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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Investigation of Interfacial Layer for Friction Stir Scribe Welded Aluminum to Steel Joints

Friction stir scribe (FSS) welding as a recent derivative of friction stir welding has successfully fabricated a linear joint between automotive Al and steel sheets. However, there is a lack of understanding on its bonding mechanism. In this paper, the microstructures and phases at the bonding interface of FSS welded Al to ultra-high strength steel joints were studied using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Based on the microstructural analysis, it is found that both mechanical and chemical bonding occurred simultaneously, and the energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that a thin intermetallic compound (IMC) layer was formed at the interface. Owing to the varied material flow and heat generation, the IMC layer thickness gradually decreased from the advancing side to the retreating side, and two IMCs (i.e. Fe2Al5 and Fe4Al13) were confirmed in different weld regions using diffraction pattern (or 1D fast Fourier transform pattern). Also, a Fe/Al solid solution was noticed in the IMC layer, and several Al fringes were found in the Fe-rich side in the scribe stir zone.

friction stir scribe welding, interfacial layer, i↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of Welding Parameters on the Corrosion Behavior of Dissimilar Alloy Welds of T6 AA6061 Al-Galvanized Mild Steel

Partial replacement of steel by Aluminium (Al) alloys is a promising approach adopted by automotive sector to improve fuel efficiency without compromising on the strength. However, this results in the generation of dissimilar welds of Al alloys and steel. Understanding the corrosion behavior of Al alloys–steel welds as a function of welding parameters is critical in the successful application of such alloys. The present study reports the intergranular corrosion behavior of T6 heat-treated AA6061 Al alloy-galvanized mild steel lap joints, welded by metal inert gas welding–brazing technique as a function of different welding parameters, viz. weld speed (4-6 m/min) and wire feed rate (0.8-0.9 m/min), following ASTM G 67-04. Weld characterization was performed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), x-ray diffraction and nano-hardness measurement. Results indicate heavy dissolution and metal loss at the interface. A high volume fraction of Al-Fe intermetallics was precipitated at the weld interfaces, resulting in high hardness and higher localized corrosion. The thickness of Al-Fe intermetallic layer increased with increasing wire feed rate and lower weld speed which enhanced the severity of galvanic and intergranular corrosion.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Gas tungsten arc welding and friction stir welding of ultrafine grained AISI 304L stainless steel: Microstructural and mechanical behavior characterization

In the present study, an ultrafine grained (UFG) AISI 304L stainless steel with the average grain size of 650 nm was successfully welded by both gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) and friction stir welding (FSW). GTAW was applied without any filler metal. FSW was also performed at a constant rotational speed of 630 rpm and different welding speeds from 20 to 80 mm/min. Microstructural characterization was carried out by High Resolution Scanning Electron Microscopy (HRSEM) with Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). Nanoindentation, microhardness measurements and tensile tests were also performed to study the mechanical properties of the base metal and weldments. The results showed that the solidification mode in the GTAW welded sample is FA (ferrite–austenite) type with the microstructure consisting of an austenite matrix embedded with lath type and skeletal type ferrite. The nugget zone microstructure in the FSW welded samples consisted of equiaxed dynamically recrystallized austenite grains with some amount of elongated delta ferrite. Sigma phase precipitates were formed in the region ahead the rotating tool during the heating cycle of FSW, which were finally fragmented into nanometric particles and distributed in the weld nugget. Also there is a high possibility that the existing delta ferrite in the microstructure rapidly transforms into sigma phase particles during the short thermal cycle of FSW. These suggest that high strain and deformation during FSW can promote sigma phase formation. The final austenite grain size in the nugget zone was found to decrease with increasing Zener–Hollomon parameter, which was obtained quantitatively by measuring the peak temperature, calculating the strain rate during FSW and exact examination of hot deformation activation energy by considering the actual grain size before the occurrence of dynamic recrystallization. Mechanical properties observations showed that the welding efficiency of the FSW welded sample is around 70%, which is more than 20% higher than the GTAW welded sample. - Highlights: • Microstructure and mechanical properties of UFG 304L stainless steel were studied during GTAW and FSW. • Sigma phase formation mechanism was studied during FSW of 304L stainless steel. • THERMOCALC analysis was performed to obtain possible formation temperatures for sigma phase. • Nano-mechanical twins were found in the TMAZ region.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evaluation of microstructure stability at the interfaces of Al-6061 welds fabricated using ultrasonic additive manufacturing

Ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) is a solid-state additive manufacturing process that uses fundamental principles of ultrasonic welding and sequential layering of tapes to fabricate complex three-dimensional (3-D) components. One of the factors limiting the use of this technology is the poor tensile strength along the z-axis. Recent work has demonstrated the improvement of the z-axis properties after post-processing treatments. The abnormally high stability of the grains at the interface during post-weld heat treatments is, however, not yet well understood. In this work we use multiscale characterization to understand the stability of the grains during post-weld heat treatments. Aluminum alloy (6061) builds, fabricated using ultrasonic additive manufacturing, were post-weld heat treated at 180, 330 and 580 °C. The grains close to the tape interfaces are stable during post-weld heat treatments at high temperatures (i.e., 580 °C). This is in contrast to rapid grain growth that takes place in the bulk. Transmission electron microscopy and atom-probe tomography display a significant enrichment of oxygen and magnesium near the stable interfaces. Based on the detailed characterization, two mechanisms are proposed and evaluated: nonequilibrium nano-dispersed oxides impeding the grain growth due to grain boundary pinning, or grain boundary segregation of magnesium and oxygen reducing the grain boundary energy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Formation mechanism for the nanoscale amorphous interface in pulse-welded Al/Fe bimetallic systems

Pulse or impact welding traditionally has been referred to as “solid-state” welding. By integrating advanced interface characterizations and diffusion calculations, we report that the nanoscale amorphous interface in the pulse-welded Al/Fe bimetallic system is formed by rapid heating and melting of a thin Al layer at the interface, diffusion of iron atoms in the liquid aluminum, and subsequent rapid quenching with diffused iron atoms in solution. This finding challenges the commonly held belief regarding the solid-state nature of the impact-based welding process for dissimilar metals. Elongated ultra-fine grains with high dislocation density and ultra-fine equiaxed grains also are observed in the weld interface vicinity on the steel and aluminum sides, respectively, which further confirms that melting and the subsequent recrystallization occurred on the aluminum side of the interface.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Towards Polymer-Free, Femto-Second Laser-Welded Glass/Glass Solar Modules

This project explores the use of femto-second (fs) lasers to form glass-to-glass welds for hermetically sealed, polymer-free solar modules. Low iron solar glass coupons were welded together without the use of glass filler using a fs laser with dedicated optics to elongate the focal plane parallel to the incident beam. The resulting welds were then stress tested to failure to reveal the critical stress intensity factor, KIc. These values were used in a structural mechanics model of a 1 m by 2 m glass/glass module under a simulated static load test. The results show that the fs laser welds are strong enough for a suitably framed module to pass the IEC 61215 static load test with a load of 5400 Pa. Key to this finding is that the module must be framed and braced, and the glass must be ribbed to allow pockets for the cells and welds inside the border of the module. The result is a module design that is completely polymer-free, hermetically sealed, has improved thermal properties, and is easily recycled.

femto-second laser welded↗
DOE OSTI2018

Influence of Welding Strength Matching Coefficient and Cold Stretching on Welding Residual Stress in Austenitic Stainless Steel

Austenitic stainless steel is widely used in pressure vessels for the storage and transportation of liquid gases such as liquid nitrogen, liquid oxygen, and liquid hydrogen. Cryogenic pressure vessel manufacturing uses cold stretching technology, which relies heavily on welding joint performance, to construct lightweight and thin-walled vessels. Residual stress from welding is a primary factor in cases of austenitic stainless steel pressure vessel failure. In this paper, on the basis of Visual Environment 10.0 finite element simulation technology, the residual stress resulting from different welding strength matching coefficients (0.8, 1, 1.2, 1.4) for two S30408 plates welded with three-pass butt welds is calculated according to thermal elastoplastic theory. In addition, the stress field was calculated under a loading as high as 410 MPa and after the load was released. Path 1 was set to analyze stress along the welding line, and path 2 was set to analyze stress normal to the welding line. The welding strength matching coefficient strongly affected both the longitudinal residual stress (center of path 1) and the transverse residual stress (both ends of path 1) after the welding was completed. However, the coefficient had little effect on the longitudinal and transverse residual stress of path 2. Under the loading of 410 MPa, the longitudinal and transverse stress decreased and the stress distribution, with different welding strength matching coefficients, was less diverse. After the load was released, longitudinal and transverse stress distribution for both path 1 and path 2 decreased to a low level. Cold stretching could reduce the effect of residual stress to various degrees. Transverse strain along the stretching direction was also taken into consideration. The experimental results validated the reliability of the partial simulation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimization of a Welding Procedure for Making Critical Aluminum Welds on the LBNF Absorber Core Block

he LBNF Absorber consists of thirteen 6061-T6 aluminum core blocks. The core blocks are water cooled with de-ionized (DI) water which becomes radioactive during beam operations. The cooling water flows through gun-drilled channels in the core blocks. A weld quality optimization was performed to produce National Aeronautical Standard (NAS) 1514 Class I quality welds on the aluminum core blocks. This was not successful in all cases. An existing Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) Welding Procedure Specification (WPS) was fine tuned to minimize, in most cases, and eliminate detectable tungsten inclusions in the welds. All the weld coupons however, passed welding inspection as per the piping code: ASME B31.3 Normal Fluid Service. Tungsten electrode diameter, type, and manufacturer were varied. Some of the samples were pre-heated and others were not. It was observed that larger diameter electrodes, 5/32 in., with pre-heated joints resulted in welds with the least number of tungsten inclusions. It is hypothesized that thinner electrodes breakdown easily and get lodged into the weld pool during the welding process. This breakdown is further enhanced by the large temperature differential between the un-preheated sample and the hot electrode.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of Weld Consumable Conditioning on the Diffusible Hydrogen and Subsequent Residual Stress and Flexural Strength of Multipass Welded P91 Steels

P91 steel weld joint was prepared using the shielded metal arc welding process and four different conditions of weld consumable that provide the different levels of diffusible hydrogen in deposited metal. In the present research, the effects of diffusible hydrogen content on the flexural strength, lower critical stress, and tensile strength of P91 steel welds were also determined with respect to different electrode conditions. To investigate the effect of diffusible hydrogen on multipass welding, top and root side flexural tests were performed. The residual stresses (axial stress and transverse stress) were also measured using the blind hole drilling method for different conditions of welding consumable. The peak value of residual stresses was measured at the center of the weld fusion zone. The maximum value of transverse stress was measured to be 355 MPa for case II (6.21 mL/100 g of diffusible hydrogen), while the maximum axial stress was about 218 MPa for case IV (12.43 mL/100 g of diffusible hydrogen). A three-dimensional finite element simulation was also performed to predict the residual stress distribution and thermal profile along the welded joint. The experimentally determined residual stresses correlated well with the numerically estimated residual stresses. The diffusible hydrogen content was not observed to have any significant effect on the residual stresses. The corrected residual stress values were also predicted by considering the plasticity-induced error. However, the flexural performance of the welded joint was affected by the diffusible hydrogen content. The top and root flexural strength was measured to be optimum for the low level of diffusible hydrogen content, and the values decreased with an increase in diffusible hydrogen content.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evolution of carbide precipitates in Hastelloy N joints during welding and post weld heat treatment

Highlights: • The formation and spheroidization of the eutectic-like carbides are found in the Hastelloy N alloy during welding and PWHT. • All precipitates in the joints before and after the PWHT are identified as a M{sub 6}C type carbide with different morphology. • The diffusion of main element of Mo leads to the decrease of lattice parameter of the carbide during the welding and PWHT. - Abstract: The effects of welding and post weld heat treatment (PWHT) on the morphology, composition and lattice parameter of the precipitates in the welding joints of Hastelloy N alloy have been investigated. Joint samples were prepared using a gas tungsten arc welding process with ERNiMo-2 fillers, and then solid-solution treated at 1100 °C for 20 min. After welding, eutectic M{sub 6}C carbides can be observed in the heat affected zones (HAZ) and weld zones (WZ). These eutectic M{sub 6}C carbides become spheroidized during the following PWHT. The concentration of Si decreases during the transformation from the primary ones to eutectic ones, and then increases during the spheroidizing process. The total concentration of Si + Cr in M{sub 6}C carbides remains stable during welding and PWHT. At the same time, the heat leads to the outward diffusion of Mo from the M{sub 6}C carbides, which results in a decrease of the lattice parameter.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Evolution of the Weld Metal Microstructures in Dissimilar Titanium Welds Based on Al and Mo Equivalents

CO{sub 2} laser welding of Ti-15V-3Cr-3Al-3Sn to Ti-4.5Al-3V-2Fe-2Mo was conducted in the study. The notched fracture and microstructures of the weld metal (WM) with various post-weld aging treatments were studied. In the as-welded sample, the WM comprised only β phase, which was relatively soft and ductile. Moreover, the phase constituent of the as-welded WM was related to the Al and Mo equivalents and further compared with other welds. The microstructural morphologies and microhardness of the WMs of dissimilar welds exhibited significant changes after post-weld aging at distinct temperatures. Increasing the Al equivalent ([Al]{sub EQ}) of the WM caused an increased response to age-hardening during post-weld aging treatments. When the aging temperature was increased from 426 to 593 °C, the α precipitates in the WM grew in size, causing a decrease in hardness, but an improvement in toughness.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Tensile Behavior of Electron Beam-Welded and Post-Weld Vacuum-Annealed Nb-10% Hf-1% Ti Refractory Alloy Weldments

Nb-10% Hf-1% Ti refractory alloy is a high performance material extensively used for high temperature applications. Electron beam welding is one of the most widely used techniques to join refractory and reactive alloys. Bigger sizes of nozzles for rocket propulsion applications can be either made through deep drawing and flow turning route or by roll bending and welding route both using sheets/plates as input material for fabrication. The latter is a more economical option for mass production of the hardware using such exotic and expensive alloys. In view of this, both as-welded (AW) coupon and weld plus post-weld vacuum-annealed (AW + VA) coupon have been prepared to study their mechanical behavior. It has been observed that tensile strength and ductility have not been reduced in both these conditions vis-à-vis the base metal, confirming weld efficiency of the alloy to be ~ 100%. Microhardness is found to be 150-160 VHN in the base metal and 200-225 VHN in the weld fusion zone in AW condition, which became uniform (145-155 VHN) throughout the weldment in AW + VA condition. Microstructure of the weldment in AW condition is found to be consisting of grains solidified by epitaxial mode from base metal toward the weld centre. In AW + VA condition, improvement in tensile elongation is observed, which is found to be due to the presence of homogenized grains/more uniform microstructure near the heat-affected zone as compared to the steep gradient in grain size in different zones in the weld in AW condition.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Effect of Welding Parameters on Junction Structure and Fracture Behavior of Friction-Stir-Welded Joints of 2024 Aluminum Alloys

In this paper, the effect of welding speed and tool rotation speed on the junction structure and fracture behavior of friction-stir-welded joints was investigated with use of 2024 aluminum alloys of 3.2 mm thick. Results show that the formation of junction structure is more affected by tool rotation speed than by welding speed due to the differences of heat input levels. When welding speed is at 100 mm/min and tool rotation speed is in the range of 400-600 r/min, the joint junction structure causes complete bonding with no welding defects. While under improper welding parameters, the junction structure causes the precipitate aggregation on the bonding line and the partial bonding with the appearance of both tunnel defects and kissing bond defects. Meanwhile, the results of tensile tests show that the tensile fracture of all FSW joints occur at the weld center. The failure mode of joints with defects-free junction structure characterized by shear fracture is ductile. While the failure mode of joints with defects-existent junction structure characterized by layered fracture surface is brittle. Furthermore, that heterogeneous microstructure, precipitate aggregation and welding defects converge inside the junction structure is the main factor affecting the tensile properties and fracture behavior of the friction-stir-welded joint.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

The Effect of Weld Metal Composition on Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of Dissimilar Welds Between Monel 400 and Inconel 600

The current work was carried out to characterize welding of Inconel 600 superalloy and Monel 400. In the present study, gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW) with four types of filler metals (ENiCu, ENiCu-7, ENiCr-3 and ENiCrFe-3) was utilized. The filler metals were categorized into two groups based on the presence of Cr and Nb in their chemical composition. This paper describes the selection and application of welding consumables in manufacturing dissimilar metal combinations. It was found that (Nb/Cr) ratio and Fe content can affect on the size and amount of carbides. During solidification of ENiCr-3 and ENiCrFe-3 filler metals, Nb leaves dendritic cores and is rejected to inter-dendritic regions because of its high tendency for segregation. However, No brittle Laves phase was detected in the welds. The interface between weld metal and base metal and gradual changes in alloying elements were also investigated by scanning electron microscopy. EDX analysis was also applied for different samples. Microhardness measurements and tensile test were performed on the joints. The average hardness value in the weld metal obtained from ENiCrFe-3 is higher than the other welds. ENiCu-7 weld exhibited the highest tensile strength of 540 MPa and percent elongation of 53% in contrast to ENiCrFe-3 weld with the lowest tensile strength (518 MPa) and percent elongation (39%).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modular In-Chamber Electron Beam Welding – Process Planning: Welding, Cladding, Inspection, and Manufacturing

Electron beam welding (EBW) is commonly employed by industry today to join relatively thin section components. Industrial sectors which utilize the technology include; automotive, aircraft, aerospace, defense, medical, oil & gas, etc. The ability to produce single pass, thick section (up to 6 inches, 150mm) welds has also been available for more than 40 years; however, the technology has not been deployed for civil nuclear manufacturing and fabrication such as reactor pressure vessels, steam generators, or pressurizers. Instead, thick section joining is performed much in the same manner it has been for decades using submerged arc or gas tungsten arc welding processes. Recent research performed under U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project DE-NE0008629 has demonstrated that the overall welding time to produce one major reactor pressure vessel (RPV) girth weld can be reduced from weeks to less than 90 minutes, while maintaining exceptional quality and inspection characteristics. The subject project (DE-NE0008846) investigates a modular in-chamber (MIC) EBW approach which allows various RPV sections to be joined within a “modular” chamber. The MIC-EBW approach utilizes individual modules that can be stacked and de-stacked to various heights to enable production girth welds to be performed at a given elevation. This report describes the various processing methodology necessary to complete major girth weldments for the NuScale Power small modular reactor including welding development, manufacturing, production sequence, inspection, and cladding.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Intelligent Weld Manufacturing: Role of Integrated Computational Welding Engineering

A master welder uses his sensory perceptions to evaluate the process and connect them with his/her knowledge base to take the necessary corrective measures with his/her acquired skills to make a good weld. All these actions must take place in real time. Success depends on intuition and skills, and the procedure is labor-intensive and frequently unreliable. The solution is intelligent weld manufacturing. The ultimate goal of intelligent weld manufacturing would involve sensing and control of heat source position, weld temperature, weld penetration, defect formation and ultimately control of microstructure and properties. This involves a solution to a problem (welding) with many highly coupled and nonlinear variables. The trend is to use an emerging tool known as intelligent control. This approach enables the user to choose a desirable end factor such as properties, defect control, or productivity to derive the selection of process parameters such as current, voltage, or speed to provide for appropriate control of the process. Important elements of intelligent manufacturing are sensing and control theory and design, process modeling, and artificial intelligence. Significant progress has been made in all these areas. Integrated computational welding engineering (ICWE) is an emerging field that will aid in the realization of intelligent weld manufacturing. The paper will discuss the progress in process modeling, microstructure, properties, and process control and automation and the importance of ICWE. Also, control and automation strategies for friction stir welding will be discussed.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Optimization of a Welding Procedure for Making Critical Aluminum Welds on the LBNF Absorber Core Block

The LBNF Absorber consists of thirteen 6061-T6 aluminum core blocks. The core blocks are water cooled with de-ionized (DI) water which becomes radioactive during beam operations. The cooling water flows through gun-drilled channels in the core blocks. A weld quality optimization was performed to produce National Aeronautical Standard 1514 Class I quality welds on the aluminum core blocks. This was not successful in all cases. An existing Gas Tungsten Arc Welding Procedure Specification was fine tuned to minimize, in most cases, and eliminate detect-able tungsten inclusions in the welds. All the weld coupons, however passed welding inspection as per the piping code: ASME B31.3 Normal Fluid Service. Tungsten electrode diameter, type, and manufacturer were varied. Some of the samples were pre-heated and others were not. It was observed that larger diameter electrodes, 5/32 in., with pre-heated joints resulted in welds with the least number of tungsten inclusions. It is hypothesized that thinner electrodes breakdown easily and get lodged into the weld pool during the welding process. This breakdown is further enhanced by the large temperature differential between the un-preheated sample and the hot electrode.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Evaluation of residual stresses in isothermal friction stir welded 304L stainless steel plates

Friction stir welding was performed on 304L SS plates in order to heal simulated cracks created by electrical discharge machining. Two different tool temperatures (825 and 725 °C) were chosen for this study. Both neutron diffraction and X-ray diffraction techniques were employed to evaluate the residual stresses along two orthogonal reference directions, longitudinal (syy) and transverse (sxx). The former technique was also used to measure residual stresses at various depths. It was found that, at 1 mm depth from the top surface inside the stir zone (SZ), the longitudinal component was tensile in nature while the transverse component was compressive. The nature and magnitude of the residual stress fields, and the position of the peak residual stresses were found to vary with the weld depth. The SZ of the 725 °C weld exhibited higher peak stress than 825 °C weld mainly due to a lack of stress relief at the lower temperature.

Friction stir welding, Steel↗