KR19990082797A - Welding monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for welding two pipe sections together using electrodes and for moving the electrodes towards the gap between the pipe sections when the electrode is moved relative to the outer circumferential surface of the pipe section during the welding operation. During the welding process, welding parameters are recorded and correlated with the determined position. The position of the weld bead formed is determined by the GPS satellites.

Description

Welding monitor system {WELDING MONITORING SYSTEM}

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the field of welding using a welding arc, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for monitoring and controlling a welding system during a welding process.

The present invention relates to welding of pipe sections and monitoring them. US Pat. No. 5,676,857 is described herein as background information for a discussion of welding pipe sections together.

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for welding two steel plates using arc welding, specifically consumable electrodes, and to monitor welding parameters during the welding process, and more particularly to shorting pipe sections together using cored electrodes. A device and method for short circuiting arc welds and for monitoring their welding parameters and for determining the location of the weld beads so formed.

Pipe systems are used to transport various materials such as oil, gas and water to the desired location. Such a pipe system can extend from hundreds to thousands of miles. In many cases, these pipe systems will travel through undeveloped areas over long distances. In the field of welding for welding the ends of large diameter pipes, the ends of each pipe are machined to provide a male bevel and a small flat land, and the processed ends are adjacent to and normally spaced in relation to the land. It is conventional practice to place one or more welding heads around the pipe to form a gap between the two ends of the pipe by axle alignment, and then to form a 360 ° weld. Welding beads are usually formed in several steps. First, a root pass is formed at a position where at least the inner edge or land of the pipe is melted and the gap between the lands is filled with weld metal. Then, several filler passes are formed, in which the weld metal is filled at least flush with the outer surface of the pipe in the space formed by the bevel. The root pass is a very important part of the welding operation. Once the root path is formed, pipe alignment is assured. Thus, 100% complete weld beads should be formed while the root pass is being formed. The soundness of the weld bead means that all of the lands are completely melted up to the inner surface of the pipe and the gap between the lands is completely filled with weld metal. It is difficult to weld the weld metal to the gap, which causes the weld bead to move the weld head around the pipe such that when the weld bead forms a root path around the pipe, the welding position is switched from downhand welding, vertical up and down welding to overhead welding. This is because it must be produced by. Moreover, the weld metal made during the root pass formation process must fill the gap between the pipe sections, but must not accumulate on the inner surface of the pipe through the gap. The weld beads may sometimes form a relatively flat surface with respect to the inside of the pipe having micro projections inside the pipe. Due to the excessive protrusion of weld beads in the pipe, 1) there may be a problem with the device operating inside the pipe to detect the integrity of the pipe system, and 2) unwanted fluid mixing and Turbulence may be caused.

Welding devices for forming acceptable fluid beads are disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,676,857. This patent discloses two welding bugs, which include a special short-circuit power source for continuously attaching the root bead between two ends of the pipe, moving continuously on a track along the circumference of the pipe. . The patent discloses that by appropriately selecting the speed of the bug and the speed of the weld wire, only minor combustion occurs through each edge of the bevel and a small flat weld is formed inside the pipe. The Applicant has adapted the welding apparatus disclosed in US Pat. No. 5,676,857 to use flux core-loaded electrodes to obtain a weld bead of desired composition such that the components of the weld metal are substantially matched to those of the metal pipe, resulting in a strong and durable It has been found that a weld bead can be formed. The welding apparatus can be retrofitted again to ensure that the shielding gas protects the weld beads from environmentally adverse effects by using a self shielding flux system that forms the shielding gas during welding.

Pipe systems are typically designed to be hundreds of miles long. Depending on the length of such pipe system, the pipe system assembly may be formed partially along the path of the pipe system. In view of the elongated length of the pipe system and the importance of properly welding the pipe sections together, there should be a group of welding technicians to investigate the development and quality of the pipe system and the quality of the weld beads formed between each pipe section. In remote areas, the costs associated with using a group of technicians can be expensive. Such costs can hinder the installation of pipelines at the same cost as previously installed. In addition, groups of technicians may be exposed to unwanted environments when installing pipe systems in remote and / or undeveloped areas. Such unwanted environments may adversely affect the health of the technicians and / or damage the ability to constantly monitor the quality of the welding process, resulting in air delays, increased costs and weld beads along the pipe system. Can cause defects. In addition to the costs associated with maintaining a group of technicians at the welding location, there are inherent problems associated with identifying the progress of welding along the pipeline and the location of welding or other problems along the pipeline. In remote and / or undeveloped areas, it is not possible to identify the geographic location of the welder along the pipe system and the location of the weld beads formed by the welder to report progress and / or problems in the welding process. This can be a difficult task.

From the problems associated with welding pipe sections in high volume pipe systems, there is a need for a weld monitor system to monitor the quality of weld beads formed and the location of such weld beads.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for welding two steel plates together and to monitor the parameters of a welding process, more specifically to welding one or more welding parameters while welding pipe sections together and forming a weld bead between the pipe sections. A method and apparatus for monitoring and associating such parameters with respect to a given location. However, the present invention has a wide range of uses and can be used to weld together other long length metal structures such as track rails, aircraft and ship elements, bridges, and the like.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a structure having at least one element, a welder configured to weld together at least one element of such a structure to form a weld bead, a weld monitor for recording one or more parameters of the welding process and formed welds A location identifier is provided for determining the location of the beads. Monitored welding parameters include, but are not limited to, voltage and / or current through the electrode, voltage and / or current formed by the power source, electrode type and / or electrode feed rate, flux type and / or flux feed rate, shielding. Gas type and / or shielding gas supply rate, welding gas type and / or welding gas supply rate, welding cycle, direction and / or speed of the welding head, day time, ambient temperature and / or environment, date, manner of welding procedure, Location of the weld head on the structure, interruption during the welding process, errors (electronic and / or mechanical) during the welding process, type and / or shape of the structure, and the like. One or more of these or other parameters may be stored electronically and sent electronically to another location for printing and / or display on a monitor. The location identifier is designed to determine the location of the particular weld bead formed. This positional information or positional parameters can be linked back to one or more welding parameters of the formed weld bead. For long length structures such as pipelines, railroad tracks and other large structures, the welder moves along the structure and performs welding at multiple welding positions, the position identifier determines the position of the welder relative to a certain reference point, The monitored welding parameters are correlated or combined with the determined position. The recorded weld parameters and position parameters can be stored electronically and sent electronically to another location for printing and / or displaying on a monitor. The recorded data can be analyzed immediately and / or subsequently analyzed to consider welding parameters at specific locations on the structure for quality control purposes.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the position identifier is configured to detect two or more signals from a relatively fixed position and calculate a position parameter based on the detected signals. The signals are preferably land communication signals and / or satellite communication signals. In one preferred embodiment, the location identifier calculates location parameters using satellites of the Global Positioning System (GPS). GPS is a multi-satellite based positioning system in which data is transmitted by a GPS satellite. A GPS is a known device that accurately measures a distance from selected ones of GPS satellites and then is known. The bar's triangulation method is used to calculate the position and time parameters with high accuracy. The signals provided by the GPS can be received worldwide and continuously. GPS has a space segment and a control segment. The space segment consists of 21 operating satellites in full operation. These satellites are usually located in an ubiquitous arrangement so that at least four satellites are observable by the device at or near the earth's surface. Each satellite transmits two frequency signals, known as L1 (1575.42 MHz) and L2 (1227.6 MHz), using a spread spectrum technique that employs a spreading function. C / A and P pseudo random noise (PRN) codes are transmitted at the L1 and / or L2 frequencies. Both the P code and the C / A code contain data that allows the receiver to determine the range between the satellite and the device. Navigation messages are superimposed on both the P code and the C / A code. The navigation message includes GPS system time, including information about satellite performance, coefficients for ionospheric delay models for C / A code users, and coefficients for calculating universal coordinated time (UCT); A handover word used in connection with a P code tracking transformation from a C / A code; Estimated ephemeris data for the particular satellite to be tracked; Contains calendar data for all satellites in the corps. The control segment has a master control station (MCS) and a number of monitor stations. The updated estimated geostationary data and clock data are uploaded to each satellite for retransmission of the navigation messages of each satellite. The purpose of the control segment is to make the information transmitted from the satellite as accurate as possible. The GPS receiver includes an antenna assembly, an RF assembly, and a GPS processor assembly. The antenna assembly receives the L-band GPS signal and transmits the received signal to the RF assembly. The RF assembly mixes down the L-band GPS signal to a useful intermediate frequency. Using various known techniques, the PRN code that modulates the L-band signal is tracked in code-correlation to measure the transmission time of the signal from the satellite. Through a carrier tracking loop, the Doppler shift of the received L-band signal is also measured. Code correlation and carrier tracking functionality can be performed using analog or digital processing. Control of code and carrier tracking loops is provided by the GPS processor assembly. By differentiating this measurement from the reception time determined by the device's clock, it is possible to determine the pseudo range between the device and the satellite to be tracked. The range of doctors includes both the range to the satellite and the offset of the device clock outside the GPS master time standard. Navigation data and pseudorange measurements from satellites are used for position calculations, device clock deviation correction, and GPS visual indications. RPC processing and memory functions monitor channel status and control, signal acquisition and reacquisition, code and carrier tracking loops, calculate pseudorange (PR) and delta range (DR) measurements, and data edge timing Determining the acquisition and storage of calendar and estimated location table data provided by the satellite, processor control and timing, address and command decoding, timed interrupt generation, interrupt recognition control, GPS timing, and the like. Navigational processing and memory functions performed by the GPS receiver include satellite orbital calculations and satellite selection, atmospheric delay correction, navigational analysis calculations, clock bias and speed evaluation, output information calculations, preliminary processing of coordinate information and coordinate transformations. (coordinate conversion). When using GPS to determine the position of a weld bead formed on a workpiece, the GPS provides an accuracy of about 1-100 m along the earth's latitude and longitude.

According to another aspect of the invention, the positional parameters and one or more welding parameters are electronically stored and / or printed for real-time consideration and / or subsequent site consideration, and / or electronically for transmission to remote areas. Stored as. From the ability to record one or more welding parameters and associate those welding parameters with positional parameters, technicians can periodically monitor the quality of formed weld beads without being at each welding position. In considering the recorded and / or printed data, technicians can determine which welding parameters existed during the formation of a particular weld bead along the workpiece. The technicians can review the data hourly, daily, weekly, even monthly, and upon reviewing such data can determine the quality of the weld beads formed at each weld location on the workpiece. In addition, or alternatively, the recorded data may be electronically transmitted to remote areas using telephones, the Internet, satellites, radio signals, and the like to real-time and / or delay monitor the welding process in a particular area. If the welding process is performed in a remote area, the only way to form a communication link between the remote area and the welding site may be by using a satellite. Data storage devices, such as computers, may be designed to store information, and at preselected times of the day, the data may be linked to remote areas by satellite or automatically by manual manipulation. In addition, the data storage unit may be designed to receive signals from distant areas and to download, when commanded, electronically stored information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a welding controller for a welder receives information from a remote location through a telephone, internet, satellite, radio signal, etc. and / or a local technician, and thus uses the received information. It can be designed to change one or more welding parameters during the welding process. In one particular embodiment, the welding controller analyzes the positional parameters to change one or more welding parameters when it determines that the welder is at a particular position. In another particular embodiment, a technician and / or control mechanism in a remote area receives data from a welder using a telephone, the Internet, satellites, radio signals, and the like, and determines that the welder is at a particular location. The updated information is transmitted to the welding controller via the Internet, satellite and radio signals to change one or more welding parameters.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the workpiece comprises two pipe sections, the sections being located together such that a gap is formed between the ends of the two sections and welded together by a welding system. The welding system includes a welding carriage positioned around the gap formed by the two pipe sections, a welding power source, a welding current circuit that controls one or more welding parameters of the welding process, and a position for determining the position of the welder relative to a fixed position. Mechanism, and data storage mechanism. The pipe sections are preferably aligned together by using a clamp until at least the root bead is attached to the gap between the pipe sections. The welding carriage preferably extends about 180 °, preferably 360 °, around the gap. The weld carriage is configured to slide along the track as it travels around the gap, the track being fixed relative to the pipe circumference. The welding carriage includes a drive motor that allows the welding carriage to move at a desired speed along the track and the gap circumference. If an electrode is used during welding, the welding carriage includes a mechanism for controllably moving the consumable electrode toward the gap during the welding process. The mechanism for controlling the movement of the electrode can be integral or separate from the mechanism for controllably moving the carriage with respect to the gap during welding. The location mechanism is configured to receive two or more radio signals to calculate the location of the formed weld bead relative to a particular location. The data storage mechanism is configured to store one or more welding parameters during the welding process and position parameters from the position mechanism.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a welding current circuit includes a first circuit for controlling current in a short circuit state, in which the molten metal at the end position of the consumable core type electrode is caused by surface tension action. It is preferentially transferred to the molten metal pool between the gaps. Transfer current includes a high current pinch pulse through the shorted molten metal, which facilitates the transfer of molten metal from the electrode to the weld pool. The welding current circuit also includes a second circuit for generating a melt current. The melt current is a high current pulse that, when the consumable cored electrode is positioned at a distance from the weld pool, produces a predetermined amount of energy or wattage used to melt a relatively constant volume of metal at the end of the electrode. It is desirable to have to pass between the arcs. The second circuit of the welding current circuit is preferably configured to achieve high energy amplification at the beginning of the arc state. The high current amplification preferably has a preselected I (t) region or energy for melting the metal on the end of the weld wire to a relatively constant volume when the consumable weld wire is positioned at a distance from the weld pool. After taking the initial high current plasma boost current, the high current is maintained for a predetermined time until the desired amount of energy or power is applied to melt the electrode in the desired volume. It is desirable to be decayed throughout. The welding current circuit limits the amount of energy going to the electrode to prevent unnecessary melting of the workpiece while attaching the weld bead and / or keeps the weld bead very high during welding so that the molten metal does not degrade the quality of the weld zone. It is preferred to be configured. The welding current circuit preferably also includes a circuit for generating a background current. The background current is a low level current that remains just above the level needed to maintain the arc after the short circuit condition is terminated. It is desirable to maintain the background current throughout the welding cycle to ensure that the arc does not abruptly disappear during welding.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a welding system that monitors the position of one or more welding parameters and the formed weld beads determined by those variables under such welding parameters while the weld beads are formed on the workpiece.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a welding system for storing one or more welding parameters and the position of the formed weld beads determined by such welding parameters while the weld beads are formed on the workpiece.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a welding system for determining the position of a weld bead formed on a workpiece by receiving one or more signals from a relatively fixed position and calculating a position based on the received signal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a welding system for determining the position of the formed weld bead using GPS.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a welding system for transmitting welding information and positional information of corresponding welding beads to distant areas.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a welding system capable of accessing welding information from distant areas and the positional information of corresponding welding beads.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a welding system that enables a welded workpiece to be subjected to real-time quality control considerations or delayed quality control considerations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a quality controllable welding system at an economical cost in welding operations in remote and / or undeveloped areas.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a short circuit arc welding system and method for forming high quality weld beads between two metal plates.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a short circuit arc welding system that accurately tracks a desired current profile while welding two weld metal plates together.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a welding system of the present invention for determining the position of a weld bead formed along a pipeline using a satellite system.

2 is a working diagram of a welding system.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: welding system

20: pipe section

24: gap

30: welding bead

40: short circuit arc welding system

42: power

50: electrode

The drawings are only for the purpose of illustrating preferred embodiments of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention. 1 shows a welding system 10 for welding together a pipe section 20 of a welding system and for determining the position of a weld bead 30 formed along the pipe system. Pipe section 20 is shown to be welded by a short circuit arc welding system 40. A preferred mode of short circuit welding is welding of SURFACE TENSION TRANSFER (STT). Such welding type welding circuits and control configurations are described in US Pat. No. 5,148,001; 5,001,326; 5,001,326; 4,972,064; No. 4,897,523; No. 4,866,247; 4,717,807.

The welding system 10 for welding the pipe section 20 comprises a power source 42 which is preferably a direct current power source. The power source includes a motor, such as a gas motor, that powers the alternating current generator. The alternating current is then formed into direct current by the rectifier. The rectifier is controlled so that a substantially uniform direct current is generated by the phase controller. The direct current then proceeds to a pulse width modulator. The waveform of the pulse width is controlled by the waveform circuit so that the desired pulse is given to the direct current. As may be appreciated, the power supply 42 need not be a rectified output, but may be any other suitable direct current source. Direct current from the pulse width modulator runs between the consumable cored electrode 50 and the weld zone comprising the pipe section 20.

With regard to the welding of the pipe section 20, the current at the electrode 50 is located at a short circuit state when the electrode 50 contacts the pipe section and at an interval between the electrodes 50 and the pipe section 20. Alternating current alternates between arc states. During the arc state, an electric arc is generated between the pipe and the electrode to melt the end of the electrode and keep it so molten as the electrode is moved to the pipe section for subsequent transition to a short circuit state.

Referring to FIG. 1, each pipe section 20 includes an edge 22. Edge 22 is a bevel face that forms a groove when two pipe sections are placed in close proximity to each other. When two pipe sections are subsequently placed in succession, the pipe edges are spaced so that there is a gap 24 between them. Are placed and positioned. According to the known conventional technique, the arranged pipe edges are preferably held together by clamps until at least root beads are attached to the grooves between the edges to fill the gaps. Pipe earth is interposed in the pipe to complete the arc circuit between the electrode 50 and the pipe section 20. The electrode 50 is unwound by the electrode nozzle 44 from the spool 52 and the electrode that proceeds to the gap 24 between the pipe ends. During the welding cycle, an electrode is supplied through the electrode nozzle 44 to transfer the molten metal at the end of the electrode into the gap between the pipe ends to form the weld bead 30.

The electrode 50 is a consumable core electrode and includes an outer metal protective layer and an electrode core. The metal electrode protective layer is preferably made of carbon steel, stainless steel, or another type of metal or metal alloy. The composition of the metal protective layer is preferably selected similar to the base metal component of the pipe section 20. The electrode core preferably comprises a flux agent and / or an alloy and a metal. The flux agent includes a component that forms a slag on the weld bead to hold the weld metal in place until it solidifies and / or shields the weld bead during formation, thereby protecting the weld bead until it solidifies. do. The flux may also include a component that generates a shielding gas to protect the weld bead from environmentally adverse effects. The flux component preferably comprises fluorine and / or carbonate which does not require an external shielding gas during welding and generates a shielding gas during welding. When using a self shielding electrode, no external shielding gas is required. The slag formed on the weld bead further protects the weld bead from the environment, thereby forming a good weld bead. It is preferable that an electrode core contains an alloy additive. The alloying additive is selected such that the additive is combined with the composition of the metal electrode shield to form a weld bead of composition substantially similar to the pipe section 20.

Desirable current profiles that reduce spatter during welding and prevent weld beads from passing through the gap into the pipe system include a pinch region, a plasma boost region, a plasma region and a background region in which the arc is maintained. The plasma boost region includes a decaying portion called the plasma region. Along the decline region, the welding circuit moves to a background current level that maintains a plasma or arc. The welding circuit maintains the preselected background current level so that the current level through the arc does not drop below the preselected low current level so that the arc is not extinguished. The welding circuit is configured to completely melt the electrode during formation of the plasma boost and the plasma region during the welding cycle. Moreover, the melting of the electrode 50 is not performed when the background current level occurs because the IR necessary for melting the electrode is not obtained through the arc held only by the background current. Thus, the background current only serves to maintain the arc and keep the spheres of molten metal in the molten state. The amount of molten metal at the electrode 50 end, formed by the plasma boost and the plasma region, is selected to melt the volume of preselected molten metal at the electrode end, and the plasma region of current decreases after the preselected volume is obtained. do. The degree of plasma boost and the duration of the plasma region is selected to prevent unnecessary melting of the metal around the pipe end 22. Overmelting of such metals can cause molten metal to soak into the interior of the pipe section. While the spheres of molten metal are formed, a high current jet pressure splashes the molten metal from the molten pool until the molten metal is melted in a preselected amount at the end of the electrode. After the current is reduced, the molten metal is formed into a sphere and the molten metal pool in the gap is stabilized to form a flat contact between the nearly spherical sphere and the sinking weld metal pool. The desired amount of molten metal at the end of the electrode is controlled by applying a preselected amount of energy or power to the electrode while the plasma region of the welding cycle is formed. Spheres of molten metal are formed at the end of the electrode throughout the welding cycle, and the core element emits a shielding gas to protect the molten metal and the molten sphere in the gap from the atmosphere. The shielding gas is continuously released until the molten sphere is transferred to the molten metal in the gap. Once the molten metal sphere is formed during the plasma boost of the welding cycle and the plasma region is formed, the molten sphere is forced into the molten pool by transporting the electrode into the pool to form a short circuit condition. When the molten metal sphere is in contact with the molten metal pool, the sphere is transferred into the pool by surface tension. This action results in a final necking down of the molten metal extending between the wire rod and the pool of the electrode, which then breaks and separates the sphere from the wire rod. Since only a low background current is present during isolation, no spatter or rarely occurs. The necking of the molten metal sphere is monitored that the current during pinch curve formation gradually increases as the diameter of the neck is rapidly reduced by electrical pit, resulting in the detection of a loaded fuse. Once the detection of the loaded fuse is obtained, the current is reduced to the background current until molten metal at the electrode end is transferred into the welding pool.

The welding cycle repeated several times per second must be accurately controlled by the welding circuit to reduce spatter during the welding cycle. In a preferred embodiment, the operating frequency of the pulse width modulator is 20 KHz, and the width of successive current pulses is determined by the current waveform controller. The current required for the welding cycle varies 220,000 times per second. Since the maximum speed of the welding cycle is generally in the range of 100-400 cycles per second, many update pulses are provided during each welding cycle.

Referring to FIG. 1, a weld monitor 60 is provided that monitors one or more welding parameters while the weld bead 30 is formed. The welding monitor 60 monitors the current at the electrode 50, the supply speed of the electrode, the total amount of energy applied to the electrode 50 during each welding cycle, and the speed at which the welding head moves around the pipe section 20. .

Additional welding parameters can be monitored. In addition, data from other sensors and / or sensing devices may be monitored by the weld monitor 60. The weld monitor 60 includes a display that allows a technician to review real-time and / or historical data that has been or has already been monitored by the weld monitor 60. The weld monitor 60 allows a technician to 1) change one or more welding parameters in the welder 40, 2) display other data on the display 62, and 3) access historical data. And 4) a data input device 64 for starting or stopping the welding control program or other operations. The welding monitor 60 preferably includes one or more components of a welding circuit that controls the current at the electrode 50.

The weld monitor 60 includes a data storage mechanism that stores some or all of the monitored information. Preferably, one or more welding parameters are stored on a disk drive or tape. Preferably a sufficiently large number of welding parameters are stored so that the technician can consider the quality of the weld bead 30 formed between the two pipe ends 22.

The weld monitor 60 also includes a location circuit for determining the geographic position of the formed weld bead 30. The location circuit includes an antenna 66, a GPS reference receiver, and a microprocessor for calculating the location of the formed weld bead. Antenna 66 may be equipped with any low-gain antenna that is commercially available. The GPS reference receiver is configured to determine the earth latitude and longitude of the formed weld bead welding system by sensing the signal 70 from the satellite 80. The memory unit provided to the welding monitor 60 for storing the positional information supplied by the GPS unit records the past of the movement of the GPS unit and includes information corresponding to the earth latitude and longitude information. The weld monitor 60 is provided with a clock for supplying time and date information to the tracking circuit. The weld monitor 60 preferably includes electronic communication circuitry for linking to a remote location to unload and / or download information to the weld monitor. Operation of the GPS tracking circuitry is known in the art and will no longer be described.

2, the operation of the welding system will be briefly described.

The welding circuit includes preset and / or loaded welding parameters. The welding circuit controls the formation of the weld bead 30 on the pipe section 20. Welding monitor 60 monitors and stores various welding parameters while welding beads are formed. The weld monitor also monitors and stores information provided by other sensors and sensing devices used to form the pipe system. The monitored information is preferably stored on the disk drive. As the weld bead is formed, the location circuitry senses the signal 70 from the GPS satellites 80. Preferably three or more signals are sensed and processed to determine the earth latitude and longitude position of the formed weld bead. Location information is stored on the disk drive in association with the monitored parameters. Stored positional parameters and corresponding monitored parameters can be viewed immediately or later in the field or at remote locations via telephone, Internet, radio or satellite connections. Upon reviewing the recorded data in the field and / or at a remote location, the technicians can review the stored information to determine the quality of the weld beads formed at a particular location along the pipe system. After reviewing the data, the technicians can enter new welding parameters for future weld bead formation and / or correct problems with previously formed weld beads.

The ability of the welding system to provide information about how special weld beads are formed and the location of such weld beads along the pipe welding system allows technicians to monitor welding operations worldwide to identify the quality at which weld beads are formed. Can be. The recorded information can be used to identify problems with subsequent failure of the weld beads and / or correct problems with previously formed weld beads.

The invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments and alternatives thereof. Those skilled in the art with the detailed description of the invention are believed to readily suggest various changes and modifications to the embodiments disclosed herein. As long as it is within the scope of the present invention, such changes and modifications are intended to be included.

Claims (40)

As a welding system for welding two plates together, A welding head for supplying heat to the plate to form a weld bead between the plates; A welding monitor for monitoring one or more welding parameters while the welding bead is formed; And a location circuit for sensing a plurality of electromagnetic signals originating from a relatively fixed location to determine the location of said formed weld bead. The welding system of claim 1, wherein the location circuitry senses a plurality of signals from the earth satellites to determine the earth latitude and longitude location of the formed weld bead. 3. A welding system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one monitored welding parameter and the determined position are electronically recorded. 3. A welding system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one monitored welding parameter and the determined position are transmitted electronically to a distant position. 3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the monitored welding parameters comprise the amount of voltage through the electrode, the amount of current through the electrode, the amount of voltage generated by the power source, the voltage profile, the amount of current generated by the power source, the current profile, the electrode. Power applied to the electrode, power rate applied to the electrode, electrode type, electrode supply rate, flux type, flux supply rate, shielding gas type, shielding gas supply rate, welding gas type, welding gas supply rate, Welding cycle, direction of welding head movement, speed ratio of welding head, day time, atmospheric condition, date, welding progress method, power source type, welding machine type, welding component type, welding head position on workpiece, electrode of welding Parameters selected from the group consisting of polarity, interruption during the welding process, electronic errors during the welding process, mechanical errors during the welding process, the type of workpiece, and the type of workpiece Welding system, characterized in that the box. A welding circuit according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a welding circuit having a first circuit for generating a transfer current and a second circuit for generating a welding current, wherein the welding circuit is mounted on the two plates. Welding system characterized by supplying a sufficient amount of current to form a weld bead. The welding according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a series of narrow current pulses are generated and the polarity of the current pulses is adjusted between a first polarity when the electrode is an anode and a second polarity when the electrode is a cathode. And a series of current pulses constitute a welding cycle having a pre-short-circuit region and a plasma arc melting region, wherein each of the current pulses during the period has a given electrical polarity of the electrode for the two plates. Welding system characterized in that it has. 3. A welding system according to claim 1 or 2, comprising a welding carriage for moving the welding head along a gap between the plates around the outer circumferential surface of the plate section. The welding system of claim 1 or 2, comprising a consumable electrode for forming the welding bead. 10. The welding system of claim 9, wherein the consumable electrode is a cored electrode. 10. The welding system of claim 9, wherein said electrode is a self shielding electrode. 10. The welding system of claim 9, wherein the electrode comprises an alloy component for forming the welding bead having a composition similar to the plate. 7. The welding system of claim 6, wherein the second circuit directs a predetermined amount of energy to the electrode to melt a relatively constant volume of electrode during each welding cycle. 7. The welding system of claim 6, wherein the welding circuit limits the amount of energy directed to the electrode such that molten metal does not pass through the gap between the two plates. 7. A welding system according to claim 6, wherein the welding circuit reduces the amount of current for the electrode before the molten metal on the electrode forms a short circuit condition with a gap between the two plates. 7. A welding system according to claim 6, wherein the welding circuit generates alternating current. 7. A welding system according to claim 6, wherein the welding circuit forms part of an STT power supply (power before surface tension). 10. A welding system according to claim 9, wherein the electrode is moved along the gap between the plates around the outer circumferential surface of the metal plate. 9. A welding system according to claim 8, wherein the welding carriage moves continuously along the plate section and the speed of the welding carriage can be varied. The welding system of claim 1, wherein the two metal plates are two pipe sections. As a method for welding two plates together, Providing a welding head, Moving the welding head toward the plate; Forming a weld bead between the plates; Monitoring one or more welding parameters during formation of the weld bead; Determining a position of the formed weld bead relative to a substantially fixed position. 22. The method of claim 21, comprising electronically storing the one or more welding parameters and the determined position. 23. A welding method according to claim 21 or 22, comprising transferring said at least one monitored welding parameter and said determined position to a distant position. 23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the monitored welding parameters include the amount of voltage through the electrode, the amount of current through the electrode, the amount of voltage generated by the power source, the voltage profile, the amount of current generated by the power source, the current profile, the electrode. Power applied to the electrode, power ratio applied to the electrode, electrode type, electrode supply speed, flux type, flux supply speed, shielding gas type, shielding gas supply speed, welding gas type, welding gas supply speed, welding cycle, welding Head moving direction, speed ratio of welding head, day time, atmospheric state, date, welding progress method, power source type, welding machine type, welding component type, welding head position on workpiece, polarity of electrode during welding A parameter selected from the group consisting of interruption during the welding process, electronic error during the welding process, mechanical error during the welding process, the type of workpiece, and the form of the workpiece. Welding method. 23. The method of claim 21 or 22, wherein determining the position of the formed weld bead comprises sensing a plurality of signals from the earth satellites. 23. The method of claim 21 or 22, wherein determining the position of the formed weld bead comprises determining the earth latitude and longitude positions of the formed weld bead. 23. A method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the two plates are ends of two pipe sections. 23. A welding method according to claim 21 or 22, wherein the welding beads are formed from consumable electrodes. 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the consumable electrode is a self shielding electrode. The welding method according to claim 28, wherein the electrode is a core electrode. 29. The method of claim 28, wherein the electrode comprises an alloy component for forming the weld bead having a composition similar to the two plates. 22. The method of claim 21, including providing a welding carriage for moving the welding head around an outer circumferential surface of the plate. 33. The method of claim 32, wherein the speed of the weld carriage changes as the carriage moves around the plate. 29. The method of claim 28, comprising melting the electrode by electrical waves, wherein the melting step directs a predetermined energy to the electrode to melt a relatively constant amount of volume of the electrode during each welding cycle. Characterized by welding method. 35. The system of claim 34, wherein the electrical wave comprises a background current, the background current having a high inductance component and a low level just above the level needed to maintain the arc after termination of a short circuit condition maintained throughout each welding cycle. The welding method characterized by having. 29. The method of claim 28, comprising limiting the amount of energy directed to the electrode such that molten metal does not pass through the gap between the two plates. 29. The method of claim 28, comprising reducing the amount of current to the electrode before the molten metal on the electrode forms a short circuit condition with a gap between the two plates. 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the electrical wave is alternating current. 35. The method of claim 34, wherein the electrical wave is formed from an STT power source (power source before surface tension). 29. The method of claim 28, comprising moving the electrode along a gap between the plates around the outer circumferential surface of the plate.