Mechanical Approaches To Seam Tracking For Arc Welding

TWI Industrial Member Report Summary 167/1981

By S J Holder, S B Jones and J Weston

Background

Seam tracking systems are an essential element in the future development of mechanised and automated arc welding. Many techniques are available, and the present report, which is the first in a series on the subject, uses commercial equipment, and prototype units produced at The Welding Institute to illustrate purely mechanical seam tracking methods. A common feature of these systems is their relative simplicity and low cost. They therefore form a technological and economic baseline against which other seam tracking approaches may be judged.