Common Design and Fabrication Mistakes in Stainless Steel
Blog | November 23rd, 2018Mistakes are made in a fabrication process, and a stock quantity of stainless steel ends up on the scrapheap. It’ll eventually end up being recycled. In the meantime, the error has cost the company money. Business models can’t afford such gaffes, not on a regular basis. Let’s keep the design mistakes on a computer drawing board, where a convenient delete button can quickly recover a project’s original form.
Post-Design Scratches
Leaping off the pages of shop drawings, a design looks impressive. The product is going to exude architectural finesse, and its finish will shine with chromium-hued polish. Only, the fabrication floor mishandled the alloy. Stacked poorly, transported carelessly on a hoist cradle, the elegant finish has collected scratches, which will corrode when the product is installed in an oxidizing environment. Supplementary grinding operations can remove scratches, but that restorative action doesn’t always work, not if a stainless steel surface has been endowed with a special finish.
Inadequate Surface Cleaning Policies
The alloy is kept in a dry warehouse room. A protective film has been applied by a reliable material sourcing partner. This thin, flexible plastic should be removed before the fabrication process begins, of course. To do so, a blunted scraper picks up the edge of the plastic sheet, and it’s gently pulled free of the stainless steel. Soaps and process-approved detergents remove tacky adhesives, then wire brushes and linishing wheels take over. If the cleaning procedures don’t do their job, surface contaminants will hamper the fabrication phase.
Common Fabrication Errors
Low welding interpass temperatures prevent thermally conductive stainless steels from distorting. And, while still looking at welding, the joints must be clean, must penetrate to the desired depth, and they must exhibit adequate strength. Incidentally, that last feature can be pushed too far. When the Heat Affected Zone (HAZ) absorbs too much thermal energy, the metal’s microcrystalline structure alters. Brittleness problems and microfractures occur when welding procedures go wrong on stainless steel. Finally, from a workpiece forming perspective, misplaced bend pressures and bend radius errors can occur. They appear as wrinkles and surface buckling effects.
Design drawings are implemented, but the latest revision hasn’t accounted for a new set of drill holes. One segment of the product no longer lines up with its mate because of the revision error. Welding mistakes change stainless steels, metallurgically speaking, and the equipment leaves the fabrication facility as a less than capable product. Alright, these errors can be costly, especially when they’re tied to the above design and fabrication blunders, but those costs must be absorbed, at least initially. After the mistakes first happen, though, a company quality-assurance program should really take action.
Stecor Engineering & Fabrication
1/13 Crawford St, Braeside VIC 3195
Mobile: 0419 562 284
Phone: (03) 9028 4130
Fax: (03) 8669 4400
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