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Capacity of 6mm up to 60mm in Square or Round solid section.
No foreign weld material is used.
Heat treatable after welding.
Flash butt welding provides significant engineering advantages, most notably the ability to produce exceptionally high-strength, autogenous welds without the need for external filler materials. By forging a direct metallurgical bond, the process creates joints that meet or exceed the structural integrity of the parent material, a critical requirement for high-stress safety applications. Furthermore, because no foreign alloys are introduced, components can be post-weld heat-treated to further optimise tensile strength and performance.
Our fully automated systems ensure maximum operational efficiency through rapid production cycles and rigorous consistency, significantly reducing labour overhead. The process is inherently sustainable, generating minimal waste while offering the versatility to join a broad spectrum of materials, including dissimilar metals, with absolute precision and repeatable reliability.
This process is regularly used where high strength is required, typically lifting links and chains.
The Flash Butt Welding Process
A process where the surfaces of the workpieces are positioned end to end and are then electronically charged, producing an electric arc that melts and welds the ends of the segments.
Flash Butt Welding is typically divided into 3 stages:
• Preheating
• Flashing
• Upsetting
Preheating is carried out under low welding pressure. Once the welding joint is heated, flashing commences.
The joint surface material is burnt off, resulting in an even surface. After arriving at pre-set flashing loss, upsetting commences, resulting in an irregular "fin" on the surface of the upset metal consisting of molten and oxidized material.
Automated Flash Butt Welding
We have recently commissioned a fully automated flash butt welding machine at our manufacturing facility
The key advantages are the programmable and repeatability of the weld procedure that allows an identical weld to be performed on every component. Job-specific data can be saved in the archive and then recalled at a later date offering full traceability for our Quality Department. This also removes any operator error, which is another major advantage over conventional manual flash butt welding machines, as there is a looming skill gap in British manufacturing.
The guarding system has been designed to accommodate material up to 12 meters in length. This is particularly useful for components that are used in tensioning or lifting applications as forged ends can be produced more economically in shorter lengths and then flash butt welded to the same plain bar stock from the original cast.
Our automated machine can weld up to 60mm diameter or square material but can also accommodate flat sections.
On-site Strength and Ductility Testing
Our flash butt welding service is supported by various on-site testing procedures that include:
Bending, to evaluate ductility at the weld area.
Destructive / Tensile Testing, to evaluate working load by using our 50 Tonne Mayes testing machine.
With the installation of a fully automated flash butt welding process, we are able to conduct internal testing to establish the correct calibration setting of the machine. Pre-heat, pressure and timing all impact the welding process and this varies depending on the material grade and diameter/section used. Once the test data is approved, the setting can be stored and recalled at any time to make it a fully repeatable process.
