MIG/MAG orbital welding
Wherever orbital welding with the MAG process or MIG process is used, there is high time pressure and cost pressure at the same time. Welding pipes with larger wall thicknesses, such as those used in the energy sector and in pipeline construction for transporting gas or oil, places special demands on the weld seam. ABICOR BINZEL offers robust welding systems for orbital welding with the MIG/MAG welding process – and thus suitable system solutions for these requirements. This means enormous savings potential for manufacturing companies and active relief of welders.
In contrast to TIG welding, which is mainly used in the food industry and in the chemical industry when processing stainless steels, MIG/MAG orbital welding is used for structural steels, but also for higher alloy steels and special steels.
All information about MIG/MAG orbital welding at a glance
Challenges in MIG/MAG orbital welding
The pipes processed in MIG/MAG orbital welding usually have larger wall thicknesses that cannot be welded with just one layer. Depending on the wall thickness, 5 to 10 layers have to be welded. For a manual welder, this means having to work in forced positions and being exposed to radiant heat and weld spatter in overhead positions, which, depending on the duration of the actual welding time, is at the expense of the weld seam quality and health. In short: welders quickly reach their limits with manual orbital welding.
Another challenge with MIG/MAG orbital welding is the root pass: the V-joint as a seam preparation between two pipes runs very narrow downwards, so that the root can be formed with just one pass. On site as well as in the production hall, it is therefore common to weld the root by hand using an electrode or TIG process. The following layers are then preferably welded in a partially mechanized manner. It is of great advantage for the welder to be able to weld all layers partially mechanically from the root. Especially for MIG/MAG orbital welding ABICOR BINZEL offers automatic welding machines – also called welding tractors –which can weld all layers from root to cap. Orbital welding of the root is also possible with a power source that is designed for special root welding.
Welding layers with consistently good quality
With the system solutions for MIG/MAG orbital welding, manual welders have valuable, partially mechanized support that guarantees consistent, repeatable and process-reliable weld seam quality. By setting an even pendulum frequency and deflection, a consistently secure connection is made with every position – more precisely and faster than is possible with manual welding.