Now showing 1 - 10 of 66
  • Publication
    Numerical and experimental assessment of liquid metal embrittlement in externally loaded spot welds
    ( 2024-01-30)
    Prabitz, Konstantin
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    Antretter, Thomas
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    ; ;
    Schubert, Holger
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    Hilpert, Benjamin
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    Gruber, Martin
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    Sierlinger, Robert
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    Ecker, Werner
    Zinc-based surface coatings are widely applied with high-strength steels in automotive industry. Some of these base materials show an increased brittle cracking risk during loading. It is necessary to examine electrogalvanized and uncoated samples of a high strength steel susceptible to liquid metal embrittlement during spot welding with applied external load. Therefore, a newly developed tensile test method with a simultaneously applied spot weld is conducted. A fully coupled 3D electrical, thermal, metallurgical and mechanical finite element model depicting the resistant spot welding process combined with the tensile test conducted is mandatory to correct geometric influences of the sample geometry and provides insights into the sample’s time dependent local loading. With increasing external loads, the morphology of the brittle cracks formed is affected more than the crack depth. The validated finite element model applies newly developed damage indicators to predict and explain the liquid metal embrittlement cracking onset and development as well as even ductile failure.
  • Publication
    KI zur Prozessüberwachung im Unterpulverschweißen
    Beim Unterpulverschweißen sind die Prozessgeräusche ein Indikator für eine gute Fügequalität. Diese Beurteilung kann i.d.R. nur von einer erfahrenen Fachkraft durchgeführt werden. Eine kürzlich entwickelte künstliche Intelligenz kann automatisch das akustische Prozesssignal anhand vortrainierter Merkmale klassifizieren und die Fügequalität anhand des Geräuschs beurteilen. Der Algorithmus, einmal richtig trainiert, kann den Prüfaufwand beim Unterpulverschweißen deutlich reduzieren.
  • Publication
    Process advantages of laser hybrid welding compared to conventional arc-based welding processes for joining thick steel structures of wind tower
    ( 2023-12-22) ;
    Üstündag, Ömer
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    Bakir, Nasim
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    The most common welding processes when joining thick-walled steels in the industry are arc-based welding processes such as GMAW or SAW. For this purpose, the sheets are joined in multi-layer technique, which can lead to productivity losses due to high welding times. The process-specific challenges in welding thick steels using multi-layer technique relate to the high heat input from the process. Therefore, alternative welding processes are being actively sought. A suitable alternative is provided by beam-based welding processes such as the laser hybrid welding processes, which are characterized by deep penetration welds and lower heat input. With implementation of the laser hybrid welding process in the heavy industry, such as the wind tower industry, economic benefits can be reached such as the increase in productivity by reducing the layer number, and the lower consumption of filler material and energy. When comparing SAW welded 25 mm thick steels in five to six layers and single-pass laser hybrid welding, the welding time can be reduced more than 80 % and the costs of filler material, flux and energy can be saved up to 90 %. However, the industrial use of the laser hybrid welding process is still limited to applications, where the material thickness does not exceed 15 mm due to some process-specific challenges such as the sagging, sensitivity to manufacturing tolerances such as gaps and misalignment, limited filler wire mixing, and deteriorated mechanical properties resulting from high cooling rates. To overcome these challenges, a contactless electromagnetic backing based on an externally applied AC magnetic field was used. Eddy currents are induced due to the oscillating magnetic field, and an upward-oriented Lorentz force is generated to counteract the droplets formed due to gravitational forces. It allows to weld up to 30 mm thick structural steels in a single-pass with a 20-kW fiber laser system. Additionally, the gap bridgeability and the misalignment of edges were increased to 2 mm when welding 20 mm thick steels. With the aid of the AC magnetic field, a vortex was formed in the weld root, which had a positive effect on the filler wire mixing.
  • Publication
    Investigation of the LME Susceptibility of Dual Phase Steel with Different Zinc Coatings
    The application of anti-corrosion coated, high-strength steels in the automotive industry has increased in recent years. In combination with various zinc-based surface coatings, liquid metal embrittlement cracking can be observed in some of these materials. A high-quality, crack-free spotwelded joint is essential to realize the lightweight potential of the materials. In this work, the LME susceptibility of different coatings, which will be determined by the crack length and the occurrence rate, will be investigated using a welding under external load setup. The uncoated specimens did not show any LME. EG, GI and GA showed significantly less LME than ZM coatings. The latter coatings showed much larger crack lengths than the EG, GI and GA coatings. Furthermore, two mechanisms regarding the LME occurrence rate were observed: the occurrence of LME in zinc-magnesium coatings was theorized to be driven by the material properties of the coatings, whereas the occurrence of LME at EG, GI and GA samples was forced mainly by the application of the external tensile load. In the experimental setup of this work, the materials were exposed to unusually high mechanical loads (up to 80% of their yield strength) to evoke LME cracks.
  • Publication
    Adaptive Reparatur-Prozesskette
    Das additive Fertigungsverfahren Laser-Powder Directed Energy Depositon (LP-DED), kombiniert mit automatisierten Reverse-Engineering-Ansätzen, bietet die Möglichkeit, Bauteile effizient zu reparieren. Durch intelligente Algorithmen können im sogenannten Scangineering 3D-Scandaten von Bauteilen vorverarbeitet, ausgerichtet und parametrisiert werden. Die erkannten geometrischen Defekte werden zur Errechnung der Werkzeugwege für den additiven Aufbau verwendet und mittels des LP-DED-Prozesses aufgeschweißt und repariert. Dabei kommen vor allem die Vorteile der flexiblen Prozessführung, ein hoher Automatisierungsgrad und gute Reproduzierbarkeit zum Tragen.
  • Publication
    A General Analytical Solution for Two-Dimensional Columnar Crystal Growth during Laser Beam Welding of Thin Steel Sheets
    ( 2023)
    Artinov, Antoni
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    Karkhin, Victor A.
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    Meng, Xiangmeng
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    Bachmann, Marcel
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    A technique for calculating the main solidification parameters for a two-dimensional columnar crystal growth during complete penetration laser beam welding of thin steel sheets was developed. Given that the weld pool interface is described by Lamé curves (superellipses) within the horizontal plane of growth, general analytical solutions were derived for the geometry of the crystal axis and the corresponding growth rate and cross-sectional area of the crystal. A dimensionless analysis was performed to provide insights on the dependence of the solidification parameters on the shape and dimensions of the rear part of the weld pool boundary. The derived solutions were applied for the case of complete penetration laser beam keyhole welding of 2 mm thick 316L austenitic chromium-nickel steel sheets. It was shown that the reconstruction of the weld pool boundary with Lamé curves provides higher accuracy and flexibility compared to results obtained with elliptical functions. The validity of the proposed technique and the derived analytical solutions was backed up by a comparison of the obtained solutions to known analytical solutions and experimentally determined shapes and sizes of the crystals on the top surface of the sheet. The dimensions of the calculated crystal axis correlated well with the experimentally obtained results.
  • Publication
    Using ultrasonic atomization to recycle aluminium bronze chips for additive laser directed energy deposition
    ( 2023) ;
    Fasselt, Janek Maria
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    Kruse, Tobias
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    Klötzer, Christian
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    Kleba-Ehrhardt, Rafael
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    Choma, Tomasz
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    In the post-processing of large maritime components, a considerable amount of waste in the form of milling and grinding chips is produced. At the same time, additive manufacturing technologies have shown great potential in producing high-volume parts for maritime applications, allowing novel design approaches and short lead times. In this context, this study presents a sustainable approach to recycle and use aluminium bronze waste material, generated during post-processing of large cast ship propellers, as feedstock for laser-powder directed energy deposition. The recycling technology used to produce powder batches is inductive re-melting in combination with ultrasonic atomization. The derived metal powders are characterized using digital image analysis, powder flowability tests, scanning electron microscopy as well as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Compared to conventional metal powders produced by gas atomization, the recycled material shows excellent sphericity and a powder size distribution with a higher content of finer and coarser particles. Metallographic sections of deposited additively produced specimens show an increased hardness and reduced ductility, but also competitive densities and higher yield and ultimate tensile strength compared to cast material. The process chain shows high potential for the maritime sector to enable circular and sustainable manufacturing.
  • Publication
    Mittels Scangineering und Schweiß-Knowhow zum reparierten Umformwerkzeug
    Zum wirtschaftlichen und nachhaltigen Einsatz von Stanz- und Formwerkzeugen ist in der Regel eine Reparatur der verschlissenen Werkzeuge erforderlich. Das Additive Fertigungsverfahren Laser-Powder Directed Energy Depositon (LP-DED) in Kombinationen mit intelligenten Reverse-Engineering-Ansätzen bietet die Möglichkeit, Bauteile materialschonend und effizient zu reparieren.
  • Publication
    Retaining Mechanical Properties of GMA-Welded Joints of 9%Ni Steel Using Experimentally Produced Matching Ferritic Filler Metal
    ( 2022-11-30)
    El-batahgy, Abdel-monem
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    Elkousy, Mohamed Raafat
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    Al-Rahman, Ahmed Abd
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    Motivated by the loss of tensile strength in 9%Ni steel arc-welded joints performed using commercially available Ni-based austenitic filler metals, the viability of retaining tensile strength using an experimentally produced matching ferritic filler metal was confirmed. Compared to the austenitic Ni-based filler metal (685 MPa), higher tensile strength in gas metal arc (GMA) welded joints was achieved using a ferritic filler metal (749 MPa) due to its microstructure being similar to the base metal (645 MPa). The microstructure of hard martensite resulted in an impact energy of 71 J (−196 °C), which was two times higher than the specified minimum value of ≥34 J. The tensile and impact strength of the welded joint is affected not only by its microstructure, but also by the degree of its mechanical mismatch depending on the type of filler metal. Welds with a harder microstructure and less mechanical mismatch are important for achieving an adequate combination of tensile strength and notched impact strength. This is achievable with the cost-effective ferritic filler metal. A more desirable combination of mechanical properties is guaranteed by applying low preheating temperature (200 °C), which is a more practicable and economical solution compared to the high post-weld heat treatment (PWHT) temperature (580 °C) suggested by other research.
  • Publication
    Transferability of ANN-generated parameter sets from welding tracks to 3D-geometries in Directed Energy Deposition
    ( 2022-11-04)
    Marko, Angelina
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    Bähring, Stefan
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    Raute, Maximilian Julius
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    Directed energy deposition (DED) has been in industrial use as a coating process for many years. Modern applications include the repair of existing components and additive manufacturing. The main advantages of DED are high deposition rates and low energy input. However, the process is influenced by a variety of parameters affecting the component quality. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) offer the possibility of mapping complex processes such as DED. They can serve as a tool for predicting optimal process parameters and quality characteristics. Previous research only refers to weld beads: a transferability to additively manufactured three-dimensional components has not been investigated. In the context of this work, an ANN is generated based on 86 weld beads. Quality categories (poor, medium, and good) are chosen as target variables to combine several quality features. The applicability of this categorization compared to conventional characteristics is discussed in detail. The ANN predicts the quality category of weld beads with an average accuracy of 81.5%. Two randomly generated parameter sets predicted as “good” by the network are then used to build tracks, coatings, walls, and cubes. It is shown that ANN trained with weld beads are suitable for complex parameter predictions in a limited way.