From the first weld to the Rotoweld

The first covered electrode for arc welding was invented over a century ago. That was back when SMAW or “Stick Welding” was the leading edge of pipe welding technology and innovation.

That sparked the technological race to find the best coating to promote arc stability, while producing a protective atmosphere around the molten weld puddle to prevent oxygen and nitrogen infiltration from the surrounding air.

By the mid 20th century, semi-automatic welding processes were the latest innovation. Easy-to-operate wire-fed processes, such as GMAW, MCAW, and FCAW, gave operators the edge over Manual SMAW Welding. Slagging systems were no longer required due to external shielding gas, eliminating the need for interpass cleaning and resulting in greater productivity.

The ground was set for innovation. The Pipe Spool Welding industry not only requires an easy-to-use, repeatable solution but one that tolerates real-world pipe fit-up scenarios like high/low, gap width variance and root tacks. The Rotoweld 3.0 solves this problem with its Rootomatic automatic weld mode for intelligent open root pipe welding. Rootmatic carefully controls welding parameters and the weld travel speed in real time to ensure root fusion during open root pipe welding. Innovations such as Rootmatic and 4D Synergy have made automated open root pipe welding fast and reliable. The result is productivity increases averaging 400%. And since there are not enough skilled pipe welders, that makes pipe spooling and prefabrication essential to meet the demand.

-Paul