Axel Steuwer

Distortion control in welding by mechanical tensioning

Abstract This paper investigates the potential of mechanical tensioning (MT) to reduce the magnitude of residual stresses in welds and to eliminate buckling distortion. Both friction stir (FSW) and arc welds have been produced from the aluminium alloy AA2024, with different levels of tensile stress applied along the weld line either during or after welding. The resulting welds have been characterised in terms of out of plane distortion, residual stresses and microstructure. Buckling distortion was eliminated by stretching plates to between 35 and 70% of the yield stress of the material during welding. For each set of welding parameters investigated, an optimum tensioning stress has been identified, which eliminates the tensile residual stress peak across the weld zone, along with distortion. This optimum tensioning stress increases in line with the heat input of the welding process. When MT stresses are increased beyond this optimum value, then distortion arises once more and a band of compressive stress is formed across the weld zone.

Welding process impact on residual stress and distortion

Abstract Residual stress and distortion continue to be important issues in shipbuilding and are still subject to large amounts of research. This paper demonstrates how the type of welding process influences the amount of distortion. Many shipyards currently use submerged arc welding (SAW) as their welding process of choice. In this manuscript, the authors compare welds made by SAW with DC gas metal arc welding, pulsed gas metal arc welding, Fronius cold metal transfer (CMT), autogenous laser and laser hybrid welding on butt welds in 4 mm thick DH36 ship plate. Laser and laser hybrid welding were found to produce the lowest distortion. Nevertheless, a considerable improvement can be achieved with the pulsed gas metal arc welding and CMT processes. The paper seeks to understand the relationship between heat input, fusion area, measured distortion and the residual stress predicted from a simple numerical model, and the residual stresses validated with experimental data.

Residual stresses, microstructure and tensile properties in Ti-6Al-4V friction stir welds

Abstract This paper reports the results of a systematic investigation of residual stresses as a function of welding speed in a set of Ti–6Al–4V friction stir welds. The investigation focuses on residual stress but links these data with microstructural information derived from micrographs and hardness measurements as well as mechanical testing results. Residual stresses were determined using energy dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction, which allows phase specific stresses to be distinguished. The data presented in this paper demonstrate that welds with high tensile properties can be obtained, which also have relatively low peak tensile residual stress values of ∼30% of the tensile strength. The data also show a clear correlation between heat input and the width of the residual stress profile.

Rietveld and pair distribution function study of Hagg carbide using synchrotron X-ray diffraction

Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis is an important process in the manufacturing of hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons from mixtures of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (syngas). The reduced iron catalyst reacts with carbon monoxide and hydrogen to form bulk Fe(5)C(2) Hägg carbide (χ-HC) during FT synthesis. Arguably, χ-HC is the predominant catalyst phase present in the working iron catalyst. Deactivation of the working catalyst can be due to oxidation of χ-HC to iron oxide, a step-wise decarburization to cementite (θ-Fe(3)C), carbon formation or sintering with accompanying loss of catalytic performance. It is therefore critical to determine the precise crystal structure of χ-HC for the understanding of the synthesis process and for comparison with the first-principles ab initio modelling. Here the results of high-resolution synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data are reported. The atomic arrangement of χ-HC was confirmed by Rietveld refinement and subsequent real-space modelling of the pair distribution function (PDF) obtained from direct Fourier transformation. The Rietveld and PDF results of χ-HC correspond well with that of a pseudo-monoclinic phase of space group Pī [a = 11.5661 (6) Å, b = 4.5709 (1) Å, c = 5.0611 (2) Å, α = 89.990 (5)°, β = 97.753 (4)°, γ = 90.195 (4)°], where the Fe atoms are located in three distorted prismatic trigonal and one octahedral arrangement around the central C atoms. The Fe atoms are distorted from the prismatic trigonal arrangement in the monoclinic structure by the change in C atom location in the structure.

Structural Characterization of Phase Separation in Fe-Cr: A Current Comparison of Experimental Methods

Self-assembly due to phase separation within a miscibility gap is important in numerous material systems and applications. A system of particular interest is the binary alloy system Fe-Cr, since it is both a suitable model material and the base system for the stainless steel alloy category, suffering from low-temperature embrittlement due to phase separation. Structural characterization of the minute nano-scale concentration fluctuations during early phase separation has for a long time been considered a major challenge within material characterization. However, recent developments present new opportunities in this field. Here, we present an overview of the current capabilities and limitations of different techniques. A set of Fe-Cr alloys were investigated using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), atom probe tomography, and analytical transmission electron microscopy. The complementarity of the characterization techniques is clear, and combinatorial studies can provide complete quantitative structure information during phase separation in Fe-Cr alloys. Furthermore, we argue that SANS provides a unique in-situ access to the nanostructure, and that direct comparisons between SANS and phase-field modeling, solving the non-linear Cahn Hilliard equation with proper physical input, should be pursued.

In situ reduction study of cobalt model Fischer–Tropsch synthesis catalysts

Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis is an important process to manufacture hydrocarbons and oxygenated hydrocarbons from mixtures of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (syngas). The catalysis process occurs on, for example, cobalt metal surfaces at elevated temperatures and pressures. A fundamental understanding of the reduction pathway of supported cobalt oxides, and the intermediate species present during the activation, can assist in developing improved industrial supported cobalt catalysts. Hard synchrotron X-rays have the unique ability to probe atomic processes both in terms of phases present as well as the crystallographic and local structure (using the pair distribution function approach) under realistic conditions. In this manuscript we present results from measurements during in situ hydrogen activation of a model Co/alumina catalyst using in situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction and pair-distribution function (PDF) analysis on beam line ID31 at the ESRF in Grenoble, France. The PDF analysis showed a substantially improved understanding of the reduction of cobalt oxides, as for the first time all cobalt could be accounted for by using total scattering analysis.

Time-of-Flight Three Dimensional Neutron Diffraction in Transmission Mode for Mapping Crystal Grain Structures

The physical properties of polycrystalline materials depend on their microstructure, which is the nano- to centimeter scale arrangement of phases and defects in their interior. Such microstructure depends on the shape, crystallographic phase and orientation, and interfacing of the grains constituting the material. This article presents a new non-destructive 3D technique to study centimeter-sized bulk samples with a spatial resolution of hundred micrometers: time-of-flight three-dimensional neutron diffraction (ToF 3DND). Compared to existing analogous X-ray diffraction techniques, ToF 3DND enables studies of samples that can be both larger in size and made of heavier elements. Moreover, ToF 3DND facilitates the use of complicated sample environments. The basic ToF 3DND setup, utilizing an imaging detector with high spatial and temporal resolution, can easily be implemented at a time-of-flight neutron beamline. The technique was developed and tested with data collected at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility of the Japan Proton Accelerator Complex (J-PARC) for an iron sample. We successfully reconstructed the shape of 108 grains and developed an indexing procedure. The reconstruction algorithms have been validated by reconstructing two stacked Co-Ni-Ga single crystals, and by comparison with a grain map obtained by post-mortem electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD).

Aspects of residual stress determination using energy-dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction

In this paper we discuss certain aspects of residual stress measurements using energy-dispersive synchrotron X-ray diffraction using very high X-ray energies in the range up to 200keV. In particular, we focus on the strain resolution and its relation to the geometric contribution to the instrumental resolution. This energy range together with the brilliance of insertion devices allows measurements in bulk materials with penetration approaching those of neutrons, and the technique is demonstrated to have a high potential for residual stress determination. However, the use of high X-ray energies implies a relatively small diffraction angle and in turn a relatively elongated gauge volume, which favours the application of the technique to essentially 2D problems.

In situ hydrogen loading on zirconium powder

Commercial-grade Zr powder loaded with hydrogen in situ and phase transformations between various Zr and ZrHx phases have been monitored in real time.

Comparison of methods to determine variations in unstrained unit cell parameter across welds

Many alloys undergo complex changes in local chemistry in the vicinity of weldments due to the thermal excursion during welding. The resulting changes in solute concentrations can lead to significant local variations in the unstrained unit cell parameter which, if not accounted for, can lead to serious error when determining residual stress by diffraction methods. Age-hardening aluminium alloys are particularly susceptible to such effects. The present paper compares three methods (plane stress assumption, sin2ψ method, and comb correction method) for evaluating the stress-free unit cell parameter variation for friction stir welds in AA7449-W51 plates of two different thicknesses. All three methods gave comparable results for thin (5 mm) sheet, but for the thicker (12.2 mm) plate the results calculated on the basis of the plane stress assumption diverged from the other two, largely because in this case the other methods indicate there to be a significant triaxiality of stress. In the example cases, hardness and unstrained unit cell parameter variations were found to be strongly correlated across the welds. The advantages and disadvantages of the three methods are compared.