Abstract
Although most of welding works have been automated recently in a sophisticated manner especially for large structures, a manual welding is still conducted for welded joints with complex configuration and for welding works consisting of various welding conditions. Formerly, skilled workers, who had undergone a special training course for a long period, have been engaged in such manual welding works. It is considered, however, that welding works of less important structures with regard strength, though being with complex configuration, could be done by semiskilled workers.
The primary concern in this paper is to develop an expert system for training semiskilled workers in arc welding in a short period. In the first place, attempts are made to acquire the knowledge of skilled worker through arc welding experiments using video systems, and the knowledges so obtained are evaluated numerically. The objective knowledges here are welding speed and crater treatment procedures, which skilled workers seem to have in their minds unconsciously. The validity of the welding works conducted by an expert is substantiated by 3-dimensional finite difference analysis concerning crater treatment form a viewpoint of cooling cycle.
