Development of Robotic Welding Station for Hull

Abstract

In this thesis an effort is made to find solution for the development of robotic welding station with optimum use of resources without compromising quality and quantity of the product. It will be a beneficial concept to develop the robotic welding station which can act as a substitute to manual gas metal arc welding to increase the productivity and better safety for the workmen. The hull is made up of plates and all plates are welded together. All the welding operations that are carried out on the hull will have 1G and 2G welding positions. Also all the welding operations will carried out by robotic welding arm. Due to welding fixture, set up time of the operation is drastically reduced. Hydraulic as well as manual clamps are incorporated in the fixture. Manual clamps come into operation during failure of the hydraulic clamps. Side plate clamps are designed with standard box section and precision hydraulic cylinders. Welding fixtures' dimensions are used as an input for the robotic welding station's X,Y and Z slides. Linear motion guideways and ballscrew are selected form the standard catalogue. Different alternatives are proposed and discuss for the said problem. A new model conceptualization is proposed. Detail design and verification is performed and important conclusion are drawn.