CASE STUDY

AMPCOLOY Mylar as a Resting / Clamping Block on welding fixtures

Overview:
Purpose of this case study is to analyse the weld spatter resistance properties of AMPCOLOY Mylar along with
our objective of cleaning to no-cleaning process during MIG/MAG welding.

Also to address following points:

Increasing Overall Equipment Efficiency

Cost saving by using resting / clamping blocks made of AMPCOLOY Mylar on welding fixture
Increase in productivity per day by using resting / clamping blocks made of AMPCOLOY Mylar

Weld Spatters: The biggest enemy in any welding environment. It creates problem like messy welding area,
damages the body resting units & adds the fixture downtime. The maintenance teams have to go for additional
coating on the units or spatter protection sprays.
Problems arising due to weld spatters

Excessive cleaning
is required

Damages the part

resting surfaces

Higher maintenance
& replacement cost

Increased
downtime

Trials:
Trials were conducted for Bajaj Auto Ltd. at Badve Mega Engineering in comparison with AMPCOLOY Mylar Block
against existing Mild Steel blackodised resting / clamping block.
First, we identified the pain area of the operator where heavy spatter deposition occurs on the welding fixture and
huge time & rigorous cleaning activities are required.
AMPCO METAL (INDIA) PVT. LTD.

We submitted AMPCOLOY Mylar at an identified location in the fixture.

Existing resting / clamping block on Fixture

Machined AMPCOLOY Mylar

Technical parameters of the welding station on which trials were conducted:

Welding Station: Robotic MIG welding

Cycle Time per Job: 3 Minutes
120 Jobs per shift
Welding Wire:
o Wire Dia. 1.2 mm
o Wire Material Er70C-6M
Welding Parameters:
o 260 Ampere
o 25 Volt

Findings:

Ordinary MS resting / clamping block

After 120 jobs & 160 m welding

AMPCOLOY Mylar
After 720 jobs & 958 m welding

Resting block made in MS, heat treated & blackodised

No resistance to weld spatters

Mylar gets damaged if placed near to the welding area
Additional heat treatment & coating is required
Anti-spatter gel or spray needs to be applied at regular intervals
Heavy chiseling is required to clean
High downtime for cleaning / maintenance purpose
Very low life of the mylar
Creates problem for resting, clamping & assembly of the
component

AMPCO METAL (INDIA) PVT. LTD.

AMPCOLOY940 Mylar
After 4320 jobs & 5745 m welding
Mylar made in AMPCOLOY Mylar

Very high resistance to weld spatters

Can be placed very near to the welding area
No need of additional heat treatment or coating
No need of anti-spatter gel or spray
Very easy to clean
Zero downtime for cleaning & maintenance purpose
High life of the mylar
Perfect resting, clamping & assembly of the component
due to undamaged mylar

Observations:

Incase of Existing MS resting / clamping block:

Cleaning is done after every 3-4 jobs, cleaning time approx 2 Mins.

One over all cleaning after end of the shift, 10-15 mins rigorous cleaning by chiseling, hammering etc.

Advantages of AMPCOLOY Mylar as a Resting Block:

Very high resistance to weld spatters

Can be placed very near to the welding area
No need of additional heat treatment or coating
No need of anti-spatter gel or spray
Very easy to clean
Zero downtime for cleaning & maintenance purpose
High life of the mylar
Perfect resting, clamping & assembly of the component due to undamaged mylar

Conclusions:

100 %
Reduction in
cleaning activities

AMPCO METAL (INDIA) PVT. LTD.

70 Minutes
Time saved
per shift

20%
Productivity
increase per shift
(23 additional jobs
per shift)