scholarly journals Profiling Mild Steel Welding Processes to Reduce Fume Emissions and Costs in the Workplace

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (12) ◽  
pp. 995-1001
Author(s):  
Johanna Samulin Erdem ◽  
Yke Jildouw Arnoldussen ◽  
Sepideh Tajik ◽  
Dag G Ellingsen ◽  
Shanbeh Zienolddiny

Welders have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) following exposure to welding fumes. The underlying mechanisms are largely unknown; however, oxidative stress, systemic inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction have been suggested as contributing factors to particle-induced CVD. We investigated effects of mild steel welding fume (MSWF) on three target cell types: macrophages, pulmonary epithelial, and vascular endothelial cells. Cells were exposed to MSWF at nontoxic doses for 6 h/day, for five consecutive days. The expression of 40 genes involved in inflammation, fibrosis, and endothelial activation was analyzed. Moreover, changes in the reactive oxygen species production and migration capacity of cells were assessed. The expression of matrix metallopeptidase 1 ( MMP1) was induced in both epithelial and endothelial cells following repeated exposure to MSWF. Although MMP1 is important in inflammatory responses in vivo, this effect was not concurrent with changes in the inflammatory status, cell proliferation, and migration capacities, nor did it induce oxidative stress in the cells. Thus, repeated exposure with low doses of MSWF was sufficient neither for inducing inflammatory stress in epithelial cells and macrophages nor for endothelial activation, and higher concentrations of MSWF or the nonparticle fraction of MSWF may be critical in causing the increased risk of CVD observed among welders.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kővágó Csaba ◽  
Barbara Szekeres ◽  
Éva Szűcs-Somlyó ◽  
Kornél Májlinger ◽  
Ákos Jerzsele ◽  
...  

Abstract The most important welding processes used are the Gas Metal Arc (GMA) welding, the Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding, and the Manual Metal Arc (MMA) welding processes. The goal of our investigation was to monitor the distribution of iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) in the lung, spleen, liver, and kidney of mice after inhalation exposure of different welding methods using different steel base materials. The treatment groups were the following: MMA-mild steel, MMA-molybdenum-manganese (MoMn) alloy, TIG-mild steel, and TIG-stainless steel. The samples were taken 24- and 96 hours after the treatments.Most importantly, it was found that the Mn concentration in the lung’ samples of the MMA-mild steel and the MMA-MoMn groups was increased extremely at both sampling times and in the spleen’ samples also. In the TIG groups, the rise of the Mn concentration was only considerable in the lungs and spleens at 24h, and emerged concentration was found in the liver in 96h samples. Histopathology demonstrated emerged siderin content in the spleens of the treated animals and in siderin filled macrophages in the lungs mostly in all treated groups. Traces of high-level glycogen retention was found in the MMA groups at both sampling times. Similar glycogen retention in TIG-Ms and TIG stainless group’s liver samples and emerged number of vacuoles, especially in the hepatocytes of the TIG-stainless steel 96h group were also found.The mentioned results raise the consequence that there is a considerable difference in the kinetics of the Mn distribution between the MMA- and the TIG-fume treated groups. Hence, the result suggests that manganese has a particle-size dependent toxico-kinetics property. The anomaly of the glycogen metabolism indicates the systemic effect of the welding fumes. Also, the numerous vacuoles mentioned above show a possible liver-specific adverse effect of some components of the TIG-stainless steel welding fumes.


2013 ◽  
Vol 769 ◽  
pp. 237-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Göttmann ◽  
Chris Mertin ◽  
Linda Mosecker ◽  
Andreas Naumov ◽  
Markus Bambach

Due to increasing demands for lightweight structures in automotive applications the use of sheet metal components made from aluminium alloys is a promising approach for weight reduction. The combination of steel and aluminium in car bodies may be an interesting alternative compared to a monolithic material design. The weight of structural parts of a car body shell can be reduced if dedicated parts consist of aluminium instead of steel. This approach allows for an optimal exploitation of the material properties of both materials, bringing high strength into highly loaded areas while areas subject to lower loads are equipped with lower strength and weight. However, a multi-material design combining steel and aluminium demands for suitable joining methods, especially if a forming operation is applied to the welded sheets. In conventional fusion welding processes the formation of intermetallic phases due to the metallurgical affinity of aluminium and iron is a serious problem. Recent developments in regulated cold metal transfer (CMT) welding technologies at the Institute of Welding Technology and Joining Technology (ISF) at the RWTH Aachen promise an appropriate solution to this problem. Due to a digitally regulated arc technology, the heat input in CMT is reduced to a minimum. However, the inevitable formation of a welding bead in arc processes with filler material is a criterion of exclusion in the case of production of welds for car body shells. To achieve an optimal appearance of the body shell, the welding beads need to be removed from both sides of the sheet in a second manufacturing step. Hence, to avoid further costs, it seems expedient to search for alternative welding technologies. Friction stir welded (FSW) joints show relatively even welding beads. Furthermore, this joining method is characterised by a low process temperature, which is considerably below the melting temperature of the base materials. Hence, FSW is a promising joining technique to produce tailored blanks out of aluminium and steel. The main objective of the present paper is the evaluation of suitable process parameters for the production of FSW butt joints with a thickness of 1 mm made from the aluminium alloy AA6016-T4 and the mild steel DC04. Welding experiments using a varying rotational speed, tool offset, tool velocity, tool plunge depth and tool tilt angle were carried out. To identify the best parameters in terms of the strength of the joint, tensile tests were performed. It is shown, that an amount of approximately 85% of the tensile strength of the base material AA6016 can be achieved. Using SEM the formation of the fracture surfaces was analysed. Different fracture types were identified and the possible reasons for their occurrence are discussed. It is shown that in the case of optimal joining procedure the failure occurs in the thermomechanically affected zone in the aluminium sheet, were the plastic deformation is low. Additionally, thermography has been employed to evaluate the temperature distribution during the process. In metallographic investigations it was found that during welding the microstructure of the aluminium base material changes due to plastic deformation and temperature increase in the area of the weld seam. Using hardness measurements the change of the mechanical properties in the contact zone of both base materials and in the heat affected zone was examined. Finally, an outlook is given with respect to the possibilities of producing FSW welded sheets that can be formed using conventional deep-drawing.


1997 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Edmé ◽  
P. Shirali ◽  
M. Mereau ◽  
A. Sobaszek ◽  
C. Boulenguez ◽  
...  

1949 ◽  
Vol 18 (6-8) ◽  
pp. 105-112
Author(s):  
K. Nakamura ◽  
Y. Inagaki ◽  
S. Mizuno ◽  
K. Ishiyama

2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Fujii ◽  
H Suzuki ◽  
K Yasuda ◽  
J Takahashi

2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 915-925 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Antonini ◽  
Krishnan Sriram ◽  
Stanley A. Benkovic ◽  
Jenny R. Roberts ◽  
Samuel Stone ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 1036 ◽  
pp. 440-445
Author(s):  
Tomasz Węgrzyn ◽  
Jan Piwnik ◽  
Izabela Horzela ◽  
Wojciech Majewski

The article focuses on mild steel welding and covers the new possibilities of that method. Since 2011 innovate welding technology based on micro-jet cooling just after welding is being checked. Weld metal deposit (WMD) was carried out for standard MIG welding and for new welding method with micro-jet cooling. A very high percentage of acicular ferrite (AF) in WMD was gettable (55-75%) for low alloy welding with micro-jet cooling injector. This beneficial structure (very high amount of AF) is unusual to observe in WMD in other welding methods. This method is very promising mainly due to the significant improvement of weld quality and reduces costs. Furthermore impact toughness and strengths of WMD were carried out. The present paper aims at outlining same of the recent innovations in MIG welding which represent steps ahead to achieve the objectives outlined above.


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