Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “WELDING”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Innovative Method for Welding in Generation 3 CSP to Enable Reliable Manufacturing of Solar Receivers to withstand Daily Cycling at Temperatures Above 700°C (Final Technical Report)

Inconel® Alloy 740H® (alloy 740H) was the first age-hardenable nickel-based alloy approved by the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code for use in pressure-boundary applications. Over the past ~20 years the alloy has been optimized for weldability and high-temperature stability, approved for use in different applications. Development of a supply chain combined with the advantageous properties of the alloy (high-temperature creep strength, oxidation and corrosion resistance, etc.) have resulted in the alloy being applied to new high-temperature power cycle demonstration projects, and of particular interest are applications to concentrating solar power (CSP) to enable higher-efficiency Generation 3 CSP systems and the corresponding supercritical CO 2 (sCO 2 ) power cycle components (heat exchangers, piping, etc.). The high allowable stresses of alloy 740H also make it a desirable material for current Generation 2 CSP solar power receivers to improve cyclic capability and/or reduce receiver height. Recent experiences in demonstration projects utilizing alloy 740H identified cracking issues during welding and fabrication. In this project, a detailed study was done to confirm and clarify the Stress Relaxation Cracking (SRxC) mechanism, also known as stress relief cracking or strain-age cracking (SAC), during post-weld heat-treatment (PWHT). This involved detailed microscopy and advanced characterization to understand the root cause(s) of three failures obtained from industry. Based in-part on these findings, a targeted laboratory based SRxC test method was utilized to evaluate variables such as heat-to-heat variations, strain level, PWHT temperature, and starting material condition on three heats of alloy 740H. Industrial shop welding of cold-worked plates was also conducted. The research showed the following: SRxC was confirmed as the cracking mechanism for all field failures; Stress state (from residual stresses, constraint, deformation, and local stress concentrations) was playing a significant role in field failures and laboratory testing confirmed increasing susceptibility for all heats with increasing strain levels. High levels of microstructural strain were identified at crack initiation locations, in some cases leading to local recrystallization; Precipitate free zones (PFZs) at grain boundaries were found at relaxation cracks and crack initiation locations uniquely associated with SRxC in alloy 740H. Laboratory testing reproduced this microstructural feature which had only previously been reported in long-term creep testing of weldments. Advanced nano-scale characterization confirmed the presence of a moving boundary leading to coarsening of precipitates and PFZs where damage accumulated; The research suggested heat-to-heat variations due to local chemistry and processing may influence SRxC susceptibility, but more work is needed to fully clarify these effects. To disseminate the key learnings from this research to the scientific and engineering communities and alloy 740H end users, multiple technical publications and presentations were made, an industrial alloy 740H users meeting was held, and a new industry guideline specification document which can be directly implemented by end-users of alloy 740H was produced.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Friction Stir Welding in the Aerospace Industry

Friction stir welding (FSW) is studied as a method of permanent bonding in special aerospace structures made of aluminum, titanium, and magnesium alloys and high-temperature steels. Experimental and industrial equipment for high-speed friction stir welding is presented. A manufacturing technology has been developed for a very hard wear-resistant welding tool of complex shape that is applicable to aviation materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Refill Friction Stir Spot Welding as an Alternative Joining Method for Wing Spar Structures

Since the introduction of refill friction stir spot welding (RFSSW) in the early 2000s, numerous evaluations of properties, performance, and prototypes have been documented. RFSSW is a solid-state spot joining technique that is being evaluated as a rivet replacement technology for aerospace structures and fuselage fabrication. A production evaluation of overlapping wing skin assembly was completed and experimentation on stringer-stiffened curvilinear panels is underway. Weld properties were evaluated for spots produced on bare sheet as well as for sections with sealant applied. Furthermore, evaluations of the performance of repaired spots using the RFSSW process is demonstrated. Characterization of the weld interface, heat-affected zone, and complete through-thickness consolidation via computed tomography is presented.

Solid-state joining↗
DOE OSTI2021

Removing Rotational Variations from Shoulder Thermocouples in Friction Stir Welding

Thick plate and lower temperature friction stir welding results in good post-weld properties by welding at very low tool rotational speeds. Low speeds cause large variations in the measured shoulder temperature, making temperature control difficult. This paper describes a computationally light method to correct for oscillating measured temperatures. Data is collected over the previous two revolutions and used to build a compensation table and calculate a derivative. In simulation, measured temperature variations are reduced by a factor of five to ten. Temperature data is preserved and not cornered, nor is any time delay induced by this method, unlike with filtering methods.

Friction Stir Welding, Temperature↗
DOE OSTI2022

Impact of Low-Temperature Neutron Irradiation on Tensile Behavior of Base Metal and Electron-Beam Welded 316L Stainless Steel

Here, a study of 316L type stainless steel in its base metal and electron-beam (e-beam) welded conditions was performed to observe the effects of low-temperature (60 °C to 100 °C) neutron irradiation on the tensile behavior of the samples. Fractography was used in understanding the tensile-tested fracture surfaces of the 316L samples in these different forms with the characterization of the both base metal and welded samples using electron microscopy. Irradiation of the tensile specimens made free of defects of cutting and mechanical polishing showed a reduction in their tensile ductility with increased radiation-induced hardening up to 1.40 × 10 19 n/cm 2 (E > 0.1 MeV) fluence that corresponds to 1.1x 10 -2 dpa, even at the low irradiation temperatures. These low-temperature neutron irradiated base metal and e-beam welded 316L specimens also consisted of closely similar fracture surfaces characteristic of ductile rupture.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Characterization of Static Performance and Failure of Resistance Spot Welds of High-Strength and Press-Hardened Steels

The static performances and failure characteristics of resistance spot welds (RSW) of steel sheets were studied in this work. Both similar and dissimilar joints of press-hardened steel grade 22MnB5 and as-rolled high-strength steel grade 1000 were examined. From metallographic analyses and micro-hardness measurements, it was shown that the microstructures of base metal (BM), heat affected zone (HAZ) and fusion zone of steel joints were noticeably different. In particular, the HAZ close to BM or subcritical HAZ (SCHAZ) of 22MnB5 steel exhibited greatly decreased hardness due to occurring tempered martensite, in which carbide precipitation was clearly observed. Furthermore, tensile shear test and cross-tension test of the welded steel sheets were carried out. The determined maximum loads, energy absorbability and corresponding failure mechanisms were analyzed and compared. The RSW samples of similar steel grade 1000 provided the highest load-carrying capacity and absorbed energy in both tests. Due to the large hardness difference and soft zone in weldment of dissimilar steel specimen, failure loads and static absorbed energies were deteriorated up to 17 and 68%, respectively. The observed fracture occurrences of all investigated joints were pullout failure mode, in which BM and HAZ were the crack initiation sites of grades 1000 steel and 22MnB5 steel, respectively. The SCHAZ of welded boron steel considerably caused the failure onset in tension shear test, but seemed to have negligible effect on cross-tension test.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evaluation of post-weld heat treatments applied to FeCrAl alloy weldments

The nuclear incident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has created a strong push for accident-tolerant fuel cladding to replace current zirconium-based cladding. A current near-term focus on iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys. Laser-welded FeCrAl samples (C35MN, C37M, and C35M10 TC) were subjected to three different post-weld heat treatment regimes: 650 °C for 5 h, 850 °C for 1 h, and 850 °C for 5 h. Here, the samples were then analyzed using optical light microscopy, micro-hardness indentation, and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive spectroscopy and electron backscatter diffraction. The base microstructure of C37M and C35M10 TC experienced significant grain coarsening outside the fusion zone due to the applied post-weld heat treatments, whereas Nb-rich precipitation in C35MN limited grain growth compared with the other alloys studied.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Friction stir welding of a carbon-doped CoCrFeNiMn high-entropy alloy

Highlights: • Friction stir welding of a CoCrFeNiMn HEA doped with C was successfully obtained. • M{sub 23}C{sub 6} carbides with d≈150 nm form in the HEA due to addition of 0.9 at.% C. • Friction stir welding resulted in a decrease in grain size from 9.2 μm to 4.6 μm. • Smaller grain size and increased fraction of M{sub 23}C{sub 6} increase strength by 84 MPa. - Abstract: Butt-joint seam of a high entropy alloy (HEA) of the CoCrFeNiMn system was successfully obtained by friction stir welding (FSW). The HEA was produced by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis. Along with the principal elements, a small amount (0.9 at.%) of C was added to the alloy. The as-cast alloy was cold rolled and annealed at 900 °C to produce refined microstructure. The structure of the annealed alloy consisted of a recrystallized face-centered cubic matrix with a grain size of 9.2 μm and fine Cr-rich M{sub 23}C{sub 6} carbides. FSW of the HEA resulted in microstructure refinement to d = 4.6 μm in the stir zone. A noticeable rise in strength and some decrease in ductility of the processed alloy in comparison with the initial condition can be associated with the microstructure refinement and some increase in the volume fraction of M{sub 23}C{sub 6} carbides.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cascading microstructures in aluminum-steel interfaces created by impact welding

With the rising need to develop light weight structures joining dissimilar metals is inevitable. Thus a fundamental understanding of the microstructure evolution and bond formation mechanism is necessary. In this work we probe the welded interface in aluminum and steel joined using vaporizing foil actuator welding (VFAW) a novel impact welding process. The goal of such a detailed characterization campaign is to understand the bond formation mechanism. The study demonstrates that the interfacial microstructure has a pronounced hierarchical nature. At the macro scale, the interface is characterized by a wavy interface which is a result of extensive plastic deformation that accompanies the process. Detailed transmission electron microscopy shows evidence for the formation of a liquid film at the interface resulting in significant inter diffusion of Fe. The solidified structure at the interface consisted of crystalline α-Al and an amorphous metastable Al-Fe intermetallic compound similar to the observations in rapid solidification of Al-Fe alloys. The sub-nm scale characterization of the interface using atom probe tomography showed two distinct zones 1. A magnesium (5 at.%) and oxygen (15 at.%) rich (not detectable using energy dispersive spectroscopy) which was probably from the decomposition of the surface oxide film 2. The rapidly solidified reaction zone consisting of primary crystalline α-Al and an amorphous Al-Fe (15 at.%)-O (0.5 at.%)-Si (1.5 at.%).Based on these observations a mechanism for the bond formation is presented.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Heterogeneous creep deformation in Dissimilar Metal Welds (DMWs)

Dissimilar Metal Welds (DMWs) made between ferritic low alloy steels and austenitic alloys are widely used in high temperature components of nuclear and fossil energy power plants. Literature shows that these bimetallic welds fail prematurely by creep mechanism close to the interface of the ferritic (BCC) and austenitic regions (FCC), with lifetimes much less than the creep lives of both materials. These creep failures are associated with cavity formation close to BCC/FCC interfaces. However, the spatial and temporal variations of creep strain rates in these DMWs have not been measured. In this research, DMW coupons were fabricated between 2.25Cr-1Mo steel and Alloy 800 H base material using a Ni base Inconel weld consumable. These samples were aged at 600 °C for 2000 h and 4000 h to induce two different sizes and distributions of Type I interfacial carbides and further subjected to a short term (~1 month) creep testing. Here, surface strains were measured with Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique to extract local creep strain rates. In both samples, creep strain concentration occurred in the BCC matrix. The location of creep strain concentration from the BCC/FCC interface, changed from 5 µm (2000 h aged condition) to 400 µm (4000 h aged condition) depending on the initial carbide distributions in these regions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Influence of Tool Runout on Force Measurement During Internal Void Monitoring for Friction Stir Welding of 6061-T6 Aluminum

Abstract The goal of this research was to examine how altering the amount of friction stir tool eccentricity while controlling the amount of slant in the tool shoulder (drivers of oscillatory process forces) effects the generation of process force transients during sub-surface void interaction. The knowledge gained will help improve the accuracy of force-based void monitoring methods that have the potential to reduce the need for post-weld inspection. Process force transients during sub-surface void formation were examined for multiple tools with varying magnitudes of kinematic runout. The eccentric motion of the tool produced oscillations in the process forces at the tools rotational frequency that became distorted when features (flats) on the tool probe interacted with voided volumes, generating an amplitude in the force signals at three times the tool rotational frequency (for three-flat tools). A larger tool eccentricity generates a larger amplitude in the force signals at the tool’s rotational frequency that holds a larger potential to create a distortion during void interaction. It was determined that once void becomes large enough to produce an interaction that generates an amplitude at the third harmonic larger than 30% of the amplitude at the rotational frequency in a weld with no interaction (amplitude solely at rotational frequency), the trailing edge of the tool shoulder cannot fully consolidate the void, i.e., it will remain in the final weld. Additionally, once the void exceeds a certain size, the amplitudes of the third harmonics saturate at 70% of the amplitude at the rotational frequency during full consolidation. The interaction between the eccentric probe and sub-surface void was isolated by ensuring any geometric imperfection in the shoulder (slant) with respect to the rotational axis was removed. The results suggest that geometric imperfections (eccentricity and slant) with respect to the tool’s rotational axis must be known when developing a void monitoring method from force transients of this nature.

Engineering↗
DOE OSTI2022

Use of Mini-CT Specimens for Fracture Toughness Characterization of Irradiated Highly Embrittled Weld

In the 1990’s, the Heavy Section Steel Irradiation Program at the ORNL performed investigation of the shape of the fracture toughness master curve for reactor pressure vessel steel highly embrittled because of irradiation exposure. A radiation-sensitive reactor pressure vessel (RPV) weld with intentionally enhanced copper content, designated KS-01, has been characterized in terms of static initiation (KJc) and Charpy impact toughness in the unirradiated and irradiated conditions. The objective of this original project was to investigate the ability of highly embrittled material to maintain the shape of the unirradiated transition fracture toughness curve, as well as to examine the ability of the Charpy 41-J shift to predict the fracture toughness shift at such high level of embrittlement. Irradiation of this weld was performed at the University of Michigan Ford Reactor in the new HSSI irradiation-anneal-reirradiation (IAR) facility. Broken specimens from that project have been saved in ORNL storage. To verify applicability of Mini-CT specimens for fracture toughness characterization of RPV materials as part of the DOE Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program, Mini-CT specimens were machined from broken Charpy specimens and tested according to ASTM E1921 standard. As result of this study, the fracture toughness of this weld derived by testing Mini-CT specimens in the unirradiated and irradiated conditions is compared to previously reported fracture toughness derived by large number of conventional specimens.

Sokolov, Mikhail A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modelling of cracking during beam oscillation laser welding of a creep-resistant nickel alloy

During high power laser welding of Inconel 740H, horizontal solidification cracks form at locations between approximately 70–80% of the weld depth. With the integration of circular beam oscillation, the laser energy density distribution and underlying thermo-mechanical conditions were altered. By coupling three-dimensional heat transfer, fluid flow, and stress modelling tools, the role that circular beam oscillation plays in the formation of the strain rates and stresses driving this cracking phenomenon was identified. While the addition of a circular oscillation pattern appeared to lower the stress levels along the solidification front, it did not eliminate the appearance of horizontal cracking. Only when the beam amplitudes reached 1.6 mm did solidification cracking disappear, but the weld depths were also significantly reduced.

Gao, Mingze↗
DOE OSTI2018

Online Weld Quality Inspection System with Infrared Thermography

Today’s passenger vehicle on average contains 4,000 to 6,000 resistance spot welds (RSW). All US automakers perform destructive teardown evaluation to ensure the quality of the spot welds due to their criticality in crash resistance and performance of vehicles. The destructive teardown evaluation is labor intensive and costly. Sponsored by DOE VT Office, ORNL recently developed a prototype system (hardware and software) to non-destructively evaluate the quality of RSW based on infrared (IR) thermography. Highly cost competitive, ORNL’s system has been tested extensively in the laboratory with initial successful production environment validation. Ford, Honda, GM, Chrysler and major Tier One suppliers all have shown keen interest in this new technology. ORNL’s Technology Transfer Office licensed this technology to a small business (APLAIR Manufacturing Solutions) in TN. The licensee planned to develop a new hardware system based on ORNL’s IR NDE technology for real-time online weld inspection. In this CRADA project, ORNL was tasked to assist the licensee to transfer the technology and develop the new product suitable for automotive body-in-white production environment, making the technology ready for ‘real-world’ auto-body assembly line production environment.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Evaluation of the effect of alloy chemistry on the susceptibility of weld solidification cracking of Alloy 709 weldment and development of mitigation strategy

Alloy 709 is an attractive candidate construction material for Sodium Fast Reactor. As part of the Alloy 709 Intermediate Term Test Program, this work covers the development of the technical basis for welding fabrication and weld qualification of Alloy 709. The phase of research reported herein focused on the issue of weld solidification cracking recently experienced in some experimental heats of Alloy 709 with relatively high P levels. To this end, computational thermodynamics simulations were used to investigate the solidification behavior of Alloy 709.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Complete Status Report Documenting the Development of Friction Stir Welding for Producing a Butt Joint in Thin Wall Tubing of ODS Alloys

A challenging attempt using friction stir welding to produce a butt joint between two 1.0 mm thick plates of 14YWT was nearly successful. The modified tool pin mostly penetrated the thickness of the adjoined thin plate samples resulting in a small blunt notch on the bottom surface of the butt joint. A bend occurred in the thin plate sample due to formation of stresses from clamping the thin plate sample during FSW. The peak displacement of the bend occurred along the center line of the butt joint. The weld zone showed good microstructure mixing with some flashing mostly on the retreating side that suggested excess heat input by friction between the traveling and spinning tool pin and thin plates of 14YWT. Neutron diffraction experiments were performed on the bent sample of 14YWT to measure the residual stresses in the butt joint on the HB-2B beam line at the Neutron Residual Stress Facility at HFIR. However, the neutron scattering to background noise ratio was very low during data acquisition. Measurements of lattice strains were obtained in the rolling (RD) and normal (ND) directions but not in the extrusion direction (ED) of the thin plate sample. Unfortunately, the quality of the data was not sufficient for determining the residual stresses in the butt joint. From the previous neutron scattering experiments conducted on four hot rolled plates (R1, R2, R3 and R4) of 14YWT, the residual stresses were calculated from lattice strain data and plotted in 2-D color contour maps for ED, RD and ND. The results showed variations in the magnitude and spatial position of residual stresses in the microstructure of the four plates. The magnitude in residual stresses in ED and RD increased gradually with increasing rolling deformation for R1 (50%) to R2 (76%), followed by larger increases in R3 (89%) and R4 (95%). The maximum peaks in residual stresses for R4 was ~710-730 MPa in ED and RD. The residual stresses in ND were below ~300 MPa for each of the 4 rolled plates, with a maximum residual stress in R4 (95%) of ~400 MPa. These results indicated that significant residual stresses representing ~57% of the yield stress of 14YWT (SM13) had accumulated in the 14YWT plate after hot rolling to the 1 mm thickness, which was used in the FSW experiments. The microstructure analysis of the 1.0 mm thick plate of 14YWT containing the butt joint produced by FSW revealed significant changes in the grain structure and texture between the unaffected zone (UZ) of the rolled plate and the butt joint weld. In the UZ, the grains were severely elongated after 95% deformation and mainly possessed the {101} texture component in the ED. Two predominant grain misorientation angles were observed: one consisting of small misorientations of <5º between highly elongated grains and the other consisting of large misorientations of >15º in pockets of small grains that might have formed by dynamic recrystallization processes during rolling of the plate at 1000ºC. The morphology and texture of grains in the heat affected zone (HAZ) were similar to those in UZ, except the grains had coarsened due to excess heat input during FSZ. A population of pores formed and the grains both coarsened and changed to isotropic morphology in the microstructure of the butt joint on both the advancing and retreating sides. The texture of grains in both regions were randomly orientated between the 3 poles {001}, {101} and {111}. The main difference in texture of grains between the advancing side and retreating side was with the misorientation angles of neighboring grains. Most of the grains in the advancing side had misorientation angles of >5º indicating that these grains experienced recrystallization. On the retreating side, areas containing larger grains showed high misorientation angles of >15º compared to areas appearing as bands of grains with misorientation angles of <5º and between 5º-15º. Numerous small pockets of grains with low misorientation angles of <5º were distributed in the microstructure among the grains showing high misorientation angles of >15º. It was determined that the grains associated with low misorientation angles contained sub-grain structures, which was consistent with both recrystallization and recovery mechanisms for grains located on the retreating side of the butt joint. These results demonstrate the complex microstructure that evolves in the microstructure of 14YWT resulting from the input of high temperatures and severe deformations during FSW.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Microstructure and Mechanical Performance of the Friction Stir Welds Made on Neutron-Irradiated Steel with Helium

This report describes new experimental results on the microstructure and mechanical performance of the friction stir welds made on neutron-irradiated steel with helium. The report focuses on helium-related issues, specifically, helium-induced degradation in the welded joint, aiming to repair irradiated components of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The friction stir welds analyzed here were produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory previously, and limited characterization work was performed, mostly addressing the presence or absence of macroscopic cracks. The present work attempts to perform a more comprehensive study to assess microstructure conditions, grain size, plastic strain gradients, the morphology of the helium-induced damage, and deformation behavior.

42 ENGINEERING↗