Instrumentation In Gas Metal Arc Welding

TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 113/1980

By J A Street, A Burr and R G Newling

Background

The requirements for arc welding instrumentation are noted, and recommendations made for standardised measurement of voltage, current, wire feed and travel speeds at suitable accuracy, together with related variables such as arc energy. The advantages of analog (meter) versus digital (numerical) display
are compared and typical multi-parameter instrumentation packages described. A combined analog/digital package for weld data acquisition for both operator and supervisor use is suggested. Also a new approach exploiting the flexibility of VDU techniques is recommended, together with microcomputer
handling and preliminary analysis of the welding parameters. Finally for quality assurance purposes, in situ calibration is proposed as for example by the portable check facility described for voltage.