ESAB displayed its latest equipment for the Wind Power industry at the  2010 Windpower Conference & Expo, held in Dallas, Texas, on May  23-26. At booth #8629, ESAB demonstrated why we are the leading welding  equipment manufacturer worldwide in this industry.

We introduced our new Tandem-Twin welding process for submerged arc  welding. ESAB is currently the only  company offering this unique process  designed to improve productivity by increasing metal deposition rate and  cutting arc time in half. This process is ideal for circumferential welding of  large cylindrical objects such as the "cans" used in production of wind towers.

The twin wire welding process for submerged  arc welding uses two relatively small diameter wires with a single power source  and typically a single contact tip. It can increase deposition rates by 20% to  30% versus single wire DC SAW. Tandem welding normally uses two separate power  supplies, two wire feeders, and two large diameter wires. Both wires feed into  the same molten puddle but each has a separate contact tip, separate power  supply, and separate control. Deposition rates are at least double those  achievable with single wire SAW. Tandem Twin welding combines  tandem welding with twin wire welding to achieve even higher deposition rates  for the highest possible productivity in subarc welding.

The heart of ESAB’s Tandem Twin solution  consists of two heads, each using twin wires, mounted on an ESAB Column and  Boom. The heads are powered by one ESAB LAF DC  power source and one ESAB TAF AC power source that deliver up to 1250 amp per  head.

The development of this process coincided with  the development of a new flux, OK Flux 10.72, that satisfies low-temperature  toughness requirements while using a non-alloyed wire electrode, OK Autrod  12.22. This flux/wire combination provides good slag detachability in narrow  joints and is suitable for all SAW variants.