Automated Nozzle Makes Light Work of Thick-Wall Welding

Designed to reduce defects and the time required for multilayer welding processes, the PEMA nozzle welding solution from Pemamek Oy (Cincinnati, OH) automates welding of pressure vessels and other heavy-duty applications.

Built-in lasers scan groove geometry of workpieces, which typically contain large prepared grooves and thick plates. They then automatically create robotic welding programs that adapt to the varying groove layers by continuously welding the grooves until a solid bond is formed. Any discrepancies between the pre-programmed groove geometry and actual laser-scanned geometry are adjusted with the user-friendly WeldControl software family, which streamlines communication between the operator and machinery.

Production data monitoring, diagnostics, tracking, and robot programming can be performed by one operator on a one-panel control system on the shop floor.  Digital Showroom app helps operators learn how the company’s welding rotator, roller beds, and assembly station work.

“This technology shaves hours off multipass welding operations in thick-walled workpieces with irregular grooves,” says Michael Bell, sales director, North America. “By combining the accuracy of laser scanning with seamless transfer of scan data to the control software to generate a program specific to that application, robots quickly and accurately perform passes while the operator moves on to the next project.”

Welding station accommodates workpieces weighing 15 tons, 19.7 feet (6,000 mm) long, 19.7 inches to 78.7 inches (500 mm to 2,000 mm) in diameter, 3.9 inches to 39.4 inches (100 mm to 1,000 mm) nozzle diameter (1.2 inch/30 mm without scan function and depending on vessel radius), and 11.8 inches (300 mm) distance between nozzles.

www.pemamek.com