten position while the remaining two axes are dedicated to wire feed location. Weld state monitoring is performed using a Cavitar C300 weld camera and a Keyence LJ-V7080 laser profilometer. Data acquisition of stage motion, torch conditions and sensor signals are performed using custom LabVIEW code developed specifically for the platform. Algorithms for automated multi-pass welding are being explored using this system. Current work is examining a geometry-based algorithm whereby the system establishes suitable process parameters and torch locations based on measurements of a simulated pipe groove surface and deposited bead areas, The effectiveness of groove filling will be discussed based on experiments whereby groove geometries with different bevel angles, widths and depths were filled. The control algorithm performs a simple feedback loop based on deposited bead area. The approach more accurately filled grooves for all depths when compared to open loop depositions exhibiting overfilling. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Undecided |