EWI is pleased to recognize the award of three U.S. patents to Alber Sadek, Senior Technology Leader of Materials Engineering:
- Patent 10,217,534 – Method of Joining Silicon Carbide Components to One Another
This new, simplified brazing approach eliminates the long heating time and pressure thus making the joining process economically optimal in practice for manufacturing fuel rod assemblies and the superheater SiC tubbing system of the third generation power plants. The approach was recently featured in the January issue of the Welding Journal.
- Patents 11,135,650 and 11,135,651 – Laser-stirred Powder Bed Fusion
These patents involve the adaptation of the laser powder bed fusion process in which the laser moves in a circular or elliptical motion to fuse layers of metal powder. The approach mitigates the solidification cracking associated with high-strength aluminum alloys and nickel-base superalloys. Laser stirring also creates fine and equiaxed grains microstructure that significantly reduces the anisotropy in mechanical properties in the as build condition when additively manufactured, using the standard L-PBF method.
Congratulations to Alber for outstanding work in the areas of materials science and additive manufacturing.
To discuss this work and its potential applications, contact [email protected].