18

Heavy vehicle applications of robotic MIG welding

È M , Volvo Wheel Loaders AB, Sweden
H BROSTRO

18.1 Introduction
The development of robot technology has made it possible to use robotic
welding of big, heavy objects with very long arc times for each object. It is
possible to connect not only arc welding equipment but also other equipment to
the robot station. Today it is common to see turntables, positioners, arc seam
sensing and tracking, cameras, double-wire guns, etc. and twelve to fifteen axles
that can work together in the robot cell with advanced control systems.

18.2 Welding of frames for heavy wheel loaders

18.2.1 The welding process
Heavy construction robot arc welding (HCRAW) uses MAG welding both with
solid wire 1.2 mm and metal-cored wire 1.2±1.4 mm. The shielding gas is an
argon±carbon dioxide mixture. The process development during the last five
years has lead to the development of the twin-arc and tandem arc welding
processes. The welding speed for single wire is on average 0.45 m/min and for
double wire up to approximately 1.0 m/min. The use of two metal-cored wires in
the tandem arc welding process gives a welding speed of 1.5 m/min when
welding a throat thickness of 5 mm in the welding position PA (most favourable
position).
Figure 18.1 shows a typical wheel loader.

18.2.2 Materials and preparation of the parts

The steel used is low-strength steel, thickness from 6 mm to 80 mm with an
average thickness of 20±25 mm. The steel plates are shot blasted before the
thermal cutting operation and the parts are straightened to within 2 mm (see
Fig. 18.2). The plasma cutting gives tolerances of 1 mm. Some important
location points, e.g. holes for location in tack-welding fixtures or in joints are
machined with tolerances of 0.2 mm. It is very important for the quality of the
286 MIG welding guide

18.1 Heavy wheel loader.

18.2 Straightening of steel plates.

 Heavy vehicle applications of robotic MIG welding 287

welds and for achieving high welding speed that the tolerances of the parts are
very tight.
One quality problem is the variations in thickness and hardness of the steel
plates that give different spring-back in bending operations. The capability of
the bending machine is therefore of great importance.

18.2.3 Fixtures and robot movements

The most complex fixtures are used in tack welding. After tack welding, the
metal structures are fixed to the manipulators in the robot cell. Special adaptors
are used in the manipulators. This gives the flexibility of welding different
types and sizes of weld structure and also the possibility of welding in position
PA.
Most heavy robot cells are of the gantry type that gives the optimum working
range. The investment for such a heavy robot arc welding cell is from
US$800,000 to US$1,000,000. In order to have an acceptable payback of this
investment the robot cell must be used at least for two or perhaps three shifts.

18.2.4 Welding
The deep penetration when welding with tandem arc welding and metal-cored
wire will be 2±3 mm (see Fig. 18.3). This gives the possibility of reducing the
visible throat thickness dramatically from, e.g. 8 mm to 6 mm and still have the
same strength of welded joint. The shielding gas used in this process is Ar +
10% CO2. (The gas is mixed in a mixer in the factory from argon and carbon
dioxide.)
The requirements on the materials for this process are clean surfaces of the
joint, no gaps and welding position PA. One big advantage with this method is
that the welds get a concave shape, which gives higher fatigue strength. Some
welds are also TIG dressed and the weld structures are shot-blasted (steel shots)
afterwards which increases the fatigue strength even more.

18.2.5 Programming
It is possible to weld heavy structures in robots thanks to the gantry robot
configuration (Fig. 18.4), and advanced robot programming. Robot program-
ming was earlier a bottleneck since it was time-consuming and the robot had to
be used during the programming. No production was possible for a long time.
Today offline programming (OLP) is used. The utilisation of the robot is
optimised and CADCAM technology makes it possible to transfer 3D-solid
models from the design department to the manufacturing (see Fig. 18.5).
A successful design for robotic welding requires a long experience and close
cooperation between the design department and the manufacturing department.
288 MIG welding guide

18.3 Fillet weld with good external shape and penetration, position PA. The
weld is welded with tandem MIG welding and two metal-cored wires diameter
1.4 mm. Shielding gas was argon with 10% carbon dioxide, gas flow 25 l/min.
Welding parameters 420 A and 32 V, stick-out 25 mm and welding speed
1.2 m/min. The theoretical throat thickness is 6 mm (black), the effective throat
is 8 mm (white). It is possible to reduce the actual throat as is shown by the
white line. The strength is at least the same as with the large throat (black
dashed line). Also note the good connection between the weld metal and the
base metal that favours a good fatigue performance.

18.2.6 Transport to and from the robots

The frames are loaded with a crane onto the loading wagons, then the loading
and unloading to and from the robot cell is done automatically.

18.2.7 Quality control

It is not possible to find defects inside the welds without using destructive
testing. Such solutions are used for small objects where test samples are checked
regularly. The control procedures of weld quality for heavy structures include a
very strict control of the robot program, the welding parameters and the robot
positioning during the welding. Welding inspection is done statistically by
magnetic particle testing and ultrasonic testing.
The HCRAW process must be well adopted within the welding organisation.
 Heavy vehicle applications of robotic MIG welding 289

18.4 Gantry robot with tandem arc welding equipment.

18.5 3D-CAD solid model of a side-section of a rear frame, which is also used
in offline programming of the robot.
290 MIG welding guide

The cooperation between design and manufacturing, support from suppliers and
the deep knowledge of the robot operator are all crucial elements for the success
of the robot welding.

18.3 Future trends

Some trends in the future development of design and manufacturing of heavy
earth-moving vehicles are:
· Increased use of high-strength steel:
± Reduction of weight
± More weight in the bucket
± Less fuel consumption, less pollution, etc.
· Increase of the forces on the welds means that higher quality is required of
the welds.
· Laser hybrid welding (laser±MIG welding):
± Less residual stresses and less deformation
± Higher welding speed
± Deeper and better control of the penetration.
· Full automation of the whole robot welding line:
± Lower operation time
± Less manual handling.
· Integrated quality inspection system of the welds.
To reach these goals development is needed both in design and welding
processes. A deeper understanding of the behaviour of the highly stressed welds
under fatigue load is important and how to translate this into more precise
calculation methods. With regard to processes, the laser hybrid welding is very
interesting due to its high penetration.