Residual analyser

SMKY 2 is the second generation of the residual analyser for wire electrodes and rods for arc and beam welding, which has proven itself for more than 15 years. 

Wire electrodes in the diameter range of 0.8 to 1.6 mm often have to be transported over lengths of several metres through a conduit and then through a contact tip. Friction inevitably occurs in the process. For trouble-free operation, it is always necessary to coat such wires with a lubricant. This applies to both steel and non-ferrous metals. Manufacturers of welding wires have developed different concepts regarding both the choice of the type of lubricant and the quantity applied. In fact, practice shows that the amount of lubricant in particular is often not sufficiently constant. This results in wire feeding problems if there is a lack of lubricant (dry wire) and in weld defects such as pores, spatter and smoke formation if there is an excess.

The use of the residue analyser is useful for manufacturers of wire electrodes as well as users for incoming goods inspection and troubleshooting.

Functional principle:

An approximately 25 cm long piece of the wire electrode to be analysed is clamped into the device and heated to just below the melting temperature by an adjustable current pulse of a maximum of 10 s and 250 A. The electrode is then heated nearly to the melting temperature. During this process, residues present on the surface of the wire electrode evaporate and are completely captured by a sensor.
The sensor measures the total amount of smoke produced and this is displayed both graphically and as a numerical value on the screen. Several measurements can be combined and an average value can be calculated automatically. 

Parameter sets are stored for the most important materials (steel, aluminium, CrNi and copper alloys) and can be easily called up.

The software can be extended for integration into production systems. For example, a barcode scanner can be used to set the test parameters for a specific product or to store the test results externally together with a batch number.