The Design and Fabrication of an Automated Shear Stud Welding System

Stud welding is process used in the construction industry to anchor concrete slabs to underlying steel substructures. This is highly repetitive and, thus, a good candidate for automation. A robotic device, the Studmaster, has been developed which will automate stud welding currently done in the construction of industrial buildings. This machine, currently controlled by a microcomputer, utilizes a loading and welding mechanism which is fully actuated by only three pneumatic cylinders and one mechanical relay. This mechanism is mounted on a carriage which is manually indexed to each weld site by a human operator. An proposed version of Studmaster, costing $25,000 and using a single operator, is more productive than a crew of two using existing equipment and would pay for itself in eight months.