Need immediate help

By jon20013 (*****)

Date 08-06-2007 11:41

What's the material you're welding on? What happens if you don't manage to certify? Somehow this just seems unusual to me in a combat situation?

By ironman6626 Date 08-06-2007 14:18

The material is called Armox
There is no chance I won't certify
Army regulations strict on this point. about certifying.
I work on RG-31's, JERRV, Husky(merkat) & Buffalo
these are all route clearance based IED machines.

I've got 37 plus years under my belt.
All they require is the verticle pass using 11018 for certification.
it runs just like 7018.

Now how can I accomplish this yesterday/
TIA

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 08-06-2007 20:22 Edited 08-06-2007 20:26

Hi Ironman6626!

First of all, "Weldcome" to the forum!!! :)

E11018 does not run just like E7018... Only similar to E7018 in that it is a Low Hydrogen electrode. :)

The slag composition once welded is much softer than an E7018 electrode so, it is important that one takes great care in cleaning the toes, restarts of each pass... Understanding this will also help you understand that there's less tolerance allowed in the arc length when welding with an E11018 rod as compared to an E7018 electrode... Make Darn sure your preheat temperature for that material is correct and constantly monitor your interpass temperature. throughout every bead deposited - especially on a test!!! The metal flows a little more when welding with E11018... Make sure you hold your sides long enough that the molten slag starts to flow from the sides of the flux coating of the electrode in order to eliminate any undercut... Clean each bead with a flashlight because the slag can fool you into believing that you got rid of all of it in bad lighting.

When weaving, do not exceed three times the diameter of the electrode diameter - meaning, if you're using a 1/8" dia electrode then 3/8 of an inch is the maximum width allowed - PERIOD!!! Otherwise your interpass temperature will be so high that it will take longer to come down below an acceptable temperature to continue due to the excessive heat input, and slow travel speed, the possibility of distortion will increase to an unacceptable warpage of the test joint. Then there is the effect of change in the metallurgical composition that can cause the test piece to lose some of the required mechanical properties. So, even though it may weld like E7018 - E11018 has it's own set of quirks

Question: Are they requiring you to also deposit a tempering bead(s) within the cap pass?

See if you can get a hold of some plate of that "Armox", find out the joint configuration and anything else regarding the test, and "practice until the cows come home!!!" I mean heck!!! There can't be that much to do with your spare time over there so - Just Do IT!!!
When you feel you're confident, take the test!!! Hope this helps!!! :) Watch out for them stray bullets!!!
May God Bless you, and everyone on our side that's there!!! :)

Respectfully,
Henry

By whiteyford M1A1 (**)

Date 09-04-2009 17:05

Hi Henry, welcome Ironman6626
All that Henry states is so true. Since lives do depend on your skill and knowledge I thought I would chime in. This is not your average animal!
The likely standard is MIL-W-46086, since your stick welding I assume your out of position. E 11018 will trap slag and undercut if you run 7018 like most.

I was among 20 welders selected that passed a preliminary test to get in to certify for welding on the M1A1 Abrams Tank. Once in the class we were given 6 attemps to pass. The failure rate was still 25% even with the best instructors anyone could ask for. Most who failed were older, set in their ways or already knew it all, some just could not stop weaving.

You know you got the visual part when you place a flat, horizontal or vertical and overhead test plate together and not tell the difference!!!

Heres how the test goes on 1" armor plate.
Vertical up and overhead (11018-G) 1/8 Rod with 1 complete 5/32Rod stringer pass incorporated.
Pre heat 200 interpass 500
Open root K joint 3/8 Back, 5/8 Front, 1/8 Root opening
Root+hot pass in front, back grind root to 1/2' depth max from back, to deep, to bad it's scrap. This is the ONLY grinding allowed aside from a stuck rod. Wire wheel everything!!
31 or 32 vertical stringers depending on where the pass of 5/32 was placed.
Temper beads on both sides, Max hieght .090", max widths also applied, 5 Beads Front, 3 Back
Virtually 0 undercut allowed
Visual and X-Ray (3/8" max IP)

I had the pleasure of holding an eight pound live fire target fragment the size of your fist that failed at the weld joint. It contained 1/2" of Incomplete Penetration on the xray.

An instructor left us with a thought 24 years ago: Make every weld count, these Tanks will be used for the next hundred years, your kids, grandkids and likely great grandkids could be in them!

It may be less expensive to fly someone in.

Just my 2cents worth of stimulus
Randy

By Lawrence (*****)

Date 08-06-2007 12:08

Iron Man,

One good thing about the U.S. military.... They have a system for everything.!

You are certainly not the first guy to want to fix a busted Hummer over there eh?

Are you an enlisted man or a private contractor of some sort? I'm sure if you are enlisted there are reams and reams of paperwork detailing exactly what is required of you to fix your equipment and to get you qualified to fix it.

I'm sure Everybody here wants to help you out but my guess is that everything you need is going to be found internally.

Thank you for being out there, doing your job... Keeping me and my family safe over here.

By ironman6626 Date 08-06-2007 14:20

I'm with a private contractor doing the rebuilds.

By CWI555

Date 08-07-2007 15:21

http://www.aws.org/cgi-bin/mwf/topic_show.pl?pid=64510;hl=Armox#pid64510 other than the good information already given here, there are some in the forum who weld on this material regularly. Im sure these folks will chime in when they find your post.

By ironman6626 Date 08-08-2007 12:14

Thanks.
Appreciate it.