Electron Beam Welding

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Electron Beam Welding

Electron beam welding (EBW) was employed in joining the thin-walled containers,
showing the feasibility of EBW to overcome the size limitation issue [68].

From: Handbook of Non-Ferrous Metal Powders (Second Edition), 2019

Related terms:

Tungsten, Electric Arc Welding, Gas Metal Arc Welding, Heat Affected Zone, Laser
Beam Welding, Resistance Welding

View all Topics

Physics of Welding
Ramesh Singh, in Applied Welding Engineering, 2012

Electron Beam Welding (EBW)


Electron beam welding (EBW) is another focused beam welding process. The process
develops energy by bombarding the work-piece with a focused beam of high velocity
electrons. The power density (PD) defines the process’s ability to develop enough
heat for welding. The PD in Watts per unit area is obtained by the following equation:

(22)

Where:

n=total number of electrons per second in the beam


e=the charge on an individual electron (1.6×10−19 coulombs)
E=the accelerating voltage on the electrons, V, in volts
I=the beam current, in amperes
A=the area of the focused beam at the work-piece surface

The beam current, accelerating voltage and welding speed are the factors that
determine the depth of penetration of a focused beam.

The power concentration of 1 to 100 kW/mm2 is routinely achieved, and up to


10 MW/mm2 can be obtained for most welding. The concentration of energy is
dependent on accelerating voltage. Electron beam welding is generally performed
at voltages between 20 kV to 150 kV; a higher voltage corresponds to a higher power
density.

The EBW process has several advantages due to its focused heat source for welding,
as listed below:

1. Welds with higher depth to width ratio can be successfully achieved.

2. High strength of weld can be achieved.

3. Ability to weld thick sections in a single pass.

4. The relative low heat input results in low distortions in the base metal.

5. Very narrow HAZ.

The welding process involves the application of high power density, which instantly
volatizes the metal. This creates a needle-like, vapor-filled cavity or keyhole in the
work-piece, which allows the beam to penetrate through the section of the metal
to be welded. The cavity is kept open by the pressure of the vapor. The flow of the
molten metal is from the front to rear of the keyhole, as the weld solidifies.

Three commercial variants of the EBW process are given Table 2-2-2.

Table 2-2-2. EBW Variants

EBW Variant Description Operating Pressure


1 High Vacuum EBW A pioneer process 13 MPa (10−4 torr) or
lower
2 Medium Vacuum EBW Soft vacuum process At 13 MPa (10−4 torr)
3 Nonvacuum EBW At 100 kPa (1 atm)

> Read full chapter

Other methods of welding


Klas Weman, in Welding Processes Handbook (Second Edition), 2012

12.6 Electron beam welding


Electron beam welding uses a very high-energy electron beam to produce deep,
narrow penetration. The electron beam has a higher energy content than a laser
beam, and is also smaller. Penetration is deeper for a given level of power, and
the overall efficiency of the energy conversion process from input electricity
to output beam power is much higher. Important characteristics include the high
energy density, which makes it possible to melt the gap between two parts without
the problem of distortion.

Welding normally has to be performed in a vacuum as the electron beam is absorbed


by air. This complicates the process when changing the workpiece. On the other
hand, the absence of air is good for the welding process, as there are no reactions
between the air and the metal of the weld or the workpiece. Welds are normally made
as butt welds.

Electron beam welding is often used for advanced materials and complex, critical
parts such as turbine rotors, but it can also be suitable and economic for many
simpler processes involving large production runs. It is very suitable for butt welding
materials of different thicknesses, but is particularly competitive for welding thick
materials of up to 250 mm. Electron beam welding has the following advantages:

• The high flexibility of this method permits everything from thin sheet to very
thick materials to be welded.
• Welding speed is much higher than (for example) arc welding. However, when
assessing overall productivity, allowance must be made for the time required
to evacuate the air from the vacuum chamber.
• The vacuum means that reactive materials such as titanium can be welded
without risk of oxidation.
• Welds are narrow, with a high penetration/depth ratio.

• Heat input is low in absolute terms, resulting in low residual stresses and little
distortion of the workpiece. Reproducibility and tolerances are also good, as
the method is mechanised.
• Many otherwise difficult materials and material combinations can be welded.

• The method is perfect for sealing vacuum chambers.

It may be necessary to demagnetise magnetic materials before welding them, as the


magnetic field could otherwise deflect the electron beam. Joint preparation must be
carried out carefully, including ensuring accurate positioning. Careful control of the
beam track along the joint is also essential.

The electron gun (see Figure 12.6), is supplied from a high-voltage power source
(30–175 kV), but at a low current (less than 1 A). The electrons are accelerated from
the anode and are focused and deflected by magnetic coils in a manner similar to
that used in television and computer screens.
Figure 12.6. Electron beam welding.

The electron beam requires a vacuum, and so welding is carried out in a vacuum
chamber. This normally requires the chamber to be opened to load or change a
work-piece, after which the air must be evacuated by a high-vacuum pump. However,
various designs that use forms of air locks for the loading and unloading of materials
have been developed to deal with smaller items or (for example) strip materials.
When the electron beam meets the workpiece, it produces a secondary emission of
x-rays, and so the vacuum chamber also provides protection against this radiation.

Although the electron gun itself requires a high vacuum, the vacuum in the rest of
the chamber does not need to be quite so high. The electron beam can even travel a
short distance in air, but is quickly absorbed and scattered, so limiting penetration.
In addition, if the welding is performed outside the vacuum chamber, some other
method of protection against x-rays will be required.

Welding is normally performed by traversing or rotating the workpiece by program-


mable control, with the electron beam remaining stationary. Particular attention
must be paid to maintaining appropriate accuracy, bearing in mind the narrow beam
and joint. However, this can be achieved by deflecting the beam to make it sweep
back and forth across the joint (though this affects the penetration profile) or by joint
tracking.

> Read full chapter

Manufacturing methods
Mechanical Engineer's Reference Book (Twelfth Edition), 1994
16.3.1.13 Welding and cutting with power beams
Electron beam welding and laser welding utilize high-energy beams which are
focused onto a spot of about 0.2 mm diameter on the work piece surface. This
intense heat source, which releases its kinetic energy when the beam hits the surface,
is radically different from arc welding, in which the arc melts an area of about 5–20
mm in diameter, depending on the welding conditions.

When the power density of an electron or a laser beam at the focused spot is 10 kW
mm−2 or greater, energy is delivered at a faster rate than can be conducted away in
the form of heat in the work piece and the progressive vaporization of metal through
the section thickness forms a hole. If the beam is then traversed along the work
piece, molten metal flows around the sides of the hole and solidifies at the rear of
the hole. Molten metal at the sides of the hole is held in place by surface tension
and the presence of metal vapour in the hole in the same manner as that described
as the keyholding technique in Section 16.3.1.11.

As with plasma welding, a deep penetration weld with a high depth-to-width ratio is
formed with minimum distortion of the parent metal. Maximum penetration depths
in steel are approximately 280 mm for electron beam welding and 12 mm for laser
welding, although developments in the latter process are likely to increase this to 25
mm or more.

Electron beam welding In this process a finely focused beam of electrons passes from
a cathode and travels through a hole in an anode and is focused onto a spot on the
work piece 0.2-1 mm diameter by means of a magnetic lens. Deflection coils are used
to cause the beam to move in a circular pattern to increase the width of the weld, so
that fusing two mating surfaces together in a close square butt joint is possible. The
cathode in the electron gun is maintained at a negative potential of 60–150 kV and
the gun is contained in a vacuum of 5 × 10−5 torr. In the work chamber a pressure of
5 × 18−3 torr is suitable for welding most metals and for some applications a pressure
of 10−1 torr or less is used with the advantage of much shorter chamber excavation
times, resulting in increased production rates.

High-vacuum welding High-vacuum welding, in which the work chamber is main-


tained at a pressure of 10−3 to 10−5 torr depending on the application, has the
following features:

1. Maximum weld penetration and minimum weld width and shrinkage, en-
abling all thicknesses to be welded in a single pass.
2. The highest purity weld metal is produced because of the absence of any
contaminating gases such as oxygen or nitrogen.
3. A high vacuum allows a long distance to be maintained between the gun and
the work piece, which facilitates observation of the welding process.
4. The pump downtime is lengthy, up to an hour or more depending on the
size of the chamber, which would lower the production rate of small jobs with
shallow welds but would be insignificant when welds in plate 50 mm or thicker
are made with a single pass.

Welding speeds for steel are shown in Table 16.4.

Table 16.4. Penetration depth and welding rates

Welding power (kW) Plate thickness (mm) Welding speed (mm/min)


0.25 1 1500
2.0 10 750
4.5 10 750
15 50 150
75 280 50

Medium-vacuum welding In medium-vacuum welding the working chamber is main-


tained at a pressure generally within the range of 10−3 to 10−1 torr, although pressures
of up to 25 torr are reported in the literature41 and correspondingly short pump
downtimes of a few seconds.

Medium-vacuum welding with small working chambers is used extensively for small
repetitive work such as welding of finish machined geartrains and similar high-vol-
ume mass-production applications for the motor industry. Many high-precision
semi-finished or fully machined components for aircraft engines are also welded by
the electron beam process.

Medium-vacuum electron beam welding is not suitable for welding reactive metals
and alloys such as titanium and zirconium, which require the high-vacuum process
to obtain sound welds.

Out-of-vacuum electron beam welding Provided that the gun-to-work distance is less
than about 35 mm to allow for the greater dispersion of the electron beam compared
with working in a vacuum, it is possible to weld many materials out of vacuum. With
60 kW non-vacuum equipment single-pass welds can be made in metal thicknesses
up to 25 mm. Metals welded out of vacuum include carbon and low-alloy steels,
and copper and aluminium alloys. Because of the presence of air, which can cause
contamination of the weld metal, it is usually necessary to provide an inert shielding
gas to cover the weld zone.

Laser welding and cutting Two types of lasers are used for welding and cutting: the
solid-state YAG (yttrium–aluminium–garnet) and the carbon dioxide (CO2) laser.
The term ‘laser’ is an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of
Radiation and a laser is a device for producing monochromatic (single-wavelength)
light that is coherent (i.e. all the waves are in the same phase). A laser beam can
be transmitted over many metres and can be focused to produce the high-energy
density required for welding or cutting.

The solid-state YAG laser The solid-state laser is stimulated to emit coherent radiation
by means of the light from one or more powerful flash tubes and the output is in
the infrared region around 1.06 μm. Both input and output are generally pulsed and
the power output is a maximum of 500 W.

Pulsed laser welding is extensively used in the electronics industry where minia-
turization requires very precise positioning of small welds. Typical examples are
encapsulation of microelectronic packages and the joining of fire wires by butt,
lapped or cross-wire joints. Spot welds can be made between overlapping sheets and
seam welds formed by a series of overlapping spot welds. Most metal can be welded,
including steel, copper, nickel, aluminium, titanium, niobium, tantalum, and their
alloys. Solid-state lasers are also used for precision drilling of holes with very small
diameters.

The carbon dioxide laser In the carbon dioxide laser the lasing medium is a gaseous
mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and helium at a reduced pressure of 2–50 torr.
The output of the carbon dioxide laser is in the mid-infrared (10.6 μm) and CO2
lasers are available with powers of up to 20 kW. The high power density produced
(104 W mm−2 or more) forms a cavity or keyhole in the work piece which enables a
deep penetration weld to be produced similar in appearance to an electron beam
weld.

Penetration is less than for an electron beam operating at the same power because
of plasma gas formed in the keyhole. The plasma gas escapes from the keyhole and
interacts with the laser beam, restricting penetration to approximately 12 mm in
mild steel. Methods have been developed for overcoming this problem41 by the use
of either a pulsed output from the laser with pulses of shorter time than that required
to generate the plasma or a high-velocity jet of helium to disrupt the plasma above
the weld. Such developments are likely to increase the thicknesses that can be laser
welded to 25 mm or more.

Carbon dioxide lasers are used in production in some automotive and aerospace
applications, particularly for titanium and nickel alloys. The advantage of laser
welding over elctron beam welding is that a vacuum is not required, which simplifies
the welding operation. Other materials that can be welded by the carbon dioxide
laser are steels, copper alloys, zirconium and refractory metals, but aluminium alloys
are not readily weldable with the CO2 laser because of their reflectivity of the laser
beam.

Laser cutting Cutting with the CO2 laser is carried out by a combination of melting
and vaporization with an auxiliary jet of gas to blow the molten metal from the cut.
Various gases are used for this purpose, including oxygen, compressed air, inert
gases and carbon dioxide.

Oxygen produces an exothermic reaction with ferrous metals which increases the
efficiency of cutting. The inert gases produce clean unoxidized surfaces - important
features when cutting readily oxidized metals such as aluminium and titanium.

> Read full chapter

Other welding processes


Gene Mathers, in The Welding of Aluminium and its Alloys, 2002

8.4 Electron beam welding


Electron beam welding is, like laser welding, a power beam process ideally suited to
the welding of close square joints in a single pass. Unlike the laser beam, however,
the electron beam process utilises a vacuum chamber in which is generated a
high-energy density beam of electrons of the order of 0.25-2.5 mm in diameter
(Fig. 8.8).

Fig.8.8. A 2 m3 chamber, 100 kW, electron beam welding machine, showing the open
vacuum chamber. It is capable or welding up to 200 mm thick aluminium.

Courtesy of TWI Ltd.

The beam is generated by heating a tungsten filament to a high temperature,


causing a stream of electrons that are accelerated and focused magnetically to give a
beam that gives up its energy when it impacts the target – the weld line. This enables
very deep penetration to be achieved with a keyhole penetration mode at fast travel
speeds (Fig. 8.9), providing low overall heat input.

Fig.8.9. Principles of electron beam welding, illustrating keyhole welding mode.

Courtesy of TWI Ltd.

The process may be used for the welding of material as thin as foil and up to 400 mm
thick in a single pass. The keyhole penetration mode gives almost uniform shrinkage
about the neutral axis of the component, leading to low levels of distortion. This
enables finish machined components to be welded and maintained within tolerance.
The transverse shrinkage also results in the solidifying weld metal being extruded
from the joint to give some excess metal outside the joint (Fig. 8.10).
Fig.8.10. Single pass electron beam weld in 450 mm thick A5083 alloy. Note the
excess weld metal extruded on the weld face due to thermal contraction.

Courtesy of TWI Ltd.

The major welding parameters are (a) the accelerating voltage, a 150 kV unit being
capable of penetrating 400 mm of aluminium; (b) the current applied to the electron
gun filament, generally measured in milliamperes; and (c) the travel speed. The
item to be welded is generally mounted on an NC manipulator, the gun being held
stationary. The unwelded joint components are required to be closely fitting and are
usually machined. Filler metal is not normally added but if gaps are present this
leads to concavity of the weld face.

The major drawback with this process is the need to carry out the welding in a
vacuum chamber evacuated to around 10− 3 to 10− 2 Pa. This requires expensive
diffusion pumps and a hermetically sealed chamber large enough to accommodate
the item to be welded. The cost of equipment, the accuracy with which components
have to be machined to provide an accurate fit-up and the time taken to pump
the chamber down can make the process non-competitive with more conventional
fusion welding processes. For high-precision welding, perhaps of finished machined
items where minimal distortion is required and for batch type applications where a
number of items can be loaded into the chamber the process is capable of providing
excellent results in a cost-effective manner.

Welding the aluminium alloys with the electron beam process presents one problem
specific to the process, that of metal vapour from the weld pool causing arcing
inside the electron beam gun. This is a particular problem with those alloys that
contain low boiling point alloys such as magnesium and zinc. Arcing inside the gun
interrupts the beam and causes cavities to be formed in the weld. This problem may
be avoided by trapping the vapour by changing the beam path with a magnetic field
or by shutting off the beam as soon as arcing is detected and re-establishing the
beam immediately the vapour has dispersed. This can be done extremely rapidly,
the weld pool remains molten and cavity formation is avoided. Although some of the
alloying elements, i.e. magnesium and zinc, are lost, this is generally insufficient to
cause a loss of strength. Elongated cavities in the fade- out region may be produced,
particularly in circular components where a run-off tab cannot be used. These may
be avoided by careful control of the travel speed and beam fade-out.

The non-heat-treatable alloys can be welded fairly readily without the addition of
filler wire but hot cracking problems may be encountered in the more sensitive
grades and in the heat-treatable alloys. As with laser welding, wire additions may
help. Heat affected zones are small and strength losses are less than would be
experienced in a similar thickness arc welded joint.

> Read full chapter

Welding and Bonding Technologies


M. Vural, in Comprehensive Materials Processing, 2014

6.02.2.8 Electron Beam Welding


In electron beam welding, the high energy of accelerated electrons is used for
heating and melting the material. The generation of radiation serving as a carrier
of energy releases free electrons under vacuum from a thermionic cathode. The
cathode of a high-heated tungsten wire is at a high negative potential, so that
the emitted electrons are accelerated in an electric field toward the anode. The
acceleration voltage is 30–150 kV, and capacities of up to 120 kW can be achieved.
The thermionic cathode is known as a Wehnelt cylinder. By a special shape and also
a negative polarity through it a focusing of the electron beam is achieved, whereby
the jet is emitted as a narrow beam from the anode aperture.

By a system of electromagnetic lenses, the beam is focused on its way to the


workpiece. Together with a deflection system, which allows a static or dynamic
deflection of the beam, the cathode and electromagnetic systems are housed in a
so-called gun, which is arranged on the actual working chamber (Figure 36).

The electron beam gun and working chamber are evacuated, since the electrons
are deflected in the atmosphere which contained much heavier molecules. In the
working chamber, the parts to be welded are placed on appropriate devices and
moved relative to the beam.

The impingement of the high-energy electrons, which have a power density of up


to 107 W cm−2, to the material is penetrated them in the boundary layer, but they
are braked there quickly. Here, the kinetic energy converts into heat, and even in a
small part to radiation. The heat causes the material to melt and evaporate. Due to
the high vapor pressure of the melt, a gas channel is formed in the center, and a
rotation of the melt takes place. This gas channel, also referred to as a vapor cavern,
allows the deep welding effect, which it is possible in a single pass of sheet steel up
to 200 mm. Thick sheets of aluminum materials are welded to 350 mm in thickness,
although the penetration depth of the electrons is less than an order of magnitude
(Figure 37).

Figure 37. The melting process in electron beam welding.


In accordance with the welding progress the cavern moves along the weld groove,
where the melt flows along behind it and solidifies there. The result is a weld,
characterized by a narrow cross section, low melt volume, and slightly wedge-shaped
edges. Electron beam welding usually works without filler, and the joint is formed
as a butt joint. It is necessary to center the parts to be joined and the margins in a
device for securing the position of the shock. The shape of the suture is dependent
on whether it is completely welded through – with a drop in the root forms – or
whether one weld backing is present, which prevents the beam weld and escape
on the root side. If it will be welded completely, the top of the seam must be
considered. When welding with weld pool restriction, a seam curvature occurs, called
a nail head (humping effect) on which is observed so-called root-spiking in the root
zone. It is melt, which penetrates into the root gap and there solidifies icicle-like
prematurely. The result is formation of pores and separation of materials, which
leads to a reduction in fatigue strength.

Before electron beam welding, apparatus and parts to be welded had to be demag-
netized, since residual field strength of more than 1.5 Oe at the surface deflects the
beam.

With the electron beam, almost all metals can be welded. A particular advantage
of the method is that refractory or gas-sensitive metals and alloys are welded.
When welding steels, pore formation may occur when the contents of sulfur and
phosphorus are too high. With too high C content may result from the high cooling
involve material hardness increases, the corresponding degraded by heat treatment
immediately after welding must be done.

The forged titanium materials have good weldability, but the cast types have limi-
tations. Heat-resistant metals such as molybdenum, tungsten, tantalum, niobium,
and zirconium can be welded. The process has been proven for the welding of
aluminum alloys; even the hardenable Al alloys AlCuMg and AlZnMgCu can be
welded. However, Ni, Ni–Fe, or Co-based precipitation hardenable materials cause
difficulties. The advantages in electron beam welding are the high welding
performance and the low heat transfer to the base material.

A disadvantage is that the required vacuum chamber due to the size of the compo-
nents had restrictions imposed. For the welding of large components, devices with
a local vacuum to the welding point can be used. Here, the beam generator moves
the beam during welding in a stationary-sealed region.

> Read full chapter

Composites and hybrid structures


Vladan Koncar, in Smart Textiles for In Situ Monitoring of Composites, 2019

2.8.5 Electron beam welding


Conventional in chamber electron beam welding presents the challenge and limita-
tion that the entire assembly for welding must fit to the vacuum chamber, providing
the required environment and radiation protection. The cost of this kind of welding
systems is often prohibitive for large joining and limits the process to modest size
welding set ups. For too large applications to be constrained by vacuum chamber
there is a possibility to perform out-of-vacuum-chamber local vacuum welding.
Although out-of-vacuum-chamber local welding has been carried out on very large
structures such as pressure vessels or offshore wind mils circular foundation struc-
tures it has not yet been developed for complex geometrical shapes.

> Read full chapter

Mechanical Test Specimens, Reconsti-


tution of
E. van Walle, in Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology, 2001

1 Reconstitution Techniques
In the 1970s the electron-beam welding technique was used at Siemens/KWU to
prepare relatively large test specimens from small amounts of “insert” material
(Klausnitzer 1971). Gradually the amount of insert material was reduced and the
technique was adapted to reconstruct specimens from broken standard Charpy
samples used in surveillance programs (Klausnitzer 1976). Alternative preparation
techniques for “simple” reconstituted Charpy specimens were evaluated. This led
in the early 1980s to the application of arc stud welding on broken Charpy halves
at Batelle Columbus Laboratories (Perrin et al. 1982). This technique was adopted
and improved by several research institutes (Valo 1991, van Walle et al. 1991a).It
was applied to other geometries, e.g., tensile specimens (van Walle et al. 1991b)
and mini Charpy V-samples (Ahlstrand et al. 1993). Parallel developments led to the
application of projection welding, a resistance welding technique, to the reconstitu-
tion of Charpy specimens (Shogan et al. 1986). The upset butt welding technique
for Charpy reconstitution—a variation of projection welding—was introduced in
1991 and results of laser welding on broken Charpy halves have been reported
by Manahan et al. (1993). Some preparation techniques were less successful: for
instance, the gluing of end tabs to insert material remains limited to the precracked
Charpy impact specimen geometry (Ghoneim et al. 1992) and to relatively low test
temperatures.

1.1 Electron-beam Welding (EBW)


EBW is the most versatile reconstitution technique but, along with laser welding,
the most expensive. EBW can in principle be applied to all kinds of geometry.
The electron beam with energy densities up to 108 Wcm−2 allows deep penetration
and creates homogeneous, narrow V-shaped welds and small heat-affected zones
(HAZs). Small weld widths and HAZs are important in small insert applications.
In most situations the components are welded together without additional finish-
ing requirements. However, by preference, the specimens should be welded from
both sides—each time to half the thickness of the material—to avoid bending the
specimen. Since EBW is performed in a vacuum chamber, hot-cell application (see
Hot Cells, Glove Boxes, and Shielded Facilities) is tedious and needs a lot of space.
Precautions, also due to the vacuum conditions, must be taken to keep the insert
temperature low enough during and after the welding: a cooled sample-clamping
system and a time gap between the two reconstitution welds are necessities (Klaus-
nitzer and Hofmann 1992).

1.2 Laser Welding (LW)


LW is equivalent to EBW with the advantage that no vacuum is needed. This provides
for easy adaptation to hot-cell environments. The technique has not been widely
applied owing to the large equipment costs. Two types of laser can be used, CO2 or
YAG. The CO2 laser needs mirror systems and an “open” guide to protrude into a hot
cell; for a YAG laser the beam can be transmitted through an optical fiber. Results
using a heavy CO2 laser have been reported by Manahan et al. (1993).

1.3 Arc Stud Welding (SW)


The SW technique can be applied to simple geometries like Charpy or tensile
specimens. Application to more complex or larger specimens is difficult and has not
been performed. The equipment is based on a commercial stud gun, is moderately
priced, and can easily be installed in a hot cell. An arc is initiated between the end tab
(stud) and the insert piece, melting the surfaces of both pieces. Subsequently, the
stud is projected onto the insert and both materials fuse. This process takes place
in an argon atmosphere to avoid oxidation of the weld. Since the input energy is a
few kilojoules in about 100 ms, additional cooling of the insert piece is required. To
ensure proper alignment and square sectional welds, the stud is slightly oversized;
consequently, the reconstituted specimen needs mechanical finishing. The welds are
symmetric, have a maximum width of approximately 2 mm, and contain small gas
bubbles. However, in most cases they do not influence the fracture behavior of the
reconstituted specimen. The HAZ extends about 1 mm to either side of the weld.
Figure 2 shows an arc welding setup and the welding of a Charpy-type specimen.

Figure 2. Arc stud welding equipment and welding in progress (inset) (courtesy of
SCKCEN).

1.4 Projection and Upset Butt Welding


With projection welding, the welding machine is a spot/projection welder, with
typically a 50 kVA transformer and a projection load of some 450 kgcm−2 (Shogan
et al. 1986). The technique is also limited to Charpy-type specimens. A welding
cycle consists of several phases: a load and “squeeze” period, a current flow for a
preset time, a force hold period, and a release of force stage. The insert pieces are
chilled during the welding and show a temperature behavior similar to other welding
techniques. The fusion is nearly 100% with porosity-free welds. Oversized end tabs
are needed to ensure alignment and allow final machining to dimensions. The total
width of the weld and HAZ is between 2 mm and 3 mm, primarily positioned in the
end tab material. The reported results are similar to those of arc stud welding. The
welding equipment, although bulky, can easily be installed in a hot cell. The upset
butt welding technique is very similar to projection welding.

> Read full chapter


Residual stress and distortion in laser
welding
H. Murakawa, in Handbook of Laser Welding Technologies, 2013

13.1 Introduction
Fusion weldings, such as arc, electron beam weldings and laser welding, are com-
monly used to assemble a wide range of metal structures, ships, automobiles and
passenger trains for example, because of their high productivity and advantages
in weight saving. However, distortion and residual stress are formed as unavoid-
able consequences. Figure 13.1 shows the typical forms of welding distortions.
Transverse shrinkage, longitudinal shrinkage and angular distortions are the three
fundamental modes of welding deformations. The welding distortions observed in
real welded structures are a combination of these modes. When the plate is thin
and the heat input is large relative to the plate thickness, buckling type distortion
can be produced by welding. Welding distortion is one of the major causes of the
dimensional error of welded structures and the deflection of panels reduces the
buckling and the load carrying capacity of thin plate welded structures. If the welding
distortion exceeds the tolerable limit, it may cause delay in production schedules and
reduces the productivity due to additional correction works.

13.1. Typical welding distortions: (a) transverse shrinkage; (b) longitudinal shrinkage;
(c) angular distortion; (d) rotational deformation.

Figure 13.2 illustrates the distribution of welding residual stress on a butt welded


plate. Figure 13.2(a) shows the distribution of longitudinal residual stress (compo-
nent in welding direction) along the welding direction and the transverse section at
the center. On the center section, the largest tensile residual stress is observed in the
location around the welding line and the value reaches almost the yield stress when
the material is mild steel. To keep the balance, small compressive stress is produced
in the area away from the weld line. As for the distribution along the welding line,
the longitudinal residual stresses at both ends become zero because of the free
boundary. In the same manner, the distribution of the transverse residual stress is
shown in Fig. 13.2(b). The transverse residual stress is tensile at the center and it is
compressive at the start and finish ends of the welding line. The transverse residual
stress becomes zero along both edges of the plate.

13.2. Schema of welding residual stress distribution: (a) stress in welding direction
(b) stress in transverse direction.

As will be discussed in this chapter, the magnitude of the welding distortion and
the residual stress are strongly influenced by the welding heat input. Generally,
the magnitude of the welding distortion and the residual stress increase with the
heat input. In this sense, high energy density welding such as laser welding is
advantageous because it requires smaller heat input compared to conventional arc
welding.

The welding distortion and the residual stress are produced as an undesirable
consequence of the thermal cycle generated by the heat concentrated in a small area.
The same mechanism can be utilized to form or bend plate to a desired curved shape
by controlling the heat given to the plate. Since laser is superior in controllability,
it can be used to form flat plate to arbitrary 3D curved shapes for shipbuilding
applications and it can be employed for fine adjustment of the geometry of machine
parts. Also it can be employed to mitigate or improve the residual stress distribution
of welded structures, such as the pressure vessels in power plant.

> Read full chapter


Furnaces: principles of design and use
In The Efficient Use of Energy (Second Edition), 1982

Electron-beam Glow-discharge Heating


Production of high-intensity heat sources as used in electron-beam welding, which
are defocussed to produce a heat band, and all contained within a vacuum chamber,
makes possible efficient heat transfer for annealing strip and wire products56,57.
The savings in energy are substantial, since no heat is lost other than that taken by
the charge materials, and the space required for the heater source is considerably
less than for conventional annealing furnaces49. In addition, the savings in cost and
energy associated with structural materials of the buildings and conventional fur-
nace structures all help to effect a reduction in production cost and an improvement
to the environment and social conditions for operators.

> Read full chapter

Weld integrity of tailor welded blanks


M.M. Li, in Tailor Welded Blanks for Advanced Manufacturing, 2011

1.1 Introduction
Tungsten inert gas (TIG), metal inert gas (MIG), electron beam and laser welding
processes have been used for creating tailor welded blanks TWBs. However, due to
the small heat-affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone, the laser and electron beam
welding processes produce less impact on the material properties than others. Laser
welding has been the most frequently used process for producing TWBs due to the
lower cost and greater flexibility compared to those of electron beam welding. For
this reason, laser welding will be the focus of the material in this chapter.

Most weld imperfections are related to the weld geometry or chemical contents
of the base materials. Improper fit-up between the two joining metal sheets is a
major cause of imperfections related to weld geometry, such as concavity, mismatch
and sporadic welds (i.e. a weld that does not have consistent weld geometry and is
mostly a mixture of good weld and bad weld in short sections). Impurities or gaseous
elements, such as oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen, embedded in the material or
introduced to the weld during the welding process can also create imperfections in
the weld, such as porosity, pinholes or craters. The acceptance of a weld imperfection
is normally determined by the application of the welded product. A pinhole or crater
can be a defect for one product that undergoes a post-weld deep forming process
and an accepted weld imperfection if no forming is required. Examples used in
this chapter are based on a typical TWB joining two blanks of 1 mm and 2 mm in
thickness.

Tests and measurement of weld integrity are divided into two categories, de-
structive and non-destructive. The most common destructive tests on TWBs are
cross-sectioning, micro-hardness test, tensile test, bend test and formability test.
These tests are used to understand the mechanical and metallurgical properties as
well as the geometrical integrity of the weld. Destructive tests are normally time
consuming. In some cases, fatigue tests are performed on welded parts that are
subject to applications under cyclic loading. Non-destructive testing is desired for
production part inspection, especially in mass production. Most non-destructive
testing systems are designed to determine the geometrical integrity of the weld in
the fusion zone. These systems are normally vision, ultrasound or electromagnetic
based. When a non-destructive testing system is able to perform the inspection
faster than the welding speed, such a system can then be used for real-time weld
quality monitoring.

> Read full chapter

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