A metal fabrication company located in Charlotte, North Carolina received an order for 300 small I.D. vessels for titanium molds. At the time they were using FCAW and back gouging the inside and outside of the vessels to achieve 100% penetration. On average they were producing 2 vessels per hour with 2 welders.
They reached out to Red-D-Arc to find a faster and more efficient way to produce these vessels. After discussions with Red-D-Arc the fabricator decided to purchase a bespoke submerged arc system.The custom designed system came complete with a small I.D. sub arc welding head mounted on a 9’x9′ column and boom, flux recovery system, NA5R automatic wire feeder, DC600 multi-process welder and 5 ton rotators. The system also included a laser and camera for precise control and monitoring of the submerged arc welding process.
The submerged arc system increased productivity by 250%. They were able to produce 5 cans per hour with half the labor cost. The safety of the work place was also significantly increased for a number of reasons:
• Back gouging was eliminated which in turn reduced the risk of fire
• Rotators replaced manual rotation of the vessels on tables
• Welders no longer had to weld inside the confined space of the vessels
The customer and the Red-D-Arc team were beyond pleased with the results. The customer plans to purchase two more of these systems for future projects.
Submerged arc welding can increase the efficiency and quality of many industrial welding projects regardless of the size or complexity. Red-D-Arc has all the equipment, expertise and experience to provide you with a submerged arc system to fit your needs – available for sale, lease and rent.
Red-D-Arc recently supplied a variety of equipment to a UAE based company that is fabricating pile piping and jackets for the largest offshore wind farm project in the world. The company had to meet a strict time line of only 6 months, and would require a massive amount of welding and weld automation equipment immediately. Through consultation with Red-D-Arc, the customer determined that renting the majority of the equipment would be the most economical option. Red-D-Arc was able to fulfil the customers equipment needs immediately thanks to our vast and diverse fleet of equipment.
This massive order involved equipment and support from Red-D-Arc North America, Red-D-Arc UK and Red-D-Arc Middle East. The order consisted of a variety of welding and weld automation equipment including:
• 23 column and booms with single and tandem submerged arc welders
• 20 submerged arc tractors
• 200 rotators
• 167 jack-up rotators
• 400 CC/CV inverter welders
• 200 FCAW wirefeeders
• 10 Induction Heating Systems
By renting the majority of the equipment the fabrication company avoided the need to invest heavily in specialized equipment and ensured they would meet their deadline. Red-D-Arc works with customers to address their unique challenges and develops specialized solutions. Learn more about customized turnkey packages here.
Red-D-Arc supplied equipment and installation services for a new weld overlay cladding facility in the west of Scotland for one of the leading global distributors of raw material for wellhead and completion equipment to the oil and gas industry. After discussions with the client, Red-D-Arc designed a solution to meet the specific needs of their project. It was determined that the new cladding facility would consist of six Compact Cladding Cells and four Butt Welding Stations.
“We regularly develop specialized solutions alongside our customers…”
Layout of the facility began with our experienced engineers installing the six Red-D-Arc Compact Cladding Cells. Each Compact Cladding Cell consists of an automated system controller, 2m x 1m cross slide, 3 tonne turntable with built-in slip ring for preheating, and a Miller power source. Next, the four Red-D-Arc Butt Welding Stations were installed. Each station consists of an automated system controller; 3m x 3m travelling column and boom; 300mm x 300mm oscillation slide; 3 tonne headstock, 2 travelling support pipe idlers and a Miller power source.
The Red-D-Arc Weld Automation team has extensive experience across diverse sectors of industry. We regularly provide weld process recommendations and develop specialized solutions alongside our customers to address their unique challenges. Red-D-Arc Weld Automation Systems are designed for optimized reliability and productivity, and come complete with installation, onsite training, services and support.
Red-D-Arc designs and builds complete turnkey weld automation packages for your complete project requirements. Our team of engineers and designers develop specialized solutions alongside our customers. We’ll provide you with weld process recommendations and set up all your equipment for optimized reliability, functionality and productivity.
The Red-D-Arc Weld Automation team has extensive industry experience which includes hundreds of special and turnkey installations provided to diverse sectors of industry such as Oil Exploration and Refining, Nuclear Industries, Aerospace, Defense, Steel Mills, Mining and Wind Tower Manufacture. From small positioners for integration with welding robots to 500 tonne capacity positioners with unique HMI controls complete with onsite training, services and support.
The decision to rent, lease or own welding equipment often depends on utilization rates, amount of equipment required and necessary process capabilities. If equipment will be used more than 60-70% you should consider buying or leasing equipment. If utilization rates are lower than 60%, renting may be the way to go. Renting provides you with immediate access to professionally maintained welding equipment when and where you need it. Red-D-Arc has the most up to date, diverse fleet of rental welding equipment available to accommodate any process or technological requirement.
We are a rental company after all, so let’s look at the welder rental option a little further. When renting a welder you pay for actual use, not equipment ownership. Renting minimizes costs associated with maintenance, repair, storage, handling and freight and can provide you with an opportunity to try out new equipment before deciding to purchase. Contractors, maintenance and repair companies, owner-operators and other welding professionals rent from Red-D-Arc because of our fleet size, equipment diversity, expert advice and equipment performance.
Many companies prefer to own their core fleet of equipment and rent additional equipment as required. Red-D-Arc’s WelderLogistics Lease Program program is a low cost, flexible option to obtain your core fleet, allowing you to conserve capital and avoid investing in depreciating assests. The WelderLogistics lease program is 100% write-off for tax purposes and the equipment remains under full factory warranty during the lease term. If you already have an existing fleet, simply trade it in for new equipment.
MacAljon, a industrial general contracting firm in the US, has increased the productivity of its thin-wall tank manufacturing operation by more than 50% using the Red-D-Arc RDA MFUB-TW (fit-up bed for thin-wall cans). Fit-up time has been decreased by 20% and the use of spider bracing is no longer required. With no spider bracing to get in the way, a manipulator is now used to perform SAW ID circumference welding which has increased productivity by 30%.
The RDA MFUB-TW system is specially designed for the construction of thin-wall vessels ranging in size from 3 m to 4.7 m in diameter (custom sizes are available). Our patented system is fitted with independently-adjustable vertical-rolls to support, align and compensate for tank non-concentricity when assembling multiple thin-wall sections which eliminates the need for spider bracing.
If you work with vessels that require the use of spider bracing or that have a wall thickness of between 4.8 mm – 9.5 mm contact the Red-D-Arc sales team to learn more about the RDA MFUB-TW and how it can increase the productivity of your thin-wall tank manufacturing operation.
Red-D-Arc UK was recently awarded the contract to supply a fully-automated welding system to QA Weldetch, a UK company which is a large subcontractor to companies involved in the manufacture of subsea components, these companies being FMC, Cooper Cameron’s, GE, Aker etc.. This system was designed to clad pipe up to a maximum length of 6.5 meters and to a minimum diameter of 125mm.
Red-D-Arc UK was invited into the customer’s facility to measure the facility so that the customer could clad the maximum length of pipe that their facility would physically allow. Our engineers visited the site then provided the customer with the GA, showing what RDA’s design and solution was for them. The system consists of Key Plant – RDA fully automated control system, 7 ton hollow bore head stock, 2 sets of floating pipe supports (to compensate for any bend in the pipe), Fronius welding power sources and Fronius hot wire power sources.
If you require any further information on this system or a vertical hot wire cladding system please contact Ross McCrorie at ross.mccrorie@airgas.com
