Welding Magic: When Massive Cylinders Come Together

You have seen a lot of cylindrical structures in your time. They are hard to miss. They can be silos, tank cars on a train, grain or salt storage buildings. and even water towers. How do these massive cylindrical structures come together and stay together? The power of welding is responsible. No, it is more than the power of welding. See for yourself.

Behold! The Automatic Girth Welder!

Imagine taking a welding machine and zip-welding two sheets of metal together to form a circle. That is exactly what this machine does. With particularly large structures, the girth welder zip-welds and stud welds several very large sheets of metal together in a vertical fashion up two sides of the sheet metal. There are also girth welders that can encircle smaller cylinders, spin, and weld these cylinders shut as the girth welders spin around the cylinders. The process is very fast for both types of machinery, and the results are extremely sound, very durable, and the cylindrical structures last a very long time. 

Welding Sheet Metal to a Structure Made of Steel Beams with a Round Sort of Shape

These machines do not just create cylinders that are welded at the seams. They also weld sheets of metal over the tops of steel beams that have been constructed to create a nearly round sort of shape. When the welding equipment goes to work to apply and affix the sheet metal to the exterior beams of these structures, it transforms the angular, not quite circular beams into an actual cylindrical structure. If you stand inside these structures, there is no way you could tell that they are remotely round, but from outside, the welding work makes the structures look quite round indeed. 

Welding Upwards

The girth welding machines also weld upwards. Each band of sheet metal may be one complete band that is only welded in one spot, or comprised of several smaller sheets that have been bent to fit around part of the structure's frame and then welded on all sides to other pieces of sheet metal. This process continues until all of the desired bands affixed have created the height you want for the structure you are attempting to create. Then, the welding contractors ask what you want to top the structure with, or what kind of roof you have in mind before the project is deemed complete. 

For more information on automatic girth welders, contact a welding equipment supplier in your area.