The Importance of Orbital Welding Training of Stainless Steel Tubing

Welding stainless steel tubing requires understanding its type and microstructure, and physical, chemical, and thermal properties. For instance, austenitic steels can expand more quickly than ferritic steel during welding and therefore requires necessary arrangements to avoid thermal stress and weld zone cracking. Needless to say, the job demands experienced operators and careful observation throughout the process. 

Thanks to orbital welding, industrial facilities in Northern California can now ensure weld repeatability, consistency, and efficiency without worrying about the type of stainless steel tube on the table. However, it still requires a well-trained workforce for a nuisance-free operation. 

In this article, we discuss the advantages of automation over manual welding and the importance of orbital welding training for stainless steel tubing, specifically.

The Advantages of Automatic Orbital Welding vs. Manual TIG Welding

Operators prefer automatic orbital welding over manual TIG welding when it comes to enhanced precision and reliability. Some of the unique advantages of orbital welding are:

Open Platform Design

Automated orbital welding takes care of tedious manual control settings required to achieve desired travel speed, arc gap, and gas flow via electronic or mechanical means. That’s why the power supply utilizes an open platform that interfaces with standard devices and has scope for scalability in the future.

Hassle-free Programming 

Unlike in manual TIG welding, creating programs for specific stainless steel tubes is less cumbersome in automated orbital welding machines. Custom settings can be saved and stored to create programs within a few minutes. That especially helps a new operator to optimize startup time and avoids any chance of human error. 

Consistency 

Despite hiring skilled operators, industrial facilities can’t expect the same consistency with hand welding that orbital offers. In contrast, when an electrode is programmed to automatically follow a fixed orbit around the weld and change positions with precision, there is hardly any room for human error. 

Impeccable Data Management

Maintaining a daily written weld log for quality control in manual welding can be time-consuming. Automatic orbital welding machines can save time by collecting essential log details from operators before getting started, and then storing and synchronizing the operator details with existing data. This enables easy retrieval and transfer of log data during the time of need.  

Orbital welding offers several advantages to help operators simplify their welding tasks. However, orbital welding training of stainless steel tubing is needed to fully take advantage of this automation and avoid costly welding mistakes. 

The Importance of Orbital Welding Training for Stainless Steel Tubing

To ensure the reliability and consistency of orbital welding of stainless steel tubing, industrial facilities must invest in the proper training. 

Understanding Gas Purging

The ability to control inside diameter (ID) purge gas is essential to retain weld quality and avoid corrosion or weld bead sagging. A thorough training program should teach proper gas purging techniques including selecting an ideal gas, setting the correct pressure and flow, and calculating the purge time. 

Importance of Shielding Gas

Having a basic understanding of shielding gas is essential for orbital welding of stainless steel. In training, operators should learn how to use common gasses like argon and helium to protect electrodes and molten metal from atmospheric contamination without affecting metallurgical properties of stainless steel tubes. 

Troubleshooting Expertise 

Orbital welding isn’t impervious to occasional process anomalies. For instance, there could be improper welding or weld bead shifts due to sulfur content mismatch. While welding exotic metals like inconel or monel, not knowing how to preheat and cool the metal properly can lead to weld cracking. Orbital welding training teaches operators how to identify the root causes and mitigate them before they lead to costly issues.

Managing Sulfur Content 

Sometimes, stainless steel tubes can deliberately have sulfur content to improve machinability. While trying to weld two stainless steel tubes with different concentrations of sulfur content, the weld bead may miss the joint and move towards a lower concentration. Only an expert can guide operators to overcome such challenges with ease. 

It is imperative that industrial facilities upgrade their workforce with proper orbital welding training for stainless steel tubing to leverage the benefits of automation minus process mistakes often caused by manual welding. Plus, industrial facilities stand to benefit more by investing in orbital welding training by local equipment manufacturers. 

Invest in Swagelok’s Orbital Welding Training for Stainless Steel Tubing  

Swagelok, one of the leading solution providers in the fluid management industry, offers a five-day intense orbital welding training program for aspiring operators in Northern California. Trainees learn the essentials with Swagelok M200 Orbital Welding System. 

The course qualifies for ASME Section IX and covers essential fundamental elements of orbital welding so that the trainees will learn about: 

1. Programming the power supply for different metals 
2. Determining and customizing the acceptable weld criteria (AWC)
3. Properly setting the electrodes 
4. Using Purge and Pressurization to Prevent Weld Failures 
5. Predicting weld shrinkage 
6. Welding dissimilar metals and metals with dissimilar wall thickness
7. Welding different alloys of the same metal 

Also, the course maintains a perfect balance of classroom teaching and practical sessions to help trainees soak in essential working concepts with ease. 

So, industrial facilities in Northern California that invest in Swagelok’s orbital welding training for stainless steel tubing (and more) receive training using a quality welding system—from the team behind the design. They have more acquired knowledge around dos and don'ts and can reap the many benefits of having a local training partner, such as post-training assistance to help trainees overcome challenges during live field operations.

To find out more about how Swagelok Northern California can help you with orbital welding training for stainless steel tubing, contact our team today by calling 510-933-6200.

About Morgan Zealear | Product Engineer, Assembly Services

Morgan holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is certified in Section IX, Grab Sample Panel Configuration, and Mechanical Efficiency Program Specification (API 682), and he is well versed in B31.3 Process Piping Code. Before joining Swagelok Northern, he was a manufacturing engineer at Sierra Instruments, primarily focused on capillary thermal meters for the semiconductor industry (ASML).