Sunday 30 August 2015

Flame or Gas(Oxyacetylene) Welding

The fusion of the base metal and filler is achieved by employing a blowtorch as shown in below figure. The torch utilizes a flammable gas (acetylene generally,  hydrogen,  propane etc.) along with oxygen to produce the required amount of heat.
The flame comprises of following two zones
  1. Cone  : It is at the immediate exit of blow torch. In case of acetylene gas being used, this zone releases hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Temperature at cone tip is about 3000C in case of oxyacetylene flame and the atmosphere is reducing.
  2. Plume: It is the zone where combustion is completed. This zone can be oxidizing, neutral or reducing based on the oxygen to acetylene ratio with neutral ration lying somewhere in 1 to 1.2.
Flow of gases can be regulated. The range of flow possible depends upon the size of nozzle.

Classification of Industrial Welding Processes

Classification of Welding Processes

Industrial  welding  processes  are  set  out  here  according  to  the  criteria  defined
above, namely: 
  • Processes utilizing the fusion without mechanical action
  • Processes utilizing the fusion combined with mechanical action
  • Processes utilizing heating without fusion but with a mechanical action
  • Processes utilizing a mechanical action without heating
Details of each are covered below.

It is also a common practice to classify welding processes according to
  • Modes of action :  flame,  electric  arc,  plasma,  Joule  effect,  spark, induction, friction, explosion, etc.
  • Means of protection against atmosphere: shielding gas or slag

Processes utilizing the fusion without mechanical action

For welding processes operating without voluntary mechanical action, welding can be described by distinguishing the modes of heating used and protecting the molten metal against the chemical action of surroundings. Following are the types
  • Plasma welding
  • Arc welding
  • Vertical electroslag welding
  • Aluminothermic welding

Obstacles in welding and solution

Obstacles to welding

Such obstructions can be of various kinds: 
– geometrical surface irregularities,
– pollution of the surface (oxides, grease, moisture, etc.),
– chemical elements brought in by the surrounding air.

Mitigation of welding obstructions

To mitigate them, surface preparation(grinding, machining etc.) is to be done before welding.
All pollutants present on the surfaces to be welded are eliminated by
  • Mechanical Actions (sanding, grinding etc.)
  • Chemical Means (solvents, scouring, drying)

Harmful affects of atmosphere on weld

Welding carried in atmosphere is susceptible to contamination by oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen (H2 formed by dissociation of water vapors). These are elaborated below.

Friday 28 August 2015

What is Welding?

In general, welding is the process of joining, together pieces of metals or metallic parts by bringing them into intimate proximity and heating the places of contact to a state of fusion or plasticity.
Welding makes it possible to reconstitute  metallic  continuity  between  the  components  to  be  assembled. 
Theoretically,  it involves  bringing  the  surfaces  to  be linked closer so that the surface atoms are at a distance of the order of the inter-nodal distances of their own crystalline system. This is practically impossible to achieve due to obstructions and practical constraints. Hence artificial activation of mating surfaces is required.
Welding may be done with or without direct application of heat and/or application of mechanical force as per combinations listed below
  • processes utilizing the fusion without mechanical action;
  • processes utilizing the fusion combined with mechanical action; 
  • processes utilizing heating without fusion but with a mechanical action; 
  • processes utilizing a mechanical action without heating.

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Getting Started with DigIt - Making a Search

Making Search with DigIt

 
 If you have updated database at least once, you may simply
 Step 1 : Type in your search query in the first text box on search page
 Step 2 : Click "DigIt" Button. All the matching results will appear in the dropdown menu.
 Step 3: Click the file of your choice and it will open.
 

 

Search Preferences

By default, DigIt will search
 1) Within its own database (You can search within other database, should be excel file made from DigIt)
 2) Search within all sheets in database excel file (You can search within specific sheet)
 3)  Search all filetypes (You can search for specific filetype)

Getting started with DigIt - Update Database

Updating DigIt Database

To start searching with DigIt, you have to tell DigIt which folder should it search in.

Step1 :To start updating your database, click the "Update Database" tab on top of DigIt.


Step2: Click on "Browse" button and select "Folder Path" for folder containing the chunk of documents you want to populate into DigIt database.

Step 3 (Optional): If you want to populate database into some file other than default setting, uncheck the " Default Database" Check Box
 
Step 4 (Optional) : Select Excel file where you want to populate database.
Step5 : Select or make a new sheet where database will be populated. If you are updating default database for first time, click the "Add new sheet" checkbox and give a name to your sheet.

Step6(Optional): Select Hyperlink type. On default it is Absolute(recommended). If you want to make it relative please ensure that the excel database file and the source folder containing files are both in the same parent folder. If parent folder is different, the files will be listed in database but hyperlinks might not work.



Step 7 : Click "Update Database" button. This will index the contents of selected folder in database. If you populated default database, you would have to restart DigIt before starting search by clicking close button on top-right corner. And then reopen DigIt. If you chose another excel sheet you don't need to restart and directly continue to search. The file which you selected to populate database will save itself and close.


 

About DigIt

What is DigIt

Dig out files/documents and make hyperlinked indexes for contents of folders

DigIt has been developed to ease up the process of accessing specific files that are lying deep within folders or are placed among hundreds or may be thousands of similar files. What makes it different from built-in search engine of Windows is that rather than actually searching through all the files each time you pass a search query, it searches through an index in the for of an excel document that has been generated using DigIt. The result is it sometimes it takes less time  to open the document/ file of interest. Moreover, if you usually have to share a package of files the generated excel sheet can serve as an index containing relative hyperlinks of documents/files.

Click to Download DigIt
 
 
 
 
 

Thursday 10 July 2014

Defects in Metal Forgings

Inspection is an important aspect of metal forging manufacture. All parts should be checked for defects after the manufacturing process is complete. Defects of metal forged product include exterior cracking, interior cracking, laps, cold shuts, warping of the part, improperly formed sections and dead zones.

Cracking

 Cracking both interior and exterior is caused by excessive stress, or improper stress distribution as the part is being formed. Cracking of a forging can be the result of poorly designed forging die or excess material in the work piece. Cracks can also be caused by disproportionate temperature distributions during the manufacturing operation. High thermal gradients can cause cracks in a forged part.

Laps or folds

Laps or folds in a metal forging are caused by a buckling of the part, laps can be a result of too little material in the work piece.

Cold shuts

Cold shuts occur when metal flows of different temperatures meet, they do not combine smoothly, a boundary layer, (cold shut), forms at their intersection. Cold shuts indicate that there is a problem with metal flow in the mold as the part is being formed.

Warping

Warping of a forged part can happen when thinner sections cool faster than the rest of the forging.

Dead Zones

Improperly formed sections and dead zones can be a result of too little metal in the work piece or flawed forging die design resulting in incorrect material distribution during the process.


In general, defects in parts manufactured by metal forging can be controlled first by careful consideration of work stock volume, and by good design of both the forging die, (mold), and the process. The main principle is to enact the right material distributions, and the right material flow to accomplish these distributions. Die cavity geometry and corner radius play a large roll in the action of the metal. Forging die design, and forging process design will be discussed in later sections.

Go back to Forging

Hot Twist Test

 In a hot twist test, a round bar is twisted in one direction until material failure occurs. The amount of rotation is taken as a quantitative measurement of metal forgeability. This test is often conducted on a material at several different temperatures. Other tests are also used in industrial metal forging manufacture. Impact testing is sometimes used to gauge the forgeability of a material.

Back to Metal Forgeability
Back to Forging

Upsetting Test

In an upsetting test, the work stock is compressed by flat open die, reducing the work in height until cracks form. The amount of reduction can be considered a measurement of forgeability. Upsetting tests can be performed at different temperatures and different compression speeds. Testing various temperatures and strain rates will help determine the best conditions for the forging of a particular metal.

Back to Metal Forgeability
Back to Forging