Ajax TOCCO Magnethermic has completed the installation of a twin bead weld preheat system for SAW process at a manufacturer of high capacity heavy duty fork / lift trucks. This is the second installation at this facility for Ajax TOCCO.
The new twin bead floating inductor weld preheat system simultaneously heats two corners of a 30-foot long, 5-ton weldment at a rate of 28 inches per minute to 250 degrees F. The sections of the weldment that are joined are 1-inch thick.
Preheat time has been reduced from 2 hours down to 10 seconds. Over 700,000 BTU’s worth of natural gas-fired infrared heaters have been replaced with a single Ajax TOCCO 35 kW TOCCOtron AC induction heating power source.
Each of the two inductors are positioned approximately 24 inches in front of two 1000-amp sub arc weld torches. The inductors and torches move in tandem. The weldment is simultaneously heated and welded as gantry traverses the length of the fillet.
Real-time, active temperature feedback and control are provided by an Ajax TOCCO-supplied, non-contact infrared sensor. The output of the induction heater is constantly varied by the PID controller to maintain a constant user-defined preheat temperature.