Now showing 1 - 10 of 21
  • Publication
    High-power laser beam welding for thick section steels - new perspectives using electromagnetic systems
    ( 2022)
    Rethmeier, M.
    ;
    Gumenyuk, A.
    ;
    Bachmann, M.
    In recent years, it was shown that the introduction of additional oscillating and permanent magnetic fields to laser beam and laser-arc hybrid welding can bring several beneficial effects. Examples are a contactless weld pool support for metals of high thickness suffering from severe drop-out when being welded conventionally or an enhanced stirring to improve the mixing of added filler material in the depth of the weld pool to guarantee homogeneous resulting mechanical properties of the weld. The latest research results show the applicability to various metal types over a wide range of thicknesses and welding conditions. The observations made were demonstrated in numerous experimental studies and a deep understanding of the interaction of the underlying physical mechanisms was extracted from numerical calculations.
  • Publication
    Recommendations for an Open Science approach to welding process research data
    ( 2021)
    Fabry, C.
    ;
    Pittner, A.
    ;
    Hirthammer, V.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    The increasing adoption of Open Science principles has been a prevalent topic in the welding science community over the last years. Providing access to welding knowledge in the form of complex and complete datasets in addition to peer-reviewed publications can be identified as an important step to promote knowledge exchange and cooperation. There exist previous efforts on building data models specifically for fusion welding applications; however, a common agreed upon implementation that is used by the community is still lacking. One proven approach in other domains has been the use of an openly accessible and agreed upon file and data format used for archiving and sharing domain knowledge in the form of experimental data. Going into a similar direction, the welding community faces particular practical, technical, and also ideological challenges that are discussed in this paper. Collaboratively building upon previous work with modern tools and platforms, the authors motivate, propose, and outline the use of a common file format specifically tailored to the needs of the welding research community as a complement to other already established Open Science practices. Successfully establishing a culture of openly accessible research data has the potential to significantly stimulate progress in welding research.
  • Publication
    Shielded metal arc welding of 9%Ni steel using matching ferritic filler metal
    ( 2021)
    El-Batahgy, A.
    ;
    Saiyah, A.
    ;
    Khafagi, S.
    ;
    Gumenyuk, A.
    ;
    Gook, S.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    Motivated by the tensile strength loss of 9%Ni steel arc welded joints made using Ni-based austenitic filler metals, the feasibility of maintaining the tensile strength using matching ferritic filler metal has been demonstrated. In comparison with shielded metal arc welded joint made using Ni-based austenitic electrode ENiCrMo-6, higher tensile strength comparable to that of the base metal was obtained using matching ferritic electrode. Besides, sufficient impact toughness energies with much lower mismatch were obtained for weld metal and heat-affected zone. Welded joint with a lower mechanical mismatching is of considerable importance for achieving acceptable combination of tensile strength and impact toughness. A better combination of these mechanical properties is ensured by applying a post weld heat treatment.
  • Publication
    Avoidance of liquid metal embrittlement during resistance spot welding by heat input dependent hold time adaption
    ( 2020)
    Böhne, C.
    ;
    Meschut, G.
    ;
    Biegler, M.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    Liquid metal embrittlement (LME) cracking can occur during resistance spot welding (RSW) in zinc-coated advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) for automotive production. In this study, a methodological variation of hold time is performed to investigate the process-related crack influence factors. A combination of numerical and experimental investigations confirms, that the extent of heat dissipation and re-heating of the sheet surface can be influenced and thus the degree of crack formation can be controlled in a targeted manner by the parameterisation of the hold time. The temperature and stress history of crack-free and crack-afflicted spot welds are analysed and a conclusion on the borders defining the LME active region is derived.
  • Publication
    Experimental and numerical study on the influence of the laser hybrid parameters in partial penetration welding on the solidification cracking in the weld root
    ( 2020)
    Bakir, N.
    ;
    Üstündag, Ö.
    ;
    Gumenyuk, A.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    The aim of the present study is to investigate the influence of the laser hybrid welding parameters on the solidification cracks in the weld root for partial penetration welding. Welding trials were performed on thick-walled high-strength steels of grade S690QL under the same critical restraint intensity, with a variation of the welding velocity, wire feeding rate, and the focal position of the laser beam. It was ascertained that the welding velocity has a high impact on the solidification cracking phenomenon. A decrease in the welding speed leads to a reduction of the number of cracks in the weld root. The arc power has also a slight influence on the solidification cracking, while the change of the focal position of the laser beam shows also a remarkable effect. Besides, numerical simulation was performed to understand the thermomechanical behavior of the welds for different welding parameters to assist the interpretation of the experimental results.
  • Publication
    Design of neural network arc sensor for gap width detection in automated narrow gap GMAW
    ( 2018)
    Fabry, C.
    ;
    Pittner, A.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    An approach to develop an arc sensor for gap width estimation during automated NG-GMAW with a weaving electrode motion is introduced by combining arc sensor readings with optical measurements of the groove shape to allow precise analyses of the process. The two test specimen welded for this study were designed to feature a variable groove geometry in order to maximize efficiency of the conducted experimental efforts, resulting in 1696 individual weaving cycle records with associated arc sensor measurements, process parameters and groove shape information. Gap width was varied from 18 mm to 25 mm and wire feed rates in the range of 9 m/min to 13 m/min were used in the course of this study. Artificial neural networks were applied as a modelling tool to derive an arc sensor for estimation of gap width suitable for online process control that can adapt to changes in process parameters as well as changes in the weaving motion of the electrode. Wire feed rate, weaving current, sidewall dwell currents and angles were defined as inputs to calculate the gap width. The evaluation of the proposed arc sensor model shows very good estimation capabilities for parameters sufficiently covered during the experiments.
  • Publication
    Solidification of GTA aluminum weld metal: Part 2 - Thermal conditions and model for columnar-to-equiaxed transition
    ( 2014)
    Schempp, P.
    ;
    Cross, C.E.
    ;
    Pittner, A.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    In this study, the influence of solute content and heat input on microstructure was investigated for gas tungsten arc (GTA) bead-on-plate welding of the aluminum alloys 1050A (Al 99.5) and 6082 (Al SilMgMn). Temperature measurements in the solidifying weld pool showed that parameters such as solidification growth rate, cooling rate, local thermal gradient, and solidification time vary significantly along the solidification front (between weld centerline and weld interface). As a result, the obtained thermal data were used to explain the corresponding grain morphology from the first part of this study. On the basis of this comparison, an analytical approach was used to model the transition from columnar-to-equiaxed grain growth (CET). This model allows the prediction of critical values for both solidification growth rate and thermal gradient, at which the CET occurs.
  • Publication
    Grain structure in aluminium TIG welds
    ( 2014)
    Schempp, P.
    ;
    Pittner, A.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    The microstructure of a fusion weld has great influences on the susceptibility of the base material to hot cracking and on the mechanical properties of the weld. Small, globulitic grains are necessary for increased strength, ductility and toughness and for a low inclination to hot cracking instead of large, oblong grains. This study reports on the factors which exert the main influences on such grain refinement in the weld. Thus, the influences of the thermal conditions, the chemical composition of the weld metal and the number and type of solidification nuclei on the microstructure were classified for the TIG welding of three different aluminium alloys.
  • Publication
    Influence of grain size on mechanical properties of aluminium GTA weld metal
    ( 2013)
    Schempp, P.
    ;
    Cross, C.E.
    ;
    Häcker, R.
    ;
    Pittner, A.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    Grain refinement is an important possibility to enhance the mechanical properties such as strength, ductility and toughness of aluminium weld metal. In this study, grain refinement was achieved through the addition of commercial grain refiner Al Ti5B1 to gas tungsten arc weld metal of the aluminium alloys 1050A (Al 99.5) and 5083 (Al Mg4.5Mn0.7). The grain refiner additions led to a significant reduction of the weld metal mean grain size (Alloy 1050A, 86 %; Alloy 5083, 44 %) with a change in grain shape from columnar to equiaxed. Tensile tests showed for Alloy 5083 that the weld metal's ductility can be increased through grain refinement. No improvement in weld metal strength (i.e. yield strength and ultimate tensile strength) was observed. Furthermore, tear tests with notched specimens revealed that the resistance against initiation and propagation of cracks in the weld metal can be enhanced through grain refinement. The toughness was observed to increase clearly by grain refinement in weld metal of commercial pure Al (Alloy 1050A). In Alloy 5083 weld metal, the toughness was not improved through grain refinement, likely because of a semi-continuous network of brittle intermetallic phases that facilitate crack propagation.
  • Publication
    Influence of welding-induced cracks on the fatigue strength of resistance-spot-welded joints made of high-strength austenitic steel
    ( 2012)
    Rethmeier, M.
    ;
    Brauser, S.
    ;
    Schwenk, C.
    ;
    Noack, T.
    ;
    Jüttner, S.
    In the rough conditions in the fabrication of automobile bodies, it is not always possible to avoid welding-induced imperfections such as cracks during the resistance spot welding of high-strength steels. In this respect, the influence of such cracks on the fatigue strength particularly of modern high-strength austenitic steels is not sufficiently well-known at present. The influence of welding cracks with various positions and formations was therefore investigated within the framework of this paper. In this case, the analysis of the standardised stiffness courses of specimens and the comparison of the numbers of failure stress cycles served to prove that the surface cracks produced without any spatter in the centre, interfacial region and peripheral region of the weld nugget do not have any negative influence on the fatigue strength of the high-strength austenitic material investigated here. Specimens which were manufactured with welding spatter and exhibit cracks in the peripheral region show considerably higher numbers of failure stress cycles than crack-free reference specimens.