Flexible Welding Chambers an Economical Alternative to Rigid Enclosures
May 1, 2016Comments
Huntingdon Fusion Techniques (HFT), with U.S. offices in West Melbourne, FL, has debuted its Argweld Flexible Welding Enclosures, ideal when a rigid chamber may not be economically viable or where space may be at a premium.
Consider that when welding titanium, zirconium and some stainless-steel joints it is important that the welding zone is purged of oxygen to a level as low as 10 parts per million (ppm). HFT’s flexible chambers allow for such conditions at a fraction of the cost of rigid enclosures, according to company officials.
“For many years the greater cost of a metal enclosure prevented all but the major companies taking on work involving the fabrication of these metals,” says Luke Keane, with HFT’s technical support group, noting that flexible welding bubbles provide rapid purging time down to a few .ppm of oxygen and are ideal for small production quantities of items that need total gas coverage.
Aerospace, automotive, biochemical, medical, food, beverage, semiconductor and nuclear sectors reportedly have made use of the enclosures, as have companies experimenting with wire-plus-arc additive manufacturing.
The standard enclosures are manufactured with two sets of glove ports. The upper half of the enclosure, above the arm entries, is optically clear to provide ideal welding vision. A transfer sleeve makes it possible to pass small parts in or out of the enclosure without affecting purge quality.
As in the case of the robot manufacturing cells and for laser and arc additive-manufacturing applications, custom-designed enclosures are possible.
Huntingdon Fusion Techniques: www.huntingdonfusion.com
See also: Huntingdon Fusion Techniques
Technologies: Welding and Joining
