How Pipe Cutting Automation Impacts Welding

Intro

In this article we want to touch on how pipe cutting and weld prep automation impacts pipe welding operations. At GSI we take a wholistic approach to automation so rather than pushing for a single type of automation we take time to address your whole operation. The question is do I automate cutting or welding first? When considering this question try to answer: what are you most skilled at currently? You need to discover your biggest bottleneck and start there. When considering cutting automation, think about these benefits and how they will affect your currently welding operation to see if cutting automation is the right place to start for your shop.

Cutting Accurate Length

When using an automated pipe cutting machine like our HGG pipe profiling machines, your cuts will be precisely accurate. This is going to impact your fitup and thus your welding operations positively in that now your fitters will be given runs of pipe that are the exact correct length so now they do not have to play with the gap alignment to reach the correct overall length. This means that your fitters can fitup the pipe with about the same gap all the way around and the workpiece will come out to the correct length when welded with that gap. This is done by first having the HGG pipe cutting machine account for the fitup gap that your welders want (this is a programmable setting that will cut the length according to what the overall length of the part needs to be minus the fitup gap that you want) and secondly this is done by HGG's proprietary designs that compensate for pipe bow and out of roundness to give you dead-on accurate cuts even with misshapen pipes. HGG has a floating chuck system that compensates for pipe creep, roller balls on the cutter head that allows for it to move up an down as egg-shaped pipe is rotating and independently raising and lowering bogies or idler rollers in the machine bed so that you can lift the pipe up at the cutterhead and at the main drive only, missing the bow of the pipe in the middle that will cause the pipe to creep as it turns.

Cutting Accurate Bevels

Cutting accurate bevels will have a net positive affect on your welding operation as well. Whether you are welding by hand or using an automated system, having accurate bevels every time for your welders will help them make sound welds day in and day out. The HGG series of pipe cutting machines use a pentagram cutting head with 8 axes of motion, allowing them to cut perfectly accurate bevel angles day in and day out. This means your welders won't have to be magicians to cover uneven gaps with varying bevel angles and they can move faster with more repeatable results.

Cutting Accurate Profiles

When cutting a fish mouth or miter into a pipe, it is crucial that the angles and bevels are accurate in order to achieve an accurate fitup and thus a sound weld. These angles and bevels can be challenging to cut accurately by hand, especially all day every day when fatigue is a factor. The HGG pipe profiling software will automatically nest out each cut, hole, beveled hole, miter and fish mouth and execute perfect cuts so there is no error in your fitup. This is going to again affect your welding operation positively in that your welders will be presented with a neat and accurate fitup to weld.

The Impact of Speed

Raw speed is another positive impact that implementing an automated plasma pipe cutting machine will have on your welding operation. In many shops pipe cutting and fitting is the major bottleneck and the welders are constantly waiting on more fit pieces to come down the line for them to weld. This means you are paying welders to sit idle and wait for more work to reach them which is inefficient for your shop. Implementing an automated pipe cutting system will cut much faster than by hand for two reasons 1. material handling - our systems come with automated in-feeds and often automated out-feeds so moving the pipe around the shop becomes a one man task that is much faster than an overhead crane 2. measuring and marking is sped up 100 fold versus manually measuring and marking each cut. This is possible with the HGG ProCam software that will automatically nest your cuts into the material that you load into it. Not only that it is automatically selecting the correct intersect angles and beveled hole angles for headers and miters.

If you are interested in pipe welding and cutting automation you are on the right site. Reach out to GSI Machinery and let's talk about your current pipe fabrication process to see if we have a solution that makes sense for your shop.