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Preface

These are the proceedings of the eleventh conference in this series. The conference was held December 5 and 6, 2001, in Columbus, Ohio, under the sponsorship of the American Welding Society, NIST, and The Welding Institute. These proceedings include 32 presentations grouped into sessions on: sensing and control of GMAW, sensing and control of GTAW, sensing and control of VPPAW, imaging, fabrication quality and standards, sensing and control systems, modeling of distortion and stress, predicting microstructure and performance, and general modeling topics. The large number of submissions required the papers to be divided into two parallel tracks: a sensing and control track, and a modeling track. In addition, there was a keynote talk on our progress toward total automation. These proceedings include all the manuscripts that were submitted (including viewgraphs). Additional copies are available from NTIS (National Technical Information Service) or GPO (Government Printing Office) as NIST Special Publication 973 (See below).

The first U.S. workshop on computerization of welding data was held in 1986, under the sponsorship of the American Welding Institute (AWI) and the then National Bureau of Standards (now, National Institute of Standards and Technology, NIST). The workshop produced a list of national needs in welding data, a list designed to guide database developers. The proceedings of that first workshop are available from NTIS as NIST Special Publication 742.

There had been sufficient advances in database activity by 1988 to justify a second meeting, this time as a joint workshop-conference under the sponsorship of AWI, NIST, and the American Welding Society (AWS). The scope was expanded to include a conference on the latest developments and a preconference tutorial to provide novices with a background in common computer applications. The conference was attended by 61 managers, welding engineers, and computer professionals. The proceedings of the workshop and conference are available from NTIS as NIST Special Publication 781.

By 1990, the welding database activity had grown large enough to justify a third conference on this topic, again sponsored by AWI, AWS, and NIST. It consisted of a series of tutorials, a keynote presentation, and technical sessions on the topics: off-line planning, real-time welding information, data systems and standards, and industrial applications. The conference included demonstrations of welding software, and was followed by a meeting of the AWS Committee on Computerization of Welding Data.

The fourth conference, held during November 1992 in Orlando, Florida, was truly an international conference; speakers representing 10 countries presented papers on the topics of standards, applications, quality and NDE, sensing, control, and databases. Once again, a preconference tutorial was organized and taught by AWI personnel covering PC networks, expert systems, neural networks, Windows and the Excel Spreadsheet, and databases. The conference also included a keynote presentation, tabletop exhibits, and hands-on demonstrations of welding software. The AWS Committee on Computerization of Welding Data met following the Conference. These proceedings are available from AWS (Code: CP-1192).

The fifth conference, held August 1994 in Golden, Colorado, continued the trend of growth in size and scope. It consisted of 31 papers (by 69 authors) on the topics of quality control, off-line planning and simulation, commercial software systems, control and automation, welding optimization, data acquisition and sensors, application case studies, welder and procedure qualification systems, weld prediction and control, and large-scale systems. This year the preconference tutorials were on the topics of computing platforms, sensing and data acquisition, and line planning for welding automation. These tutorials were taught by experts from ABB Robotics, AMET, CSM, Ford Research Laboratory, and NIST. The conference was cosponsored by AWI, AWS, the Colorado School of Mines, and NIST. The conference proceedings are available from AWS (code: CP-794).

The sixth conference was held June 9-12, 1996, in the "Heart of Europe," where Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands converge in the Limberg region. The Technical Program was aimed to embrace all known facets of computing practice as applied to welded fabrication and manufacturing. Expert advice was provided in process selection, consumable selection, and welding procedure generation and interpretation of standards. Proceedings are available through Woodhead Publishing Ltd. (see below).

The seventh conference was held July 8-12, 1997, in San Francisco, California, and was presented in conjunction with the American Welding Society, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and The Welding Institute. Attendees were able to observe how computers can be used for more than just databases. In addition to tutorials, the following were covered: case studies, controls and controllers, sensing, process automation, modeling heat and fluid flow, modeling thermomechanical effects, and modeling residual stress or mechanical effects. Also covered were the Internet and networked systems in the welding industry. Additional copies of the proceedings are available from NTIS as NIST Special Publication 923.

The eighth conference was held June 22 to 24, 1998, in Liverpool, U.K., and was sponsored by The Welding Institute. The significant advances in technologies such as expert systems, neural networks, and the internet, were highlighted in tutorial sessions. The 35 papers were grouped into sessions on: sensors/vision, modeling and control, modeling of process and joint properties, modeling and simulation, education and training, and quality control and quality assurance. Proceedings are available through Woodhead Publishing Ltd.

The ninth conference was held September 28 to 30, 1999, in Detroit, Michigan, under the sponsorship of the American Welding Society, NIST, and The Welding Institute. There were 57 papers grouped into sessions on resistance weld simulation, simulation of gas metal arc welding, modeling of weld shape and distortion, modeling of solidification, general modeling, welding documentation, sensing and control of arc quality, droplet control and process automation, automation communication and interfaces, and documentation and database applications. The large number of papers required the papers to be divided into two parallel tracks: a modeling track, and a sensing and control track. In addition, there were tutorials on weld cell communication issues and on web page design. The printed proceedings were supplemented with a CDROM disk, which included electronic versions of most of the papers and some electronic files of the presentations. Additional copies are available from NTIS or GPO as NIST Special Publication 949.

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