TPT November 2018

T E CHNOLOG Y

New welding technology maximises throughput A NEW technology is said to be improving the efficiency of large-scale manufacturing projects by enabling firms to perform electron beam welding without a vacuum chamber. Pioneered in the UK by Cambridge Vacuum Engineering, EBFlow offers a flexible and efficient advanced manufacturing technology with economic benefits. industries looking to weld thick section components that are 5m in length (1.7m in diameter) and 60mm in thickness could achieve the same process in 50 minutes compared to 12 hours using traditional methods. and associated pumping equipment. This reduces the welding time involved.

Bob Nicolson, managing director at Cambridge Vacuum Engineering, commented on the innovation, “Our revolutionary EBFlow technology, fully developed in Britain, will transform the productivity of the fabrication processes throughout the world of heavy engineering. In many cases the speed of welding can be 30 times faster than current methods. By reducing the cost of thick section steel structures commonly used in a range of industrial sectors, EBFlow will help play a vital role in the development of the manufacturing sector and in creating the factories of the future.” Cambridge Vacuum Engineering designs and builds process solutions and has more than 60 years’ experience manufacturing electron beam systems and vacuum furnaces from its base in Cambridge, UK. Cambridge Vacuum Engineering – UK Website: www.camvaceng.com

A further example in the nuclear sector would be the production of a typical 40m-long monopile (60mm thick), which can take more than 6,000 hours of arc- on welding time. The EBFlow system has been proven to reduce the welding time involved to less than 200 hours, equivalent to a reduction in cost of over 85 per cent. Greater capacity throughput is another improvement, and the energy consumed in one metre of weld is claimed to be 75 per cent less using EBFlow than in standard submerged arc welding processes. As filler materials are not needed, consumable costs are kept down, while reduced transportation costs and a smaller factory carbon footprint offer further savings. The EBFlow system does not need a traditional vacuum chamber

In tests, EBFlow has been shown to be 20 to 30 times faster than conventional arc welding, offering transformational gains in productivity. This will enable manufacturers in a number of sectors to gain increases in throughput that will change their business models and unlock the manufacturing potential of their facilities. Many industries depend on a large amount of ‘thick section’ (greater than 20mm) steel structures to be fabricated on an annual basis. The ability to fabricate these structures cost-effectively is in part limited by the welding time and associated cost. As an example, heavy engineering

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NOVEMBER 2018