NASA NTRS1992
The effective assessment of the integrity of welds is a complicated NDE problem that continues to be a challenge. To be able to completely characterize a weld, detailed knowledge of its tensile strength, ductility, hardness, microstructure, macrostructure, and chemical composition is needed. NDE techniques which can provide information on any of these features are extremely important. In this paper, we examine a seldom used approach based on the thermoelectric (TE) effect for characterizing welds and their associated heat affected zone (HAZ). The thermoelectric method monitors the thermoelectric power which is sensitive to small changes in the kinetics of the conduction electrons near the Fermi surface that can be caused by changes in the local microstructure. The technique has been applied to metal sorting, quality testing, flaw detection, thickness gauging of layers, and microscopic structural analysis. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique for characterizing welds, a series of tungsten-inert-gas welded Inconel-718 samples were scanned with a computer controlled TE probe. The samples were then analyzed using a scanning electron microscope and Rockwell hardness tests to characterize the weld and the associated HAZ. We then correlated the results with the TE measurements to provide quantitative information on the size of the HAZ and the degree of hardness of the material in the weld region. This provides potentially valuable information on the strength and fatigue life of the weld. We begin the paper by providing a brief review of the TE technique and then highlight some of the factors that can effect the measurements. Next, we provide an overview of the experimental procedure and discuss the results. Finally, we summarize our findings and consider areas for future research.