Productivity in semi-automatic MAG welding can be higher

In Europe, MAG welding with a single solid wire is by far the most widely used process, accounting for a consumption of more than 300,000 tons in 2017. About 65% of this is welded semi-automatically, the rest automatically and/or by robots. For the automatic process, there were already solutions to increase productivity, in other words the deposition rate, for example the tandem MIG/MAG process. For semi-automatic welding, Lincoln Electric is now introducing HyperFillTM.

Lincoln Electric is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of welding equipment, welding consumables, robotic systems and plasma cutting equipment. "We have more than sixty production facilities worldwide and a network of dealers and sales offices in more than one hundred and sixty countries," says Harm Meelker, technical manager Northern Europe and Export. "R&D is busy daily developing new solutions and optimizing existing products. This is also how HyperFill™ came into being, a semi-automatic or automatic welding process that works with two wires in combination with one power source. Unlike a tandem system, where everything is done in duplicate, this process works with one wire feed case, one liner and one contact tip."

Unique concept with two threads

HyperFill™ relies on a unique two-wire concept that, thanks to a specially developed "Wave form" for the PowerWave (S500) power source, results in a higher deposition rate than single-wire processes. "A so-called 'liquid bridge' is created between the two wires. This creates a very large drop, which in turn leads to a large controlled arc diameter," Meelker explains the process. "The user gets a system with good weldability as a result of the stable arc, lower voltage and increased deposition rate, and that results in a better burn-in profile, greater a-height and less chance of edge indentation." HyperFill™ in its current stage of development is ideal for welding unalloyed steels and MAG welding joints in 1G/1F and 2G/2F. While single-wire welding guarantees a maximum deposition rate of 5 - 6 kg/h, the semi-automatic HyperFill™ welding process goes up to 9 to 9.5 kg/h while maintaining good operational weldability for the manual welder. Automatic/robot welding goes up to 11 to 11.5 kg/h.