Development of tandem MIG welding control system

In recent shipbuilding, the welding for nonferrous metal as like aluminum is increasing for variety of ships. Aluminum welding is more difficult process than that of mild steel. This welding is very sensitive to welding conditions such as welding equipment, gas, wire, and working environment. So, we need the automation welding equipment for the aluminum plate welding. But normal welding equipment has a limited function in the welding speed and deposition rate. In this paper, an improved welding process as like tandem welding was applied to the aluminum thick plate welding for shipbuilding. We developed an automation welding carriage system to make it possible to weld aluminum with the tandem welding equipment. In additional, we developed a new control system for the convenience of operation and the benefit in size. The new control system is designed with industrial PLC to integrate the different controllers. And the developed automation welding system has been verified in actual aluminum welding process for shipbuilding. We expect that this system will support convenience, more efficient operations and reduced operator workload for adjustment of welding parameter.