• International Journal of Korean Welding Society
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.12-17
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• 2001

With the advance of the robotic welding process, procedure optimization that selects the welding procedure and predicts bead width that will be deposited is increased. A major concern involving procedure optimization should define a welding procedure that can be shown to be the best with respect to some standard and chosen combination of process parameters, which give an acceptable balance between production rate and the scope of defects for a given situation. This paper presents a new algorithm to establish a mathematical model f3r predicting bead width through a neural network and multiple regression methods, to understand relationships between process parameters and bead width, and to predict process parameters on bead width for GMA welding process. Using a series of robotic arc welding, additional multi-pass butt welds were carried out in order to verify the performance of the neural network estimator and multiple regression methods as well as to select the most suitable model. The results show that not only the proposed models can predict the bead width with reasonable accuracy and guarantee the uniform weld quality, but also a neural network model could be better than the empirical models.

• Proceedings of the KWS Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.169-175
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• 2002

World demand for natural gas has generated the need for many new land transmission pipelines to be installed in the next decade or so. Although mechanized gas metal arc welding is well developed, there are opportunities for cost savings by using alternative welding processes. Hybrid Nd:YAG laser - gas metal arc welding enables fibre optic delivery of the laser energy to a robotic welding head to be combined with the addition of extra energy and a consumable to produce good quality, deep penetration welds in a single pass. The present paper describes initial procedure development to optimize the laser and gas metal arc welding parameters for making joints in pipeline steel. Satisfactory joint quality was obtained and it is intended to develop the process to prototype field trials.

• International Journal of Korean Welding Society
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.17-22
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• 2001

Because the quantitative relationships between welding parameters and welding result are not yet blown, optimal values of welding parameters for $CO_2$ robotic arc welding is a difficult task. Using the various artificial data processing methods may solve this difficulty. This research aims to develop an expert system for $CO_2$ robotic arc welding to recommend the optimal values of welding parameters. This system has three main functions. First is the recommendation of reasonable values of welding parameters. For such work, the relationships in between the welding parameters are investigated by the use of regression analysis and fuzzy system. The second is the estimation of bead shape by a neural network system. In this study the welding current voltage, speed, weaving width, and root gap are considered as the main parameters influencing a bead shape. The neural network system uses the 3-layer back-propagation model and a generalized delta rule as teaming algorithm. The last is the optimization of the parameters for the correction of undesirable weld bead. The causalities of undesirable weld bead are represented in the form of rules. The inference engine derives conclusions from these rules. The conclusions give the corrected values of the welding parameters. This expert system was developed as a PC-based system of which can be used for the automatic or semi-automatic $CO_2$ fillet welding with 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6mm diameter the solid wires or flux-cored wires.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.23-30
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• 1990

The robotic welding has been adapted positively in many welding shops forthe purpose of improving the welding efficiency and liberating operators from the severe working atmosphere. But for a large-size structure with thick plates like ship-building and every kind of plants manufacturing, the application of the arc welding robots is not established yet. The reason is assumed that the conventional arc welding robots are not adaptive for multi-pass welding of thick plates whose grooves are not so accurate. As one solution to this problem, a guidance system which uses the welding arc itself as a sensor is largely used. In this study the velocity controller which changes the tip to workpiece distance for regulating the weld proposed. The proportional and integral gain of velocity controller were determined by using the computer simulation of the control system, and the simulation results compared with the experimental ones. It was revealed that the developed control system using the arc sensor principle has a good capability of tracking the weld joint, although some more studies will be needed to refine the model of arc current.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.25-31
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• 2014

Gas metal arc welding (GMAW) is currently the most widely used arc welding processes in the industry because of its high metal deposition rate, flexibility and low cost. It is attractive for high-productivity manufacturing applications and is well suited to automatic or robotic welding. Welding voltage and current have a significant impact on the weld bead. However, welding voltage and current are changed variously according to welding condition and user environment, and prediction is impossible. To determine the welding conditions, the welding current and voltage are applied to the appropriate data analysis techniques. In this paper, we used the moving average filter to the welding voltage and current data, and normal and abnormal welding waves were distinguished.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.49-55
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• 2008

Arc welding process is one of the most important technologies to join metal plates. Robotic welding offers the reduced manufacturing cost sought, but its widespread use demands a means of sensing and correcting for inaccuracies in the part, the fixturing and the robot. A number of problems that need to be addressed in robotic arc welding processes include sensing, joint tracking, and lack of adequate models for process parameter prediction and quality control. Problems with parameter settings and quality control occur frequently in the GMA(Gas Metal Arc) welding process due to the large number of interactive process parameters that must be set and accurately controlled. The objectives of this paper are to realize the mapping characteristics of bead width using a sensitivity analysis and develop the neural network and multiple regression method, and finally select the most accurate model in order to control the weld quality(bead width) for fillet welding. The experimental results show that the proposed neural network estimator can predict bead width with reasonable accuracy, and guarantee the uniform weld quality.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.85-94
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• 1998

Welding fabrication invariantly involves three district sequential steps: preparation, actual process execution and post-weld inspection. One of the major problems in automating these steps and developing autonomous welding system, is the lack of proper sensing strategies. Conventionally, machine vision is used in robotic arc welding only for the correction of pre-taught welding paths in single pass. In this paper, developed vision processing techniques are detailed, and their application in welding fabrication is covered. The software for joint tracking system is finally proposed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2004.10a
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• pp.596-599
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• 2004

The robotic $CO_2$ welding is a manufacturing process to produce high quality joints for metal and it could provide a capability of full automation to enhance productivity. Despite the widespread use in the various manufacturing industries, the full automation of the robotic $CO_2$ welding has not yet been achieved partly because the mathematical model for the process parameters of a given welding task is not fully understood and quantified. Several mathematical models to control welding quality, productivity, microstructure and weld properties in arc welding processes have been studied. However, it is not an easy task to apply them to the various practical situations because the relationship between the process parameters and the bead geometry is non-linear and also they are usually dependent on the specific experimental results. Practically, it is difficult, but important to know how to establish a mathematical model that can predict the result of the actual welding process and how to select the optimum welding condition under a certain constraint. In this research, an attempt has been made to develop an intelligent algorithm to predict the weld geometry (top-bead width, top-bead height, back-bead width and back-bead height) as a function of key process parameters in the robotic $CO_2$welding. To achieve this above objective, Taguchi method was employed using five different process parameters (tip gap, gas flow rate, welding speed, arc current, welding voltage) as a guide for optimization of process parameters.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.68-80
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• 1996

When a workpiece is to be arc welded around the outside corner, continuous welding without welding seam in the neighborhood of comer still remains a very difficult technique. Skilled welders weld comers by delicate“hand-eye coordination”while turning the workpiece manually, However, there is not a very clear solution to this problem in robotized arc welding process. In order to solve this problem, the coordination of a robot and a positioner with one or two axes is necessary. This paper presents a method of continuous welding around the corner of workpiece using the coordinated motion of a robot and a positioner. The positioner is either revolute jointed or prismatic jointed. In this paper, a clothoid curve is chosen for welding trajectory. The clothoid curve is excellent in connecting straight and curved weld-lines with good continuity and accommodates various welding conditions. By using this welding trajectory, the deceleration, which leads to widening of the melt and the heat affected zone, at comer area is reduced with strategic rotation of robot torch in coordination with a positioner providing smooth transition of welding torch orientation. Two types of special clothoid curves are developed for different weld slope conditions. These clothoid curves are applied to the case of linear and rotary Positioners at arc welding robot work-cell.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.40-46
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• 1999

The sensors employed in the robotic are welding system must detect the changes in weld characteristics and produce the output that is in some way related to the change being detected. Such adaptive systems, which synchronise the robot arm and eyes using a primitive brain will form the basis for the development of robotic GMA(Gas Metal Arc) welding which increasingly higher levels of artificial intelligence. The objective of this paper is to realize the mapping characteristics of bead height through learning. After learning, the neural estimation can estimate the bead height desired from the learning mapping characteristic. The design parameters of the neural network estimator(the number of hidden layers and the number of nodes in a layer) are chosen from an estimation error analysis. A series of bead of bead-on-plate GMA welding experiments was carried out in order to verify the performance of the neural network estimator. The experimental results show that the proposed neural network estimator can predict the bead height with reasonable accuracy and guarantee the uniform weld quality.