Predicting the quality of weld joints by monitoring the process of contact flash-butt welding

Contact butt welding is a high-performance welding process intended for joining large-diameter pipelines. The main drawback of this method is that welding quality is difficult to estimate properly; therefore, the rejection of weld joints is not reliable. To improve the reliability of rejection, it is proposed to estimate the quality of weld joints by means of parallel computer simulation of the welding process. The parameters that can be measured directly during welding represent input data for the parallel computer simulation. The model takes into account the properties of welded alloys, the geometry of joints, and the characteristics of the machine. At the same time, it describes physical phenomena of the weld formation and yields the weld quality by the end of welding. The model is software to be installed on the control computer of a welding machine. It is implemented by an intelligent control system. The quality prediction accuracy depends on the accuracy of welded material properties. This approach makes it possible to significantly improve the reliability of estimating the quality of weld joints from the results of monitoring of welding process parameters.

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