Digest #6: Latest Events in Welding
The only import-substituting welding line in Russia has been launched
The Miass large-panel house-building plant has launched the only import-substituting welding line in Russia, as well as the first Chinese technological line. Both are aimed at producing modern reinforced concrete structures.
The line produces reinforcement meshes, which are then used to create panels used in the construction of buildings. Its capacity is 300 welding points per minute, which completely covers the needs of the plant and its subsidiary. According to the executive director, the first Chinese pallet line in Russia was also successfully launched in the neighboring workshop. The choice fell on the Chinese supplier, since European partners refused their obligations.
The plant explained that houses that will be built from panels created on the new lines will be able to compete in all their characteristics with frame and monolithic buildings. The geography of deliveries covers the Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, Kurgan and Sverdlovsk regions, Bashkortostan and the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug - Yugra.
* Source : TASS.
The first Russian robot moving over machine tools has been launched into production
A robot factory located in Chelyabinsk has launched serial production of the first Russian robot with a lifting capacity of 45 kg, which moves above the machines, and is not located next to them, like traditional 6-axis models. This allows for significant space savings in production, since the machines can be placed close together. Moreover, the robot moves two products in one movement, and its lifting capacity allows it to move up to 70% of all parts used in mechanical engineering.
The new model of the industrial console-portal robot is called RusRobot GR-40. Its use opens up new opportunities for enterprises in the manufacturing industry. And thanks to the long X-axis, one robot can service up to four to five machines (depending on the processing time of the parts). As a result, robotization of sections and lines with long machine processing time (from 10 minutes and more) becomes cost-effective. Previously, domestic industrial enterprises did not robotize such sections, since it was not profitable to equip them with stationary 6-axis robots.
* Source : TASS Science.
Russian Railways conducted experimental welding of rails for high-speed railway
Russian Railways conducted experimental welding of rails at a testing ground for high-speed railways (HSR). The experimental welding of rails was carried out on a ballastless track using contact and thermite methods on the experimental ring of VNIIZhT. Such studies are needed to adapt existing welding technologies for the construction of the Moscow-St. Petersburg HSR.
The track rail welding machine fastened the rails using contact welding, and the repair crew used thermite welding, using a special mixture and a crucible. At the same time, specialists applied a special paint to determine the temperature in different areas of the joint. This is important for studying the properties of the metal after fastening.
* Source : Information Center of the Moscow Government.
Development of SUSU scientists: new technology for welding steels used in extreme conditions
In particular, we are talking about the stable operation of thermal power plant units with an ultracritical operating mode (the so-called AUSC mode allows temperatures up to 700 degrees Celsius and pressures above 430 bar). Two different types of steel are used for boilers, collectors, and high-pressure vessels at thermal power plants.
Usually, in such cases, argon-arc welding with a tungsten electrode (TIG) is used, with V-shaped edge preparation in the base metal. The technology for welding such steels developed by SUSU scientists involves the use of A-TIG - welding with an active flux, without edge preparation, while a layer of high-entropy alloy is added between two layers of different types - martensite and austenite, which welds well with each of the metals being joined. Welding is performed using a robot.
The welds produced using the welding technology developed at the South Ural State University demonstrate reliability that is not inferior to the traditional method. At the same time, it was possible to reduce residual weld deformations by 55%, as well as increase the productivity of the process by 80%. In addition, the use of expensive imported Inconel 82 filler wire and preliminary V-shaped edge preparation was abandoned.
* Source : South Ural State University.
KnASU scientists have created a prototype robot for pipeline maintenance
Employees of the Department of Electric Drive and Automation of Industrial Installations of Komsomolsk-on-Amur State University, together with the team of the Scientific and Educational Center Industrial Robotics and Advanced Industrial Technologies, under the leadership of Doctor of Technical Sciences Sergei Cherny, created an experimental model of a robot for work in hard-to-reach places.
This device is designed to automate processes related to the installation and maintenance of main oil and gas pipelines. The platform can also be used to deliver cargo to hard-to-reach places, including the installation of cable lines inside aircraft.
Another special feature of the project is the ability to use the platform for welding pipelines, including turning sections and sections with different pipe diameters.
* Source : HKS News Agency.