July 2015, Vol. 242, No. 7

TechNotes

CRC-Evans Automatic Welding Introduces Laser Vision Welding System

CRC-Evans Automatic Welding is introducing a new generation welding system incorporating laser vision welding and inspection technology. The company says its Vision System is engineered to reduce total time of the pipeline welding process while increasing weld quality. It is said to provide remarkable flexibility in the field.

Components of the Vision Welding system, all employing laser vision technology, include:

• V Weld – an external welding machine with adaptive weld technology;
• V Bevel for bevel inspection at the beveling station;
• V Root for root inspection at the welding station; and
• V Purge – a fully automatic purge control system to control and monitor the purge chamber parameters.

The new technology is said to allow:

• Real-time tracking at higher speeds;
• Real-time closed loop control;
• Adjustment to travel speed, wire feed speed, and oscillation width to achieve adaptive fill around the pipe;
• Inspection and reporting of the bevel and root bead in the critical path for immediate corrections and minimum downtime.

A computer report of all welds and inspections is available as a permanent record for operators and owners.

Shankar Rajagopalan, the company’s vice president of New Product Development, said “Today, everyone is concerned with pushing productivity levels beyond the old standards.

“We engineered laser vision technology into our welding technology to enhance productivity in narrow groove pipe joints and increase weld quality through pre-weld and post-weld in-line inspection. It raises the bar for the whole industry.”

The first use of the Vision System in the field is an Incoloy-clad project in Norway.

About The Company
CRC-Evans Automatic Welding reports it designs and builds automatic welding systems for land or offshore pipeline construction. In addition to renting or selling these systems to contractors, the division provides other specialized services such as welding engineering, on-site technicians and training. The company is a subsidiary of CRC-Evans Pipeline International, provider of specialized equipment and services for the construction of pipelines. Information contact: Shankar Rajagopalan, e-mail: rshankar@crc-evans.com.