Pivotal role of welding in the automotive industry

Q. Please enumerate your activities and niche.

Ador Welding Limited (AWL) (formerly Advani-Oerlikon Limited) since inception in the year 1951 are regarded as the pioneers in the Indian welding industry. With business segments like Welding Consumables, Welding Equipment, Gas Cutting Products (GCP) and Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE), Welding Automation Products and Systems (WAPS), Project Engineering Business(PEB) and the Ador Welding Academy (AWA), we are complete welding solution providers to the manufacturing sector. Our footprints are present in every manufacturing sector – Automotive, Fertilizer, Wind, Hydro & Thermal electric power, Infra – structure, Mining, Nuclear, Railways, Oil & Gas, Ship building, Wind energy and many more.

With four strategically located manufacturing plants, AWL has the highest capacities compared to any other welding company in India. All the plants are ISO 9001/ 14001 / 18001 certified with the state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities and testing facilities. AWL has 11 sales offices spread across India and has the biggest distributor network. AWL has evolved with the growing demands of the industry and is India’s largest manufacturer of welding consumables catering to the Domestic market and an International clientele spanning more than forty countries. Our equipment and consumables and manufacturing and their quality systems are constantly and periodically evaluated by both the national (e.g. BIS / IBR / NPCIL / EIL / RDSO / BHEL / DRDO) and inter-national (ABS/LRS / BV / DNV / CWB / CE) third party agencies. We have more than 200 product approvals and are probably the only Indian manufacturer in welding industry to have many products CE and CWB certified. We are the only Indian welding company to an NABL accredited testing laboratory.

Q. What are your offerings to the automotive industry?

The most commonly used welding methods for automotive applications include resistance spot welding, resistance seam welding, metal inert gas (GMAW) welding, tungsten inert gas (GTAW) welding as also laser beam welding (LBW), friction welding (FW) and plasma arc welding (PAW).

Ador Welding Offers a plethora of solutions through its wide range of Welding consumables, Welding equipment, Welding Automation, Plasma and Gas CNC based cutting systems encompassing most of these processes. The Champ Pulse 500 is arguably India’s first indigenously manufactured Pulse MIG machine. Designed and developed at Ador Welding Pune plant, the Champ pulse 500 is excellent for welding of thin and thick sheet Aluminium, Copper and their alloys, Nickel and its alloys, Stainless Steels, Carbon Steels, Alloy Steels, etc.

Q. How do you contribute to automation, productivity and operational efficiency in the industry?

Automation in welding and the use of robotic welding is the need of the hour as we strive towards becoming a world-class exporter of engineering products. Robotic solutions offer the much-needed skill and repeatability to critical jobs on mass manufacturing lines which makes them absolutely vital in this age of consumerism. IOT, AI, and ANN are being put to good use to help create impeccable ‘first time right’ welding process planning and the same is slowly but surely finding takers in India. Developing import substitutes for welding consumables is our biggest challenge as this will define India’s path towards being a top-quality manufacturer to the rest of theworld.

Q. Have you come up with any path-breaking technology or customized solution for this industry?

Auto- Exhaust applications The use of stainless steels in automobiles started when automobiles came to be equipped with 3- way catalytic converters to meet intensifying regulations over exhaust gas emissions. The requirement to have longer service life accelerated the switchover from hot dip aluminized carbon steel to stainless steel in this application. Today, stainless steel is used in almost all exhaust system parts from the cylinder head gasket to the tail pipe. The consumption of stainless steel in the exhaust system per passenger car varies from model to model but averages about 15kg per car. The stainless-steel consumption is expected to increase in the exhaust system of diesel-powered automobiles, mainly trucks, to meet the growing social demand for stricter exhaust gas emission regulations.

Exhaust system materials are exposed to a variety of harsh conditions and must be resistant to such degradation mechanisms as high temperature oxidation, condensate and salt corrosion, elevated temperature mechanical failure, stress corrosion cracking, and inter-granular corrosion. The exhaust gas emitted from automobiles is one cause of air pollution, and various efforts have been made to prevent this problem. One of the preventive measures is the system shown in the figure.

The components downstream from the muffler of an exhaust system must have sufficient corrosion resistance to withstand the internal attack of condensed water containing these corrosive ions and external attack of these salts. The materials mainly used for these components are low-carbon ferritic stainless steel incorporating not less than 11% chromium. The components nearer to the engine in front of the muffler need high oxidation resistance, because they are heated to about 773K (500) during operation. The exhaust manifold, which is heated to the highest temperature, must possess both high-temperature strength and resistance to thermal fatigue. High-chromium stainless steel is now used mainly for these upstream components. As a result, the life of the exhaust system has been substantially extended.

Stabilized ferritic stainless steels represent the best cost / benefit solution for exhaust system components: it gives designers optimal combinations that work both in elevated temperatures and complex corrosive environments. The exhaust system components are manifold: close coupled and under-body catalytic converters, flexible bellow, muffler, resonator, connecting pipes, flanges, and tailpipe. The part of the exhaust system containing the manifold, converter and the flex joint is named as hot end since this part of the system is relativelyhot due to the hot exhaust gas passing through these components. The part consists of intermediate pipe, resonator and the muffler is named as cold end since the gas tends to cool down from the exit of the flex tube. The temperature of the hot end of the gasoline operated vehicle can be as high as 1050°C while the highest temperature of the cold end is about 650°C.
There are benefits of Nb regarding oxidation resistance at high temperatures.

It has been demonstrated that Nb containing ferritic grades have better high temperature performance when compared to Ti single-stabilized or austenitic grades. This is because Nb forms a thin, homogeneous and adherent oxide layer in the surface of the steel, avoiding spalling and re-oxidation of the material during the exhaust system thermal cycling (the typical on/off operation of the car’s engine). It also results in lower loss of material which can be translated into higher life cycles of the component, meaning a longer life, reduced frequency of replacement and long term cost savings.

Study on metal loss of different stainless steels at 950°C shows that with increase in Nb content, higher temperature oxidation resistance improves as Nb forms less porous and more adherent oxides which results in less spalling and less re-oxidation.

ADOR offers comprehensive solutions for Auto Exhaust Applications:

Solid wire for GMAW welding:

Miginox 430LNb

• Superior wire of unique chemistry stabilized with Nb.
• Minimizes the consumption of nozzles and avoids the excess of projections during welding.
• Best welding performance with shielding gases 98Ar+2O2 and 1-5CO2 mixed with Ar.

GMAW & Metal-cored wires from ADOR for auto exhaust applications:

Autoweld 400

• Ferritic Stainless Steel solid wire
• High corrosion and heat resistance
• Suitable for joining and cladding of typical 17% Cr steels
• Best suited for ferritic martensitic chrome steels

Metal cored wire:

Metal cored wires offer higher productivity in terms of higher welding current densities and hence higher welding speeds. It gives much higher range of welding parameters to weld without the danger of burn-through. The above comes with an additional advantage of better root-gap bridging ability. The above point is best illustrated in the graph here.

Miginox MC 409 :

• Ti stabilized metal cored wire that gives minimal / no slag
• Operates at higher current densities
• High deposition rate gives very high productivity

Both the solid and metal cored wires are supplied in layer-wound condition in plastic spools with 12.5 / 15 kg wire per spool.

ADOR evolves continually to meet the emerging needs of the industry in its relentless pursuit of excellence.