How a Seam Welder Works
Manufacturing plants require products to be stored in sturdy, leak-resistant metal containers. These containers hold anything from petroleum fuels to grain storage. To create these containers, workers weld sheets of metal together with a seam welder machine. This machine uses electricity and pressure to join together two pieces of metal for a durable, sustaining seam. The United States military also uses seam welders to make equipment.
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Seam Weld Process
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An operator places two sheets of metal into the seam welder. The metal feeds through as electrical current flows between electrode wheels on either side. The electrode wheels heat up the metal while adding pressure. The metal resists the electrical flow, creating spots of molten metal, referred to as nuggets, along the sheets to join the metals together. A cooling system reduces the electrode's temperature as the welded sheet exits the machine. The process consists of three different welding techniques. Roll-spot welding creates small nuggets with large gaps between. Reinforced roll-spot welding has smaller spaces between the welded nuggets. Leak-tight seam welding overlaps the nuggets to create a continuous welded seam.
Welder Systems
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The seam welder may have different configurations for the electrode wheel, depending on its type and application. Operators run seam welders with two rotating wheels that move the work piece through the machine. Other seam welders operate with the electrode wheels unmoving as the metal moves or have one electrode wheel with an electrode shaped in a flat bar. The wire-feed system pushes a copper wire into the electrode wheel's groove.
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Control Operations
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Depending on the type of seam welder, the equipment operates by a programmable function key pad. The operator controls the speed of the welding, the cooling system for the electrodes and the electrodes' parameters for diameter and force. The operator's station has controls to repeat the particular weld, repeat a sequence function and switch the welding process off and on. This allows the operator to continually adjust the settings to create the best quality weld during the production process.
Applications
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The seam welder machine works on applications such as aluminum, stainless steel and titanium. It can apply a weld force of about 4,000 pounds for 80 pounds per square inch, the Federal Business Opportunities says. The seam welder has a production rate based on the number of feet it produces a weld for every minute the metal feeds through the electrodes. This production rate is based on the type of metal fed into the machine.
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