Research

Engineering Sciences

Title :

Development of Magnetically Impelled Arc Butt Welding for pressure vessel plates sA516 and sA387

Area of research :

Engineering Sciences

Focus area :

Mechanical Engineering

Principal Investigator :

Dr. Ramesh Kumar subramanian, sAsTRA University, Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu

Timeline Start Year :

2024

Timeline End Year :

2026

Contact info :

Details

Executive Summary :

A new approach based on the Magnetically Impelled Arc Butt Welding (MIAB) process has been developed to execute plate to plate welding without filler in a remarkably short amount of time (less than 46sec). Industry-wide awareness of MIAB plate welding is very less. When utilized in production, MIAB welding has the benefit of having extremely high welding rates, which can be highly advantageous commercially. Moreover, the MIAB welding technique is one of the fast-forging welding processes that provide significant cost reductions for a variety of connection designs. By utilizing electrodes and shielding gases, traditional welding techniques, including gas and arc welding, join the plates. For conventional welding, there are additional procedures, and skilled labour is needed to ensure the weld quality. Yet, producing irregularly shaped flash with sharp projections on the welded plate serves as a telltale sign of joints formed employing this approach. In this MIAB welding procedure, the arc is formed and moved with the aid of magnets using the touch-start method of the plates. The arc movement's formation results in uniform heating rather than erratic flash projections on the welded area. On the faying surfaces of the two plates, uniform heat is produced, resulting in uniform bead, full penetration, and no distinguishing heat affected zone. MIAB welding process offers unique technical challenges like significant cost reduction over other welding processes along with the low weld cycle based on literature. However, In this research proposal, an attempt has been made to weld dissimilar pressure vessel plates sA 516 and sA 387 using MIAB and to assess their weld quality. The primary focus will be on the characterization and development of the MIAB welding process for joining dissimilar plates with sound welds. Welded plates will be characterized by macro and microscopic studies (optical Microscope, scanning Electron Microscopy) and to evaluate the mechanical properties (Hardness, Tensile strength, Fatigue, etc.)

Total Budget (INR):

22,79,046

Organizations involved