Successful Titanium Welding with Flexible Welding Enclosures®
It is often necessary to weld titanium or nickel alloy parts in an oxygen free environment especially within the Aerospace and Additive Manufacturing Industries.
In order to achieve oxide-free welds, it is important that the welding zone is purged of oxygen to a level as low as 10 parts per million (ppm). Flexible Welding Enclosures® manufactured by Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT® are an ideal, low cost, very successful solution.
Luke Keane, Technical Support for HFT® said: “Our standard and specially made Enclosures are available for a fraction of the cost of a rigid welding chamber, providing a technically viable option to the very expensive metal chambers and purge boxes.”
“Special Flexible Welding Enclosures® can be designed and manufactured to suit any purpose. We’ve recently manufactured systems for complete robot manufacturing cells and for GTAW (TIG) as well as laser additive manufacturing applications.”
Size for size, Flexible Welding Enclosures® cost considerably less than a metal glove box or a vacuum system.
A vacuum system is not necessary to obtain a very fast purging time down to a few ppm of oxygen. The Welding Enclosures are ideal for small production quantities of items that need total gas coverage as well as single large items with critical joints.
A combination of translucent material and optically clear sheet is used depending on the viewing requirements of the customer. Large access zips are fitted to each Enclosure and additional entry points can be provided for operators’ gloves.
A service panel incorporates access ports for welding torches, electrical leads and water-cooling supplies. A purge gas entry port and exhaust valve are also manufactured as standard to vent displaced gas into the atmosphere.
Flexible Welding Enclosures® are used by companies such as British Airways, Airbus, Pratt and Whitney, Lufthansa, GKN, Senior Engineering and Shapes Aerospace International along with many other companies in the Aerospace field and many other Industries such as Titanium Bicycle Manufacturing Companies.
Shapes Aerospace have quoted: “We use our Argweld® Flexible Welding Enclosure® along with the PurgEye® Weld Purge Monitor® everyday for our titanium welding. They are built to last!"
Operator comfort and ease of use versus the disagreeable conditions found with a rigid plastic or metal chamber make the flexible versions a big hit with welding personnel.
The manufacturers of these Flexible Enclosures, Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT® has spearheaded a drive to design systems specifically for the Welding Industry. The company has been at the forefront in developing these Enclosures for many years and has exploited the opportunities offered by advanced engineering polymers.
Huntingdon Fusion Techniques HFT® have a Worldwide Exclusive Distributor network, which can be found at www.huntingdonfusion.com.
Flexible Welding Enclosures® video is available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlYO0PYTTro