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Welding Instructions
for Aluminum Busbars

ABB Switzerland Ltd

High Power Rectifiers
Turgi, Switzerland

Document No.: 3BHS363481 E01, Rev. C

Issued: S. Utelli, 08.12.2011

Approved: A. Severino, 17.01.2012
Change C: A. Patrzek, 11.11.2015

 ABB Switzerland Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Table of contents
General .............................................................................................................. 3
Abbreviations .................................................................................................... 4
Reference Documents ...................................................................................... 5
Applicable Standards ....................................................................................... 6
Materials ............................................................................................................ 8
5.1 Heading 2 ............................................................................................................................. 8
Welding Work .................................................................................................... 9
6.1 General................................................................................................................................. 9
6.2 Usual welding-process for aluminum busbars ..................................................................... 10
6.3 Typical welding-process-data for aluminum busbars........................................................... 11
6.4 Typical welding consumables ............................................................................................. 11
6.5 Welder’s Qualification ......................................................................................................... 12
6.6 Welding procedure specification (WPS) .............................................................................. 12
6.7 Quality and testing of welds ................................................................................................ 13
6.8 Requirements for imperfections of welding seams .............................................................. 14
6.9 Angles for welding / minmal welding cross-section ............................................................. 17
6.10 Recommendations for work ................................................................................................ 18
Pictures of welding-seams in adequate quality ................................................................................. 23
Fabrication and material-certificates ............................................................ 24
Tolerances ....................................................................................................... 25

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 2 (of 26)

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General
This document describes the minimum technical requirements for the
welding, material quality, testing and inspection of welding operations in
DC busbar-systems.
ABB does not guarantee that this description is suitable for all applications,
but for aluminum busbars and flexibles you are recommended to follow
these instructions.
Aluminum has a different behavior from steel. The person performing the
welding must be a qualified aluminum welder as it will be his responsibility
to choose the appropriate welding procedure for each case.
The welding process in a DC busbar-system is critical regarding the
current leading capability of the welding seams. Poor quality of the current-
leading welding seams can have a strong impact regarding undesirable
heat losses and hot-spots in the busbar-system during the whole operation
time of the rectifier-plant.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 3 (of 26)

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Abbreviations

MIG Metal inert gas

MAG Metal active gas
WIG Wolfram inert gas
TIG Tungsten inert gas

Remarks:
WIG and TIG welding process is the same.
WIG: for German language use, TIG: for English language use.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 4 (of 26)

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Reference Documents

Document No. Document title

3BHS259283_E01 DC-Busbar installation-instruction

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 5 (of 26)

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Standard No.
DIN EN ISO 10042
DIN EN ISO 6520-1
DIN EN ISO 9692-3
DIN EN ISO 18273
DIN EN ISO 9606-2
DIN EN 14532-3
DIN EN 473
EN 571-1
ISO 17637
DIN EN ISO 15614-2
DIN EN ISO 15607
DIN EN ISO 15609-1
DIN EN 10204
DIN EN ISO 13920
ISO 2768
3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C
Applicable Standards
Standard title
Arc-welded joints in aluminum and its
weldable alloys, guidance on quality levels for
imperfections
Welding and allied processes, classification of
geometric imperfections in metallic materials
Welding and allied processes,
recommendation for joint preparation
aluminum and aluminum alloys
Wire electrodes, wires and rods for welding of
aluminum and aluminum alloys
Qualification test of welders, fusion welding of
aluminum and its alloys
Welding consumables, test methods and
quality requirements
Part 3: Supplementary methods and
conformity assessment of consumables for
aluminum
Non-destructive testing, qualification and
certification of NDT personnel, general
principles
Non-destructive testing, penetrant testing, part
1, general principles
Non-destructive testing of welds, visual testing
of fusion-welded joints
Specification and qualification of welding
procedures for metallic materials
Specification and qualification of welding
procedures for metallic materials
Specification and qualification of welding
procedures for metallic materials
Metallic products, types of inspection
documents and material-certificates
Welding, general tolerances for welded
constructions, dimensions for lengths and
angles, shape and position
General tolerances for linear and angular
dimensions
6 (of 26)
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ISO 1302 GPS, indication of surface texture in technical
product documentation

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 7 (of 26)

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Materials

5.1 Heading 2

Typical aluminum materials for welded DC busbar-systems:

EN Material Designation Designation

EN AA 1350 EC Aluminum E-Al99.5

EN AW 6101 B Aluminum E-AlMgSi0.5

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 8 (of 26)

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Welding Work

6.1 General

All welding have to be carried out by qualified welders. Project specific

welding is shown in the related mechanical drawings of the busbar-system
(drawing of welding details).
The welding shall comply with the standards requirement shown in the
reference table above (paragraph 4).
All welding shall be performed in an area protected from rain, wind and
airborne, dust, sand and other foreign matters that might affect the quality
of the welds and the safety of the welders.
Proper scaffolds shall be prepared so that at least 2 persons can stand on
it. The necessary safety precautions must be taken into account (local
safety regulations, safety against electrical dangers etc.). Equipment in the
welding area like rectifiers, reactors, disconnectors and control panels has
to be covered and protected for the welding works. The welding site has to
be equipped with adequate light-sources.
Facilities for fabrication of aluminum shall be segregated from other works
as much as possible and kept free of all possible contaminating materials
such as lead, zinc, copper, stainless and carbon steels, etc. Forming tools
shall be cleaned thoroughly before use to avoid cross contamination. All
lubricants used in the forming operations shall be removed from the work
piece. Only tools dedicated to aluminum shall be employed, this applies in
particularly to grinding wheels, wire brushes and welding hammers.
The welding joints of parts that are to be fused together by welding shall be
carefully prepared in accordance with EN ISO 9692-3. The edges of the
fusion faces shall be free of visible defects, such as laminations or defects
caused by cutting operation, and also free from, oil, grease and other
foreign matter. Misalignment, jigging and welding sequence shall be such
as to minimize distortion and residual stress that might cause welding
imperfections or hazard later on.
All fillet welds, as deposited, shall be of not less than the specified
dimensions which shall be clearly indicated as throat thickness and/or leg
length, as appropriate, taking into account the use of deep penetration
processes. If not specified, the throat thickness of fillet welds shall be 0.7 x
the welding plate thickness as a general rule.
Welding consumables (welding wires) shall be designated in accordance
with the relevant standards (cited in the reference list, paragraph 4) and
selected with regard to the particular application, e.g. parent materials, joint
design, welding position and the properties required to meet the service
conditions. Any special recommendations given by the
manufacturer/supplier shall be observed. Welding consumables shall be
tested according to EN 14532-3 and witnessed and certified by an
accredited third party inspection and testing organization. Welding
consumables are subject to owner’s approval prior to any procurement
activities.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 9 (of 26)

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6.2 Usual welding-process for aluminum busbars

For current leading welding-seams the MIG welding will be the usual
process. The MIG-process will be used as usual regarding the huge
demand of welding consumable for current-leading welding seams. For
thin aluminum welding seams the TIG-process may be used. The welding
velocity of the MIG-process is 2-3 times faster than the TIG-process. MIG-
process with melting electrodes is used in general for material thickness
from 3mm up to 50mm.
The protection gas for MIG aluminum-welding is Helium, Argon or a
mixture of both. For the welding-process DC-current will be used, with
negative polarity on the working-piece and positive polarity on the welding
wire.

1) Work piece
2) Electric arc
3) Welding seam
4) Nozzle for protection gas
5) Protection gas
6) Electrical contact to
welding-wire
7) Welding-wire
8) Wire feed
9) Power source

Figure 1 - Principle sketch of MIG welding-process according to ISO 857-1

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 10 (of 26)

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6.3 Typical welding-process-data for aluminum busbars

Method: MIG (metal inert gas)

Machine rated capacity: 350-450A
Welding current: approx. 250A
Welding voltage: 32-35V
Polarity of working piece: Positive
Polarity of wire: Negative
Wire diameter: 1.2 mm (0.047 inches)
Wire type: Material AlSi5 or Al99.5
Feed (push-pull): 3-12 m/min (9.84 – 39.37 feet/min)
Welding machine: Water cooled
Welding pistol: Water cooled
Welding gas: Argon 99.99 (pure)

NOTICE
The length of the power cable between welding pistol and welding
machine have an impact on the available welding-power due to cable
losses. Increasing the cable cross sectional area can compensate for
longer leads. Max. Distance between welding machine and welding pistol
is approx. 6m.

6.4 Typical welding consumables

Two types of welding consumables are typically used for welded aluminum
busbars in rectifier-systems of ABB Switzerland:
Consumable type AlSi5:

Designations according to different standards

EN ISO 18273 Al 4043 International Standard

EN ISO 18273 AlSi5 International Standard
DIN 1732 S-AlSi5 Deutsche Industrie-Norm
DIN 1732 3.2245 Deutsche Industrie-Norm
BS 2901 part 4 4043 A British standard
AWS A 5-10 ER 4043 American welding society
NF A 81.331 AlSi5 Association française de
normalisation

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 11 (of 26)

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AFNOR A-S5 Association française de
normalisation
Consumable type Al99.5

Designations according to different standards

EN ISO 18273 Al 1050 International Standard

EN ISO 18273 Al99.5 International Standard
DIN 1732 S-Al99.5 Deutsche Industrie-Norm
DIN 1732 3.0259 Deutsche Industrie-Norm
BS 2901 part 4 1050 A British standard
AWS A 5-10 ER 1050 American welding society
NF A 81.331 Al99.5 Association française de normalisation
AFNOR A-5 Association française de normalisation

Combination of busbar materials and welding-consumables

Busbar material 1 Busbar material 2 Welding-consumable

E-Al 99.5 E-Al 99.5 AlSi5 or Al99.5

E-Al 99.5 E-AlMgSi0.5 AlSi5
E-AlMgSi0.5 E-AlMgSi0.5 AlSi5

NOTICE
E-AlMgSi0.5 aluminum material type corresponds to old ALUSUISSE
designation AC-041.

6.5 Welder’s Qualification

Welders have to be qualified according to EN ISO 9606-2. Testing of

welders and welding operators shall be witnessed and certificates issued
by an independent inspection authority.
All welders have to be individually identified. All welding seams have to be
identified by welders ID-number, serial numbers and/or date of the welding.

6.6 Welding procedure specification (WPS)

A „welding procedure specification” (WPS) shall be prepared in

accordance with DIN EN ISO 15607. The procedures shall identify

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 12 (of 26)

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material, identification of each welding seam, weld geometry, tolerances,
welding process, pre-heat and inter-pass temperature and welding position
to be used. Welding procedure sheets shall be made available to the
welder/welding operator prior to commencement of work.
The final filled out WPS-documents shall be collected and stored in a
binder for documentation and qualification purposes.
The content of a WPS is described in the standard DIN EN ISO 15609-1,
see example below:

6.7 Quality and testing of welds

The welding quality shall be in accordance with EN ISO 10042, unless

otherwise specified in the contract documents. Visual inspection shall be in
accordance with the recommendations of ISO 17637.
Non Destructive Tests (NDT) shall be in accordance with approved
standards (cited in the reference list). All NDT shall be performed and

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 13 (of 26)

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reported by independent and certified personnel, qualified in accordance
with EN 473.
Written procedures, describing each NDT process shall be provided, where
the minimum testing requirements shall be as follows:
 All welds shall be 100% visually inspected.
 10% of all fillet welds shall be subjected to penetrant examination
(random examination of 10% of all welding seams in the busbar-
system).
 Random spot checks of welds.
 Welds shall not be tested sooner than 24 hours after welding due to
cracks formation.
 Random electrical check with a current source of 100A (Sverker
power-source or similar). Measuring of 20m busbar-section minimum.
Tolerance band for the voltage-drop +/- 10%.
To identify visually that NDT has taken place, and with satisfactory results,
a positive marking is required.
The Contractors program for NDT shall be submitted for review, and be a
part of the Contractors Quality Plan.
For water-cooled busbars the water-tightness has to be tested with a
pressure test of 8 bars over minimum 30 minutes.

6.8 Requirements for imperfections of welding seams

The imperfections in the welding seams should be in the quality-levels as

shown in the tables below as a minimum requirement.
Imperfections according to EN ISO 10042 (material thickness >0.5mm):
Surface imperfections

No. Designation of imperfection Quality Limit

level

100 Crack B Not permitted

104 Crater crack B Not permitted
2012 Uniformly distributed porosity C <1%
2013 Clustered (localized) porosity C Not permitted
2014 Linear porosity C Not permitted
2017 Surface pore (max. dimension of a single gas B Max. 1mm
pore)
2025 End crater pipe B Not permitted
401 Lack of fusion (incomplete fusion) B Not permitted

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 14 (of 26)

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4021 Incomplete root penetration B Not permitted
5011 Continuous undercut C Max. 0.5mm
5012 Intermittent undercut (short imperfection) C Max. 1mm
502 Excess weld metal B Max. 6mm
503 Excessive convexity B Max. 3mm
5213 Insufficient throat thickness B Max. 1mm
504 Excess penetration B Max. 3mm
506 Overlap B Not permitted
509 Sagging B Short imperfections
511 Incompletely filled groove B Max. 0.5mm
512 Excessive asymmetry of fillet weld - n.A.
515 Root concavity B Max. 0.5mm
5013 Shrinkage groove B Max. 0.5mm

Internal imperfections

No. Designation of imperfection Quality level Limit

100 Crack B Not permitted

1001 Microcrack - n.A.
2011 Gas pore (max. dimension of a single gas pore) B Max. 2mm
2012 Uniformly distributed porosity B Max. 1%
2013 Clustered (localized) porosity B Max. 15mm
2014 Linear porosity B Not permitted
2015 Elongated cavity B Max. 3mm
2016 Wormhole B Max. 3mm
303 Oxide inclusion B Max. 3mm
3041 Tungsten inclusion B Max. 3mm
401 Lack of fusion (incomplete fusion) B Not permitted
402 Lack of penetration (incomplete penetration) B Not permitted

Imperfections in joint geometry

No. Designation of imperfection Quality level Limit

507 Linear misalignment B Max. 2mm

617 Incorrect root gap for fillet welds B Max. 3mm

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 15 (of 26)

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Multiple imperfections
No. Designation of imperfection Quality level Limit

-- Multiple imperfections in any cross-section B 0.2t or 0.2a

Symbols for imperfection-charts above:

a: Nominal throat thickness of a fillet s: Nominal butt weld thickness (see also ISO
weld (see also ISO 2553) 2553)
h: Height or width of imperfection t: Wall or plate thickness (nominal size)

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 16 (of 26)

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6.9 Angles for welding / minmal welding cross-section

70% to 80% of the busbar current-leading cross-section must be welded to

guarantee adequate power losses and for prevention of hot-spots.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 17 (of 26)

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6.10 Recommendations for work

Normally it isn’t necessary to preheat the busbars before welding. The

“preheating” can be avoided with a welding start 1-2cm away from the end
of the welding-seam. From this point the welding will be run backwards to
the end (over 1-2cm) and after that the real welding-process starts in
contrarian (forward) direction. The preheating includes the risk of
unexpected warps of the aluminum.
The welding surfaces have to be cleaned thoroughly. The surfaces must
be absolute free of any dirt and grease deposits. The aluminum-oxide layer
hasn’t to be removed for welding.
If two busbars have to be welded together on the ends it is recommended
to hold together with 2 clamps and wooden plates. After a few welding
beads have been made, to hold the busbars in position, the clamps can be
removed.

Clamp Wooden plate

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 18 (of 26)

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If busbars have to be welded from two sides, the welding-gun should be
continuously transferred from one side to the other side after each welding
layer over the whole welding length. The aluminum will warp caused by the
heat-penetration from the welding process. With the continuous welding
from both sides the distortion will be balanced out.

If busbars have to be welded from one side, the busbar has to be hold in a
slight angle to compensate the distortion caused by the contraction of the
welding seam.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 19 (of 26)

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After one or two welding seams it is recommended to hammer the weld
until the mechanical stress is relieved. A pneumatic or regular hand
hammer can be used.

Spacers can be clamped or welded between the individual bars to fulfill an

accurate distance to each other. If several bars have to be welded, this is a
convenient method.
Clamp Spacer

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 20 (of 26)

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Usually several flexibles or bars have to be welded on the busbar side by
side to each other. Measure and mark the exact distance between the
single bars before welding. Distribute flexibles or bars equally to the given
surface. The first bar should be adjusted rectangular to the surface and
could be welded from two sides. Be aware of the working steps (order of
welded flexibles or bars) according to the numbering in the picture below.

Busbar-connections with shaped welding plates. Advantage: Low voltage-

drop (low power losses). Disadvantage: No tolerance compensation, long
welding-time.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 21 (of 26)

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Busbar-connection with overlapped welding-plates (twin-plates).
Advantage: Compensation of length-tolerances, short welding-time.
Disadvantage: Higher voltage drop (high power losses).

With this type, 50% of the current leading cross section must be
welded.
Above measurements allow easy for welding and provide a slightly
higher surface for the heat dissipation.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 22 (of 26)

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Pictures of welding-seams in adequate quality

The final weld seam quality must appear as shown in the pictures below:

MIG welding seams in a good quality as shown in the pictures above have
an even welding-pattern with an excellent fusion (no visible cold-fusions)
towards the basic-material.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 23 (of 26)

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Fabrication and material-certificates
All constructions, apparatus and equipment shall be manufactured in
accordance with the respective requirements of the Drawings, Material
Lists and Specifications. Fabrication shall in general aim to minimize
welding on site. All components shall carry a distinguishing number or
mark, which corresponds to a distinguishing number or mark on an
approved drawing.
All busbar aluminum supplied ex-mill or from the Contractors stock shall be
covered by a test certificate and each fabricated component shall be
traceable to a certificate. As a minimum requirement material-certificate
“type 2.2” according to DIN EN 10204 is necessary for all aluminum
materials.
Summary of inspection documents (material certificates) according to DIN
EN 10204:

Cutting shall be made by appropriate machines, corresponding to the

tolerance requirements of each item. Hand cutting should be avoided.
Surface finishing shall be adequate for the intended use, and machined if
required. Cutting edges shall be dressed to remove dross, burrs and
irregularities. Surface quality of machined parts should be N10 (roughness
of 12.5μm) as a minimum requirement according to ISO 1302. The same
applies to holes. Burning of holes is not permitted. Any hole-patterns
should be made using fixtures and jigs.
For welding consumables (welding wires) the material-certificate “type 3.1”
is necessary as a minimum requirement.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 24 (of 26)

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Tolerances
The Contractor shall strictly fulfill all tolerances stated on issued drawings.
This applies both for welded and machined construction.
If the tolerance class is not stated on the drawings or in specifications the
following classes have to be used:
 For welded construction, according to DIN EN ISO 13920:
a) Tolerances for linear dimensions: Class B according to Table 1.
b) Tolerances for angular dimensions: Class A according to Table 2,
where the length of the shorter angle leg shall be used to determine which
tolerances are to apply (either in degrees and minutes or in mm/m).
 For machined construction, according to ISO 2768:
a) General tolerances are subject to degree of accuracy ISO 2768-m.
b) Tolerances of form and location are subject to degree of accuracy ISO
2768-H.

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 25 (of 26)

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Title special - Revision index
Rev. Page (P), Description Date
index Chapter (or number of change notification) Dept./Name
(C)

A all new template ATPR / J. Fernandez

B 1 Department name DMPC-PR / J. Fernandez
C 6.10 Overlapped welding plates DMPC-PR / A. Patrzek

3BHS363481 E01 Rev. C 26 (of 26)