DAlbertson
Electrical
- Apr 1, 2006
- 24
My company is designing a production line for a new product. Two of the parts are aluminum near-mirror images of each other, and were to be assembled with adhesive. The customer change-ordered the fabrication to be welded instead.
Sketches of one of the two parts is shown below. The bottom-left section drawing is hatched to show the planar surface that needs to mate and be welded to the mirror-part. The total surface area to be welded is 121 mm^2 [0.188 inch^2].
I'm thinking about Flash-Butt Welding or Resistance-Butt Welding since both can produce a gas-tight continuous seam, minimal part distortion, and automate well.
The aluminum spec'ed is 6061-T6. I'm aware that this is not the best aluminum for welding, and would like suggestions for a better aluminum that still has good anti-corrosion and weathering properties.
The advantage of the Flash-Butt process for aluminum seems to be that it flashes the aluminum oxide in the weld area without pre-cleaning the part. Am I missing something, or is the Flash-Butt process a good match for this task?
Thanks very much for looking at my problem!
Dave
Sketches of one of the two parts is shown below. The bottom-left section drawing is hatched to show the planar surface that needs to mate and be welded to the mirror-part. The total surface area to be welded is 121 mm^2 [0.188 inch^2].
I'm thinking about Flash-Butt Welding or Resistance-Butt Welding since both can produce a gas-tight continuous seam, minimal part distortion, and automate well.
The aluminum spec'ed is 6061-T6. I'm aware that this is not the best aluminum for welding, and would like suggestions for a better aluminum that still has good anti-corrosion and weathering properties.
The advantage of the Flash-Butt process for aluminum seems to be that it flashes the aluminum oxide in the weld area without pre-cleaning the part. Am I missing something, or is the Flash-Butt process a good match for this task?
Thanks very much for looking at my problem!
Dave
