Today, let's discuss the factors that affect welding cycle time.
Factors Affecting Welding Cycle Time
In robotic arc welding applications, there are many factors that can influence welding cycle time. Let's discuss them from three aspects:
I. Control System
1. Welding process parameter setting
Arc detection confirmation time: To prevent signal disturbance caused by obstacles such as dust, a delay is introduced to ensure proper signal transmission. This parameter directly affects the arc ignition speed. In applications where arc ignition speed is critical, it is recommended to set this parameter to 0.
2. Handling of welding wire
During welding, it takes some time for the welding wire to make contact with the base material. This time delay also contributes to slow arc ignition. If the extension of the welding wire can be controlled so that it touches the base material at the welding point, it can save time spent on wire feeding. This has a significant impact on welding cycle time. Using the flying arc ignition function can be quite beneficial.
II. Welding Power Source
Taking the example of an AOTAI welding machine welding sequence, as shown in the following image:
The key factors that influence arc ignition time are gas pre-flow time and slow wire feeding speed. Setting these two parameters to their minimum values on the welding machine side can significantly increase arc ignition speed.
III. Environment Setup
Smooth wire feeding is crucial for successful arc ignition and efficient welding. Several factors, such as the length of the welding gun, clearness of the contact tip, wire feeder pressure, and curvature of the wire guiding tube, can affect the smoothness of wire feeding.
1. Length of the welding gun
In most cases, the length of the welding gun is determined by the structure of the robot itself. During installation, it is important to avoid bending or twisting of the front-end wire feeding tube. The correct length of the wire guiding tube can significantly improve welding performance affected by poor wire feeding, as shown in the following image:
2. Clearness of the contact tip
The contact tip, as a consumable part in arc welding operations, is an important factor that affects welding quality. During welding, a burn-back may occur, causing the welding wire to stick to the contact tip and resulting in poor wire feeding. Regularly checking the clearness of the contact tip is recommended. When welding carbon steel, it is advisable to choose contact tips from reputable brands known for their quality and reputation.
3. Wire feeder pressure
Higher wire feeder pressure is commonly considered better. However, the optimal pressure should be adjusted as follows: After completing the environment setup for welding,
a. Use the system's manual wire feeding and wire retraction functions to control wire feeding and withdrawal; b. Adjust the pressure on the wire feeder manually by tightening the pressure knob, as shown in the following image:
While manually feeding the wire, try to loosen the pressure knob until the wire feed rolls are barely able to push out the welding wire. Then, slightly tighten the pressure knob to a point where the wire can be fed smoothly. This adjustment offers the optimal pressure.
4. Curvature of the wire guiding tube
Avoid excessive curvature in the wire feeding tube to ensure smooth wire feeding, which significantly improves wire feeding issues.
