SUBMERGED
ARC WELDING
The weld is where a rim lives or dies. Twenty years of inherited submerged-arc welding process knowledge, paired with 100% ultrasonic inspection, means no shop-floor concession ever reaches a pit.
Arc under a blanket of flux
In submerged arc welding (SAW), the arc is struck beneath a layer of granular flux that completely covers the weld zone. The flux shields the molten pool from atmospheric contamination, concentrates the heat for deep penetration, and slows the cooling rate — producing a clean, dense, crack-free weld with no spatter and no visible arc.
For OTR rim manufacturing, SAW is the only process that delivers the consistent deep-penetration welds required at the rim-base-to-disc and gutter joints, where a haul truck transmits its full payload through a few hundred millimetres of weld metal.
Deep penetration, low porosity
The flux blanket lets Kelios run high welding currents without burn-through, achieving fusion depths that flux-cored and MIG processes cannot match on thick section steel. Slower cooling under the flux refines the heat-affected-zone grain structure and drives out the trapped gas that causes porosity.
Every weld parameter — current, voltage, travel speed, wire feed, flux batch — is logged against the rim serial number. The weld is not a black box; it is a documented, repeatable, traceable operation.
100% UT, Grade II, no exceptions
Every weld on every rim is subjected to Grade II ultrasonic testing in full compliance with the relevant international standards. Not a sample. Not a batch. Every weld, every rim.
No shop-floor concession is allowed to slip through. A weld that fails UT is cut out and re-welded, then re-inspected — or the component is scrapped. The inspection certificate ships with the order and is queryable against the rim serial for the lifetime of the chassis.
WANT THE WELD PROCEDURE SPECIFICATIONS?
We share our WPS and PQR documentation with qualified fleet engineers under NDA. Tell us about your operation and a Kelios field engineer will follow up within one business day.