Sub-arc?

[Caronine14]

What is Sub-Arc welding?

[aametalmaster]

It is like a giant mig welder using solid wire like 3/32" dia and it uses a flux like sand that is dumped on the weld while welding from a hopper. The flux is recycled and the slag on the part just falls right off. It is used on a track for long welds or on a rotary table to do round parts like tanks. I ran one with 2 welders on it welding pipe, welding both ends at the same time...Bob

[2much2do]

I work for a company that makes anilox ink rolls for printing presses. I make various repairs on them when they come in for reconditioning. They ordered me a new sub arc rig and I should be getting it in a few weeks. I have to train on it. Main reason they got it is from what I understand, is that the flux also sucks out alot of the heat making my job go faster. Part of my job is laying beads across the entire roll to replace lost metal, with my current rig that puts too much heat in the roll. I could be wrong as I have absolutlely no experience with this. I'm only going off what I am told. I appreciate any input on the subject.

[Black Wolf]

"Sub-Arc" = SAW = Submerged Arc Welding.

2much2do,

I'm not entirely sure about the flux removing heat from the weld..... The granular flux particles are poured over the welding wire before the welding process so that as the arcing takes place, the flux "melts" and flows over the deposited weld bead where it "freezes", keeping the bead free from atmoshpheric contamination.

I agree that some heat is absorbed when the flux changes state from solid to liquid, but this same heat energy is released again when the flux changes back to solid. "Latent heat of liquification" (Or whatever it's called) aside, the SAW process is used often for very controlled weld deposition. I first ran across this process in books when it was used to rebuild the bearing jounals on a crankshaft, and was later turned back to OEM on an offset lathe. This same process is used to build up the jounals for offset grinding to increase the net "stroke" on a crankshaft and turn the 350 Chev into a 383 "Stroker"..... But that is another story for another day.

My first practical experience with SAW was in '05, when I worked for a local tank manufacturer, and SAW was used on the outside of 400bbl storage tanks & asphalt tanks to weld out the shell seams & cross seams. We were welding 3/16" Mild Steel with it. Pretty boring job sitting up above a tank running the micro tune knobs.

Just my $.02

Later,
Jason

[abprt]

Sub arc welding

What is Sub-Arc welding?

Sub arc welding is either solid wire or flux core wire introduced onto a work piece while it is covered by a certain type of flux. You can change the chemistry of the metal that you are putting down on your work by the different type of wire and flux used. It is a really good system to use but there are several different things to take into consideration when using this type of welding system such as diameter of rolls, travel speed, temperature of work verses preheating to a certain degree, wire speed that can control depostion and penetration, voltage that controls the heat applied. Even the removal of the flux at different times can control the heat held into the work piece but can also cause problems for ease of flux removal. There are a lot of different things that can help to increase deposition according to thickness of the work and capability of the welding source. I ran dual wire sub arc systems for several years and was able to get the full poteintal from 1500amp generators to maximise the usage or the machine and then mabye weld with the single wire the next day on small three inch journals. Lots of different things can be done for sure to take advantage of this welding process and to make the procedure more profitable.

abprt

[arrowside]

Once your all trained and ready to rock, be sure that you bring a newspaper, and/or your favorite magazines to work with you. Your going to need them.