OK AristoRod 13.29 diameter 1.0mm from 250 kg Marathon Pacs is used to produce the heavy fillet welds which connect the high strength steel pivot to the foot plate.  Welding is performed at a current of 300A, 28-29 V arc voltage and 1-m/min wire feed speed.

Tomeria Meccanica Construzioni poi Construzioni Meccaniche (TMC) in Cadelbosco Sopra, Italy, produces components for well-known crane fabricators such as PM, Pahlfinger and Ferrari, and to their associate company, Basket. The company was founded in 1975 and is owned by two brothers and two sisters of the Scillia family. TMC employs 16 personnel, including sons and cousins. In 2005, the family acquired Basket, a fabricator of small to medium size mobile cranes.

TMC operates four welding robots, for different crane components and one manual station for tack welding and other semi-automatic MAG jobs, consuming some 50-60 tonnes of wire per year. Production involves two steel grades; normal strength steel welded with OK AristoRod 12.50, and high strength steel 38NCD4 (tempered and annealed, Rm: 1300 N/mm?) welded with OK AristoRod 13.29 (ER100S-G / G Mn3Ni1 CrMo).

Both are fed to the robot stations from 250 kg Marathon Pacs. Mixed gas 80% Ar/20% CO2 is standard shielding gas for all stations. High strength steel parts are pre-heated to 200 ºC. The robots operate at around 70% duty cycle depending on the part to be welded – one shift of 10 hours a day.

TMC moved from a situation where copper-coated metal-cored wires were used for high strength steel components and copper-coated solid wires for parts in normal strength steel, to using OK AristoRod 12.50 and 13.29 copper-free wire. One of the greatest overall benefits reported by the company is a significant reduction in the amount of spatter and, thereby, substantial time savings in the grinding of welded components. Before, copper flaking was a frequently occurring phenomenon that caused feeding irregularities, arc instability and spatter. In addition, liner cleaning is necessary less frequently and the cleaning procedure is easier, which saves on robot downtime. It is now sufficient to blowout the liners with pressured air whereas, previously, the company chemically cleaned in a bath.