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In situ chemical analysis of duplex stainless steel weld by laser induced breakdown spectroscopy
(2024)
The high corrosion resistance and good mechanical properties of duplex stainless steel (DSS) are due to its special chemical composition, which is a balanced phase ratio of ferrite (α) and austenite (γ). Many industrial applications require the integration of DSS components. For this, Gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) is an excellent choice, as it allows an automated operation with high reproducibility. However, when the weld pool solidifies, critical ratios of α- and γ- phases can occur, which lead to solidification cracking, increased susceptibility to corrosion, and a decrease in ductility and critical strength. Previous studies have shown that these defects can be caused by the accumulation of manganese and chromium in the heat affected zone (HAZ), requiring ongoing monitoring of this accumulation. A suitable method for such monitoring is laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), which can be used in two operating modes: calibration using standard reference samples and calibration-free. Unlike conventional quantitative LIBS measurements, which require reference samples to generate a calibration curve, calibration-free LIBS (CF-LIBS) allows chemical compositions to be determined solely from the emission spectrum of the plasma. Numerous publications show that CF-LIBS is a fast and efficient analytical method for the quantitative analysis of metal samples. In this work, CF-LIBS is applied to spectra obtained during GTAW DSS welding and the result is compared with those obtained by PLS analysis. A good correlation was found between both types of analysis, demonstrating the suitability of the CF-LIBS method for this application. The CF-LIBS method has a significant advantage over conventional LIBS due to the rapid in situ measurement of concentrations of major alloying elements without calibration procedure. This, combined with fast feedback and appropriate adjustment of welding parameters, helps prevent welding defects.
The development of hydrogen technologies entails high safety requirements in distribution and dispensing infrastructure. Therefore, it is necessary to pursue research on material compatibility in hydrogen, especially for critical parts with tribological issues.
The focus of this study is to evaluate the influence of hydrogen on a wider range of commercially available polymer materials. Thereby, the friction and wear behavior of different grades of TPE, POM, PA66, PA12, PPA, PEEK, PPS, PTFE, PAI, PI and PBI were investigated against a rotating steel disk (AISI 304). Filled and unfilled polymers from different suppliers were evaluated at room temperature in air, vacuum and hydrogen gas (H2) as well as in liquid hydrogen at - 253°C (LH2).
The sliding behavior of the polymer materials is discussed by means of surface analyses, whereby special attention is paid to the formation of a transfer film.
According to the results at ambient temperature, the effect of hydrogen environment on the tribological behavior of neat polymers may be related to lack of moisture, but also to saturated hydrocarbons in gaseous hydrogen. In liquid hydrogen, the best tribological performances were achieved with neat PA polymers as well as PPS and PI composites.
Effect of high-pressure hydrogen environment on the physical and mechanical properties of elastomers
(2024)
This study presents the influence of high-pressure hydrogen environment on the physical and mechanical properties of two types of cross-linked hydrogenated acrylonitrile butadiene rubbers. Based on the CSA/ANSI standard, static exposures in hydrogen experiments were performed up to 100 MPa at 120 °C. Characterization before and after exposure was conducted by means of density and hardness measurements, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile tests, compression set, FT-IR and AFM analyses to assess effects after decompression. While the effect of high-pressure exposure is significant immediately after exposure, most of the physical and mechanical properties recover after 48 hours. FT-IR, AFM, SEM and compression set results indicate, however, permanent effects.
A fundamental study of physical mechanisms of wineglass-shaped fusion zone profile in laser melting
(2024)
The fusion zone geometry in laser melting processes e.g., laser welding and laser-based additive manufacturing, of metallic materials has commonly a wineglass-shaped profile which is critical to the grain orientation and stress distribution. Hereby, we adopt for the first time a decoupling work through a combination of multi-physics modelling and experiments to reveal the fundamental mechanisms of this special morphology. Two physicsbased easy-to-use metal vapour models are proposed to consider the vapour’s momentum and thermal effects separately. It is found that the direct laser energy absorption and Marangoni shear stress which are widely hypothesised to dominate the wineglass-shape formation show only a minor influence. The additional heating from the metallic vapour plume rather than its momentum impact contributes predominantly to the enlarging of the molten pool top region, resulting directly in the formation of the wineglass-shaped fusion zone. The generality of the plume heating effect is also validated in two types of materials (steel and Al) in a wide range of parameters.
Despite the advances in hardware and software techniques, standard numerical methods fail in providing real-time simulations, especially for complex processes such as additive manufacturing applications. A real-time simulation enables process control through the combination of process monitoring and automated feedback, which increases the flexibility and quality of a process. Typically, before producing a whole additive manufacturing structure, a simplified experiment in the form of a beadon-plate experiment is performed to get a first insight into the process and to set parameters suitably. In this work, a reduced order model for the transient thermal problem of the bead-on-plate weld simulation is developed, allowing an efficient model calibration and control of the process. The proposed approach applies the proper generalized decomposition (PGD) method, a popular model order reduction technique, to decrease the computational effort of each model evaluation required multiple times in parameter estimation, control, and optimization. The welding torch is modeled by a moving heat source, which leads to difficulties separating space and time, a key ingredient in PGD simulations. A novel approach for separating space and time is applied and extended to 3D problems allowing the derivation of an efficient separated representation of the temperature.
The results are verified against a standard finite element model showing excellent agreement. The reduced order model is also leveraged in a Bayesian model parameter estimation setup, speeding up calibrations and ultimately leading to an optimized real-time simulation approach for welding experiment using synthetic as well as real measurement data.
It is proposed to model the experimentally observed weld pool boundary with superellipses (Lamé curves) and to find the unknown parameters of the curves using optimization methods. It has been shown experimentally that during laser welding of austenitic stainless steel with a thickness of 2 mm at a speed of 20 mm/s, the rear weld pool part has a shape close to triangular which can be accurately approximated by a superellipse. Analytical dependences of the trajectory and growth rate of the crystal and its cross-sectional area on the geometry of the rear weld pool part are obtained.
A method of solving the thermo-fluid dynamics problem is presented, enabling the prediction of the shape and dimensions of the weld pool during keyhole laser welding of thick plates. It is shown that the rear weld pool boundary can be satisfactorily approximated by a set of superellipses (Lamé curves). The presence of a convex rear weld pool boundary in the mid-plane has been observed experimentally and reproduced numerically. It was shown that in this zone the concentration of liquating impurities increases and the local solidification temperature decreases, contributing to the susceptibility to hot cracking.
Multiple principal element alloys encompass the well-known high entropy alloys (HEA). The alloy system represents a new class of materials consisting of at least three alloying elements, each containing 5 to 35 at.%. Thus, this alloying concept differs fundamentally from conventional materials such as steel or nickel alloys. For this purpose, the alloying elements are specifically selected, the microstructures are adjusted in a single-phase and, in some cases, multi-phase manner. In particular, conflicting goals, such as the trade-off between strength and ductility in conventional steels, are overcome. However, in the last 20 years, the focus has been on material synthesis. With the increase in available material quantities, the focus is now on processing issues such as joining and welding processes. The weldability of HEAs has received very little attention so far. The experience with dissimilar metal welds is completely lacking but is essential for the application of these materials in combination with conventional materials. The present study presents comprehensive experimental results on the weldability of an equimolar CoCrFeMnNi-HEA in cold-rolled and heat-treated condition, which was joined by tungsten inert gas welding to an austenitic steel AISI 304. The mechanical properties of the dissimilar metal welds were characterized by cross-weld tensile samples, whereas the local deformation in the weld of the different welding zones was measured by digital image correlation. In accordance with the respective initial HEA condition (cold-rolled vs. heat-treated), the local strain behavior was divergent and influenced the global mechanical properties of both DMW types. Nonetheless, the experiments provided proof in principle of the weldability for dissimilar joints of the CoCrFeMnNi-HEA welded to conventional materials like austenitic stainless steels ensuring a corresponding capability for mechanical loading. This allows further considerations on the application of these innovative materials.
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.
Numerical and experimental assessment of liquid metal embrittlement in externally loaded spot welds
(2024)
Zinc-based surface coatings are widely applied with high-strength steels in automotive industry. Some of these base materials show an increased brittle cracking risk during loading. It is necessary to examine electrogalvanized and uncoated samples of a high strength steel susceptible to liquid metal embrittlement during spot welding with applied external load. Therefore, a newly developed tensile test method with a simultaneously applied spot weld is conducted. A fully coupled 3D electrical, thermal, metallurgical and mechanical finite element model depicting the resistant spot welding process combined with the tensile test conducted is mandatory to correct geometric influences of the sample geometry and provides insights into the sample’s time dependent local loading. With increasing external loads, the morphology of the brittle cracks formed is affected more than the crack depth. The validated finite element model applies newly developed damage indicators to predict and explain the liquid metal embrittlement cracking onset and development as well as even ductile failure.
Beim Unterpulverschweißen sind die Prozessgeräusche ein Indikator für eine gute Fügequalität. Diese Beurteilung kann i.d.R. nur von einer erfahrenen Fachkraft durchgeführt werden. Eine kürzlich entwickelte künstliche Intelligenz kann automatisch das akustische Prozesssignal anhand vortrainierter Merkmale klassifizieren und die Fügequalität anhand des Geräuschs beurteilen. Der Algorithmus, einmal richtig trainiert, kann den Prüfaufwand beim Unterpulverschweißen deutlich reduzieren.
Die additive Fertigung mittels Schweißverfahren bietet große ökonomische Vorteile für eine ressourceneffiziente Bauteilherstellung. Offene Fragen bezüglich Homogenität, Anisotropie der Schweißgefüge und den damit verbundenen Bauteileigenschaften stehen einer wirtschaftlichen Verarbeitung oftmals im Wege. Finale Bauteilgeometrie und Oberflächengüte erfordern meist komplementäre subtraktive Fertigungsschritte. Werkstoffe für hochbelastbare Komponenten sind oftmals schwer spanbar. In einem Vorhaben der BAM und des ISAF wurde untersucht, wie die Modifikation der AM-Schweißzusätze und das ultraschallunterstützte Fräsen (US) die Zerspanungssituation verbessern. Der vorliegende Artikel stellt wesentliche Zusammenhänge zwischen Legierung, Gefüge und Zerspanung zweier schwer spanbarer Hochleistungslegierungen (FeNi und CoCr) dar. Großes Potenzial zeigte neben dem US die Modifikation mit Zr und Hf bei Zulegierung in das Schweißgut mittels Beschichtung von Massivdrähten bzw. Herstellung von Fülldrähten.
Abstract
In the post-processing of large maritime components, a considerable amount of waste in the form of milling and grinding chips is produced. At the same time, additive manufacturing technologies have shown great potential in producing high-volume parts for maritime applications, allowing novel design approaches and short lead times. In this context, this study presents a sustainable approach to recycle and use aluminium bronze waste material, generated during post-processing of large cast ship propellers, as feedstock for laser-powder directed energy deposition. The recycling technology used to produce powder batches is inductive re-melting in combination with ultrasonic atomization. The derived metal powders are characterized using digital image analysis, powder flowability tests, scanning electron microscopy as well as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Compared to conventional metal powders produced by gas atomization, the recycled material shows excellent sphericity and a powder size distribution with a higher content of finer and coarser particles. Metallographic sections of deposited additively produced specimens show an increased hardness and reduced ductility, but also competitive densities and higher yield and ultimate tensile strength compared to cast material. The process chain shows high potential for the maritime sector to enable circular and sustainable manufacturing.
Die neue Generation von bainitischen Schmiedestählen bietet auf der einen Seite ein erhebliches Festigkeitspotenzial, das es im Sinne des Leichtbaus auch für zyklisch belastete Sicherheitsbauteile zu heben gilt. Auf der anderen Seite geht mit dieser Festigkeitssteigerung im Vergleich zu Vergütungsstählen ein Verlust an Duktilität und Zähigkeit einher. Am Beispiel des Demonstratorbauteils Achsschenkel ging das Forschungsvorhaben der Frage nach, wie ein Freigabeprozess zu gestalten ist, damit das Festigkeitspotenzial der neuen Stähle zuverlässig ausgenutzt werden kann. Als Ergebnis wird eine Vorgehensweise dargestellt, die den Eigenschaften der neuen Generation von Schmiedestählen Rechnung trägt, um den sicheren Betrieb der Komponenten zu gewährleisten.
High-strength steels offer potential for weight optimization due to reduced wall thicknesses in modern constructions. Additive manufacturing processes such as Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) enable the resource-efficient production of structures. In the case of defects occurring in weld seams orWAAM components due to unstable process conditions, the economical solution is local gouging or machining and repair welding. It is important to understand the effects of machining steps on the multiaxial stress state in conjunction with the design-related shrinkage restraints. Research into how welding and slot milling of welds andWAAM structures affects residual stresses is still lacking. For this reason, component-related investigations with high-strength steels with yield strengths ≥790 MPa are carried out in our research. In-situ digital image correlation (DIC) and ex-situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) were used to analyze the stresses and strains induced on specimens during and after milling. The systematic analyses revealed a significant interaction of the stiffness and microstructure of the specimens with the initial residual stresses induced by welding. Subsequent repair welds can result in significantly higher residual stresses.
The new multi-element alloying concept of systems with defined entropy (HEA — high-entropy alloy or MEA — medium-entropy alloy) is increasing in material research interest. Improved properties or combinations of properties are shown by several systems. Thus, the resulting microstructures and production of HEA/MEA as well as properties have been primarily investigated so far. Furthermore, processing is a key issue to transfer HEA/MEA systems to real components. Since welding is the most important joining process for metals, it is crucial to investigate the influence of welding to guarantee component integrity. Since most HEA are made of expensive alloying elements such as Co or Ni, they will not be used entirely as structural materials. Thus, it can be advantageous to weld conventional alloys such as austenitic stainless steels with the HEA and MEA to produce components that are both application-oriented and economically viable. Therefore, in this paper, first results of dissimilar metal welding, by tungsten inert gas (TIG) and friction stir welding (FSW), of a CoCrFeMnNi HEA as well as a CoCrNi MEA with a conventional AISI 304 austenitic stainless steel are presented. The focus is on the microstructure formation due to the two welding processes. The results of TIG welding show a dendritic microstructure, whereas in FSW both materials are stirred but still coexist.
Offshore wind turbines continuously increase in size and weight and demand adequate offshore foundations concepts like monopiles, tripods, or jackets. These components are typically constructed using submerged arc welding (SAW) with high-strength thick steel plates like the S420ML. During welding, the occurrence of delayed hydrogen-assisted cracking (HAC) must be anticipated. HAC is a critical combination of the local hydrogen concentration within a susceptible microstructure under certain mechanical load, i.e., the occurring (welding) residual stresses. The welding sequence of the thick-walled plates complicates the residual stress distribution due to the necessary repeated thermal cycling, i.e., welding seam/layer deposition to fill the joint. For that purpose, SAW with two-wire-technique was used to weld a specially designed and prototype-like mock-up of a real component with a thickness of 50 mm, filled with over 20 passes and a seam length of 1000 mm. Additional welded stiffeners simulated the effect of a high restraint, to achieve critical HAC conditions. The necessity of a minimum waiting time (MWT) before the NDT can be conducted (to exclude HAC) was critically verified by the application of ultrasonic testing of the welded joint at different time-steps of the NDT of up to 48 h after the completion welding. The residual stresses were determined by a robot XRD goniometer. Tensile residual stresses up to the yield limit are found both in the weld metal and in the heat-affected zone. Numerical modeling allowed the qualitative estimation of the hydrogen diffusion in the weld. No noticeable HAC occurrence was identified and confirms the high cracking resistance of the investigated material. Finally, the applicability of the MWT concept should be critically discussed.
State-of-the-art laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) machines allow pre-heating of the substrate plate to reduce stress and improve part quality. However, two major issues have been shown in the past: First, with increasing build height the apparent pre-heat temperature at the surface can deviate drastically from the nominal pre-heat temperature in the substrate plate. Second, even within a single layer the local surface pre-heat temperature can show large gradients due to thermal bottlenecks in the part geometry underneath the top surface. Both lead to unwanted changes in microstructure or defects in the final parts. In this study, a first attempt is taken to show the feasibility of pre-heating the top surface with the onboard laser beam to overcome the mentioned issues. A single layer of a group of three parts built from IN718 to a height of 33.5 mm is pre-heated in a commercially available PBF-LB/M machine to an average steady state surface temperature of 200 °C using the onboard laser beam. The parts are continuously heated, omitting powder deposition and melting step. Temperatures are measured by thermocouples underneath the surface. The experiments are supported by a thermal finite element (FE) model that predicts the temperature field in the parts. When heating the parts uniformly with the laser beam, differences in surface temperatures as large as 170 K are observed. To overcome this inhomogeneity, the heat flux supplied by the laser beam is modulated. An optimized, spatial heat flow distribution is provided by the thermal FE model and translated into a scan pattern that reproduces the optimized heat distribution on the PBF-LB/M machine by locally modulating hatch distance and scan velocity. This successfully reduces the differences in surface temperature to 20 K. Thermographic imaging shows that a homogeneous surface temperature can be achieved despite the localized heat input by the beam. The potential for industrial application of the optimized laser-heating technique is discussed.
The effect of the oscillating metal vapor plume on the keyhole and molten pool behavior during the laser beam welding of AlMg3 aluminum alloys is investigated by experimental and numerical methods. The real-time height of the metal vapor plume is measured by high-speed camera observation. The obtained experimental results are used to evaluate the additional heating source and laser beam attenuation caused by the scattering and absorption based on the Beer–Lambert theory. Furthermore, the dynamic behavior of the metal vapor plume is incorporated into a 3D transient heat transfer and fluid flow model, coupled with the ray tracing method, for the laser beam welding of the AlMg3 alloy. It is found that additional heating resulting from the scattered and absorbed laser beam energy by the metal vapor plume significantly expands the shape of the molten pool on the top region. Moreover, the oscillating metal vapor plume caused the fluctuation of the high-temperature region in the molten pool. The probability of keyhole collapse at the bottom increases 17% due to the oscillating laser power induced by the laser beam attenuation. The internal interplay between the metal vapor plume, molten pool shape, and keyhole collapse is obtained. The developed model has been validated by experiments, which shows a good agreement.
The spatial laser energy absorption inside the keyhole is decisive for the dynamic molten pool behaviors and the resultant weld properties in high-power laser beam welding (LBW). In this paper, a numerical simulation of the LBW process, considering the 3D transient heat transfer, fluid flow, and keyhole dynamics, is implemented, in which the free surface is tracked by the volume-of-fluid algorithm. The underlying laser-material interactions, i.e., the multiple reflections and Fresnel absorption, are considered by an advanced ray-tracing method based on a localized level-set strategy and a temperature-dependent absorption coefficient. The laser energy absorption is analyzed from a time-averaged point of view for a better statistical representation. It is found for the first time that a significant drop in the time-averaged laser energy absorption occurs at the focus position of the laser beam and that the rest of the keyhole region has relatively homogeneous absorbed energy. This unique absorption pattern may lead to a certain keyhole instability and have a strong correlation with the detrimental bulging and narrowing phenomena in the molten pool. The influence of different focus positions of the laser beam on the keyhole dynamics and molten pool profile is also analyzed. The obtained numerical results are compared with experimental measurements to ensure the validity of the proposed model.
Liquid metal embrittlement (LME) cracking is a phenomenon observed during resistance spot welding (RSW) of zinccoated advanced highstrength steels (AHSS) in automotive manufacturing. In this study, severe cracks are observed at the edge of the sheet under reduced flange widths. These cracks, traversing the AHSS sheet, culminate at the edge with a width of approximately 1.2 mm.
Through combined numerical and experimental investigations, and material testing, these cracks are identified and validated as a new type of LME crack. The mechanism behind this crack formation is attributed to unique geometric conditions that, when compared to center welding, amplify radial material flow by ninefold to 0.87 mm. The resultant tangential tensile stresses approximate 760 MPa, which exceed the yield strength of the examined advanced highstrength steel (AHSS) under heightened temperature conditions, and when combined with liquid zinc, promote the formation of this new type of LME crack.
Effect of Tensile Loading and Temperature on the Hydrogen Solubility of Steels at High Gas Pressure
(2023)
The hydrogen solubility in ferritic and martensitic steels is affected by hydrostatic stress, pressure, and temperature. In general, compressive stresses decrease but tensile stresses increase the hydrogen solubility. This important aspect must be considered when qualifying materials for high‐pressure hydrogen applications (e.g., for pipelines or tanks) by using autoclave systems. In this work, a pressure equivalent for compensating the effect of compressive stresses on the hydrogen solubility inside of closed autoclaves is proposed to achieve solubilities that are equivalent to those in pipelines and tanks subjected to tensile stresses. Moreover, it is shown that the temperature effect becomes critical at low temperatures (e.g., under cryogenic conditions for storing liquid hydrogen). Trapping of hydrogen in the microstructure can increase the hydrogen solubility with decreasing temperature, having a solubility minimum at about room temperature. To demonstrate this effect, the generalized law of the hydrogen solubility is parameterized for different steels using measured contents of gaseous hydrogen. The constant parameter sets are verified and critically discussed with respect to the high‐pressure hydrogen experiments.
The capability to produce complexly and individually shaped metallic parts is one of the main advantages of the laser powder bed fusion (PBF LB/M) process. Development of material and machine specific process parameters is commonly based on results acquired from small cubic test coupons of about 10 mm edge length. Such cubes are usually used to conduct an optimization of process parameters to produce dense material. The parameters are then taken as the basis for the manufacturing of real part geometries. However, complex geometries go along with complex thermal histories during the manufacturing process, which can significantly differ from thermal conditions prevalent during the production of simply shaped test coupons. This may lead to unexpected and unpredicted local inhomogeneities of the microstructure and defect distribution in the final part and it is a root cause of reservations against the use of additive manufacturing for the production of safety relevant parts. In this study, the influence of changing thermal conditions on the resulting melt pool depth of 316L stainless steel specimens is demonstrated. A variation of thermo-graphically measured intrinsic preheating temperatures was triggered by an alteration of inter layer times and a variation of cross section areas of specimens for three distinct sets of process parameters. Correlations between the preheating temperature, the melt pool depth, and occurring defects were analyzed. The limited expressiveness of the results of small density cubes is revealed throughout the systematic investigation. Finally, a clear recommendation to consider thermal conditions in future process parameter optimizations is given.
Evaluation of Charpy-V transition curve fitting based on distribution-free statistical assessment
(2023)
A non-parametric, distribution-free, statistical assessment of 5 large Charpy transition curve data sets is used for the optimum fitting equations for smaller data sets. The assessment makes use of a combination of rank probability and binomial probability analysis of the data. The original non-parametric assessment method is improved by combining upper and lower bound binomial estimates, thus removing a bias that exists in the original method. The non-parametric assessment is not suitable as a standard method because it requires too many data points to give a reliable result. It is, however, ideal as a research tool to examine transition curve shape and scatter. Based on the assessment several recommendations for transition curve fitting can be made.
This study was carried out to investigate the neutron transmission signal as a function of sample temperature during a welding process. A theoretical description that includes the Debye-Waller factor was used to describe the temperature influence on the neutron crosssections. Neutron imaging using a monochromatic beam helps to observe transmission variations related to the material temperature. In-situ neutron imaging of welding experiments show the distribution of the temperature in bulk steel samples. The performed finite element modelling of expected temperature distributions shows good agreement with the obtained experimental data.
AbstractLaser beam welding has become widely applied in many industrial fields in recent years. Solidification cracks remain one of the most common welding faults that can prevent a safe welded joint. In civil engineering, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have been successfully used to detect cracks in roads and buildings by analysing images of the constructed objects. These cracks are found in static objects, whereas the generation of a welding crack is a dynamic process. Detecting the formation of cracks as early as possible is greatly important to ensure high welding quality. In this study, two end-to-end models based on long short-term memory and three-dimensional convolutional networks (3D-CNN) are proposed for automatic crack formation detection. To achieve maximum accuracy with minimal computational complexity, we progressively modify the model to find the optimal structure. The controlled tensile weldability test is conducted to generate long videos used for training and testing. The performance of the proposed models is compared with the classical neural network ResNet-18, which has been proven to be a good transfer learning model for crack detection. The results show that our models can detect the start time of crack formation earlier, while ResNet-18 only detects cracks during the propagation stage.
Im Additive Manufacturing Verfahren Directed Energy Deposition (DED) wird bei der Verarbeitung von Werkzeugstahl in der Regel reines Argon als Schutzgas verwendet. Dabei kann die Verwendung von speziellen Schutzgasgemischen, auch bei geringen Anteilen zugemischter Gase, durchaus die Bauteilqualität positiv beeinflussen.
In Vorarbeiten der Messer SE & Co. KGaA zeigte ein gewisser Sauerstoffanteil im Schutzgas die Tendenz, den Flankenwinkel von Schweißspuren beim DED zu verbessern. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde daher detailliert untersucht in wie weit unterschiedliche Schutzgasgemische einen Einfluss auf die Qualität sowie die geometrischen Eigenschaften der additiv gefertigten Strukturen des Werkzeugstahls 1.2709 beim Laser-DED ausüben. Es erfolgten zunächst Testschweißungen in Form von Einzelspuren mit unterschiedlichen Gemischen aus dem Basisschutzgas Argon mit geringen Anteilen verschiedener Gase. Dabei wurde der Einfluss der Zusätze auf die Spurgeometrie und Aufbauqualität untersucht. Auf Basis dieser Vorversuche wurde eine Auswahl vielversprechender Gasgemische getroffen und Detailuntersuchungen in Form von Spuren, Flächen und Quadern unter Zugabe verschiedener Mengen an Zusätzen durchgeführt. Zur Bewertung des Einflusses der Schutzgasbeimengungen wurden der Flankenwinkel, die Porosität und das Gefüge der Proben anhand metallografischer Schliffe untersucht. Es zeigte sich, dass eine Zugabe von geringen Anteilen an Zusätzen zunächst zu einer Vergrößerung des Flankenwinkels im Vergleich zu reinem Argon führt. Mit steigendem Anteil der Gase nimmt dieser Winkel jedoch ab. So kann je nach Menge des zugesetzten Gases eine individuelle Benetzung des aufgetragenen Materials an der Oberfläche erreicht werden. Auch die Porosität ließ sich durch Schutzgasgemische beeinflussen und zeigt ein abweichendes Verhalten im Vergleich zu reinem Argon.
Welded joints show large variation of the weld toe geometry along the weld seam, which is one important reason for the comparably large scatter in fatigue life. Therefore, it is crucial to take the local geometry at the weld toe into account, to reduce the conservatism in fatigue assessment of welded joints. This study is based on the IBESS procedure for the calculation of the fatigue strength, whereby the evaluation of local geometrical parameters is carried out by means of 3D surface scans. The approach is validated against 26 fatigue test series. The fatigue life is in general overpredicted, whereas good agreement is achieved for high stress ratio (R = 0.5). A sensitivity analysis conducted with IBESS shows that weld toe radii ρ < 2 mm and flank angle α < 30° have a significant influence on the calculated fatigue strength. In contrast to this, no strong correlation between ρ and the fatigue strength was determined experimentally in this study.
Through experimental observation and auxiliary numerical simulation, this investigation studies the different types of grain refinement of 5754 aluminum alloy laser beam welding by applying a transverse oscillating magnetic field. Scanning electron microscope results have proved that the application of a magnetic field can reduce the average crystal branch width and increase its number. The interaction between the induced eddy current generated by the Seebeck effect and the applied external magnetic field produces a Lorentz force, which is important for the increase in the number of crystal branches. Based on the theory of dendrite fragmentation and the magnetic field-induced branches increment, the grain size reduction caused by the magnetic field is studied. Furthermore, the effects of the magnetic field are analyzed by combining a phase field method model and simulations of nucleation and grain growth. The grain distribution and average grain
size after welding verify the reliability of the model. In addition, the introduction of a magnetic field can increase the number of periodic three-dimensional solidification patterns. In the intersection of two periods of solidification patterns, the metal can be re-melted and then re-solidified, which prevents the grains, that have been solidified and formed previously, from further growth and generates some small cellular grains in the new fusion line. The magnetic field increases the building frequency of these solidification structures and thus promotes this kind of grain refinement.
Electromagnetic stirring is known to promote material flow, reduce porosity, uniform elements distribution, and refine grain in laser beam welding (LBW), which enhances the applicability of LBW in various industries. In this study, a phase-field model of dendrite growth in AA5754 Al alloy electromagnetic stirring laser beam welding was established. The model considered the thermal electromagnetic Lorentz force resulting from the interaction between the electric field generated by the Seebeck effect and the magnetic field, as well as the temperature gradient and solidification rate of the solidification interface obtained from the computational fluid dynamics electromagnetic stirring LBW model. The variation rules of dendrite growth with different magnetic parameters and effects are analyzed. Comprehensively, the magnetic field promotes the solidification rate, thus promoting interfacial instability and a large magnetic flux density leads to a faster interface instability. The solidification rate as well as the temperature gradient affect the growth rate, and the accelerated growth caused by the so lidification rate with a high frequency and a large magnetic flux density effectively inhibits the slow growth caused by the temperature gradient. The thermal electromagnetic Lorentz force is the main factor for the branch increment at low frequencies, while both thermal electromagnetic Lorentz force and temperature gradient in crease the number of branches at high frequencies. The calculated average branch numbers considering various factors in the stable stage under different magnetic parameters were consistent with the results of the scanning electron microscope tests.
High energy X-ray synchrotron diffraction is used to investigate the elastic anisotropy of the nickel-based superalloy IN718 produced by laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB). This material is characterized by a columnar grain morphology with some crystallographic texture. The material is subjected to elastic loading to determine the diffraction elastic constants (DECs). Furthermore, the single-crystal elastic constants (SCEC) are refined from these experiments using different micromechanical models. The results show that each micromechanical model predicts a specific set of SCEC that well describes the elastic anisotropy of PBF-LB/IN718.
The amount of absorbed energy in the keyhole as well as its spatial and temporal distribution is essential to model the laser beam welding process. The recoil pressure, which develops because of the evaporation process induced by the absorbed laser energy at the keyhole wall, is a key determining factor for the macroscopic flow of the molten metal in the weld pool during high-power laser beam welding. Consequently, a realistic implementation of the effect of laser radiation on the weld metal is crucial to obtain reliable and accurate simulation results. In this paper, we discuss manyfold different improvements on the laser-material interaction, namely, the ray tracing method, in the numerical simulation of the laser beam welding process. The first improvement relates to locating the exact reflection points in the ray tracing method using a so-called cosine condition in the determination algorithm for the intersection of reflected rays and the keyhole surface. A second correction refers to the numerical treatment of the Gaussian distribution of the laser beam, whose beam width is defined by a decay of the laser intensity by a factor of 1/e2, thus ignoring around 14% of the total laser beam energy. In the third step, the changes in the laser radiation distribution in the vertical direction were adapted by using different approximations for the converging and the diverging regions of the laser beam, thus mimicking the beam caustic. Finally, a virtual mesh refinement was adopted in the ray tracing routine. The obtained numerical results were validated with experimental measurements.
Fatigue tests were performed on the forged aluminum alloy EN AW-2618A in the T61 state. Different stress ratios (R = -1, R = 0.1) were selected to study the influence of mean stress on fatigue life. Two overaged states (10 h/230 ◦C, 1000 h/230 ◦C) were also tested to investigate the influence of overaging on fatigue life. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was used to characterize the precipitates (S-phase), which are mainly responsible for the strength of the alloy. A fractographic analysis was also performed to determine the failure mode. Overaging reduces the fatigue life compared to the T61 state. The longer the aging time, the lower the fatigue resistance. The reason is the decrease in (yield) strength, which correlates with the radius of the S-phase: the precipitate radius increases by a factor of approximately two for the overaged states compared to the initial state. The analysis of the fracture surfaces showed crack initiation occurs predominantly on the outer surface and is
associated with the primary phases.
AISI 2205 duplex stainless steel is used in a variety of industries, including the chemical and petrochemical industries. This is due to its high tensile strength combined with good ductility and corrosion resistance. However, in laser beam welding, these properties are negatively afected by the high cooling rates typical of the welding process. The resulting higher ferrrite content in the weld metal than in the base material leads to a reduction in the ductility and corrosion resistance of the welded joint. To overcome this problem, in this study, thick plates were coated by direct energy deposition (DED) prior to laser beam welding, whereas a duplex powder mixture containing a higher nickel concentration was used as a coating material. To improve the weld quality for the proposed two-step process, a method of additional material deposition instead of conventional tack weld was investigated. The resulting welded joints showed a well-balanced austenite to ferrite ratio and their properties and microstructure were verifed by metallographic analysis, electron backscatter difraction and Charpy impact testing. Using the standard ASTM G48 test method, it was found that the corrosion resistance of the welds was improved by a factor of four in average compared to the conventionally welded joints. The resulting properties, such as good ductility and corrosion resistance, of the welds with pre-coated edges showed good agreement with those of the base metal and confrmed the proposed two-step process as a promising alternative to the conventional approaches for welding thick duplex stainless steel plates.
In recent years, in addition to the commonly known wire-based processes of Directed Energy Deposition using lasers, a process variant using the electron beam has also developed to industrial market maturity. The process variant offers particular potential for processing highly conductive, reflective or oxidation-prone materials. However, for industrial usage, there is a lack of comprehensive data on performance, limitations and possible applications. The present study bridges the gap using the example of the high-strength aluminum bronze CuAl8Ni6. Multi-stage test welds are used to determine the limitations of the process and to draw conclusions about the suitability of the parameters for additive manufacturing. For this purpose, optimal ranges for energy input, possible welding speeds and the scalability of the process were investigated. Finally, additive test specimens in the form of cylinders and walls are produced, and the hardness profile, microstructure and mechanical properties are investigated. It is found that the material CuAl8Ni6 can be well processed using wire electron beam additive manufacturing. The microstructure is similar to a cast structure, the hardness profile over the height of the specimens is constant, and the tensile strength
and elongation at fracture values achieved the specification of the raw material.
A new simplified and effective method has been formalised to estimate the Constant Amplitude Fatigue Limit (CAFL) of stress-relieved steel welded joints subjected to uniaxial push–pull loading and failing from the weld toe. Starting from the sharp V-notch assumption of the NSIF approach and the cyclic R-curve of the material in the heat affected zone, the proposed method identifies the CAFL as threshold level of the local stress field at the V-notched weld toe in the uncracked configuration. Such threshold stress field assures the crack arrest at the V-notched weld toe, according to the cyclic R-curve analysis. The method has been validated against experimental results and proved effective for a straightforward assessment of the CAFL of welded joints, as the stable crack propagation analysis of classical fracture mechanics approaches can be avoided.
The application of anti-corrosion coated, high-strength steels in the automotive industry has increased in recent years. In combination with various zinc-based surface coatings, liquid metal embrittlement cracking can be observed in some of these materials. A high-quality, crack-free spot-welded joint is essential to realize the lightweight potential of the materials. In this work, the LME susceptibility of different coatings, which will be determined by the crack length and the occurrence rate, will be investigated using a welding under external load setup. The uncoated specimens did not show any LME. EG, GI and GA showed significantly less LME than ZM coatings. The latter coatings showed much larger crack lengths than the EG, GI and GA coatings. Furthermore, two mechanisms regarding the LME occurrence rate were observed: the occurrence of LME in zinc–magnesium coatings was theorized to be driven by the material properties of the coatings, whereas the occurrence of LME at EG, GI and GA samples was forced mainly by the application of the external tensile load.
In the experimental setup of this work, the materials were exposed to unusually high mechanical loads (up to 80% of their yield strength) to evoke LME cracks.
This article reports temperature-dependent elastic properties (Young’s modulus, shear modulus) of three alloys measured by the dynamic resonance method. The alloys Ti-6Al-4V, Inconel IN718, and AISI 316 L were each investigated in a variant produced by an additive manufacturing processing route and by a conventional manufacturing processing route. The datasets include information on processing routes and parameters, heat treatments, grain size, specimen dimensions, and weight, as well as Young’s and shear modulus along with their measurement uncertainty. The process routes and methods are described in detail. The datasets were generated in an accredited testing lab, audited as BAM reference data, and are hosted in the open data repository Zenodo. Possible data usages include the verification of the correctness of the test setup via Young’s modulus comparison in low-cycle fatigue (LCF) or thermo-mechanical fatigue (TMF) testing campaigns, the design auf VHCF specimens and the use as input data for simulation purposes.
The role of defects in the fatigue strength of Wire Arc Additively Manufactured (WAAMed) Ti-6Al-4V is analysed by means of the IBESS model, a fracture mechanics short crack growth approach based on the cyclic R-curve. Pores and crack-like defects are analysed. Estimations of the role of pore shape and size agree well with published fatigue data of WAAM Ti-6Al-4V with pores. The model is also used to explain the effect of fabrication defects on the scatter of experimental data. This demonstrates that short crack growth models represent a suitable engineering tool for the fatigue assessment of defective AM materials.
Although layer-based additive manufacturing methods such as laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) offer an immense geometrical freedom in design, they are typically subject to a build-up of internal stress (i.e. thermal stress) during manufacturing. As a consequence, significant residual stress (RS) is retained in the final part as a footprint of these internal stresses. Furthermore, localized melting and solidification inherently induce columnar-type grain growth accompanied by crystallographic texture. Although diffraction-based methods are commonly used to determine the RS distribution in PBF-LB parts, such features pose metrological challenges in their application. In theory, preferred grain orientation invalidates the hypothesis of isotropic material behavior underlying the common methods to determine RS. In this work, more refined methods are employed to determine RS in PBF-LB/M/IN718 prisms, based on crystallographic texture data. In fact, the employment of direction-dependent elastic constants (i.e. stress factors) for the calculation of RS results in insignificant differences from conventional approaches based on the hypothesis of isotropic mechanical properties. It can be concluded that this result is directly linked to the fact that the {311} lattice planes typically used for RS analysis in nickel-based alloys have high multiplicity and less strong texture intensities compared with other lattice planes. It is also found that the length of the laser scan vectors determines the surface RS distribution in prisms prior to their removal from the baseplate. On removal from the baseplate the surface RS considerably relaxes and/or redistributes; a combination of the geometry and the scanning strategy dictates the sub-surface RS distribution.
The microstructure has a great influence on short fatigue crack growth in metallic materials. Laser-based Powder Bed Fusion AlSi10Mg alloys exhibit in the as-built condition a fine fibrous Si structure and a supersaturated solid solution of Si in the α-Al matrix, which is significantly modified by heat treatments starting already at temperatures under 260 °C. This study focuses on the influence of post-process heat treatments on the microstructural evolution and the resulting fatigue crack growth resistance. As compared to the as-built condition, two heat treatments at 265 °C/1 h and at 300 °C/2 h are found to be beneficial to the fatigue crack growth resistance of the investigated material.
One of the main advantages of metal additive manufacturing (MAM) techniques is their ability to produce components with site-specific microstructural features. Nevertheless, microstructural defects and lack of repeatability are still major concerns in MAM. In this study, a laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) IN718 material, produced using two different scan length vectors, is investigated using Bragg-edge neutron 2D imaging (BENI) combined with electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) analysis. BENI is able to detect, on a macroscopic scale, process-induced changes in texture in a large field of view covering the entire sample (20×80 mm2). In addition, high-resolution BENI (HR-BENI), with a pixel size of 12.8 µm, provides a micro-scale examination of the local variations of texture and grain morphology, otherwise undistinguishable using the standard resolution. As such, HR-BENI offers a straightforward and detailed way of screening the integrity of MAM parts at cm-length scales.
The prediction of the properties of the materials used in the operation of components is of enormous importance, in order to accelerate the development process of new components. To evaluate new materials in terms of their performance (in a component), the development of new innovative methods is necessary. These methods can also be summarized under the term lab-to-field or materials – upscaling, meaning materials being characterised in a laboratory and their properties being upscaled to the component performance by means of e.g. simulation. i-TRIBOMAT is a EU funded project (H2020, GA Nr. 814494) aiming at building an Open Innovation Test Bed for tribological material characterization and offering corresponding services from tribological characterization of new materials to simulation models for predicting the performance of industrial components. By bundling the infrastructure, know-how for characterization and building a digital platform, i-TRIBOMAT becomes the world’s largest open innovation test bed for tribological material characterization.
A technique for calculating the main solidification parameters for a two-dimensional columnar crystal growth during complete penetration laser beam welding of thin steel sheets was developed. Given that the weld pool interface is described by Lamé curves (superellipses) within the horizontal plane of growth, general analytical solutions were derived for the geometry of the crystal axis and the corresponding growth rate and cross-sectional area of the crystal. A dimensionless analysis was performed to provide insights on the dependence of the solidification parameters on the shape and dimensions of the rear part of the weld pool boundary. The derived solutions were applied for the case of complete penetration laser beam keyhole welding of 2 mm thick 316L austenitic chromium-nickel steel sheets. It was shown that the reconstruction of the weld pool boundary with Lamé curves provides higher accuracy and flexibility compared to results obtained with elliptical functions. The validity of the proposed technique and the derived analytical solutions was backed up by a comparison of the obtained solutions to known analytical solutions and experimentally determined shapes and sizes of the crystals on the top surface of the sheet. The dimensions of the calculated crystal axis correlated well with the experimentally obtained results.
Creep-resistant steels such as the 13CrMoV9-10, used in the construction of thick-walled pressure vessels, are most commonly submerged arc welded (SAW). These steels can develop stress relief cracks (SRC) if the mandatory post weld heat treatment (PWHT) is performed improperly. Current PWHT parameters, such as heating rate and holding time at a specific holding temperature, are based on both empirical experience and conventional free shrinking welding experiments to characterize the SRC-susceptibility of the weld. These cannot adequately depict the higher residual stresses caused by the structurally induced stiffness of the surrounding construction. This study discusses the development of a repeatable, precise, and time-efficient methodology to study the effects of different stress levels and heating rates on the SRC susceptibility of the coarse grain heat-affected zone (CGHAZ). For that purpose, samples were thermically treated to simulate a coarse grain heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) and subsequently exposed to representative levels of stress during the heating phase of a PWHT. The recorded stress and heating rate–dependent strains were mathematically analyzed via curve tracing/calculus to identify interdependent effects. This procedure facilitates the measurement of material characteristics such as carbide growth on grain boundaries at the µm-scale via an integrated value over the entire sample volume. The first and second derivatives show a slight, precipitate-dependent, increase in hardness of the sample, depending on the heating rate and applied stress. This new methodology generates an improved assessment of the SRC susceptibility of SAW microstructures of creep-resistant CrMoV steels.
Wear behavior of innovative niobium carbide cutting tools in ultrasonic-assisted finishing milling
(2023)
The resources of niobium exceed the ones of tungsten by an order of magnitude. With 92%, Brazil is today the main global producer of niobium. Hence, niobium carbides (NbC) are a sustainable and economic alternative to conventionally used cutting materials, especially tungsten carbides (WC). Moreover, NbC can be used in Ni alloy matrix and thus offer significant advantages by substituting WC in Co matrix as cutting materials in terms of health risks and raw material price and supply risk. Based on recent studies which found an increased performance of NbC compared to WC cutting tools in machining higher strength steels, the composition NbC12Ni4Mo4VC was chosen for finish machining of a high-strength steel S960QL in this study. The experiments were carried out on an ultrasonic-assisted 5-axis milling machine using NbC tools specially made to benchmark them with commercially available coated WC cutting inserts. In addition, the influence of a coating system for the NbC inserts is tested and evaluated for its performance in the cutting process. Tool wear and cutting force analyses are implied to identify optimal parameter combinations as well as tool properties for the novel NbC tool. Together with the oscillation of ultrasonic-assisted milling, the loads on the component surface and the tool can be reduced and the wear behavior of the novel NbC tool can be refined. These milling tests are accompanied by standardized wear tests, i.e., pin-on-disc, between the aforementioned material combinations, and the results are correlated with each other. Finally, the behavior when using hard-to-cut materials such as Ni alloys, or innovative materials such as iron aluminide is also being tested, as these are constantly in the focus of machining optimization. With this strategy, comprehensive knowledge is achievable for future efficient application of NbC for milling tools, which have already been researched for decades using WC.
Nickel alloys are cost intensive materials and generally classified as difficult-to-cut material. However, machining of these materials is needed especially in case of alloy 36 (1.3912), which is commonly used in mould construction for the production of fibre-reinforced composites. With regard to repair, modification and manufacturing of such components, additive manufacturing offers significant economic advantages. Nevertheless, subsequent machining steps are needed to achieve the final component contour and defined surface conditions. Dependent on the material and machining process conditions, detrimental tensile residual stresses may be the result on the machined surface, having negative impact on the component performance and safety. In this investigation, machining experiments were carried out on wire arc additive manufactured components made of alloy 36, varying the cutting speed and the feed rate. In addition, the conventional milling process (CM) was compared with a modern, hybrid machining process, the ultrasonic-assisted milling (US). The cutting forces and the surface-near residual stresses were analysed using X-ray diffraction. A significant improvement of the machinability as well as the surface integrity by using the ultrasonic assistance was observed, especially at low cutting speeds. The CM induced mainly tensile residual stresses, the US mainly compressive residual stresses.
The prediction of porosity is a crucial task for metal based additive manufacturing techniques such as laser powder bed fusion. Short wave infrared thermography as an in-situ monitoring tool enables the measurement of the surface radiosity during the laser exposure. Based on the thermogram data, the thermal history of the component can be reconstructed which is closely related to the resulting mechanical properties and to the formation of porosity in the part. In this study, we present a novel framework for the local prediction of porosity based on extracted features from thermogram data. The framework consists of a data pre-processing workflow and a supervised deep learning classifier architecture. The data pre-processing
workflow generates samples from thermogram feature data by including feature information from multiple subsequent layers.
Thereby, the prediction of the occurrence of complex process phenomena such as keyhole pores is enabled. A custom convolutional neural network model is used for classification. Themodel is trained and tested on a dataset from thermographic in-situ monitoring of the manufacturing of an AISI 316L stainless steel test component. The impact of the pre-processing parameters and the local void distribution on the classification performance is studied in detail. The presented model achieves an accuracy of 0.96 and an f1-Score of 0.86 for predicting keyhole porosity in small sub-volumes with a dimension of (700 × 700 × 50) μm3. Furthermore, we show that pre-processing parameters such as the porosity threshold for sample
labeling and the number of included subsequent layers are influential for the model performance. Moreover, the model prediction is shown to be sensitive to local porosity changes although it is trained on binary labeled data that disregards the actual sample porosity.
The damage mechanisms of metallic components produced by process laser powder bed fusion differ significantly from those typically observed in conventionally manufactured variants of the same alloy. This is due to the unique microstructures of additively manufactured materials. Herein, the focus is on the study of the evolution of creep damage in stainless steel 316L specimens produced by laser powder bed fusion. X-ray computed tomography is used to unravel the influence of the process-specific microstructure from the influence of the initial void distribution on creep damage mechanisms. The void distribution of two specimens tested at 600 °C and 650 °C is analyzed before a creep test, after an interruption, and after fracture. The results indicate that the formation of damage is not connected to the initial void distribution. Instead, damage accumulation at grain boundaries resulting from intergranular cracking is observed.
Multi-Principal-Element or High-Entropy Alloys (MPEAs/HEAs) have gained increasing interest in the past two decades largely due to their outstanding properties such as superior mechanical strength and corrosion resistance. However, research studies on their processability are still scarce. This work assesses the effect of different machining conditions on the machinability of these novel alloys, with the objective of advancing the introduction of MPEA systems into industrial applications. The present study focuses on the experimental analysis of finish-milling conditions and their effects on the milling process and resulting surface finish of CoCrFeNi, Al0.3CoCrFeNi and Al0.3CoCrFeNiMo0.2 alloys fabricated via Spark Plasma Sintering. Ball-nose-end milling experiments have been carried out various milling parameters such as cutting speed, feed per cutting edge, and ultrasonic assistance. In situ measurements of cutting forces and temperature on the tool edge were performed during the experiments, and surface finish and tool wear were analyzed afterwards. The results exhibited decreasing cutting forces by means of low feed per cutting edge and reduced process temperatures at low cutting speed, with the use of ultrasonic-assisted milling. It was shown that the machinability of these modern alloys through conventional, as well as modern machining methods such as ultrasonic-assisted milling, is viable, and common theories in machining can be transferred to these novel MPEAs.
This work investigates the microstructure formed in friction stir welds of FCC alloys, focused on two multiprincipal alloys: a CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy (HEA) and a CoCrNi medium-entropy alloy (MEA). A commercial stainless steel AISI 304 is used for comparison. The largest nugget was formed in the MEA, while the smallest was formed in the HEA. Grain refinement occurs in the stirred zone in all welds. Discontinuous dynamic recrystallisation is the predominant restoration mechanism during friction stir welding of the three investigated alloys. A sharp decrement in the Σ3 boundary fraction occurs in the stirred zone of the AISI 304 and HEA welds, while comparable values with the base metal are found for the MEA weld. The peak in the maximum index of crystallographic texture is observed on the advancing side of the stirred zone of the AISI 304 weld. A strong <001> θ-fibre texture is formed in the advancing side of the nugget in the AISI 304 from a well-established {123} <634> S-type texture in the base metal. Multiple crystallographic texture components without specific fibres are identified in most regions of the welds, indicating the complex shear path history during friction stir welding.
Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) enables the efficient production of weight-optimized modern engineering structures. Further increases in efficiency can be achieved by using high-strength structural steels. Commercial welding consumables for WAAM are already available on the market. Lack of knowledge and guidelines regarding welding residual stress and component safety during production and operation leads to severely limited use for industry applications. The sensitive microstructure of high-strength steels carries a high risk of cold cracking; therefore, residual stresses play a crucial role. For this reason, the influences of the material, the WAAM process, and the design on the formation of residual stresses and the risk of cold cracking are being investigated. The material used has a yield strength of over 800 MPa. This strength is adjusted via solid solution strengthening and a martensitic phase transformation. The volume expansion associated with martensite formation has a significant influence on the residual stresses. The focus of the present investigation is on the additive welding parameters and component design on their influence on hardness and residual stresses, which are analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD). Reference specimens (hollow cuboids) are welded fully automated with a systematic variation of heat control and design. Welding parameters and AM geometry are correlated with the resulting microstructure, hardness, and residual stress state. Increased heat input leads to lower tensile residual stresses which causes unfavorable microstructure and mechanical properties. The component design affects heat dissipation conditions and the intensity of restraint during welding and has a significant influence on the residual stress.
Friction stir welding (FSW) has the capacity to join the Al/Ti dissimilar structures with superior mechanical properties. The microstructures and mechanical characteristics of Al/Ti dissimilar FSW joints are determined by the heat and mass transfer during the welding process. However, a quantitative study of the Al/Ti dissimilar FSW process is lacking. Therefore, using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and volume of fluid (VOF) approach, a multi-phase model was constructed for quantitatively analyzing the heat and mass transfer behaviour in dissimilar FSW of TC4 titanium alloy and AA2024-T4 aluminium alloy. The mixed material was treated as a functionally graded material (FGM) to compute the thermophysical characteristics at the weld nugget zone (WNZ). Due to the vast disparity in the thermophysical characteristics of aluminum and titanium alloy, the temperature field in Al/Ti dissimilar FSW was severely asymmetric. The temperature of titanium alloy on the advancing side (AS) was higher than that of aluminium alloy on the retreating side (RS) at the same distance from the tool centre line near the tool shoulder, but it was lower than that of aluminium alloy on the RS without the influence of the shoulder. Due to the high flow stress of titanium alloy, plastic material flow mostly occurred on the RS of aluminium alloy in the Al/Ti dissimilar FSW, with its percentage exceeding 80%. This model was validated by experiment results.
Alloy 36 (1.3912), also known as “Invar,” is an alloy with 36% nickel. The alloy has a remarkably low thermal expansion coefficient in certain temperature ranges. This peculiarity is called the invar effect, which was discovered in 1896 by the Swiss physicist Charles Édouard Guillaume. Therefore, it is used in applications in which dimensional stability is critical, such as molding tools for composite materials in aerospace, automotive applications, or liquified natural gas (LNG) cargo tanks. Moreover, increasingly complex structures and the optimization of resource efficiency also require additive manufacturing steps for the production or repair of components. Additively manufactured components have a heterogeneous microstructure and anisotropic mechanical properties. In addition, the manufactured components require subsequent machining surface finishing, like finish milling, to achieve their final contour. Nickel iron alloys are difficult to machine. Additionally, inhomogeneous microstructure may lead to unstable cutting forces and conditions. In part I of this investigation, the initial alloy 36 is modified with the elements Ti, Zr, and Hf up to a maximum of 0.33 wt.-%. The influence of the modification elements on the microstructure as well as on the hardness of the AM components is examined. Furthermore, one modification is applied to metal arc welding process and investigated. Part II focuses on the effect of the alloy modifications on machinability as well as on the surface integrity of plasma-transferred-arc-welded (PTA) and finish milled invar components.
Duplex stainless steels (DSS) are frequently used, especially in applications requiring high strength combined with high corrosion resistance in aggressive media. Examples include power plant components and maritime structures. During welding of these steels, local variations in chemical composition can occur. This results in ferritization of the material and negatively affects the mechanical properties of the components. In this work, tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding experiments were performed with DSS. Chemical composition analysis was realized in situ by using Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS). The aim of the work is to quantitatively measure the chemical composition in the weld seam of various DSS and to identify possible influences of welding parameters on the microstructure of the material. The chemical concentrations of the main alloying elements Cr, Ni, Mn on the surface of the sample during the welding process and the cooling process were measured. Mn and Ni are austenite stabilizers and their content increases during welding by using certain high alloyed filler material. Spectra were recorded every 1.3 s at a spacing of approximately 2 mm. During the cooling process the location of the measurement was not changed. The LIBS method is proofed to be suitable for the quantitative representation of the chemical compositions during the welding process.
The concept behind this Research Topic (RT) was to collect works, in which Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) techniques are employed to study tribological phenomena and to push the resolution of measurements towards single asperity contact. Thanks to the direct determination of sample height with sub-nanometer resolution and the possibility of measuring local friction, AFM can be employed after a tribotest to detect topography and friction changes at the nanometer scale. Recently, efforts are being expended to use AFM cantilevers as tribometers, i.e., as probes altering the volume of suitable samples, thereby measuring tip and/or sample wear and friction at the nano/microscale. Thus, single asperity contact, friction, and wear can be investigated. Since friction and wear at the macroscale are the result of asperities interactions, such experiments are of great importance for better understanding of tribological processes.
The strain field can reflect the initiation time of solidification cracks during the welding process. The traditional strain measurement is to first obtain the displacement field through digital image correlation (DIC) or optical flow and then calculate the strain field. The main disadvantage is that the calculation takes a long time, limiting its suitability to real-time applications. Recently, convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have made impressive achievements in computer vision.
To build a good prediction model, the network structure and dataset are two key factors. In this paper, we first create the training and test sets containing welding cracks using the controlled tensile weldability (CTW) test and obtain the real strain fields through the Lucas–Kanade algorithm. Then, two new networks using ResNet and DenseNet as encoders are developed for strain prediction, called StrainNetR and StrainNetD. The results show that the average endpoint error (AEE) of the two networks on our test set is about 0.04, close to the real strain value. The computation time could be reduced to the millisecond level, which would greatly improve efficiency.
Laser beam welding is a widely used joining technique in many industrial applications. This is mainly due to its many unique advantages, especially compared to conventional arc welding processes. These advantages include, among others, highly concentrated energy deposition, low total heat input and a capacity to penetrate deep into the material while causing only small welding distortions.
However, at the same time, the small dimension of the laser spot, high solidification rates, and small dimensions of the weld pool itself can provoke issues regarding the assembly tolerances of the workpiece, the hot-cracking phenomena, as well as keyhole-induced bubbles escaping from the melt.
Weld pool shapes in laser beam welding are elongated at the external, free surfaces under the action of the main driving forces in the melt – such as recoil pressure and surface tension forces – while being shorter in the internal areas of the weld pool. This leads to a regular solidification sequence from the internal zones toward the free surfaces, e.g. from the bottom to the top in partial penetration welding. However, in recent studies reported in the literature and seen in the experimental and numerical investigations of BAM Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung in Berlin, it was found that an internal narrowing phenomenon can occur that is often accompanied by a distinct bulging of the weld bead in deeper zones.
As the internal behaviour of the melt during the process is hardly optically accessible, several numerical models and experimental techniques were established to visualise the mechanisms of the formation of the bulging and the narrowing phenomenon and to reveal the consequences on the solidification sequence, pore formation, and filler metal dilution.
Understanding the void defect formation mechanism and simultaneous predicting the tool service life in friction stir welding are critical for optimizing the welding parameters. However, the void defect formation mechanism in friction stir welding is not yet elucidated. In this study, a novel integrated thermal-fluid-structure coupling model of the friction stir welding process was proposed for simultaneous prediction of the weld formation and tool service life. A new non-uniform distribution model of the tool-workpiece contact pressure was proposed to describe the interaction between the tool and the workpiece. The void defect formation mechanism was quantitatively studied using the proposed integrated thermal-fluid-structure coupling model. The results show that the plastic material flows in the horizontal direction and can completely fill the cavity behind the tool for the welding condition of forming a sound weld. While the tool-workpiece contact interfacial frictional shear stress in the rear of the tool is decreased significantly which leads to a severe decrease in the plastic material flow velocity. Therefore, after bypassing the tool from the retreating side, the plastic material at the bottom of the weld stagnates, and void defect forms in the middle and lower part of the weld at the advancing side. The difference between the maximum and the minimum tool-workpiece contact pressure could serve as a numerical criterion to predict void defects. A sound joint is formed when the difference is lower than the critical value of 15 MPa, while a void defect is formed in the weld if it is higher than this critical value. The maximum equivalent stress acting on the tool is located at the pin root with severe stress concentration at a high welding speed. The front of the tool is subjected to tensile stress while its rear is subjected to compressive stress, therefore the tool is apt to fracture at its root under an inappropriate welding condition. The average normal stress of the tool varies periodically with its period consistent with the rotation period of the tool. The service life of the tool is decreased with the increase in welding speed and the decrease in rotation speed. The model is validated by experimental results.
Tribological properties of ultrahigh-molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) and cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) were studied in two different wear modes. Firstly, reciprocating sliding wear studies under non-conformal contact investigated the effects of counterface surface roughness (polished, lapped and ground) of Ti6Al4V on the friction and wear of the polyethylenes. Secondly, two-body abrasive wear studies in conformal contact against different abrasive grit size papers were also carried out to ascertain the wear sensitivity of the polyethylenes under these adverse conditions. Wear mechanisms were studied using optical and scanning electron micrographs. The results of the reciprocating sliding wear studies showed that surface roughness of the counterface influenced friction and wear characteristics although no correlation was found between the coefficient of friction and specific wear rate. XLPE demonstrated wear sensitivity, particularly under severe abrasive wear condition. The results indicated that the performance of the polyethylenes greatly depends upon the tribological system under which it is operating.
Additive manufacturing (AM) in general and laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) in particular are becoming increasingly important in the field of production technologies. Especially the high achievable accuracies and the great freedom in design make PBF-LB/M interesting for the manufacturing and repair of gas turbine blades. Part repair involves building AM-geometries onto an existing component. To minimise the offset between component and AM-geometry, a precise knowledge of the position of the component in the PBF-LB/M machine is mandatory. However, components cannot be inserted into the PBF-LB/M machine with repeatable accuracy, so the actual position will differ for each part. For an offset-free build-up, the actual position of the component in the PBF-LB/M machine has to be determined. In this paper, a camera-based position detection system is developed considering PBF-LB/M constraints and system requirements. This includes finding an optimal camera position considering the spatial limitations of the PBF-LB/M machine and analysing the resulting process coordinate systems. In addition, a workflow is developed to align different coordinate systems and simultaneously correct the perspective distortion in the acquired camera images. Thus, position characteristics can be determined from images by image moments. For this purpose, different image segmentation algorithms are compared. The precision of the system developed is evaluated in tests with 2D objects. A precision of up to 30μm in translational direction and an angular precision of 0.021∘ is achieved. Finally, a 3D demonstrator was built using this proposed hybrid strategy. The offset between base component and AM-geometry is determined by 3D scanning and is 69μm.
In 2015, the University of Manchester hosted a workshop (‘Mind the Gap’) aimed at identifying gaps in a number of structural integrity fitness-for-service procedures, including R5, R6, BS 7910 and API/ASME. The findings were subsequently summarised in a journal paper and shared with the relevant stakeholders. A second workshop, this time hosted by the University of Bristol in 2017, was intended to build on the findings of the earlier event, identifying which gaps had been filled, which remain and whether new ones have been identified in the meantime. ‘Mind the Gap 2’ was wide-ranging, including consideration of failure by fracture, fatigue crack growth, hightemperature creep and environmentally assisted crack growth, along with the use of innovative techniques to follow the progress of crack growth from the atomic to the macroscopic scale. A summary of the whole event is thus outside the scope of a single paper, so here we concentrate mainly on advances in fracture assessment, on the interface between inspection and ECA, and on how developments are being incorporated into structural integrity procedures. There is a particular emphasis on the energy transition in the UK, where the planned energy mix will include both nuclear power and offshore wind.
This work explores the feasibility of producing bead-on-plate welds of a CrCoNi medium entropy alloy and a CrMnFeCoNi high entropy alloy using electron beam welding. The alloys were welded in two states: one in an as-cold-rolled condition and the other in an annealed condition. In addition, the materials are welded with two different parameters. The FCC microstructure of the welds is investigated using scanning electron microscopy assisted by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electron-backscattered diffraction. The impact of the weld on the microstructure is discussed. The heat-affected zone is negligible for the annealed condition of both medium and high entropy alloys since there is no driving force for recrystallisation and the exposure time to high temperature is insufficient for grain coarsening. The texture formed in the fusion zone is also discussed and compared to the texture in the base metal and the heat-affected zone. Although the grain growth along the (100) crystallographic direction is preferential in all cases, the crystallographic texture type differs from each weld. Higher hardness values are measured in the medium entropy alloy’s base metal and fusion zone than in the high entropy alloy.
Commercial high-strength fller metals for wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) are already available. However, widespread industrial use is currently limited due to a lack of quantitative knowledge and guidelines regarding welding stresses and component safety during manufacture and operation for WAAM structures. In a joint research project, the process- and material-related as well as design infuences associated with residual stress formation and the risk of cold cracking are being investigated. For this purpose, reference specimens are welded fully automated with defned dimensions and systematic variation of heat control using a special, high-strength WAAM fller metal (yield strength>790 MPa). Heat control is varied by means of heat input (200–650 kJ/m) and interlayer temperature (100–300 °C). The ∆t8/5 cooling times correspond with the recommendations of fller metal producers (approx. 5–20 s). For this purpose, additional thermo-physical forming simulations using a dilatometer allowed the complex heat cycles to be reproduced and the resulting ultimate tensile strength of the weld metal to be determined. Welding parameters and AM geometry are correlated with the resulting microstructure, hardness, and residual stress state. High heat input leads to a lower tensile stress in the component and may cause unfavorable microstructure and mechanical properties. However, a sufciently low interlayer temperature is likely to be suitable for obtaining adequate properties at a reduced tensile stress level when welding with high heat input. The component design afects heat dissipation conditions and the intensity of restraint during welding and has a signifcant infuence on the residual stress. These complex interactions are analyzed within this investigation. The aim is to provide easily applicable processing recommendations and standard specifcations for an economical, appropriate, and crack-safe WAAM of high-strength steels.
Aero-engine turbine disks are safety-relevant components which are operated under high thermal and mechanical stress conditions. The actual part qualification and certification procedures make use of spin-tests conducted on production-similar disks. While these tests provide, on the one hand, a reliable definition of the critical conditions for real components, on the other hand they represent a relevant cost item for engine manufacturers. The aim of this work is to present two alternative burst speed assessment methods under development based on the Failure Assessment Diagram (FAD) and a global stability criterion, respectively. In the scope of the fracture mechanics assessment, the failure modes hoop-burst and rim-peeling are investigated with semicircular surface cracks modelled at the critical regions on the turbine disk. The comparison of the predicted critical rotational speed shows good agreement between the assessment methods.
The new alloying concept of multi-element systems with defined entropy (HEA—high-entropy alloy; MEA—medium-entropy alloy) is gaining increasing importance in materials research. Significantly improved properties or combinations of properties are shown by some HEA/MEA systems. Thus, primarily the production and resulting microstructures of HEA, as well as its properties, have been investigated so far. Furthermore, processing is a main issue in transferring HEA systems from the laboratory to real components. Since welding is the most important joining process for metals, it is crucial to investigate the influence of welding to guarantee component integrity. Welding leads to residual stresses, which significantly affect the component integrity. Hence, the focus of this study is the residual stress formation and distribution in a CoCrFeMnNi HEA and ternary CoCrNi MEA using two different welding processes: tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding and solid-state friction stir welding (FSW). As a pathway for the application of HEA in this investigation, for the first time, residual stress analyses in realistic near-component specimens were performed. The residual stresses were determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) on the surfaces of top and root weld side. The results were correlated with the local welding microstructures. The results show that both FSW and TIG generate significant tensile residual stresses on the weld surfaces in, and transverse to, the welding direction. In the case of FSW of the CoCrFeMnNi HEA, the longitudinal residual stresses are in the range of the yield strength of approx. 260 MPa in the weld zone.
Alloy 36 (1.3912) is an alloy with 36% nickel and 64% iron and is generally classified as a difficult-to-cut material. Increasingly complex structures and the optimization of resource efficiency are making additive manufacturing (AM) more and more attractive for the manufacture or repair of components. Subsequent machining of AM components is unavoidable for its final contour. By using modern, hybrid machining processes, e.g., ultrasonic-assisted milling (US), it is possible to improve the cutting situation regarding the resulting surface integrity as well as the cutting force. Part I deals with the influence of the alloying elements Ti, Zr, and Hf on the microstructure and the hardness of the initial alloy 36. Part II focusses on the effect of the alloy modifications and the ultrasonic assistance on machinability as well as on the surface integrity after finish-milling. The results show a highly significant influence of the ultrasonic assistance. The cutting force during the US is reduced by over 50% and the roughness of approx. 50% compared to conventional milling (CM) for all materials investigated. Moreover, the US causes a defect-free surface and induces near-surface compressive residual stresses. CM leads to a near-surface stress state of approx. 0 MPa.
The high amount of resource consumption of fusion welding processes offers the potential to reduce their environmental impact. While the driving forces are known froma qualitative perspective, the quantitative assessment of the crucial parameters is not a trivial task. Therefore, herein, a welding-specific methodology to utilize life cycle assessment as a tool for evaluating the environmental impact of fusion welding processes is presented. In this context, two welding processes, resistance spot welding and laser beam welding, are analyzed for two different use cases.
These comprise the welding of shear test specimens and a cap profile made of electrogalvanized sheets of DC 05þ ZE (1.0312) as representative of an automotive application. For both welding processes, the main influences on the resulting environmental impact categories are evaluated and compared. The requirements for ecological efficient welding processes are discussed and implemented.
The importance of high-temperature materials made of iron aluminides (FeAl) has been increasing in light weight applications, e.g., airplane turbines, due to the high material’s specific strength. However, the highly economic production by means of permanent mold casting involves special microstructures for Fe26Al4Mo0.5Ti1B alloy components leading to difficult machinability for subsequent finishing milling and low surface qualities. Major effects of tool and machining parameter variation incorporating ultrasonic assistance on the milling process and surface integrity are shown. Loads for tool and component surface are significantly adjustable to enable an economic process chain regarding the surface integrity of safety-relevant components.
A steel pipeline segment of 2.5 m length was subjected to quasi-static four-point bending load in three steps for studying the initial cracking and damage accumulation based on the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique and by the direct current potential drop (DCPD) technique. For the latter, a new post-test analysis method was established.
AE is found more sensitive to crack initiation than DCPD. Formation of mesoscopic and macroscopic cracks as well as their closure and the resulting friction generate weighted peak frequencies below 400 kHz, whereas microscopic cracking produces AE with broad band spectra identifiable by weighted peak frequencies above 400 kHz. Critical states alike the maximum load level and the leak opening were accompanied by peak amplitudes above 85 dBAE. This rather fundamental study provides a data base for possibly developing advanced strategies of detection and alarm systems based on acoustic monitoring of pipelines, or at least, steel structures.
Influence of a 265 °C heat treatment on the residual stress state of a PBF-LB/M AlSi10Mg alloy
(2022)
Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB/M) additive manufacturing (AM) induces
high magnitude residual stress (RS) in structures due to the extremely heterogeneous cooling and heating rates. As the RS can be deleterious to the fatigue resistance of engineering components, great efforts are focused on understanding their generation and evolution after post-process heat treatments. In this study, one of the few of its kind, the RS relaxation induced in an as-built PBF-LB/M AlSi10Mg material by a low-temperature heat treatment (265 °C for 1 h) is studied by means of X-ray and neutron diffraction. Since the specimens are manufactured using a baseplate heated up to 200 °C, low RS are found in the as-built condition. After heat treatment a redistribution of the RS is observed, while their magnitude remains constant. It is proposed that the redistribution is induced by a repartition of stresses between the a-aluminium matrix and the silicon phase, as the morphology of the silicon phase is affected by the heat treatment. A considerable scatter is observed in the neutron diffraction RS profiles, which is principally correlated to the presence (or absence) of pockets of porosity developed at the borders of the chessboard pattern.
Multimaterial structures are a promising solution to reduce vehicle weight and save fuel or electric energy in automotive design. However, thermal joining of steel and aluminum alloys is a challenge to overcome due to different material properties and the formation of brittle intermetallic phases. In this study, a new joining approach for producing overlap line-shaped joints is presented. The lower joining partner (EN AW 5754) is melted by a laser beam, and this melt is displaced into a line-shaped cavity of the upper joining partner (1.0330) by induced Lorentz forces. The melt solidifies in the cavity to a material and form-fitting joint. This approach needs no auxiliary joining elements or filler materials. Previous investigation to produce spot-shaped joints by using this approach showed that quality and reproducibility were limited by known melt pool dynamics of aluminum alloys (keyhole collapses). For line-shaped joints, the melt displacement can take place behind the keyhole. This allows the displacement process to be spatially uncoupled from the influence of keyhole collapses. The study shows that this improved the process stability and the quality of the joint. The created line-shaped joints were microstructurally characterized by transversal sections. Intermetallic phases were identified by electron backscatter diffraction and EDX analysis. The detected intermetallic phases consist of a 5–6 μm compact phase seam of Al5.6Fe2 and a needle-shaped phase of Al13Fe4. Tensile shear tests were carried out to quantify the load capacity. It was possible to create a joint with a load capacity of about 2 kN.
Motivated by the loss of tensile strength in 9%Ni steel arc-welded joints performed using commercially available Ni-based austenitic filler metals, the viability of retaining tensile strength using an experimentally produced matching ferritic filler metal was confirmed. Compared to the austenitic Ni-based filler metal (685 MPa), higher tensile strength in gas metal arc (GMA) welded joints was achieved using a ferritic filler metal (749 MPa) due to its microstructure being similar to the base metal (645 MPa). The microstructure of hard martensite resulted in an impact energy of 71 J (-196 °C), which was two times higher than the specified minimum value of _>34 J. The
tensile and impact strength of the welded joint is affected not only by its microstructure, but also by the degree of its mechanical mismatch depending on the type of filler metal. Welds with a harder microstructure and less mechanical mismatch are important for achieving an adequate combination of tensile strength and notched impact strength. This is achievable with the cost-effective ferritic filler metal. A more desirable combination of mechanical properties is guaranteed by applying low preheating temperature (200 °C), which is a more practicable and economical solution compared to the high post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) temperature (580 °C) suggested by other research.
Martensitic 9% Cr steels like P91 and P92 can show an increased susceptibility to delayed hydrogen-assisted cracking. The focus of this study was the microstructure and heat treatment efect on the mechanical properties of P92 base material and P91 multi-layer weld metal in both as-welded and post weld heat treated (PWHT) condition. Tensile tests with hydrogen free reference samples and electrochemically hydrogen charged samples were carried out; the mechanical properties were assessed and supported by detailed fractographic analysis. Finally, a hydrogen and microstructure-dependent fracture criterion is established. All investigated microstructures showed a hydrogen-infuenced degradation of the mechanical properties compared to the hydrogen-free reference samples. The as-welded martensitic P91 weld metal had the highest degree of degradation in the presence of hydrogen. The P91 PWHT weld metal and the P92 base material had comparable properties. From that point of view, a signifcantly increased risk for hydrogen-assisted cold cracking during welding fabrication of P91 weld joints must be considered before any heat treatment is conducted.
Solidification cracking is still a serious problem in laser beam welding, especially in the welding of thick-walled plates. The influence of weld pool geometry on solidification cracking in partial penetration welding of thick plates is investigated within scope of this study. Therefore, a specific experimental setup of steel and quartz glass in butt configuration and on the side with high-speed camera were used to record the weld pool shape. In addition, the influence of laser inclination angle on the weld pool geometry and on solidification crack formation was investigated. The results show a bulge in the weld pool root, which is separated from an upper region by a necking region. This leads to a case where there are three different longitudinal region lengths with different solidification zones. This temporal sequence of solidification strongly promotes the formation of solidification cracks in the weld root.
Laserstrahlhybridschweissen von Türmen für Windkraftanlagen Ökonomische und ökologische Vorteile
(2022)
Das Laserstrahlhybridschweißen ist beim Schweißen von Türmen für Windkraftanlagen eine Alternative zum Unterpulverschweißen von Dickblechen in Mehrlagentechnik und bietet hier ökonomische und ökologische Vorteile. Der industrielle Einsatz des Verfahrens ist jedoch durch prozessspezifische Herausforderungen eingeschränkt. Die im Beitrag beschriebene kontaktlose elektromagnetische Badstütze dient zur Erweiterung des Verfahrenspotenzials im Dickblechbereich >15 mm.
With additive manufacturing in the powder bed, the component size is limited by the installation space. Joint welding of additively manufactured parts offers a possibility to remove this size limitation. However, due to the specific stress and microstructure state in the additively built material, it is unclear to what extent existing evaluation rules of joint welding are also suitable for welds on additive components. This is investigated using laser beam welding of additively manufactured pipe joints. The welds are evaluated by means of visual inspection, metallographic examinations as well as computed tomography. The types of defects found are comparable to conventional components. This is an indicator that existing evaluation regulations also map the possible defects occurring for weld seams on additive components.
The study deals with the influence of the heat input and the resulting cooling times on the microstructure and Charpy impact toughness of single-pass laser hybrid welded 20-mm thick high-strength steel S690QL. The main focus is on the change of the mechanical properties over the entire seam thickness. The cooling times were measured in-situ using a pyrometer and an optical fibre in three different depths of the seam where Charpy impact test specimens were also later taken. Thereby, three different heat inputs from 1.3 kJ/mm to 2 kJ/mm were investigated. Despite the observed decreased values of both t8/5-cooling time and the Charpy impact toughness in the root part of the seam, the required impact toughness of 38 J/cm2 could be reached in dependance on applied heat input, especially at the heat input of 1.6 kJ/mm.
Directed energy deposition (DED) has been in industrial use as a coating process for many years. Modern applications include the repair of existing components and additive manufacturing. The main advantages of DED are high deposition rates and low energy input. However, the process is influenced by a variety of parameters affecting the component quality. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) offer the possibility of mapping complex processes such as DED. They can serve as a tool for predicting optimal process parameters and quality characteristics. Previous research only refers to weld beads: a transferability to additively manufactured three-dimensional components has not been investigated. In the context of this work, an ANN is generated based on 86 weld beads. Quality categories (poor, medium, and good) are chosen as target variables to combine several quality features. The applicability of this categorization compared to conventional characteristics is discussed in detail. The ANN predicts the quality category of weld beads with an average accuracy of 81.5%. Two randomly generated parameter sets predicted as “good” by the network are then used to build tracks, coatings,walls, and cubes. It is shown that ANN trained with weld beads are suitable for complex parameter predictions in a limited way.
Prognose von Qualitätsmerkmalen durch Anwendung von KI-Methoden beim Directed 10 Energy Deposition
(2022)
Dieser Beitrag enthält die Ergebnisse eines im Rahmen der DVS Forschung entwickelten Ansatzes zur Qualitätssicherung im Directed Energy Deposition. Es basiert auf der Verarbeitung verschiedener während des Prozesses gesammelter Sensordaten unter Anwendung Künstlicher Neuronale Netze (KNN). So ließen sich die Qualitätsmerkmale Härte und Dichte auf der Datenbasis von 50 additiv gefertigten Probenwürfel mit einer Abweichung < 2 % vorhersagen. Des Weiteren wurde die Übertragbarkeit des KNN auf eine Schaufelgeometrie untersucht. Auch hier ließen sich Härte und Dichte hervorragend prognostizieren (Abweichung < 1,5 %), sodass der Ansatz als validiert betrachtet werden kann.
An accurate and efficient description of the spatial distribution of laser energy is a crucial factor for the modeling of laser material processing, e.g., laser welding, laser cutting, or laser-based additive manufacturing. In this study, a 3D heat transfer and fluid flow model coupled with the volume-of-fluid algorithm for free surface tracking is developed for the simulation of molten pool dynamics in high-power laser beam welding. The underlying laser-material interactions, i.e., the multiple reflections and Fresnel absorption, are considered by a raytracing method. Two strategies of free surface reconstruction used in the ray-tracing method are investigated: a typical piecewise linear interface calculation (PLIC)-based method and a novel localized level-set method. The PLIC-based method is discrete, resulting in noncontinuous free surface reconstruction. In the localized level-set method, a continuous free surface is reconstructed, and, thus, the exact reflection points can be determined. The calculated spatial laser energy distribution and the corresponding molten pool dynamics from the two methods are analyzed and compared. The obtained numerical results are evaluated with experimental measurements to assure the validity of the proposed model. It is found that distinct patterns of the beam multiple reflections are obtained with the different free surface reconstructions, which shows significant influence not only on the molten pool behaviors but also on the localized keyhole dynamics.
Co-Cr alloys are frequently used for highly stressed components, especially in turbine and plant construction, due to their high resistance to thermal and mechanical stress, as well as to corrosive and abrasive loads. Furthermore, they are classified as difficult-to-cut materials because of their high strength and toughness as well as their low thermal conductivity. However, for Co, an increased cost and supply risk can be observed in recent years. Therefore, additive manufacturing (AM) offers significant economic advantages due to higher material efficiency regarding repair, modification, and manufacturing of such components. Concerning inhomogeneity and anisotropy of the microstructure and properties as well as manufacturing-related stresses, a lot of knowledge is still necessary for the economic use of additive welding processes in SMEs. In addition, subsequent machining, particularly contour milling, is essential to generate the required complex contours and surfaces. Hence, additive and machining manufacturing processes need to be coordinated in a complementary way, especially due to additional challenges arising in milling of heterogeneous hard-to-cut microstructures. Recently, it has been shown that modern, hybrid cutting processes, such as ultrasonic-assisted milling (US), can improve the cutting situation. In this investigation, the Co-Cr initial alloy is additionally modified with Ti and Zr up to 1 wt% with the aim to enhance the homogeneity of the microstructure and, thus, the machinability. Hence the investigation includes finish milling tests of the AM components and the comparison of US and conventional machining. Both the modifications and the ultrasonic assistance exhibit a significant effect on the machining situation; for example US causes a higher surface integrity of the finish milled surfaces compared to conventional milling.
With regard to efficient production, it is desirable to combine the respective advantages of additively and conventionally manufactured components. Particularly in the case of large-volume components that also include filigree or complex structures, it makes sense to divide the overall part into individual elements, which afterwards have to be joined by welding.
The following research represents a first step in fundamentally investigating and characterizing the joint welding of Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) components made of Inconel 718. For this purpose, bead-on-plate welds were performed on plates manufactured using the L-PBF process and compared with the conventionally manufactured material. Conventional laser beam welding was used as welding process. The weld geometry was investigated as a function of the L-PBF build-up orientation. It was found that the welding depth and weld geometry differ depending on this orientation and in comparison to the conventional material.
The round robin test investigated the reliability users can expect for AlSi10Mg additive manufactured specimens by laser powder bed fusion through examining powder quality, process parameter, microstructure defects, strength and fatigue. Besides for one outlier, expected static material properties could be found. Optical microstructure inspection was beneficial to determine true porosity and porosity types to explain the occurring scatter in properties. Fractographic analyses reveal that the fatigue crack propagation starts at the rough as-built surface for all specimens. Statistical analysis of the scatter in fatigue using statistical derived safety factors concludes that at a stress of 36.87 MPa the fatigue limit of 107 cycles could be reached for all specimen with a survival probability of 99.999 %.
Metals that are exposed to high pressure hydrogen gas may undergo detrimental failure by embrittlement. Understanding the mechanisms and driving forces of hydrogen absorption on the surface of metals is crucial for avoiding hydrogen embrittlement. In this study, the effect of stress-enhanced gaseous hydrogen uptake in bulk metals is investigated in detail. For that purpose, a generalized form of Sievert's law is derived from thermodynamic potentials considering the effect of microstructural trapping sites and multiaxial stresses. This new equation is parametrized and verified using experimental data for carbon steels, which were charged under gaseous hydrogen atmosphere at pressures up to 1000 bar. The role of microstructural trapping sites on the parameter identification is critically discussed.
Polychromatic and wavelength-selective neutron transmission radiography were applied during bead-on-plate welding on 5 mm thick sheets on the face side of martensitic low transformation temperature (LTT) steel plates using gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW). The in situ visualization of austenitization upon welding and subsequent α’-martensite formation during cooling could be achieved with a temporal resolution of 2 s for monochromatic imaging using a single neutron wavelength and of 0.5 s for polychromatic imaging using the full spectrum of the beam (white beam).
The spatial resolution achieved in the experiments was approximately 200 µm. The transmitted monochromatic neutron beam intensity at a wavelength of λ = 0.395 nm was significantly reduced during cooling below the martensitic start temperature M s since the emerging martensitic phase has a ~10% higher attenuation coefficient than the austenitic phase. Neutron imaging was significantly influenced by coherent neutron scattering caused by the thermal motion of the crystal lattice (Debye–Waller factor), resulting in a reduction in the neutron transmission by approx. 15% for monochromatic and by approx. 4% for polychromatic imaging.
This study presents mechanisms of the evolution of a narrowed region in the weld pool center during deep penetration laser beam welding. In numerous numerical studies presented in this study, it was also found that the local reduction of the weld pool size can cause detrimental effects on the melt flow behavior and the resulting properties of the welds. A particularly large influence of this effect was identified in three aspects. First, the local variation of the solidification sequence of the weld pool causes an increase in the hot-cracking susceptibility due to a locally delayed solidification. Second, it was proven that a change in the local length and width of the weld pool is associated with an adverse impact on the potential flow routes of the molten material that induces stronger local variations of its solidification. Thus, the element mixing, e.g., during the welding with filler materials, is blocked. This leads to a non-homogeneous chemical composition of the final weld and can cause undesired effects on the final material properties. Finally, another observed effect is related to the reduced ability of process pores to reach the top surface. As this type of porosity is usually produced around the keyhole tip, the change of the fluid flow regime above this area plays a significant role in determining the final path of the pores until the premature solidification in the middle of the weld pool captures them. This study summarizes mainly numerical results that were supported by selected experimental validation results.
Laser metal deposition (LMD) as an additive manufacturing technique became increasingly important in recent years and thus the demand for component safety. This is the reason, for the need for reliable in-situ defect detection techniques. For laser beam weld seams an optical measurement technique based on an optical flow algorithm was successfully used to define the critical straining conditions that lead to hot cracking. This algorithm was adapted for bead-on-plate weld seams on LMD deposited layers of IN718 alloy while performing external strain on the specimen in an externally loaded hot cacking test facility. The resulting transversal hot cracks along the weld seam were localized via X-Ray inspection and the type of cracking confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The strain distribution was measured in the vicinity of the solidification front and correlated to the detected hot cracks. Based on the results this technique could be adopted for LMD experiments.
This article presents a cost-effective and reliable method for welding 30 mm thick sheets of shipbuilding steel EH36. The method proposes to perform butt welding in a two-run technique using hybrid laser arc welding (HLAW) and submerged arc welding (SAW). The HLAW is performed as a partial penetration weld with a penetration depth of approximately 25 mm. The SAWis carried out as a second run on the opposite side. With a SAWpenetration depth of 8 mm, the weld cross-section is closed with the reliable intersection of both passes. The advantages of the proposed welding method are: no need for forming of the HLAW root; the SAW pass can effectively eliminate pores in the HLAWroot; the high stability of the welding process regarding the preparation quality of the weld edges. Plasma cut edges can be welded without lack of fusion defects. The weld quality achieved is confirmed by destructive tests.
During resistance spot welding of zinc-coated advanced high-strength steels (AHSSs) for automotive production, liquid metal embrittlement (LME) cracking may occur in the event of a combination of various unfavorable influences. In this study, the interactions of different welding current levels and weld times on the tendency for LME cracking in third-generation AHSSs were investigated. LME manifested itself as high penetration cracks around the circumference of the spot welds for welding currents closely below the expulsion limit. At the same time, the observed tendency for LME cracking showed no direct correlation with the overall heat input of the investigated welding processes. To identify a reliable indicator of the tendency for LME cracking, the local strain rate at the origin of the observed cracks was analyzed over the course of the welding process via finite element simulation. While the local strain rate showed a good correlation with the process-specific LME cracking tendency, it was difficult to interpret due to its discontinuous course. Therefore, based on the experimental measurement of electrode displacement during welding, electrode indentation velocity was proposed as a descriptive indicator for quantifying cracking tendency.
The manufacturability of metallic alloys using laser-based additive manufacturing methods such as laser powder bed fusion has substantially improved within the last decade. However, local melting and solidification cause hierarchically structured and crystallographically textured microstructures possessing large residual stress. Such microstructures are not only the origin of mechanical anisotropy but also pose metrological challenges for the diffraction-based residual stress determination. Here we demonstrate the influence of the build orientation and the texture on the microstructure and consequently the mechanical anisotropy of as-built Inconel 718. For this purpose, we manufactured specimens with [001]/[011]-, [001]- and [011]/[111]-type textures along their loading direction. In addition to changes in the Young’s moduli, the differences in the crystallographic textures result in variations of the yield and ultimate tensile strengths. With this in mind, we studied the anisotropy on the micromechanical scale by subjecting the specimens to tensile loads along the different texture directions during in situ neutron diffraction experiments. In this context, the response of multiple lattice planes up to a tensile strain of 10% displayed differences in the load partitioning and the residual strain accumulation for the specimen with [011]/[111]-type texture. However, the relative behavior of the specimens possessing an [001]/[011]- and [001]-type texture remained qualitatively similar. The consequences on the metrology of residual stress determination methods are discussed.
Ein Umlaufkühler ist im Betrieb explodiert. Splitter des zerborstenen Gehäuses aus Kunststoff wurden mit dem Kühlwasser in die Umgebung geschleudert, am Betriebsort entstand Personenschaden. Bei Funktionsprüfungen am beschädigten Gerät traten unerwartet - aber reproduzierbar - Knalleffekte bei Berührung der Außenoberfläche der Kupfer-Kühlschlange auf. Ein möglicher Mechanismus konnte im Labor durch Synthese von Kupferazid auf Kupferproben und Auslösung vergleichbarer Knalleffekte nachgestellt werden. Damit ist die Plausibilität des beschriebenen Schadensereignisses mit diesem oder einem ähnlich reagierenden Stoff belegt. Ein eindeutiger Nachweis darüber, dass bei dem aufgetretenen Schadensfall dieselbe chemische Reaktion stattgefunden hat, war nicht möglich, da die Belag-Überreste aus dem explodierten Kühlgerät für eine Analyse nicht mehr in ausreichender Menge verfügbar gewesen sind.
Determination of residual stress evolution during repair welding of high-strength steel components
(2022)
During the assembly of steel structures, unacceptable weld defects may be found. An economical solution is local thermal gouging of the affected areas and re-welding. Due to high shrinkage restraints of repair weld and sur- rounding structure, high global and local welding stresses superimpose, and may lead to cracking and component failure, especially in connection with the degraded microstructure and mechanical properties of high-strength steels during the repair process. Component-related investigations of high-strength steels (FOSTA P1311/ IGF20162N) focus on welding residual stress evolution during local thermal gouging and rewelding. In this study, repair welding of S500MLO (EN 10225) is carried out using in-situ digital image correlation (DIC) and ex- situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) to analyse strains and stresses. Self-restrained slit specimen geometries were identified representing defined rigidity conditions of repair welds of real components, which were quantified using the restraint intensity concept. The specimens were rewelded with constant welding heat control and parameters. Weld specimens exhibited significantly increased transverse residual stresses with higher transverse restraint intensities, in the weld metal, and in the heat affected zone. Transverse stresses along the weld seam decrease at the weld seam ends leading to different stress state during gouging and welding. XRD analysis of the longitudinal and transverse local residual stresses after cooling to RT showed a good comparability with global DIC analyses.
Using the case study of a fail-safe design criterion for a steering knuckle of a commercial vehicle, the effect of stiffness/constraint on the crack driving force in the component is discussed. The problem arises when assessment procedures such as R6, BS 7910 or SINTAP/FITNET are applied in conjunction with substitute geometries for determining the model parameters K-factor and limit load (or a substitute for the latter), as it is common practice. In the example, the conservatism was so pronounced that this procedure was in fact unusable. A way out could be the finite element-based determination of the model parameters and their use in the analytical framework. This procedure is useful and effective if the finite element-based calculations are used in parameter sensitivity analyses.
The application of hybrid laser-arc welding (HLAW) for joining closed circumferential welds is a challenge due to the high risk of forming a defective overlap area with a shrinkage void or solidification cracks in the material thickness. A series of HLAW experiments were performed to understand the development of a faulty overlap area when closing the circumferential weld. Welding trials on flat specimens and pipe segments were supported by numerical analyses in which the thermomechanical behavior of the welds in the overlap area was investigated. Different process control strategies were tested, including variations in defocusing levels and the overlap length. The newly developed HLAW head, including laser optics with a motor-driven collimation system, made it possible to defocus the laser beam during welding without disturbing the stability of the welding process. High-level defocusing of the laser beam of more than 40 mm relative to the specimen surface with a resulting beam diameter of > 2.9 mm, and in combination with a short overlap length of 15 mm, was promising with respect to the formation of a desired cup-shaped weld profile that is resistant to solidification cracks.
The Directed Energy Deposition process is used in a wide range of applications including the repair, coating or modification of existing structures and the additive manufacturing of individual parts. As the process is frequently applied in the aerospace industry, the requirements for quality assurance are extremely high. Therefore, more and more sensor systems are being implemented for process monitoring. To evaluate the generated data, suitable methods must be developed. A solution, in this context, was the application of artificial neural networks (ANNs). This article demonstrates how measurement data can be used as input data for ANNs. The measurement data were generated using a pyrometer, an emission spectrometer, a camera (Charge-Coupled Device) and a laser scanner. First, a concept for the extraction of relevant features from dynamic measurement data series was presented. The developed method was then applied to generate a data set for the quality prediction of various geometries, including weld beads, coatings and cubes. The results were compared to ANNs trained with process parameters such as laser power, scan speed and powder mass flow. It was shown that the use of measurement data provides additional value. Neural networks trained with measurement data achieve significantly higher prediction accuracy, especially for more complex geometries.
Duplex stainless steels combine the positive properties of its two phases, austenite and ferrite. Due to its good corrosion resistance, high tensile strength and good ductility it has multiple applications. But laser beam welding of duplex steels changes the balanced phase distribution in favor of ferrite. This results in a higher vulnerability to corrosion and a lower ductility. In this study different powder combinations consisting of duplex and nickel for coating layers by laser metal deposition are investigated. Afterwards laser tracks are welded, and the temperature cycles measured. The ferrite content of the tracks are analyzed by feritscope, metallographic analysis and Electron Backscatter Diffraction. The goal is the development of a powder mixture allowing for a duplex microstructure in a two-step process, where firstly the edges of the weld partners are coated with the powder mixture by LMD and secondly those edges are laser beam welded. The powder mixture identified by the pretests is tested in the two-step process and analyzed by metallographic analysis, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and Vickers hardness tests. The resulting weld seams show a balanced duplex microstructure with a homogenous nickel distribution and a hardness of the weld seam similar to the base material.
Medium and High Entropy Alloys (MEA/HEA) are recently developed material classes, providing manifold applications, e.g., due to extraordinary structural properties. In that connection, the machinability as important issue for the processing of these materials was not in the scientific focus. This study focusses on experimental analysis of milling process conditions including ultrasonic assisted milling (USAM) and their effects on the resulting surface integrity of equiatomic CoCrFeNi-MEA specimens. For that reason, milling parameters (cutting speed, feed per cutting edge) were systematically varied for both conventional milling and USAM. The surface integrity was analyzed in terms of topography, defects, and residual stresses. Especially USAM leads to a decrease of occurring cutting forces and, hence, to an improvement of the surface integrity. Beneficial effects were observed in terms of lower tensile residual stresses at high cutting speed and feed per cutting edge.