FABTECH 2015 gave manufacturers a good idea of state-of-the-art manufacturing technology, along with a glimpse of what to expect in the years to come.
Software played a dominant role in this year’s exhibits, especially for machine tools that operate with minimal manual input.
Additionally, the show served as the venue for the “Best Welder in America” contest. Winners included: Aaron Oetken, a self-employed welder/fabricator from Mediapolis, Iowa; Tom Ruge, a student at Gateway Technical College, Racine, Wisconsin; and Andrew Miller, a welding engineer with Caterpillar from Dunlap, Illinois.
In all, 1,700 exhibiting companies showed their wares. The event, held November 9-12 at McCormick Place in Chicago, attracted 43,836 attendees from more than 90 countries. Here is a sample of what they saw:
Lincoln’s new Flextec 350X is a rugged, multi-process power source for flexibility and harsh environments. It handles all wire, DC stick and DC TIG processes and is compatible with multiple wire-feeder types, including across-the-arc, analog, digital or CrossLinc wire feeders. CrossLinc technology uses a proprietary communication protocol to maintain voltage control at the feeder, while eliminating an extra cable. The result is greater safety, quality and productivity.
With an output range of 5 to 500 amps, the Flextec 350X is rated at 450 amps, 38 volts at 60 percent duty cycle or 400 amps, 36 volts at 100 percent duty cycle. Lightweight and portable, the compact new model weighs only 77 pounds.
The company also introduced its Process Z for welding galvanized materials. The process involves reducing weld porosity while maintaining rapid travel speeds. Operators may use standard, constant-voltage power sources running DC-negative polarity to achieve higher travel speeds and lower porosity compared to solid wire. Or, they can push throughput and quality to the maximum by combining Metalshield Z with Lincoln Electric’s Power Wave advanced process welding power sources. The company’s Rapid Z waveform, tailored for zinc applications, can push travel speeds beyond 55 inches per minute, with zero surface porosity, and less than 1 percent internal porosity. www.lincolnelectric.com
Beyond the positioning, the WeldPro connects to a manufacturer’s network to capture data that can be analyzed to give companies a better idea of weld costs and productivity. Designed to integrate with Lincoln power supplies and software, the WeldPro 360 offers eight preset welding schedules, any of which can be selected by clicking the trigger on the weld gun.
It is a product of Anderson Industries in Adelanto, California. They company also manufactures gooseneck and tag trailers. www.andersenmp.com
The Rebel EMP 215ic, a 120V-230V, CC/CV welding system also offers location flexibility, lightweight portability and a new operator interface. The sMIG (“smart MIG”) function enables users to begin MIG welding just by setting metal thickness and wire diameter. There is no need to enter information for shielding gas mix.
The Rebel can be used for MIG, flux-cored, lift TIG and stick welding. It has two operating modes, basic and advanced, that make welding easy for beginners or lets those with more experience fine-tune parameters.
Operators interact with the Rebel using a control that combines traditional weld parameter adjustments with the functionality of a smart phone.
The Rebel accepts 4- and 8-inch diameter wire spools, runs .023- to .035-inch diameter wires and enables users to switch from 230V to 120V primary power simply by connecting the supplied adapter plug. www.esab.com
