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Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / THE BEST WELD
- - By josephd (*) Date 11-25-2003 16:09
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT THE BEST WELD IS. NOT A JOKE

The best weld in a perfect world is no weld at all. Yes a complete cast/rolled or formed structure. Think about it before you strike the next ark. Make your welds the best welds every time. 70% of weld quality is increased with good weld edge preparation / fit-up. Pay attention to the "SALE", S= speed of travel, A=angle of electrode/gun/torch, E= electric current. These four basic rules with skill will give you the 20% and other 10% positioning the weld or yourself to increase access.
My college instructor taught me the above golden rule. Dennis Gilbert. Hope he is doing fine.

God Bless Josephd
Parent - By josephd (*) Date 11-25-2003 16:11
opps

forgot the "L" L= length of ark
Parent - - By thirdeye (***) Date 11-25-2003 18:37
Could I add "joint design" and "welding procedure" the list?
Parent - By cccasey (**) Date 12-01-2003 19:30
I've always taught that if you want to see a good weld when you're finished then use your "LASH". Learned it from some great welding instructors in New Zealand (Manukau Institute of Technology) MIT.

L- Length of arc
A- Angle, work and lead/travel
S- Speed of travel
H- Heat (amps)

This is just the practical application assuming the base metal/filler metals and joint designs are correct.
Just another way to help students retain basic information.
Curtis
Parent - - By scmait (*) Date 12-02-2003 17:01
Define "Best Weld"...if the definition is based on strength of weld relative to base metal strength then the following applies.

The best weld (in lieu of no weld) is a properly done "Solid State" weld. From experience the a melt weld gives a weld strength of 75% of base metal where a "Solid State" weld will give a minimum of 90% of base metal strength. The biggest problem is that solid state welds are difficult to apply where melt welding is best suited.


Just a thought!

SCMait
Parent - - By Niekie3 (***) Date 12-02-2003 21:01
Hi scmait

How do you come to the 75% and 90% figure? I qualify a great deal of welding procedures, and MOST of them do not break in the weld or HAZ at all. They break in the parent metal.

Obviously there are other factors such as fatigue and corrosion properties, but in many instances the welds are at least as strong as the base metal. In other words, they have a joint efficiency of 1. (100%)

There are obviously exceptions to the above situation, like welding most Al alloys, but these are the exceptions rather than the rule.

Regards
Niekie Jooste
Fabristruct Solutions
Parent - By jwright650 (*****) Date 12-02-2003 21:55
I was curious about those figures also.
Yield? Tensile?
John Wright
Parent - - By scmait (*) Date 12-02-2003 22:11
It may be because I live in a box. Sometimes I have to remember to look out of the box at the rest of the world. Most of what I speak has to do with high strength steels (e.g., 275 ksi uts).

Just curious: When they do break in the parent metal is the strength similar to that of a specimen taken from virgin parent metal?

SCMait
Parent - By Niekie3 (***) Date 12-03-2003 20:09
Hi SCMait

Yes indeed, the strength is comperable to that stated on the material certificates, give or take some for statistical variation.

Regards
Niekie Jooste
Parent - - By JTMcC (***) Date 12-04-2003 02:28
"Cast/rolled or formed structures" have been replaced with welded assemblies at a lower cost, less weight, and overall more economical approach for decades. How, pray tell, do you "cast/roll or form a bridge? Or pipeline? Or any number of items that are most economically made by welding? Your approach may sound good to the uninformed, but I'm afraid it won't fly here, regardless of what your "college instructor" told you, where people make their living in association with welded structures of all kinds.

JTMcC, happily making welds every day.
Parent - - By dasimonds (**) Date 12-04-2003 05:51
Think about this for a moment,
This world, as we know it, would stop in a heartbeat without welding. From the fabrication of new parts to the maintence of working plants. The "Best" weld is one that was done by paying close attention to all variables associated with the WPS and PQR's, prep, preheat, interpass cleaning, material identification(not necessarily in that order).
To state "the best weld is no weld at all" makes me wonder as to the intellect of the person making the statement.
Perhaps you should buy a screw gun.

Dale Simonds
Parent - By Niekie3 (***) Date 12-04-2003 19:56
Hi Dale & JTMcC

I don't think that the statement was made to suggest that we could get by without welding. I think the idea was that if you can design a component with only half the welds, then that is a better option.

Like it or not, there is always the risk with welding that there is something wrong, that was not detected. As such, it is best to try to design components with as few welds as possible.

Not only does this approach reduce the risk of failure of the component, but also reduces cost.

I believe that all of us in the welding industry know this already. It would be unwize to purchase small pieces of metal and weld them together, when we could just buy a large piece without welds. It is basic economics, and productivity which we all use in our jobs.

I think that this piece of advice given to students was meant only in this context, not in a negative way towards welding as an industry, or the people involved in this industry.

Regards
Niekie Jooste
Parent - By TimGary (****) Date 12-04-2003 20:36
You guys have me laughing out loud...
I like the screw gun idea!
Up Topic Welding Industry / General Welding Discussion / THE BEST WELD

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