Open Access

Das hybride Fertigungsverfahren der ultraschallunterstützen Zerspanung wird mit geometrisch unbestimmter Schneide wie bspw. dem Schleifen bereits erfolgreich in der Industrie eingesetzt und verspricht auch unter Verwendung von Werkzeugen mit geometrisch bestimmter Schneide vielversprechende Vorteile gegenüber den konventionellen spanenden Fertigungsverfahren. In den letzten Jahren wurden an der BAM positive Ergebnisse beim ultraschallunterstützten Fräsen (USAM) von schwer spanbaren Werkstoffen wie z.B. Ni-/Co-Legierungen oder Eisenaluminid für den Leichtbau erzielt aber auch die Finishbearbeitung von schweißtechnisch generierten Bauteilen (AM) bspw. aus FeNi36 konnte hinsichtlich erreichbarer Werkzeuglebensdauer sowie Oberflächenintegrität zur Verbesserung der Komponentensicherheit beitragen. Die mittels USAM erzeugten Oberflächen erscheinen homogener und weisen weniger Defekte infolge des Materialabtrags auf, was sich ebenfalls in verringerten Rauheitskennwerten abbildet. Durch die geringere thermo-mechanische Belastung der Bauteiloberfläche sind Eigenschaftsdegradationen zusätzlich reduziert. Besonders großes Zukunftspotenzial besitzt das ultraschallunterstütze Fräsen durch die Erzeugung von erwünschten Druckeigenspannungen bis unter die Bauteiloberfläche, was auf die oszillierende Wirkung der Werkzeugschneide - vergleichbar mit einem Strahlprozess - zurückzuführen ist. Druckeigenspannungen tragen maßgeblich zur Risssicherheit hochbelasteter Komponenten bei wie sie bspw. in Turbinen vorzufinden sind und können somit zum Leichtbau und zur Ressourceneffizienz beitragen.

Eisenaluminide eignen sich als Werkstoff für sicherheitsrelevante Komponenten welche hohen thermischen, mechanischen und korrosiven Belastungen ausgesetzt sind. Mit ihrer geringen Dichte und der kostengünstigen Verfügbarkeit der Legierungsbestandteile bieten sie ein hohes Marktpotenzial und eignen sich als Substitutionswerkstoff konventioneller Hochtemperaturwerkstoffe. Durch die Verwendung von Dauerformen im Kokillenguss lassen sich FeAl-Bauteile bereits äußerst wirtschaftlich herstellen. Das dabei entstehende komplexe, mehrphasige, sehr feinkörnige Gefüge mit harten Ausscheidungen und hohen Festigkeiten erschwert jedoch eine nachfolgende spanende Bearbeitung mit hohen Belastungen auf Werkzeug und Bauteiloberfläche. Um eine gesamtheitlich wirtschaftliche Herstellungsroute zu ermöglichen, sollen im Hinblick auf die erschwerte Zerspanbarkeit geeignete Werkzeuge und Fräsprozesse entwickelt werden. Durch die Verwendung des hybriden Bearbeitungsverfahrens des ultraschallunterstützten Fräsens können diese Ziele unter Einhaltung der hohen Anforderung an die Oberflächenintegrität sicherheitsrelevanter Bauteile erreicht werden.

AbstractThe sustainable and resource-efficient production of wind energy plants requires the use of modern high-strength fine-grain structural steels. This applies to both foundation and erection structures, like mobile or ship cranes. During the assembly of steel structures, unacceptable defects can occasionally be found in the weld area. In most cases, the economical solution would be local thermal gouging of the affected areas and re-welding. Due to the high shrinkage restraint of the joint groove in the overall structure, the superposition of global and local welding-induced stresses may lead to crack formation and component failure, particularly in interaction with the degradation of the microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength steels during the repair process. However, manufacturers hardly have any information about these issues and there is a lack of recommendations and guidelines to take these safety-relevant aspects into account in adequate repair concepts. The aim of this research is to derive recommendations for repair concepts appropriate to the stresses and materials involved providing a basis for standards and guidelines to avoid cold cracking, damage and expensive reworking especially for high-strength steels. Part 1 of this study involves systematic investigations of influences of shrinkage restraint during repair welding of two high-strength steels S500MLO for offshore application and S960QL for mobile crane structures. The quantification of the shrinkage restraint of repair weld joints was achieved by means of experimental and numerical restraint intensity analysis. In welding experiments with self-restrained slot specimens, restraint intensity and introduction of hydrogen via the welding arc using anti spatter spray were varied systematically to analyse the effect on welding result, residual stresses and cold cracking. It could be shown that increasing restraint intensities result in significantly higher transverse residual stress levels. In the case of hydrogen introduction S500MLO showed no cold cracking independent of the restraint conditions. However, S960QL was found to be considerably cold cracking sensitive if hydrogen is introduced. With increasing restraint intensity length and number of cold cracks increases significantly. Part 2 [1] of this study is focussed on microstructure and residual stresses due to gouging and stress optimization via adequate heat control parameters in repair welding.

The increasing global focus on energy and resource efficiency has stimulated a growing interest in additive manufacturing. AM offers economic advantages and enables an efficient use of materials. However, AM components often require subsequent mechanical post-processing, such as machining (e.g. milling), to achieve the final contours or surfaces. This is a particular challenge due to the heterogeneous and anisotropic nature of AM structures, which affect machining and the resulting component properties. High-performance materials such as iron aluminide represent a promising alternative to conventional high-temperature materials with a significant economic advantage. However, the strength and hardness properties, which are advantageous for applications in highly stressed lightweight components, pose a challenge for economical machining in addition to the AM microstructure properties. The difficult-to-cut material causes accelerated tool wear and insufficient surface quality. This study shows that crack-free additive manufacturing of the three-component system of iron-nickel-aluminum is possible and advantages in terms of machinability compared to FeAl-AM components are achieved. The more homogeneous microstructure leads to a reduction in cutting forces, with positive effects on the machinability and optimized surface integrity. Ultrasonic assisted milling (USAM) offers great potential to address the major challenges posed by difficult-to-cut materials and additively manufactured weld structures. Therefore, this study focuses on assessing the transferability of previous positive results by USAM to the selected iron aluminide alloys. The machinability of the aluminides is analyzed by varying significant influencing variables in finish milling experiments and evaluated in terms of the loads on the tool and the resulting surface integrity.

In welding of high-strength steels, e.g., for foundations and erection structures of wind energy plants, unacceptable defects can occasionally be found in the weld area, which should be removed by thermal gouging and subsequent re-welding. High shrinkage restraint of repair welds may lead to crack formation and component failure, particularly in interaction with degraded microstructures and mechanical properties due to repair cycles. This study aims for elaboration of recommendations for repair concepts appropriate to the stresses and materials involved to avoid cold cracking, damage and expensive reworking. In part 1 [1] of this study systematic investigations of influences of shrinkage restraint on residual stresses and cold cracking risk during repair welding of two high-strength steels S500MLO for offshore application and S960QL for mobile crane structures were focussed. In this part 2, the microstructure and residual stresses due to gouging and influences of heat control parameters in repair welding are analysed. A clear reduction in residual stress after gouging can be observed, especially for the specimens with restrained transverse shrinkage. Gouging to a depth of approx. 2/3 of the seam height does not lead to a complete relaxation of the observed reaction forces. Particularly for the higher strength steel S960QL, there are pronounced areas influenced by the gouging process in which a degradation of the microstructure and properties should be assumed. Overall, the repair welds show a significant increase in the width of the weld and HAZ compared to the original weld, especially in the case of S960QL/G89. The repair welds show higher welding-induced stresses than the original welds, especially in the areas of the HAZ and the base metal close to the weld seam. This behaviour can be attributed overall to increased restraint conditions due to the remaining root weld or shorter gouge grooves. In good agreement with earlier investigations, the residual stresses transverse to the weld can be significantly reduced by upwardly limited working or interpass temperatures and the reaction stresses resulting from high restraint conditions can be effectively counteracted. The influence of the heat input on the stress formation is low compared to the interpass temperature for both test materials.