Frames for Track rollers on the welding robot

VTS Track Solutions is specialized in the development, production and maintenance of crawler track undercarriage for OEM suppliers as well as end customers. The company started 11 years ago as a production company within the Verhoeven Group and is currently going through a professionalization phase. Operations manager Joep Schoenmakers: "We see sufficient market potential to expand the production numbers from 300 tracked undercarriages to 400 units on an annual basis." This is why VTS has put its first welding robot installation into operation.

Working according to quality standard

“We build in accordance with the machine guidelines. All our assemblers / welders are NEN-EN-ISO 9606-1 qualified. In the welding department, we will increasingly work according to the NEN-EN-ISO 3834-2 quality standard and possibly get certified in this in the future. The NEN-EN-ISO 5817 is a standard where the quality levels (B, C, D) for welding imperfections such as excess thickness are stated. More and more customers are demanding this visual check and for ourselves we also want to meet at least level (C) on average, "explains Lesley Laenen.

Moving toward robotic welding

A lack of professional welders was one of the reasons for VTS to take the step to welding robotization. Lesley Laenen: “But that is only one aspect. With a welding robot we have perfect control of the welding quality. Moreover, the welding robot makes a continuous weld over the full 360º of the center frame. Something that can't be done manually. Of course, the fact that the cycle times at the robot are 2.5 times lower plays a decisive role in the investment.”

Adjusted prep stage

VTS has found that the accuracy of the supplied bent and cut parts must fall within the tolerances that are acceptable to the robot, so that the assembler has to weld as little as possible in advance. Lesley Laenen: “Because we still use many weld seam shapes such as v seams and outside corner welding, problems can arise in the robotized process. In contrast to the manual welding process, where the welder has control over his weld pool over the entire weld seam and can continuously correct his speed, welding movement and possibly other parameters, the robot cannot. That is why we have adjusted the dimensions in the preliminary process in such a way that openings, radii, angles etc. fall within the tolerances that the robot can handle.”

Thick Plate welding software

A highly efficient software module that is optionally available for DTPS is the Thick Plate welding software from Panasonic. Thick Plate technology plays a role in welding robot applications where thick, heavy plate parts are used and where large welding heights are required. These are welded in multiple layers starting from a cross section of A8 in 3 layers or more. The manual programming of multiple layers provides a multitude of teaching points and is therefore extremely time-consuming. When applying the Thick Plate software, only the first layer is defined , after which the software automatically builds up all the other layers. "The use of Thick Plate software therefore makes the entire programming a lot faster and easier," concludes Lesley Laenen.

Switched to Valk Welding welding wire

To exclude all risks that could negatively influence welding quality, Valk Welding always provides a complete concept with components developed in-house, such as a welding cable package, robot torch, pneumatic shock-sensor , calibration and wire transport system. The quality of the welding wire plays a big role here. Based on positive test results with Valk Welding welding wire, VTS has also decided to use Valk Welding SG3 welding wire in the manual welding department. Lesley Laenen: "It feeds better and has less projections than what we were used to, and as a result we have less malfunction and post-processing." www.vtstracksolutions.com