New Zealand: Nelson Stud Brings Aluminum Stud Welding to Shipbuilding Industry

Nelson Stud Welding®, part of the Doncasters Group of precision engineering companies, has a long track record of working closely with customers to develop bespoke manufacturing solutions.

So, when two ship yards expressed an interest in bringing the benefits of stud welding to their work with aluminum vessels, the team at Nelson Stud Welding® – one of Nelson Fastener Systems’ North American sites – was only too keen to take up the challenge.

Doug Phillips, director of product management – equipment at Nelson Stud Welding® explained: “Over recent years there has been a significant shift towards the use of aluminum in ship design. Not only are aluminum ships lighter than their traditionally-manufactured counterparts, but they’re also faster and more fuel efficient, making the attraction easy to understand.“

“However, aluminum is conventionally more difficult to weld than traditional ship-building materials, requiring a different welding process and higher levels of training to deliver consistent results. This adds delays and cost to the process, both for new-build ships and maintenance work.”

Nelson Stud Welding® started work on the problem three years ago, working with Austall’s shipyard to develop a stud welder for use on the yard’s unique aluminum hulls.

The result was a portable stud welder capable of welding ½” threaded studs, which can be carried right into the bowels of a ship. The system allows workers to weld downhand, vertically or overhead, meaning it can be used anywhere on the vessel, while welding thicker materials is also not a problem.

Phillips continued: “While it took some time to develop, this new aluminum stud welder offers considerable benefits for the ship-building trade.

“Where traditional processes only weld two or three studs per minute, our new aluminum stud welding system can shoot studs easily twice as fast, significantly improving productivity.

“The quality of the fastening process itself is also improved as no holes are required, meaning the fabrication is structurally more rigid and leak proof, reducing incidences of corrosion.

“Finally, the system requires less training to operate than traditional aluminum welding techniques, meaning apprentices can start working on ships after just two or three hours training. This user-friendly feature offers considerable time and resource savings for both yard owners and their customers.”

The training is provided in-house by Nelson Stud Welding®, working in conjunction with the yard to introduce employees to the system, oversee practice projects and follow-up on a regular basis to ensure quality and consistency are maintained.

Since developing the first aluminum stud welder, the team at Nelson Stud Welding® has also been working closely with other customers to adapt the technology to meet their own welding needs.

A second system is now being used at Ingalls shipyard, while the team is also looking at ways to develop the technology to support larger and different types of studs.

Phillips concluded: “Product development is an ongoing process but, by working closely with two of our key customers, we’ve been able to develop an exciting new system that will revolutionise the way our customers work with aluminum in the future.

“Supporting customers to overcome production challenges and meet their own commercial objectives is at the heart of everything we do and creating effective systems, such as these, is one of the most rewarding aspects of our work.”

The Doncasters Group is a leading international manufacturer of performance and tolerance critical engineering components for a variety of end market applications. Doncasters excels in working with alloys and metals that are difficult to shape and form and that are required to operate in demanding ambient conditions.

(IndustryToday)

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Source: IndustryToday, May 12, 2011; Image: NelsonStud