Welding Torch Separation Control for Arc Start
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional consumable electrode type welding processes experience excessive wire buckling and spatter due to vibrations and follow-up delays during arc start, leading to increased downtime and reduced productivity.
Innovation Solution
A dedicated separation control system is integrated into the welding system to control the welding torch's movement in a direction away from the workpiece, reducing vibrations and follow-up delays, and a position control loop with a torch separation control block adjusts velocity commands to minimize overshoot and improve velocity follow-up performance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the robot manipulator is reversed to perform retreat movement during arc start, then the welding torch can be separated from the workpiece to generate arc, but vibrations and follow-up delays occur causing wire buckling and spatter
Solution Approach 1:
The control system is segmented into a dedicated separation control system and a position control system. The separation control system specifically handles the retreat movement to separate the welding torch from the workpiece, while the position control system maintains overall positioning accuracy. This segmentation allows optimized control for each function, reducing vibrations and follow-up delays during the critical separation phase.
Solution Approach 2:
A dedicated separation control block acts as an intermediary between the position control system and the motor drive. This intermediary component processes the separation command and generates appropriate velocity commands that minimize vibrations and follow-up delays, thereby preventing wire buckling and spatter while achieving reliable arc start.
2Reliability
If the robot manipulator uses conventional position control system, then positioning can be maintained, but response time and acceleration/deceleration time increase reducing productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The control system dynamically switches between different control modes. During normal positioning, the position control system maintains accuracy. During arc start separation, the dedicated separation control system takes over with optimized velocity commands that reduce response time and acceleration/deceleration time, thereby improving productivity without sacrificing positioning accuracy when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The control parameters are changed based on the operational phase. The dedicated separation control system uses different velocity command parameters optimized for rapid separation with minimal vibration, while the position control system uses parameters optimized for accurate positioning. This parameter adaptation allows the system to achieve both high positioning accuracy and fast arc generation speed.
Data Source
AI summary
A torch is moved by a manipulator in a direction separating from a base material 7 while a wire is supplied, whereby an actuator driving the robot manipulator can control a velocity of the wire for a workpiece by a unidirectional operation of separating the torch, and vibration due to reverse of torch velocity is not generated. Further, by using a dedicated separation control system, velocity follow-up performance of the actuator moving the torch can be heightened without increasing overshoot in the usual operation time, and the acceleration and deceleration time of the manipulator can be reduced.