Lincoln Electric’s pipe solution, Mechanized Pipeliner AutoShield, offers an updated approach to pipeline welding. Designed to weld fill and cap passes without shielding gas on a mechanized orbital system, AutoShield maximizes performance.
This solution enables consistent welds and gives operators a new tool to do something different.
Applications
The process consists of three main components: a power source, like a Frontier 400X Pipe engine drive or the Power Wave S500, an orbital welder or “bug” (including the APEX controller and M85 HELIX weld head) and the Pipeliner AutoShield HW FCAW-S wire.
AutoShield is designed for applications wherein the terrain is rugged or for tie-in applications where a contractor still wants to mechanize even when getting a shack to a weld is challenging. The process is also for jobs that are not long enough to justify GMAW but which require increased performance compared to SMAW.
“We made a self-shielded flux-cored wire that’s designed specifically for mechanized welding on pipelines,” said Sam Phillips, director of Lincoln Electric’s pipeline and pipe mill industry segments.
“We put it on an orbital bug, which improves efficiency in two ways—first, you’re not relying on a human arm from sunup until sundown and, second, you’re also going to get a more consistent weld each time, because that bug is going to do what it’s specifically programmed to do. This results in consistent productivity and predictable heat inputs.”
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Performance and Capabilities
Up to 50% reduced heat input compared to FCAW-G
Up to 30% reduced weld time compared to SMAW
Up to 80% decrease in weld start / stops compared to SMAW
“If contractors want to mechanize, or if they have to mechanize, AutoShield delivers a cost-effective solution to make it happen. Right now, if you want to mechanize, you have to use a gas-shielded process, which means you have to run shacks, you have to have heavier equipment to move those shacks, and you have to have the gas. AutoShield gives operators or contractors a tool to do something different now,” explained Philips.
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