Aspects of Precise Heat Input Control for High Frequency Welding

High frequency welding is a thermo-mechanical process that relies on precise heat input as well as mechanical control as strip edges are heated and forged together to result in a seam weld.  Heat input can be defined as a way of characterizing the temperature distribution at the strip edges prior to forging them together.  Heat input is affected by several process variables ranging from raw material properties to welder settings and weld area setup.  These are summarized in this paper, with special attention on the effects of welder frequency, welder power, line speed, and steel alloy composition on heat input and the resulting weld quality.  Frequencies in the range of 100 - 800 kHz are considered.  Data from tube mills (including general data and controlled on-the-mill experiments), laboratory evaluation, and gleeble simulations are included in this paper.