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Friction Stir Welding of 25-mm Thick Steel

Brian Thompson — June 6, 2013 — Leave a comment

At the forefront of research and development in Friction Stir Welding is the successful joining of high melting temperature materials such as steel. Recent studies have report significant costs savings when using FSW to join thicker section steel. While FSW typically travels slower than traditional arc welding processes, it is capable of joining thicker sections in a single pass. This one pass capability can translate into significant cost savings when constructing large steel structures such as oil and gas pipelines, off shore platforms, or heavy machinery.

fig 1 25mm Thick

fig 2 post-weld-image 25mmFSW
Until now, the thickest weld made by FSW reported in open literature has been 19-mm thick. Using advanced tungsten based materials, EWI conducted a series of feasibility trials to push the depths of FSW to 25-mm thick in a single pass. A series of development welds were made on 25-mm thick steel plate with a yield strength of 70-ksi. A fully consolidated weld joint was finally achieved using welding parameters of 135 RPM and 1.75-IPM (Figure 1). Most notably, the post-weld distortion was immeasurable (Figure 2) and the cross-weld mechanical properties at 25-mm thick were comparable to those tested at thinner sections (Figure 3).

x7- steel property comparison

A more detailed summary of the work EWI has been conducting to push the limits of FSW technology in steel will be presented at ISOPE 2013 in Anchorage, Alaska on July 2nd 2013.

In Aerospace, Arc Welding, Automotive, Consumer Goods, Corporate Blog, DCA, Defense, Energy, Friction Process, Government, Heavy Industry, Materials Engineering, Resistance Processes, Soldering Brazing, Structural Integrity, Ultrasonic Processes

EWI Expands Additive Manufacturing Capabilities via Direct Metal Laser-Sintering Technology

Rebecca Gurk — May 24, 2013 — Leave a comment

Direct Metal Laser-Sintering Technology

EWI is pleased to announce the acquisition of an EOS direct metal laser-sintering (DMLS™) system, an additive manufacturing (AM) technology with the capacity to fuse metal powder into 3D components. EWI, which has long been engaged in the development of AM through its Additive Manufacturing Consortium (AMC) and its spinout company Fabrisonic LLC, will apply the state-of-the-art EOSINT M 280 system to further advance AM technology and provide additional metal manufacturing solutions to OEMs and suppliers.

Through a joint partnership agreement, EWI will serve as a preferred materials development partner to EOS of North America, Inc. to create new AM solutions from metal alloys that are not currently available. “This partnership is a natural fit,” says Tim Morris, Vice President of EOS North America, Inc. “Our laser-sintering technology enables the manufacture of complex metallic components through laser joining, and EWI has a strong industry focus and critical expertise in process and materials interaction, as well as additive manufacturing.”

EWI President and CEO Henry Cialone agrees. “By combining our experience in laser optics, materials science, and process controls with the laser powder bed fusion technology of the EOS M 280 system, we will be able to help our customers manufacture parts more effectively and efficiently than ever before.”

IMG_0016-a-150x150

EOSinAction11-150x150

IMG_0023-a-150x150

IMG_0027-150x150

To learn more about EWI’s extensive AM capabilities, please contact Shawn Kelly at skelly@ewi.org or 614.688.5145. To find out more about the Additive Manufacturing Consortium (AMC), please contact Ed Herderick at eherderick@ewi.org of 614.688.5111.

In Aerospace, Automotive, Corporate Blog, Heavy Industry, Laser Processing, Materials Engineering, Members, Oil & Gas

Material Properties for Arc-Based Additive Manufacturing of Ti 6-4 ELI

Steve Massey — May 21, 2013 — Leave a comment

An area where EWI is expanding its knowledge is in characterizing and cataloging mechanical properties of additively manufactured metals (metals AM). The work described here was performed to obtain baseline mechanical property data for Ti 6-4 ELI weld metal buildups that were produced using hot-wire gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW-HW).

The equipment used to weld the buildup was a conventional GTAW-HW system. This work was not performed in a chamber, it was performed in open air with a trail shield added to the torch. The torch and trail shield gases used were both Argon.

The buildup deposited was 1.25″x7.0″x2.5″ high. The parameters used to produce the buildup were 340-amps with 260-inch/min wire feed speed. The wire used was 0.045″ diameter Ti6-4 ELI (Grade 23) wire. The buildup and the test sample locations are shown below.

The macro showed that there were no incomplete fusion or porosity type discontinuities in the sample deposit.

Two tensile samples were tested from both the horizontal and vertical build direction. The test results were:

horizontal UTS – 137 and 133.4 ksi (125 ksi minimum required)
horizontal Yield strength – 124.5 and 116.1 ksi (115 ksi minimum required)
vertical UTS – 136.3 and 134.6 ksi
vertical Yield strength – 119.2 and 117.4 ksi

A chemical analysis was performed to determine if the sample could meet the following ELI requirements:

H – less than 0.0125%
N – less than 0.0301%
O – less than 0.13%

The sample easily met the ELI requirements with 0.0013%-H, 0.0078%-N, and 0.077%-O. (as measured using the LECO Furnace method)

Further work is required to evaluate this material in the stress relieved and beta annealed conditions.

If you are interested in learning more about additive manufacturing or the properties of materials being used in your additively manufactured parts, please feel free to contact me, Steve Massey, at 614.688.5000, or smassey@ewi.org.

You can also contact Ed Herderick at 614.688.5000, or by email at eherderi@ewi.org.

EWI Member Banner Metals wins Crystal Award

Rebecca Gurk — May 10, 2013 — Leave a comment

Congratulations to 2013 Crystal Award winner, Banner Metals Group! The prize recognizes companies that have made a positive economic impact locally and statewide through collaborative work with an Ohio Edison Center. Banner worked with EWI to test a new metal material for use in creating new products. The results led the company to a “banner year” in which business sales doubled, production processes were improved by 40%, and the company workforce increased by 200%.

The Crystal Awards were presented at the Ohio Edison Centers Annual Legislative Briefing, held at the Ohio Statehouse on March 12, 2013. To see an exerpt of the awards ceremony, click here.

In Aerospace, Automotive, Corporate Blog, Heavy Industry, Materials Engineering, Modeling Simulation, Structural Integrity manufacturing, manufacturing competitiveness, manufacturing innovation, manufacturing technologies, Materials, materials engineering, technology innovation, U.S. competitiveness, U.S. Manufacturing

EWI’s Work with CermaClad™ Pipes Highlighted in Wall Street Journal

Rebecca Gurk — April 22, 2013 — Leave a comment

EWI’s engagement with Abakan Inc.‘s subsidiary MesoCoat on the development of the award-winning CermaClad™ technology was featured in the April 17 edition of the Wall Street Journal. The CermaClad high speed metal coating process has received numerous tech innovation awards in the past year. To learn more about EWI and CermaClad, read the full article:

http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130417-908337.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Welcome New EWI Member – Woodward Inc.

Leah Kohr — March 5, 2013 — Leave a comment

EWI is pleased to welcome Woodward Inc. as a new EWI member.

Woodward integrates leading-edge technologies into fuel, combustion, fluid, actuation, and electronic control systems for the aerospace and energy markets. Within the aerospace market, they provide systems, components and solutions for both commercial and military applications. Their key focus areas are propulsion system control solutions for turbine powered aircraft; and actuation systems and motion control solutions. Within the energy market, the key focus areas are: 1) control solutions for equipment that produce electricity using conventional or renewable energy sources; 2) solutions for the control of power quality, distribution and storage on the electrical grid; and 3) control solutions for power equipment used in the extraction, distribution, and conversion of renewable and fossil fuels in marine, locomotive, and industrial equipment applications.

We are excited to have Woodward on board and look forward to the successes ahead.

In Aerospace, Corporate Blog, Energy, Featured, Government, Members, Membership, Rail EWI, manufacturing competitiveness, manufacturing innovation

SCC/HE of Bolts/Fasteners in Marine Environments

Jose Ramirez — February 26, 2013 — Leave a comment

In the oil and gas industry, bolted connections are often used for high integrity systems and are thus vital for the long term performance of the given structure. As the oil and gas industry explores and develops reservoirs in deeper waters where operation and intervention costs are exceptionally high, factors such as bolt/fastener design, proper material selection, materials and bolts/fastener processing, and installation of bolts/fasteners become more important to provide the required service life for the various exposure and service conditions.

Fasteners can fail as result of one or a combination of overload, corrosion, fatigue, corrosion fatigue, or environment assisted cracking (EAC) in the form of stress corrosion cracking (SCC) or hydrogen embrittlement (HE). SCC is a localized corrosion attack that propagates rapidly leading to failure of components and potentially the associated structures. SCC / HE are failure mechanisms resulting from the synergistic effect of the environment, presence of tensile stresses, and material susceptibility.

In marine environments, chlorides can act as a catalyst for chloride SCC. Hydrogen generated by corrosion reactions or cathodic overprotected systems can induce HE. Potential sources of tensile stresses in bolts/fasteners include stress applied during tightening or torquing, and residual stress from different manufacturing processes (forging or casting, surface treatment, heat treatments, forming, machining, and cutting and shearing). Mechanical properties and resistance to corrosion and EAC are critical factors for the selection of materials for bolts and fasteners in the marine application. The corrosion protection of the bolts depends on the intrinsic corrosion resistance of the bolting material and the effect of any supplementary protection measures. Such measures can include coating systems and/or cathodic protection. Available materials for subsea high-strength bolts or fasteners includes high-strength low alloy steels, stainless steels, nickel-based alloys, Cobalt-Ni alloys, beryllium-cupper alloys, and titanium alloys. High strength steels, mainly AISI 4140 and 4340, remain the most common materials for subsea fasteners.

As higher-pressure systems are being built in subsea environments large diameter fasteners made with higher-strength materials are being used. High-strength low alloy steels may provide adequate corrosion resistance in cathodic protected systems, but their resistance to SCC or HE is a concern. High-strength steel may be more susceptible to HE in seawater under cathodic protection, and the susceptibility increases with strength.
The SCC resistance of these materials to particular environments is generally expressed in maximum hardness limits.Therefore, adhering to specifications and quality assurance should be a prime concern in bolt/fastener procurement. Selectionfor subsea application still relies in qualification testing for the specific application. The oil industry challenge is to develop reliable test methods for materials qualifications and to assess the risk to HE. Experiences in the field indicate that the main drivers for bolting material HE have been susceptible microstructures, CP, and applied load levels.

Enhanced Defect Detection and Sizing Accuracy Using Matrix Phased Array Ultrasonic Tools

Roger Spencer — February 20, 2013 — Leave a comment

EWI has released a Project Brief on “Enhanced Defect Detection and Sizing Accuracy Using Matrix Phased Array Ultrasonic Tools.” To read the complete document, click here.

Flexible Decontamination Method Drastically Reduces Secondary Waste Generation

Ed Herderick — February 18, 2013 — Leave a comment

The Department of Energy has a substantial fleet of nuclear facilities that have reached their end of life or are projected to be at end of life in the near future. Many of these facilities are contaminated with radionuclides, asbestos, lead based paint, or other forms of contamination. These facilities need to be deactivated and decommissioned (D&D) in a manner that is both cost effective and environmentally friendly. According to a committee formed to review DOE’s cleanup technology roadmap there are approximately 3000 such facilities scattered around the United States. Of these, 12 were specifically highlighted as the “most difficult” for D&D. A report titled “Advice on the Department of Energy’s Cleanup Technology Roadmap: Gaps and Bridges” contains the details.

One of the specific areas of concern raised by the DOE committee on cleanup technology was removing contamination from building walls, equipment in the facilities, and other surfaces. Traditionally, contamination removal from metallic and concrete surfaces is accomplished with media blasting. These mechanical stripping techniques result in substantial secondary waste generation comprised of a virtually inseparable collection of the contamination being removed and the media used to remove the contamination.

EWI has been working to demonstrate our advanced laser surface cleaning technology for surface decontamination of structures. This technique is capable of performing decontamination without producing substantial amounts of secondary waste. More information on the technology can be found on the D&D knowledge management information tool: https://www.dndkm.org/Technology/TechnologyFactSheet.aspx?TechnologyID=481

The EWI team recently completed a demonstration on representative non-radioactive materials in partnership with NEWGreen LSI (http://newgreenlsi.com/). NEWGreen LSI is a national leader in decontamination services. The images below show before and after photos of a piece of bent sheet steel that had been painted and then coated with talcum powder. The talcum powder was acting as a simulated contaminant.

The video below shows the process of cleaning the surface shown above and uses a black light to show that there is no residual powder on the surface following the removal process. This was used as a qualitative indication of potential contaminant removal.

The images below show a copper sheet that has sawdust adhesively bonded to the surface. The type contamination where there is residual adhesive that has collected contaminant dust or particles over many years is common at aging infrastructure sites. During this study, it was demonstrated that the surface could also be cleaned in a single pass.

If you would like more information on this unique process used for decontamination and decoating, please contact Ed Herderick at 614.688.5000 or by email at eherderick@ewi.org.

You may also be interested in some of my other blog posts:

TMS Meeting Announcement

Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME)

Exciting Plenary Session at this Year’s TMS Meeting

Ed Herderick — February 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

One my personal favorite activities as a materials engineer is my volunteer support of TMS (The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society, tms.org). They are a first class organization and I always enjoy supporting their efforts on engaging the materials community.

In that vein, I’m a co-organizer of this year’s Materials Innovation Plenary, “Innovation in Materials & Manufacturing,” at the TMS annual meeting in San Antonio on Wednesday March 6 along with my good friend Jud Ready from Georgia Tech.

The plenary panel has shaped up very well, and it will be an informative session focused on a number of fascinating topics with great speakers.

International Space Station Chief Scientist Julie Robinson will be presenting “The International Space Station as an Innovation Laboratory: Materials Research and Beyond” discussing the ISS role as a national laboratory. Frank Gayle, Deputy Director of the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office based out of NIST will be presenting on the “National Network for Manufacturing Innovation” initiative. Rob Ivester, Deputy Program Manager at the DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office will be presenting “New Approaches to Manufacturing Innovation in DOE”. Tresa Polluck, Alcoa Professor of Materials and Chair of the of the Materials Department at the University of California at Santa Barbara will be presenting “Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME): A study on ICME Implementation in the Aerospace, Automotive, and Maritime Industries”.

This meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 6 starting at 2:00 p.m. in the Lila Cockrell Theatre of the Convention Center in San Antonio. The story (link below) appears on the Materials Technology @TMS website under the Emerging Materials Technologies community. As a materials enthusiast I can’t wait for this great session and hope you’ll stop by!

http://materialstechnology.tms.org/emt/article.aspx?articleID=4825

If you would like any information on EWI, or have interest in materials science, please feel free to contact me. (Ed Herderick) I can be reached at 614.688.5000, or by email at eherderick@ewi.org

Please check out my previous post on ICME.