Summer Internship Tata

Steel Limited, Khopoli

Mid-Project Presentation
By Harsh Kumar
 Paste Weld/ Cold Weld and Lack of
fusion at the edges/ Puckers:

01.
Average fusion line width and weld
flowlines angles are not close to 60
um and 60 degrees, respectively

Problem Statement-
Insufficient heat and squeeze
pressure

Reduction in the weak weld

issues at ERW mill in special
grade materials
02.
Understanding common weak
weld issues in the ERW process
Porosity, Cast Weld, and Penetrators:
High heat and less squeeze pressure do not
allow impurities like oxides to get removed
from the weld zone.
A narrow vee angle of less than 4 degrees or a
short vee length
Open Seam:
Vee length and angle too large

03. (bigger than 7 degrees).

Impeder placement is incorrect
Insufficient heat and squeeze
pressure
FISHBONE DIAGRAM of potential reasons of weak weld issues
Temperature of impeder Material Defects
Standard not being followed
Position of impeder Thickness variation of strip
Negligence of operator
Stability of impeder Environmental conditions
Alignment of mill inside tube

Squeeze out Roll’s profile

Wrong ID of weld coil
Variable squeeze pressure Condition of packing
Position of weld coils
Variation of squeeze pressure in
Shape of ID bead Spacer’s dimensions
side and top rolls

Bearing’s Temperature Coolant’s Composition Condition of lead screw

Sealing of bearing
Coolant Temperature Voltage
Roll pressure from datum to stand
Low coolant pressure Mill Speed

Pressure from stand to stand Vee angle Power input

Material of roll Vee Length Frequency

Play in shafts Position of V0, V1 and W Weld temperature

Problems and their proposed solutions :
Uneven loading in forming and finpass
The exact pressure and the
dimensions to be reduced with each
pass in forming and fin pass depend
on the operator and are not followed
according to dimensional charts.
I have been taking the average
diameter of the tubes after each pass
and found the dimensions are
incorrect; they are either too large or
smaller than required in a few passes,
which puts excessive residual
stresses in the metal strip, thus
affecting the weld quality of the
tubes. Still, more dimensions need to
be taken to confirm this issue.
Installation of load cells on the stands
under the shafts will benefit uneven
loading.
Stress analysis of metal strips
through the forming section can give
even more insights into this.
Springback is challenging to control in
high-tensile materials like TA-45 and
TG-37. More passes can solve this
and give us more controlled forming.
The dimensional sheet must be
updated, or it needs to be
appropriately followed.
Accurate vee length and angle detection
Weldflow lines under microscope
An optical device in the infeed Vee forming
area can measure the Vee angle and gap
values while predicting the apex relative to
the weld pressure point. This will also help to
know the mismatch between the two strip
edges.
Key points of interest include the geometric
convergence point (V0), the collision-
contact point (V1), and the welding point (W).
When the edges form a simple V shape, with
V0, V1, and W converging into a single point,
resulting in stable welding with minimal
defects.
As power input increases, Point W moves
downstream, and a narrow slit grows between
the edges, indicating complete melting and
better fusion. However, the cyclic expansion The fusion line width was
and contraction of the slit can introduce incorrect, with less width
instability. in the center. This can be
Further increasing the heat input causes
Point V1 to move downstream from V0, due to lousy edge
resulting in a two-step Vee convergence and preparation in the
more excellent edge retreat. This excessive forming process and
melting and retreat suggest a more complex
welding dynamic, which may compromise
improper squeeze.
weld quality.
I tried checking for those 3 points while
the mill was being set; the mill needs to
be running to determine the W, but the
vee angle, V0, and V1 points can still be
identified in this way.
 The diameter of
Average Diameter
the tube (taken
Position of tube
in 2 directions in
(mm)
mm)

Reading taken on 5 June at

FF1 121.9,191.45 156.675 mill no. 4. Material grade
was TA-45/ST-52AL.
Sections of 115mm*60mm
FFS1 119.95,114.3 117.125
were made; the forming
rollers were the same as a
FF2 117.95,115.95 116.95
108mm circular cross-
section.
The size difference
FFS2 114.5,109.8 112.15 between FF1 and FFS1 is
drastic, and the diameter
increases from FFS2 to SG.
FF3 114.7,114.3 114.5

SG 113.4,111.56 112.48
 According to
The the size
diameter of chart and
the tube tight
Position (taken allowance, the Remarks
in 2 tube's ideal Reading was taken on 17 June at
directions in diameter
mm) should be mill no. 4. The material grade
around. was Boiler K1. A tube of
50.80mm was made; the
thickness was 3.25mm.
FF1 61,59.5 59.13,59.28
Here, the operator gives more
gradual loading, and the sheet
Out of the recommends uneven loading.
5%
FF2 57.05,56.05 53.8,53.9
recommendat
From FF3 to SQ, the
ion dimensional change should be
around 1-2mm, but it is 3-4mm.
The recommended OD of the
FF3 55.15,54.6 52,53.4
impeder should be 34mm, but a
28mm impeder is being used.
SQ 51.8,51.5 51.5,51.7
 According to
The the size
diameter of chart and
the tube tight
Position (taken allowance, the Remarks
Reading taken on 7 June at mill
in 2
directions in
tube's ideal
diameter
no. 4. Material grade was GR2.
mm) should be Sections of 60mm*30mm were
around.
made; the thickness was 1.6mm;
the forming rollers were the
FF1 64.4,64.5 61.95,61 same as a 55.56mm circular
cross-section.
Here also, FF2 is unevenly
Out of the
5% loaded. There should be a
FF2 69.25,69.35 60.35, 59.65
recommendat
ion
gradually decreasing diameter
in every pass.

FF3 60.75,58.3 59.95

Inaccurate Tolerances No Continous Heat Monitoring Rolls and roll profiles

In the fin pass, the roller and the fin
should have the same root diameter;
if not the same, the angle to be given
by the fin pass will not be the same as
specified.
Tolerance limit not specified in the
drawings; thus, tool room operators
take up to 0.5mm tolerances. If this is
present in both the fin and the rollers,
then there can be a difference of 1mm
between the root diameters. If we roll
a 1.5mm thick strip, we would be
unable to give a proper angle to the
strip.
Coolant, bearing, and roll temperature
are not adequately monitored. It can
lead to roll expansion, reducing the
gap between the edges and causing
more roll wear.
The average temperature of the
coolant is 35 degree celcius when the
mill is not working and reaches upto
55 degrees when the mill is working.
This is very high when compared to
the recmmonded range of 20-30
degrees.
A sensor system should be designed
for continuous monitoring; data need
to be collected to analyze the severity
of the problem.
Heat exchanger systems should be in
the coolant line to maintain the
temperature.
The R1 edge on the squeeze rolls is very
critical, and it is likely to burn off due to
the welding process, thus not giving good
pressure to the hot edge.
HCHCR is good, but better materials with
improved wear and heat resistance can
be used for at least that roll.
Packings are not a reliable option, and
incorporating a lead screw system to
raise the bottom roll shaft equally, same
as that present in the sizing section of
mill number 4, needs to be developed.

Improper Tools

A torque wrench would be beneficial instead of using a hammer and spanner to tighten the bolts. A torque wrench can prevent uneven
force from being applied on the stands and shaft and will also preserve the condition of the nuts
A softer material hammer, such as a brass or rubber hammer, should be used for minor adjustments, as using an iron hammer poses a risk
of damaging the roll profile.
The operators use their fingers to check the matching of the rolls and the roll gap during roll change; instead, using a gauge designed for
the profile shape with a torch will give better accuracy in matching those rolls.
Uneven pressure distribution on the strip
Problems with Quality Checking
from the roll
The original idea was to put oil,
grease, or lubrication on the
metal strip and check how the
roller displaces that liquid.
It was not feasible, so I
switched and checked how
much distance there was from
the top shaft to the top of the
stand and verified if this
distance was the same for the
datum and stamp stand.
For mill number 4, the distance
came pretty close to each
other. But this needs to be
checked for other mills, too.
None of the tests explained the
internal defects; only the surface
defects were studied. An internal
defect tester like ultrasonic testing
can help.
There is a typical customer complaint
about paste weld that cannot be
detected by even Eddie current
tester present there.
Continuous imaging and study of the
bead’s cross-section can give an
even better understanding of these
defects. The shape and uniformity of
the weld bead can be assessed to
ensure consistent weld quality,
usually done by using light vision
sensors and a camera.

Impeder

Keeping the boogie attached to the impeder line helps keep it in the correct
position, approximately at the wall thickness away from the seam. This should be
followed even when ID scarfing is not done so the impeder is stable and in the
right place.
Thank you
very much!