Research on laser weld penetration monitoring with laser induced plasma signals

In this paper, laser induced plasma signals were analyzed during keyhole welding through three methods. According to the results, the relativity between optical and acoustic signals of plasma is shown when welds are in full-penetration, or partial-penetration and non-penetration.

Effects of distance between arc and heat sink on stress and distortion in DC-LSND welding technology

The characteristics of temperatures, stresses and strains fields have been studied numerically for a titanium alloy sheet welded with an improved gas tungsten arc welding method, in which a trailing spot heat sink is introduced to control the welding stress and distortion. The impinging jet model is employed to describe the intense heat transfer between the cooling media and the top surface of the workpiece. The influence of the distance between arc and heat sink is investigated. Results show that there is an ideal range of distance. Using the ideal distance, a low stress and no distortion welding structure can be derived.

Thermal Tensioning Effects to Prevent Welding Buckling Distortions in Manufacturing of Thin-Walled Aerospace Shells and Panels

To prevent buckling distortions of thin-walled elements, Low Stress No Distortion welding techniques have been pioneered and developed for product engineering and component manufacturing of aerospace structures with material thickness less than 4 mm. In this paper, the nature of Low Stress No Distortion (LSND) welding techniques using thermal tensioning effects is described and special emphases are given to the mechanism of localized thermal tensioning effect. The fundamental principle of Low Stress No Distortion welding is to create active in-process control of incompatible (inherent) plastic strains and stresses formation during welding to achieve distortion-free results implying that no post weld costly reworking operations for distortion correction is required. Finite element analysis is applied to predict and optimize the localized thermal tensioning technique with a trailing spot heat sink coupled to the welding heat source. Comparisons of the thermal elastic-plastic stress-strain cycles are given between conventional gas tungsten arc welding and GTAW with a trailing spot heat sink.

Grain selection and growth orientation of prior-β phase for Ti-6-4 during additive manufacturing:insights from a modeling perspective

The microstructure of Ti-6-4 components produced by additive manufacturing suffers from the coarse and elongated prior-β grain,which leads to a decrease of the tensile behavior and the occurrence of anisotropy.To understand and control the grain evolution,a multiscale simulation is applied to investigate the relationship between the grain selection,growth orientation,and the molten pool morphology with the different deposition layer numbers and processing parameters.The accuracy of the simulation is validated by experiments in both qualitative and quantitative ways.Results show that when the grain with unfavorable orientation loses the competitive growth with its neighbors,there will be a great chance that the blocked grain is eliminated in the following layer-and-layer deposition,which leads to the increase of the grain width.The size of the molten pool increases remarkably as the layer number increases,which lays a heavy burden on the stability of the molten pool.The analytical relationship between the molten pool morphology and the grain growth orientation is also deduced.The flat molten pool causes the grains with the <001> direction close to the building direction to have greater survival potential.Besides,decreasing the line power energy shows little effect on the stability of the molten pool and the grain growth orientation,especially when the deposited layer number is large.The revealing mechanisms will help in understanding and further controlling the grain evolution.

Interfacial structure and mechanical property of Al2O3 and Invar brazed joint

This paper introduces a brazing process between Al_2O_3 ceramic and Invar alloy.Al_2O_3 can be brazed with Invar effectively.The interfacial structure of Al_2O_3/Invar joint can be expressed as:Invar/Ag(s,s)+Cu(s,s)+Fe_2Ti(zone Ⅰ)/Ag(s,s)+Cu(s,s)+Fe_2Ti+NiTi+Cu_3Ti(zone Ⅱ)/Ag(s,s)+Cu(s,s)+Cu_2Ti+Al(s,s)+TiC+TiO(zone Ⅲ)/Al_2O_3.The maximum shear strength of 139 MPa was measured for as-brazed Al_2O_3/Invar joint brazed at 850℃ for 25 min or 900℃ for 15 min.

Effect of natural aging on microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded 7050-T7451 joints

The microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir welded 2.5 mm 7050-77451 aluminum alloy natural aging 72 h and 17 520 h were investigated,respectively.The uniaxial tensile test showed that yield strength,tensile strength and elongation of the joints 17 520 h natural aging were about 20%,12%and 24%higher than those joints natural aging72 h.Hardness profile of natural aging 17 520 h joint witnessed significant enhancement in nugget zone,compared with 72 h natural aging.Differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM) test revealed that more Guinier-Preston zone,η' and η phase emerged in nugget zone as natural aging duration increased,high density of dislocation located within grain boundary in nugget zone of joints natural aging 72 h.It is concluded that natural aging was feasible to enhance strength and plasticity of FSW joints simultaneously.

Effect of laser characteristics on the weld shape and properties of penetration laser weld of BT20 titanium alloy

The laser beam welding of BT20 titanium alloy was conducted to investigate the weld shape, microstructures and properties. The full penetration weld characteristics produced by CO2 laser and by YAG laser were compared. The results show that the full penetration weld of YAG laser welding closes to “X” shape, and weld of CO2 laser welding is “nail-head” shape. Those result from special heating mode of laser deep penetration welding. The tension strength of CO2 laser and YAG laser joints equal to that of the base metal, but the former has better ductility. All welds consist mainly of the acicular α phase and a few β phase in microstructure. The dendritic crystal of CO2 laser weld is a little finer than YAG laser weld. According the research CO2 laser is better than YAG laser for welding of BT20 titanium alloy.

Macro-microscopic morphology and phase analysis of TiAl-based alloys sheet fabricated by EB-PVD method

TiAl-based alloys sheet with thickness of 0.3-0.4 mm as well as dimension of 150 mm×100 mm was fabricated successfully by using electron beam-physical vapor deposition(EB-PVD) method. The microscopic morphology and phase composition of specimens in various states were analyzed by atomic force microscope(AFM), scanning electron microscope(SEM) and X-ray diffractometer(XRD), respectively. The results indicate that the as-deposited TiAl-based alloys sheet has good surface quality and is composed of γ, α2 and τ phase. There is natural delamination inside the sheet, of which the microstructure is columnar crystal, and the component shows a gradient change along the normal direction of substrate. After the vacuum hot pressing treatment and subsequent homogenization treatment, the columnar crystal transforms into the coarse fully lamellar microstructure, the delamination phenomenon and τ phase disappear, α2 phase decreases obviously, and the composition tends to uniformization.

Microstructure - properties relationship of transient liquid phase diffusion bonded a third generation single crystal super alloy joint

Microstructure of transient liquid phase( TLP) diffusion bonded a third generation single crystal superalloy joint was investigated using scanning electron microscopy( SEM),and mechanical properties test of joint was carried out,for obtaining relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties of joint. The results showed that the joint contained bonding zone and base metal. The diffusion zone was obviously observed. When it was not finished for isothermal solidification process,the bonding zone would contain isothermal solidification zone and rapid solidification zone. Metallographic examination revealed that isothermal solidification zone was consisted of γ and γ' phase. Rapid solidification zone was consisted of two different structures,which were ternary eutectic of borides,γ and γ' phase developing at the edge of joint,binary eutectic of γ and γ' phase appearing in the portion of joint. When it was not enough for homogenization process under the condition of finishing isothermal solidification process,the bonding zone would contain isothermal solidification zone and borides at the interface. Under the conditions of relatively high welding temperature and long welding time,average tensile strength of joint was equivalent to that of parent material.

Microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of bobbin-tool friction stir welded 2024–T3 aluminum alloy

Cold-rolled 2024–T3 sheet alloy was subjected to bobbin-tool friction stir welding(BTFSW). The microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of the nugget zone in the as-welded state were investigated. The results show that the equiaxed grain size of BTFSW 2024–T3 alloy decreases from 7.6 to 2.8 μm as the welding speed is increased from 80 to 120 mm/min; in addition,fine grains are generated in the nugget zone and the size distribution is non-uniform. All Al_2 Cu Mg(S′) precipitates dissolve into the Al matrix,whereas Mn-rich phases confirmed as T phases(Al_(20)Cu_2Mn_3,Al_6 Mn,or Al_3Mn) remain unchanged. The optimized parameters for BTFSW are verified as the rotation speed of 350 r/min and the travel speed of 100 mm/min. The variations in precipitation and dislocation play more important roles than grain size in the nugget zone with respect to influencing the mechanical properties during the BTFSW process. After the BTFSW process,the fracture mode of base material 2024–T3 alloy transforms from ductile rupture to ductile-brittle mixed fracture.

Surface nanocrystallization of commercial pure titanium by shot peening

The surface nanostructures of commercial pure titanium was realized by the modified shot peening equipment commonly used in industry through the special treatment process. The results show that high-energy-shot-peening(HESP) commonly used to prepare nanostructured surface layers can be achieved by the increase of pill size, pill speed, and treatment time in the commercial shot peening equipment. XRD, SEM and TEM were used to characterize the surface layer microstructure of treated specimens. The analytic results show that the main deformation mode of commercial pure Ti is twinning. At the beginning of deformation, the dislocations are formed and twins occur within or on plane, then twins in intersection plane appear, and at last the twin characteristics disappear in the surface layer after longer treatment time. The deformation layer depth increases with treatment time in a certain period when the pill size and speed are unchanged. And in the severe plastic deformation (SPD) layer in which the twins are not identified easily by using SEM, the nanocrystalline microstructures are found under TEM. The finest grain size in the surface layer is about 40 nm, and the depth of nanostructured layers is over 60 μm. The microhardness of the nanostructured surface layers is enhanced significantly after shot peening compared with that of the initial simple.

Numerical simulation of residual stress field induced by laser shock processing with square spot

Laser shock processing(LSP),also known as laser peening,is a novel surface treatment technique in the past few years.Compressive residual stresses which imparted by LSP are very important for improving fatigue,corrosion and wea rresistance of metals.Finite element analysis(FEA) simulation using ABAQUS software has been applied to predict residualstresses induced by LSP on Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy with laser pulse duration 30 ns and water confined ablation mode.The residual stress field generated by different shape laser spots was studied,and the square laser spot is shown the most suitability for avoiding stress lack phenomenon and overlapping LSP.Surface residual stresses and plastically affected depth within single square spot both increased with the increase of laser intensity and laser shock times.Furthermore,compared with circle and ellipse spot,the residual stress distribution in overlapping square spots is very uniform only with small overlapping ratio.LSP with square spot can process advantageous residual stress field,and this technique will be used widely.

A study on the porosity of CO_2 laser welding of titanium alloy

The CO2 laser welding of BT20 titanium alloy and Ti-23Al-17Nb titanium aluminide was conducted to investigate into the porosity in titanium alloy weld. The results show that there are two sorts of porosities observed in welds of titanium alloy laser welding based on the microscopic characteristics of the porosities. One is the metallurgical porosity with round and smooth inner wall,which results from the surface contamination. The other is the processing porosity with irregular and rough inner wall that displays the trace of the pool flowing,which results from the ruffle on the keyhole wall gathering together locally and closing down the gas in the keyhole into bubbles because of the keyhole fluctuating. The CO2 laser welding could break down easily the surface oxide film and produce little metallurgical porosity,but produces easily processing porosity when partial penetration or unstable-full penetration laser welding is conducted,which always occurs in the center of weld.

Model Investigation on Composite Failure Prediction of π-Joint Structures

This paper was concerned with the tensile mechanics behavior of the composite π-joint under static tensile loading. The numerical strength analysis methodology was presented containing the basis assumption for the analysis, the material modeling, and the selected element type. It was assumed that the composite ply had transverse isotropic material properties and the adhesive had linear elastic properties. With the goal of the strength analysis to determine the onset of the damage initiation and the ultimate failure load, two stiffness degradation models were discussed and a modified maximum stress failure criteria was presented. To verify the numerical model, a pull-off test scheme was performed and the experimental data of five specimens were given. The experimental results indicate that the damage initiation location and the failure load were consistent with numerical predictions and verified the feasibility of the numerical model.

Study on shape factor of the fusion-solidification zone of electron beam weld

The concept of shape factors of the fusion-solidification zone is proposed to describe the weld cross section geometry. According to these shape factors,the electron beam weld fusion-solidification zone is divided into four typical shapes and the classification criterion for these typical shapes is suggested. An integrated parameter n1 combining the line power density of electron beam and material thermal properties is proposed to describe the relative power input,and another integrated parameter n2 combing the accelerating voltage and focusing current is proposed to reflect the power distribution in the keyhole. A series of new expressions,which can reflect the influence of focusing current,accelerating voltage,beam current,and material thermal properties,are developed to predict the fusion-solidification zone shape based on experimental results nonlinear fitting of n1 and n2.

Preparation and characterization of thick cubic boron nitride films

Cubic boron nitride(c-BN) films are prepared by the radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique. The stresses and crystallinities of the films are estimated by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of c-BN samples, including the peak shifts and varieties of full widths at half maximum. The effects of the B–C–N interlayer and the two-stage deposition method on the c-BN films are investigated. Then the thick and stable c-BN films are prepared by a combination of the two methods. The properties of the interlayer and film are also characterized.

Numerical Study on the Stress–Strain Cycle of Thermal Self-Compressing Bonding

Thermal self-compressing bonding(TSCB) is a new solid-state bonding method pioneered by the authors. With electron beam as the non-melted heat source, previous experimental study performed on titanium alloys has proved the feasibility of TSCB. However, the thermal stress–strain process during bonding, which is of very important significance in revealing the mechanism of TSCB, was not analysed. In this paper, finite element analysis method is adopted to numerically study the thermal elasto-plastic stress–strain cycle of thermal self-compressing bonding. It is found that due to the localized heating, a non-uniform temperature distribution is formed during bonding, with the highest temperature existed on the bond interface. The expansion of high temperature materials adjacent to the bond interface are restrained by surrounding cool materials and rigid restraints, and thus an internal elasto-plastic stress–strain field is developed by itself which makes the bond interface subjected to thermal compressive action. This thermal self-compressing action combined with the high temperature on the bond interface promotes the atom diffusion across the bond interface to produce solid-state joints. Due to the relatively large plastic deformation, rigid restraint TSCB obtains sound joints in relatively short time compared to diffusion bonding.

Influences of nitrogen flow rate on the structures and properties of Ti and N co-doped diamond-like carbon films deposited by arc ion plating

In this paper, Ti–C–N nanocomposite films are deposited under different nitrogen flow rates by pulsed bias arc ion plating using Ti and graphite targets in the Ar/N2mixture gas. The surface morphologies, compositions, microstructures,and mechanical properties of the Ti–C–N films are investigated systematically by field emission scanning electron microscopy(FE-SEM), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS), grazing incident x-ray diffraction(GIXRD), Raman spectra,and nano-indentation. The results show that the nanocrystalline Ti(C,N) phase precipitates in the film from GIXRD and XPS analysis, and Raman spectra prove the presence of diamond-like carbon, indicating the formation of nanocomposite film with microstructures comprising nanocrystalline Ti(C,N) phase embedded into a diamond-like matrix. The nitrogen flow rate has a significant effect on the composition, structure, and properties of the film. The nano-hardness and elastic modulus first increase and then decrease as nitrogen flow rate increases, reaching a maximum of 34.3 GPa and 383.2 GPa,at a nitrogen flow rate of 90 sccm, respectively.