OBJECTIVES Occupational exposure to particulate air pollution has been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, the risk to welders working today remains unclear. We aimed to elucidate the cardiovascular effects of exposure to welding fumes. METHODS In a cross-sectional study, structured interviews and biological sampling were conducted for 101 welders and 127 con...

A detailed computer model of a three-phase power network which includes inductive loads, resistance welders and an Adaptive Var Compensator (AVC) has been developed. The system configuration and parameters correspond to an irrdustrial customer served by a large electric utility. Welder operation produces severe cyclic flicker which leads to customer complaints. Computer studies have been conduc...

In 1953 a new syndrome was described in which the association of rheumatoid arthritis with nodular fibrosis of the lung parenchyma was noted (Caplan, 1953). Though this condition resembles progressive massive fibrosis in some ways, there are certain distinctive features. The opacities that are found in Caplan's syndrome are usually more peripherally situated, tend to be multiple, and more commo...

Bacillus cereus G9241 was isolated from a welder with a pulmonary anthrax-like illness. The organism contains two megaplasmids, pBCXO1 and pBC218. These plasmids are analogous to the Bacillus anthracis Ames plasmids pXO1 and pXO2 that encode anthrax toxins and capsule, respectively. Here we evaluated the virulence of B. cereus G9241 as well as the contributions of pBCXO1 and pBC218 to virulence...

PURPOSE This study was performed to investigate whether occupationally related color vision deficiency can occur from welding. METHODS A total of 50 male welders, who had been working as welders for at least 4 years, were randomly selected as case group, and 50 age matched non-welder men, who lived in the same area, were regarded as control group. Color vision was assessed using the Lanthony ...

As is well known that sensing and measuring the weld pool surface is very important to design intelligent welding machines which is able to imitate a skilled human welder who can choose suitable welding parameters. Therefore, in this paper, we concentrate the problem of weld pool surface 3D reconstruction, which is a key issue in intelligent welding machines development. Firstly, the framework ...

The Office of Naval Research has sponsored a collaborative effort between the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, Advanced Technology and Research Corporation, Newport News Shipbuilders, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Phase I of this effort is nearing completion to autonomously weld double-hull ship sections together. In order to accomplish the delivery ...

In this paper, a medium-frequency inverter spot welder was used for resistance spot-welding experiments on 980 MPa grade cold-rolled δ-TRIP(Transformation-induced Plasticity) steel. The effects of the tempering process morphology, microstructure, element distribution, and properties spot-welded joints were studied by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Transmission Microscopy (TEM), Electron-Pr...