Costing of Joining Methods Arc Welding Costs

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ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

Overview
Cost components Estimation of costs Examples

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

Cost Components
Materials Labor Overhead

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

Materials Costs
Electrodes
Some electrode sticks contain flux Amount of electrode times electrode cost per unit weight gives electrode cost

Fluxes / Shielding gases

Quantity of flux and/or shielding gas required times unit costs gives flux/gas cost
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 4

Material Costs
Other consumables
may include cost of electricity, if not in overhead rags, g , files, , blades, , chisels.

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

Labor
Direct Di t ti time of f welding ldi
time to produce a length of weld labor rate multiplication gives labor cost per length

Set-up time, etc. Personal time

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

Overhead Rate
Usually a percentage of direct labor rate Ranges from 50 - 400%

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

Deposition Efficiency
Not N t all ll electrode l t d i is d deposited it d as weld ld
lost as splatter, vaporization stub ends left

Stick-electrode welding - 65% Self-shielded, flux-cored welding - 82% Arc welding with shielding gas - 92% Submerged arc welding - 100%
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 8

Operator Efficiency
Welding time Personal time Set-up time g g time Electrode changing Slag chipping time (for subsequent passes)
p poor weld q quality y increases time

Time to beat weld to remove residual stresses

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 9

Manual Operator Efficiency

10 - 45%
65% is extreme of human achievement

Personal breaks Set-up Change position g electrodes Change De-slagging Removing residual stresses
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 10

Semi automatic Efficiency Semi-automatic

25 - 60% no need to change electrodes
wire used

higher currents currents, speeds some processes require no de-slagging

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Automatic Efficiency
Over 90%
if small set-up set up time, de-slagging de slagging time

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Cost Components
Cost of electrode/length of weld
=(WE)(CE) (WE)(CE)

Cost of flux/length of weld

=(WF)(CF)

Cost of gas/length of weld

=(VG)(CG) (VG)(CG)

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Materials Cost/ Length (CM)

CM = (WE)(CE) (WE)(CE)+(WF)(CF)+(VG)(CG) (WF)(CF) (VG)(CG)
WE = weight of electrode CE = cost of electrode ($/wt) WF = weight of flux CF = cost of flux ($/wt) VG = volume l of f gas CG = cost of gas ($/vol)
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 14

Labor Cost (CL)

CL = (t) (CR) / (OF) t = time / length of weld CR = cost t of fl labor b + overhead h d ($/ti ($/time) ) OF = operating factor (efficiency)

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Labor Cost (CL)

Alternatively Alternatively, t = 1/S
S = speed d of f weld ld

CL = (CR) / S (OF) note

n S= 1 1 + + ... S1 S 2

1 1 1 t = + + ... + S1 S 2 Sn

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Metal Deposition vs vs. Labor Cost

1 1 Labor cost $/ ft of weld

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 17

Estimated Cost of Consumables

gas = 25-45 ft3/hr, solid flux = wt of deposited metal, 1973 prices

Process

Type of Electrode

Electrode Cost ($/lb)

Deposition Efficiency (%) 65 82 100 00 92

Shielded metal arc Self-shielded, flux-cored Submerged Sub e ged arc Gas metal-arc

E7024 E70T-G EL12 E70S-3

0.191 0.315 0.199 0. 99 + flux u 0.243 + flux

Cost of Deposited Metal $/lb $/ft 0.29 0.045 0.38 0.34 0.3 0.31 0.059 0.053 0.048

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Estimated Costs
All about 5/ft.

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Trade-off Example p
1/4 fillet weld, 3/32 E7024 electrode, 85 ft/hr, operating factor 30%, labor + overhead $7/hr CL = (CR)/S(OF) CL=(7)/85(0.3) CL=(7)/85(0 3) = $0 $0.275/ft 275/ft Can you increase efficiency somehow?
40% -> $0.206/ft
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 20

Comparative Costs
Factor E8018 Electrode and Manual Welding $20/hr 3.11 lb/hr 0.3 $21.43/lb of weld $0.667/lb 0 68 0.68 $0.98/lb none $22.41/lb dep. metal Labor and overhead rate (CL) Deposition rate (D) Operating p g factor (OF) ( ) Cost of labor and overhead to deposit weld Electrode cost (CE) Deposition efficiency (DE) Cost of deposited metal Shielding gas flow rate (VG) Cost of shielding gg gas ( (CG) ) Cost of welding 9000C-1 Wire and Semi-automatic W ldi Welding $20/hr 5 lb/hr 0.45 $8.88/lb of weld $1.019/lb 0 78 0.78 $1.31/lb 3 40 ft /hr $0.72/lb dep. p metal $10.91/lb dep. metal

Labor cost seriously offsets cheap stick cost

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 21

Costs of Various Processes

(relative for guidance)
P Process Shielded metalarc Shielded metalarc Gas metal-arc semi-automatic i t ti Self-shielded flux-cored, semiauto Submerged arc semi-auto Arc speed A d (ft/hr) 85 85 80 100 Operating O ti Factor 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.5 Labor L b and d Overhead ($/hr) 7 7 7 7 Weld W ld Cost C t ($/ft) 0.274 0.206 0.175 0.140

110

0.5

0.127

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Weld Comparison for Mild Steel

c d

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Weld Comparison p Example p

1/4 diameter, manual metal-arc electrode with solid flux attached attached, 320 A (a) Deposition rate 6.25 lb/arc-hr (b) Weld required 0.6 lb of weld metal/ft (c) Welding speed 2 in/min (5.75 arcminutes/ft) (d) Operating factor 20% (e) Time is 28.75 minutes/ft, labor cost at $8/hr is $3 $3.83/ft 83/ft of weld (f)
ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009 24

Other Issues
Calculations show what can happen, if you have the correct equipment. y q p Other costs
depreciation, depreciation taxes taxes, etc etc.

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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Summary
Costs of arc welding can be calculated Calculations give you guidance on:
process selection operating condition targets

ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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ME 6222: Manufacturing Processes and Systems Prof. J.S. Colton GIT 2009

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