Digital Welding - What Is It?

[cmjeff]

Can any of the engineers in the audiance shed some light on the new "digital welding" systems:

In a move to cut costs and raise productivity, Hyundai Heavy Industries is expected to become the first shipbuilder in the world to adopt digital welding processes in shipbuilding. Korea’s leading shipbuilder said yesterday that the digital welding will gradually be applied starting next year. By 2015 all welding process will be digitalized. The company said the digital welding process will improve productivity by 20 percent, reducing 1 million manpower hours on welding every year. The manpower savings would result in the building of five additional 300,000-ton very large crude carriers. The company said this would also result in cost savings of more than 100 billion won. The digital welding process standardizes the quality of the welding instead of depending on the individual skills of welders. Information about voltage and electric currents involved in the welding process appears on a LCD display. "With the digital welding system, anyone can become a skilled expert whatever their past skill and experience," said Kim Hyun-cheol at Hyundai Heavy Industries. "This is an innovative technology that will change shipbuilding," he added. Source: JoongAng Daily

[Steamer]

It's a revolution in the way the machines can be programmed for the type of weld and material, and sense the conditions and compensate for variation automatically. It can do automatically what a very skilled welder does without thinking after doing it for 20 years. Combined with a robot it pretty much assures perfection. Even the handheld torches can make a proficient welder out of a rookie.

It means the yards don't have to worry about having a pool of skilled welders anymore.


http://weldingdesign.com/mag/digital...ion_energizes/

[keelhaul]

It's Skynet! The machines are taking over!