Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Publication
    Relative density prognosis for directed energy deposition with the help of artificial neural networks
    ( 2021)
    Marko, A.
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    Schafner, A.
    ;
    Raute, J.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    Additive manufacturing, and therefore directed energy deposition, is gaining more and more interest from industrial users. However, quality assurance for the components produced is still a challenge. Machine learning, especially using artificial neuronal networks, is a potential method for ensuring a high-quality standard. Based on process parameters and monitoring data, part quality can be predicted. A further advantage is the ability to constantly learn and adopt to slight process changes. First tests using artificial neural networks focus on the prediction of track geometry. The results show that even a small data set is enough to provide high accuracy in the predictions. In this work, an artificial neural network for the predictive analysis of relative density in laser powder cladding has been developed. A central composite experimental design is used to generate 19 data sets. Input variables are laser power, feed rate and powder mass flow. Cubes are built up where density is considered as a target value. Several neural networks are trained and evaluated with these data sets. Different topologies and initial weights are considered. The best network reaches a confidence level of around 90 % for the prediction of relative density based on the process parameters. Finally, the optimization of the generalization performance is investigated. To this purpose, methods of variation in error limit as well as cross-validation are applied. In this way, density is predictable by an artificial neural network with an accuracy of about 95 %.
  • Publication
    Mechanical properties characterization of resistance spot welded DP1000 steel under uniaxial tensile tests
    ( 2019)
    Javaheri, E.
    ;
    Pittner, A.
    ;
    Graf, B.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    Resistance spot welding (RSW) is widely used in the automotive industry as the main joining method. Generally, an automotive body contains around 2000 to 5000 spot welds. Therefore, it is of decisive importance to characterize the mechanical properties of these areas for the further optimization and improvement of an automotive body structure. The present paper aims to introduce a novel method to investigate the mechanical properties and microstructure of the resistance spot weldment of DP1000 sheet steel. In this method, the microstructure of RSW of two sheets was reproduced on one sheet and on a bigger area by changing of the welding parameters, e. g. welding current, welding time, electrode force and type. Then, tensile tests in combination with digital image correlation (DIC) measurement were performed on the notched tensile specimens to determine the mechanical properties of the weld metal. The notch must be made on the welded tensile specimen to force the fracture and elongation on the weld metal, enabling the characterization of its properties. Additionally, the parameters of a nonlinear isotropic material model can be obtained and verified by the simulation of the tensile specimens. The parameters obtained show that the strength of DP1000 steel and the velocity of dislocations for reaching the maximum value of strain hardening, are significantly increased after RSW. The effect of sample geometry and microstructural inhomogeneity of the welded joint on the constitutive property of the weld metal are presented and discussed.
  • Publication
    Comparison between GTA and laser beam welding of 9% Ni steel for critical cryogenic applications
    ( 2018)
    El-Batahgy, A-M.
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    Gumenyuk, A.
    ;
    Gook, S.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    In comparison with GTA welded joints, higher tensile strength comparable to that of the base metal was obtained for laser beam welded joints due to fine martensitic microstructure. Impact fracture toughness values with much lower mismatching were obtained for laser beam welded joints due to similarity in the microstructures of its weld metal and HAZ. In this case, the lower impact fracture toughness obtained (1.37 J/mm2) was much higher than that of the GTA welded joints (0.78 J/mm2), which was very close to the specified minimum value (>0.75 J/mm2). In contrast to other research works, the overall tensile and impact properties are influenced not only by the fusion zone microstructure but also by the size of its hardened area as well as the degree of its mechanical mismatching, as a function of the welding process. A better combination of tensile strength and impact toughness of the concerned steel welded joints is assured by autogenous laser beam welding process.
  • Publication
    Dependency of martensite start temperature on prior austenite grain size and its influence on welding-induced residual stresses
    ( 2013)
    Heinze, C.
    ;
    Pittner, A.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    ;
    Babu, S.S.
    Austenite grain growth during welding is a critical factor for controlling weld microstructure in addition to nominal composition and thermal cycles. Recently, experimental data suggesting a decrease in martensite start temperature with a decrease in prior austenite grain size has been published. However, the actual sensitivity of this phenomenon on residual stresses evolution in the heat-affected zone has not been investigated, yet. Therefore, a numerical model was modified to consider this phenomenon. Numerical simulations were performed for welding of a low-alloy structural steel with minimum yield strength of 355 MPa (S355J2+N) and a heat-resistant steel P91 or 9Cr-1Mo, respectively. The results clarify the influence of prior austenite grain size on the residual stress development and show the importance martensite transformation temperatures and final martensite fraction. Consequently, the residual stress evolution of P91, which completely transforms to martensite while cooling, based on the enhanced model leads to maximum stress differences of 200 MPa in the heat-affected zone.
  • Publication
    Characterization of microstructure and deformation behaviour of resistance spot welded AZ31 magnesium alloy
    ( 2012)
    Babu, N.K.
    ;
    Brauser, S.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    ;
    Cross, C.E.
    Resistance spot welds were prepared on 3. mm thick sheets of continuous cast and rolled AZ31 magnesium alloy. The microstructure and composition analysis of weld nugget, heat affected zone (HAZ) and base metal were examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM and EDS/X). The resistance spot welded magnesium alloy joints consist mainly of weld nugget and HAZ. The nugget contains two different structures, i.e. the cellular-dendritic structure at the edge of the nugget and the equiaxed dendritic structure in the centre of the nugget. The structure transition is attributed to the changes of solidification conditions. In the HAZ, grain boundary melting occurred and grain boundaries became coarse. It has been shown that hardness reduction in the weld nugget and HAZ compared with base metal is evident due to dendritic microstructure and grain growth, respectively. The results showed that spot welded joints have failed in interfacial mode under torsion and te nsile-shear loading conditions. Digital image correlation during tensile-shear testing showed that low surface strains occur in the interfacial failure mode, because fracture and deformation happened primarily in the nugget area.
  • Publication
    The effect of tack welding on numerically calculated welding-induced distortion
    ( 2012)
    Heinze, C.
    ;
    Schwenk, C.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    A single-layer pulsed gas metal arc weld of structural steel S355J2+N with a thickness of 5 mm is experimentally and numerically investigated. Two tack welds are considered in the numerical simulation into two different ways. First, the tack welds are represented by elements belonging to the initial material. This implies that the "tack weld material" was not exposed to any thermal load or phase transformation before actual welding was performed. The weld seam is shortened and there is an influence on the stiffness of the whole structure affecting the calculation result. Secondly, the tack welds were simulated as conducted in the experimental welding procedure. The cases considering tack welding are compared to a simulation neglecting tack welding and to the experimental results. The influence of tack welds on the calculated welding-induced distortion is clarified and a contribution to an improved simulation-based prediction of welding-induced distortion is possible by modeling tack welding according to the realistic fabrication procedure.
  • Publication
    Numerical calculation of residual stress development of multi-pass gas metal arc welding under high restraint conditions
    ( 2012)
    Heinze, C.
    ;
    Schwenk, C.
    ;
    Rethmeier, M.
    During welding, residual stresses build-up created by the steep thermal gradient that occurs in the weld zone from localized heating and cooling, and phase transformations appearing in low-alloyed structural steel is inevitable. Welding of rather simple test plates do not cover the actual structural effects, which have to be considered during real component welding. However, the resulting welding-induced residual stress state is highly influenced by the structural characteristics, i.e. restraint conditions, of the welded construction. Therefore, a unique large-scale testing facility providing a specific shrinkage restraint while welding and subsequent cooling was used for the present investigations. Hereby, a six bead multi-pass gas metal arc weld of 20. mm thick structural steel S355J2 + N was welded under shrinkage restraint. The residual stresses were experimentally and numerically investigated, and compared to an analysis of plates welded under force-free support an d free shrinkage conditions.The experimentally determined and calculated residual stresses using both 2D and 3D numerical models are in a good agreement. Furthermore, the influence of a shrinkage restraint on the residual stress distribution is both experimentally and numerically shown for the present test set-up.