delivering savings on downtime per cycle for each robot station, Coreweld 46 LS also offers other production advantages: a high deposition rate with relatively low heat input compared to solid wires, for example, and if used manually, these wires are easier to use than solid wires and offer far better productivity for those still using stick electrodes,” he adds. Remanufacturing mine drill bits Citing a second Coreweld 46 LS success story, Kevin Xaba says the wire is also ideal for weld repair and build-up applications. In a welding remanufacturing depart- ment, two welding robots were being used with solid wire to build up the profiles of worn drill bits before hard-facing. Several problems were encountered: the 1.2 mm solid wire required a relatively low deposi- tion rate to minimise heat input; excessive spatter caused downtime for cleaning the welding torches; and costly grinding opera- tions were necessary to remove spatter from each component. This was causing capacity shortages and production bottlenecks. Test welding was performed using the ESAB 1.4 mm Coreweld 46 LS wire, yielding very good results: essentially no spatter
ESAB Coreweld metal-cored wires offer faster, cleaner and more effective welding, while meeting the needs of demanding welding applications for structural steel, heavy equipment, pressure vessels, petrochemical plants, offshore rigs, railway vehicles, ships and general fabrication. higher current density associated with metal-cored wires, the heat input could be kept low at the higher deposition,” Xaba explains, adding that lower silicon levels compared to using solid GMAW wires are also an advantage in this type of applica- tion. “As a world leader in Welding, cutting equipment and consumables, we at ESAB can offer complete fabrication solutions for virtually every application, along with the support needed to ensure that products such as our Coreweld 46 LS deliver the re- sults that South African fabricators need,” concludes Kevin Xaba. www.esabsa.co.za
“Coreweld 46 LS is a fantastic metal-cored wire for fabricating and/or repairing yellow- metal equipment such as the dump truck and excavator buckets used in South Africa’s mining and construction sectors,” notes Xaba. and a significantly higher deposition rate. The company therefore decided to switch from the previously used 1.2 mm solid wire to a 1.4 mm Coreweld 46 LS wire. This increased production capacity by 42% at the two robot stations. It also resulted in less downtime due to lower torch-cleaning requirements and less time spent cleaning spatter from drill bits after welding. The total production cost for this part of the remanufacturing operations was reduced by 17%, resulting in annual cost savings of €100 000 from these two robot stations. “In this case study, the higher deposi- tion rate associated with Coreweld 46 LS was the critical factor, and because of the
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