Pipe and pipeline welding is divided into many worlds. At one end is the roughneck world of owner/operator welding subcontractors. These welders wear pancake-style welding helmets, drive trucks featuring prominently mounted pipe welding power supplies on the back, and have a seemingly endless supply of welding rods tucked about their…
Having choices doesn’t necessarily make things easier, and that is certainly the case when it comes to choosing a joint type for a tube-to-tubesheet welding project. Of course, the type of use—heat exchanger, pressure vessel, or boiler—and the fluids being processed factor into the choice. Tube material, corrosion resistance, tubesheet…
The welding that most people are familiar with is manual arc welding, in which the quality of the weld depends entirely on the skill and experience of the person moving the metal. Manual welding is subject to inconsistencies due to fatigue, inattention, and distraction, which alter the weld’s properties. In…
By its very nature, the orbital TIG welding process poses fewer hazards than most manual welding methods. Non-consumable electrodes, fully enclosed weld heads, remote vision systems, and mechanized control of the welding process can all reduce the health and safety risks associated with welding. Nonetheless, orbital welding hazards do exist,…
Ask a pipe welder what the best welding machine for a pipeline is, and they are likely to mention a particular shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) machine first produced in 1945, when welders still cross-trained as blacksmiths. This machine is a classic that stayed in production until the 1990s, and…
If you’ve invested in orbital welding equipment or you’re about to make the investment, it’s probably because you’ve heard that automated pipe welding is faster and safer than many of the manual welding methods it replaces. This is true: orbital technology is proven to boost productivity and deliver consistent, high-quality…
In conversation, it’s sometimes difficult to tell whether the word “welder” refers to a machine or its operator. However, it’s obvious whether a weld bead was laid down by a human or a machine. Automated welding has a level of consistency that even master manual welders can’t match. With machine…
Welders, shop supervisors, and even accountants all have an interest in deciding how to calculate welding productivity and its impact on profitability. While calculating productivity can be a tricky exercise, welding shops with high-volume tube and pipe welding processes or similar types of repetitive repairs have the benefit of generating…
What ultimately defines the quality of a pipe weld is how well it meets standards. There are a bewildering variety of international, national, and industry-specific standards for pipe welding. In spite of the sheer number of these guidelines, it is entirely possible for a project to call for a weld…
High demand for welders (the American Welding Society mentions a predicted shortage of 375,000 welders by 2023) means that welding-intensive industries are looking to maximize the productivity of their welding teams. The most effective way to achieve this goal is by transforming repetitive or high-volume manual welds into mechanized welding…
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