Welding 410 Stainless

Date 09-11-2008 20:54

Hello. I'm trying to weld two slabs of 2.6" thick 410 stainless together and have a question about weld prep. The 410 is formed in 4 curved segments that make up a barrell assembly. Manufacturing wants to weld these 4 segments together on both the inside and the outside so they can set it up and machine the inside and outside surfaces. The only requirement is that there can't be any weld metal left on the part after machining. So, to make a long story short, we only have 0.300" deep on the inside surface and 0.300" deep on the outside surface to weld. We cannot groove out the joint any deeper.

The main goal is to get these slabs to stay together during machining. The machining will be an open setup, but they will have to use a forklift and straps to flip this part over when they want to machine the bottom side of this barrel. My question is whether or not welding a 0.300" thick groove on either side of this part is going to be sufficient enough keep this thing together. I would assume no, but wanted to see if there's any other way of getting this part to stay together.

Thanks.

By DaveBoyer (*****)

Date 09-12-2008 05:15

I guess that what they want is 4 seperate, machined parts when they are done?

I don't think it will take much to hold these parts together when machining, however, when all the weld is machined off they are going to fall apart.

What is the overall size of these parts? Are they going to be machined on a lathe, VBM or VTL ?

How well do the edges of the 4 segments fit up, have they been machined to 90 deg and square to the end[s] ? If You need exact quarters, this will need to be done FIRST.

If this was My baby I would prep the parts as above, and then:
1) Weld on the inside with the machined end on a flat surface.
2) Set up to segment joints on VBM or VTL clamping from inside.
3) machine OD. 4) Clamp from outside, remove inside clamps and machine ID.

The ends having been done as the first operation before the edges were milled to 90 deg would be true.

The above process will work unless the length is a whole lot longer than the diameter.