Top Five Advantages to Stud Welding Hydraulic Cylinder Ports

Companies have been manufacturing welded hydraulic cylinders for decades. Many different techniques have been used to weld hydraulic cylinders, including:

• MIG Welding
• Stick Welding
• Friction Welding

More recently, the stud welding process has been used to weld the bosses, or ports, onto hydraulic cylinders. Stud welding hydraulic ports has many advantages for manufacturers of hydraulic cylinders. Read on to find out more about hydraulic port welding and its benefits.

How Does Hydraulic Port Welding Work?

Hydraulic port welding is similar to the standard stud welding process, and is usually performed with an automated or semi-automated stud welding cell. It is an easy and efficient way to weld ports on hydraulic cylinders with an automated hydraulic port welding setup. Below are the steps involved in hydraulic port welding.

How It Works in Cylinder Manufacturing

First, the studs and mating ceramic ferrules are loaded into your production stud welding gun. Next, the tubing can be loaded from the front of your machine manually, or robotically from the back. Once the tubing has been loaded, the automated weld sequence can be initiated. Each port stud is completely welded onto the cylinder in less than one second with a consistently strong weld fillet at the base.

After the sequence finishes, the ferrules are removed and weld integrity can be inspected. If the weld quality is satisfactory, the hydraulic cylinder can be removed from the welding machine manually from the front, or set to be removed robotically from the back. As you can see from the video below, the entire process can be completed in less than a minute.

Our Hydraulic Port Welder Overview 

https://youtu.be/8HHaUlwqs6g

The Primary Benefits Of Hydraulic Port Welding

This stud welding method has many benefits over the conventional MIG welding process. Learn more below.

1. It Is An Extremely Fast Process

Each port weld takes less than one second to complete, so there are no unnecessary delays in the system manufacturing process. Many Companies achieve throughput of 400 cylinders per day in a single stud weld port manufacturing line.

2. There Is Little To No Tube Distortion

Working on a tube always poses the possibility of "egging", which can then require additional processing to "re-round" the cylinder. There is no pressure in any type of port manufacturing operation; all distortion is due to heat. Conventional port welding may have an arc time of 30-60 seconds vs 0.75 seconds for stud welding. This reduced time means less heat input into the tube, which means less distortion.

3. The Process Induces Fewer Leaks

The stud weld attaches the full face of the port base to the surface of the cylinder, instead of the outside edge. Offering a full cross sectional weld as opposed to a circumferential weld, the leak performance of the stud weld port is superior to conventional boss welding.

With other types of port welding, just the circumference of the port is attached to the cylinder, not the full base, so there is opportunity for pin holes or joint failure anywhere along that perimeter. With the stud weld, no leaks means a better manufacturing throughput, better cylinder performance and a longer cylinder life.

4. It Uses Thinner Tube Walls

The speed of the arc time of the stud weld port can allow for thinner cylinder walls. Less steel in the cylinders means less raw material cost, so these manufacturers can save a significant amount of dollars a year just by changing the welding process they use to attach ports to their hydraulic cylinders. One manufacturer went from a 7mm wall to a 5mm wall, which has saved that manufacturer, literally, tons of steel each year.

Additionally, less steel in the cylinders means less weight and better fuel economy in moving vehicles which is better for the end customer.

5. Eliminates The Need For Additional Fittings

Frequently, cylinders are manufactured with NPT ports. Manufacturers often weld the NPT fitting to the tube and then install a right angle JIC, O-ring boss or O-ring face seal adapter into the NPT boss. Assembly is then tasked with trying to line up the adapter to a specific orientation to support a specific tube routing. This can mean loose or overly tight fittings.

The stud weld port can be manufactured with the desired final fitting and welded at the exact orientation. This eliminates the adapter fitting and speeds assembly.

Get Started With Hydraulic Weld Ports

It is easy to see that the Port Stud Weld process offers many advantages to OEM cylinder manufacturers as well as contract cylinder manufacturers. These advantages ultimately produce a lower cost, higher quality cylinder for the end customer. Contact Image Industries today to learn more about the advantages of hydraulic port welding or request a quote.