Claims:We Claim:

1. A Flux Fragility Testing Apparatus for Submerged Arc Welding Process Fig 1 comprising of:
- Tapered Cylindrical Vessel (1) where the sample of the flux is taken
after sieving to 30-40 BS mesh;
- Air Pressure Regulator (21 to adjust the pressure of the air;
- Tangential Orifice (3) through which compressed air is entered into
vessel (1);

2. Flux Fragility Testing Apparatus for Submerged Arc Welding Process as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the lower face of the Cylindrical Vessel (1) is tapered to 12-20'angle (4).

3. Flux Fragility Testing Apparatus for Submerged Arc Welding Process as claimed in Claim 1 wherein tangential orifice (3) is provided on the
circumferential periphery at the lowest point of the slope (4) on the
vessel (1) for the compressed air entry into the vessel.

4. Flux Fragility Testing Apparatus for Submerged Arc Welding Process as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the Air Pressure Regulator (2) is fitted
between the compressed air inlet valve and the tapered Cylindrical
Vessel (1) to regulate the pressure of the compressed air entering the
Tapered Cylindrical Vessel (1) which acts as an agitation medium for the
flux.

5. Flux Fragility Testing Apparatus for Submerged Arc Welding Process as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the sample of the flux to be tested is first
taken into the tapered cylindrical vessel (1) after sieving to a mesh and
wherein the compressed air is let into the vessel (1) tangentially through
an orifice (3) on the lower most point of the peripheral gradient (a) to
agitate flux.

6. Flux Fragility Testing Apparatus for Submerged Arc Welding Process as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the air pressure causes vortex to form inside vessel (1) which further causes flux to flow in swirls along inner
circumference of the vessel (1) wherein the collisions and attrition
between the flux granules disintegrates it.

7. Flux Fragility Testing Apparatus for Submerged Arc Welding Process as claimed in Claim 6 wherein the percentage of flux disintegrated during testing is measured by sieving.

8. A process for Testing Flux Fragility Index as claimed in Claim 1
comprising steps:
a. The sample of the flux to be tested is first taken into the tapered
cylindrical vessel (1) after sieving to a mesh and wherein the
compressed air is let into the vessel (1) tangentially through an
orifice (3) on the lower most point of the peripheral gradient (a) to
agitate flux which causes vortex to form inside vessel (1) which
further causes flux to flow in swirls along inner circumference of the
vessel (1) wherein the collisions and attrition between the flux
granules disintegrates it.
b. The percentage of flux disintegrated during testing is be measured by
sieving.
c. The time of testing and the air pressure is kept constant to 20-50 psi
to quantitatively measure the disintegration tendency (fragility) of
fluxes.
, Description:1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION:
Arc Welding, a process used for joining metal to metal by using
electricity (which creates enough heat to melt metal) wherein the
melted metal when cooled results in the joining of the two metals. An
electric arc between an electrode and the base material (to melt the
metal at the desired joining/welding point) is created by using the
welding power supply wherein further which uses consumable or nonconsumable electrodes. SAW or Submerged Arc welding is one of the process to perform Arc welding. In this process when a consumable
electrode is continuously fed at the welding point, the molten weld or
the arc zone is protected by enwreathing it with a blanket layer or a
protective zone to protect it from atmospheric contamination or
generally as pronounced the welding point being submerged under the
blanket or protective zone of granular fusible flux and other
compounds. The thick layer of the protective zone or blanket layer
created entirely covers the molten metal resulting in preventing
spatter, sparks & fumes. The process is generally used on horizontal
platforms. The blanket layer formed by flux hence protect the welded
region from the atmospheric contamination. The flux in this process
which melts become slag or waste and the flux which remains in its
form i.e. in granular form is reused. As the size of the flux granules
gradually turns into fine powder or grains, it becomes unusable. This
disintegration of the flux is termed as flux fragility.

2. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an apparatus which helps measuring the
fragility of the flux (measure the recyclability of the SAW Flux),
thereby estimating the consumption pattern with high level of
precision & minimal human intervention. The present invention
eliminates the need of any speculation or approximation for
measuring the disintegration tendency of the flux as used generally.

3. PRIOR ART & ITS DEFECTS
Prior to the present invention there was no standard
method/process/apparatus available to measure flux fragility. Thence
due to lack of quantitative measurement, it was left to very crude
manual approximations and speculations to decide the disintegration
tendency of the flux. Utter unscientific ways which were, human
dependent, not precise, subjective, time consuming and unreliable,
were used to approximate the fragility of the flux. The present invention
ensures that minimal human intervention is needed and high level of
precision is obtained in the test results eliminating the need of any
approximations and speculations.

4. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The SAW or Submerged Arc Welding is one of the process to perform
Arc Welding wherein when a consumable electrode is continuously fed
at the welding point, the molten weld or the arc zone is protected by
enwreathing it with a blanket layer or a protective zone to protect it
from atmospheric contamination or generally as pronounced welding
point being submerged under the blanket layer or protective zone of
granular fusible flux and other compounds. The thick layer of the
protective zone or blanket layer entirely covers the molten metal
resulting in preventing .spatter, sparks & fumes. The flux in this
process which melts become slag or waste and the
in its form i.e. in granular form is reused.
The SAW or Submerged Arc Welding setup which reuses the flux to
provide a blanket layer to protect the welding zone from atmospheric
process is as shown below:

In SAW, the excess flux recovery system (13) sucks in the excess flux
behind the weld using vacuum pump and feeds it back to the hopper.
In this way the flux is reused again and again. The circulation of the
flux through the recovery system for re-use over a period of time leads
to disintegration of the flux granules reducing their size or even
turning them into fines (powder) which then cannot be reused.
This disintegration of flux is termed as Flux Fragility, and this
tendency should be as less as possible for a SAW Flux so as to
increase its re-usability. The disintegrated flux after reuse is shown in
the following figure:

The present invention is an apparatus which quantitatively measures
the flux fragility index thereby estimating the consumption pattern
with high level of precision & minimal human intervention.

5. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
1. DRAWINGS:
FIG 1:
Flux Fragility Measurement Apparatus containing a Tapered
Cylindrical Vessel (1) and an Air Pressure Regulator (2) in which the
lower face of the Cylindrical Vessel (1) is tapered to a 12-20' angle(4).
A Tangential Orifice (3) is provided on the circumferential periphery at
the lowest point of the Slope (a) on the vessel (1). The Air Pressure
Regulator (2) is fitted between the compressed Air Inlet Valve and the
Tapered Cylindrical Vessel (1).

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The Flux Fragility Testing Apparatus as shown in Fig 1 contains a
Tapered Cylindrical Vessel (1) and an Air Pressure Regulator (2). The
Flux is agitated using compressed air as the agitation medium in the
vessel (1) during testing. The lower face of this cylindrical vessel (1) is
tapered to a 12-20' angle (4). A tangential orifice (3) is provided on the
circumferential periphery at the lowest point of the slope (4) on the
vessel (1). This orifice (3) is for the compressed air entry into the vessel
(1). The vessel (1) is provided with a mesh cover which allows air to-go
out but not the flux. The air pressure regulator (2) is fitted between the
compressed air inlet valve and the tapered cylindrical vessel (1). It
regulates the pressure of the compressed. air entering the tapered
cylindrical vessel (1) which is the agitation medium for the flux. It has
an analog display in bar and psi units of pressure and a knob which
can be used to adjust the required pressure.
The sample of the flux to be tested is first taken into the tapered
cylindrical vessel (1) as shown the Fig 1 after sieving to 30-40 BS mesh.
The compressed air is let into the vessel (1) tangentially through the
orifice (3) on the lower most point of the peripheral gradient (a). The
regulator (2) is used to adjust the pressure of air to desired value.
Due to the air pressure, a vortex is formed. inside the vessel (1). This
vortex causes the flux inside vessel (1) to flow in swirls along the inner
circumference of the vessel (1).
When this circulating flux falls to the bottom of the vessel (1) due to
gravity, the gradient at the bottom takes it back to the tangential air
entry point and the flux is again set into the vortex and the cycle
continues. This continuous agitated motion of the flux causes several
collisions and attrition between the flux granules causing it to
disintegrate.
On completion of about 2 minutes of testing, the percentage of flux
disintegrated during testing can be measured by sieving.
When the time of testing and the air pressure is kept constant to 20-
50 psi, the disintegration tendency (fragility) of fluxes can be
quantitatively measured in Percentage, thus measuring the flux
fragility in saw fluxes used in welding.
The present invention thus measures through apparatus the fragility
of the flux & recyclability of the SAW flux thereby helping the end
users to estimate the consumption pattern precisely which in turn
helps in maintaining correct inventory and estimate exact usage. The
present invention also eliminates the defects caused due to improper
use of the flux in the job further saving huge costs and time incurred
on identifying & removing the defects.