Failure mechanisms of Friction stir welding tools related to process control and tool geometry. - In: Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, ISSN 2041-3076, Bd. 0 (2024)
Friction stir welding (FSW) is subjected to process-specific challenges including comparatively high process forces and tool wear resulting from thermomechanical stresses. As a result, the acting loads and the geometric-related tool wear can cause tool failure. The tool (shoulder) design, whether it is concave or flat, with or without geometrical elements, is mainly responsible for the related failure mechanism and tool life. Therefore, this study systematically analyzes the failure mechanisms as a function of the process temperature, during FSW of AA-6060 T66 using tools made of H13 tool steel, with different shoulder designs, namely a concave contour and a scroll contour. The mechanism responsible for tool failure was induced by repeated welding at rotational speeds of 4000 rpm and 2000 rpm, at process temperatures within the range of the secondary hardness maximum (552 ˚C and 555 ˚C) and below the temperature of the secondary hardness maximum (488 ˚C and 499 ˚C). The experimental investigation showed that reducing the rotational speed of the scrolled shoulder from 4000 rpm to 2000 rpm resulted in less wear and therefore an increase in tool life from 474 m to up to 1400 m. In this context, it has also been shown that the shoulder geometry affects the mechanism relevant to failure due to the free length of the probe.
https://doi.org/10.1177/14644207241228370
Influence of increasing density of microstructures on the self-propagating reaction of Al/Ni reactive nanoscale multilayers. - In: Advanced engineering materials, ISSN 1527-2648, Bd. 0 (2024), 0, insges. 21 S.
Surface structuring methods are crucial in semiconductor manufacturing, as they enable the creation of intricate structures on the semiconductor surface, influencing the material’s electrical, mechanical, and chemical properties. This study employs one such structuring method known as reactive ion etching to create black Si structures on silicon substrates. After thermal oxidation, their influence on the reaction of Al/Ni nanoscale multilayers is. For this purpose, various densities of thermally oxidized black Si structures are investigated. It reveals distinct reactive behaviors without corresponding differences in energy release during differential scanning calorimetry measurements. Higher oxidized black Si structure densities result in elevated temperatures and faster reaction propagation, showing fewer defects and reduced layer connections in cross-sectional analyses. The properties of the reactive multilayers on high structure density show the same performance as a reaction on flat thermal SiO2, causing delamination when exceeding 23 structures per µm2. Conversely, lower structure density ensures attachment of reactive multilayers to the substrate due to an increased number of defects, acting as predetermined breaking points for the AlNi alloy. By establishing the adhesion between the reacted multilayer and the substrate, surface structuring could lead to a potential increase in bond strength when using reactive multilayers for bonding.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202302225
Tailoring the reaction path: external crack initiation in reactive Al/Ni multilayers. - In: Advanced engineering materials, ISSN 1527-2648, Bd. 0 (2024), 0, 2302271, S. 1-6
The influence of intentionally externally induced cracks in reactive Al/Ni multilayer systems is investigated. These cracks affect the reaction dynamics and enable tailoring of the reaction path and the overall velocity of the reaction front. The influence of layer variations onto mechanical crack formation and resulting reaction behavior are investigated. High-speed camera imaging shows the meandering propagation of the reaction front along the crack paths. Therefore, the mechanical cracking process significantly changes the total velocity of the reaction front and thus offers a possibility to control the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis process. It is shown that the phase formation remains unaffected despite the applied strains and cracks. This favorable stability in phase formation ensures predictability and provides insight into the adaptation of RMS for precision applications in joints. The results expand the understanding of mechanical cracking as a tool to influence high-temperature synthesis in reactive multilayer coatings and provide an opportunity to expand the range of applications.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202302271
Influence of metal surface structures on composite formation during polymer-metal-joining based on reactive Al/Ni multilayer foil. - In: Advanced engineering materials, ISSN 1527-2648, Bd. 0 (2024), 0, insges. 34 S.
Progressive developments in the field of lightweight construction and engineering demand continuous substitution of metals with suitable polymers. However, the combination of dissimilar materials results in a multitude of challenges based on different chemical and physical material properties. Reactive multilayer systems offer a promising joining method for flexible and low-distortion joining of dissimilar joining partners with an energy source introduced directly into the joining zone. Within this publication, hybrid lap joints between semi-crystalline polyamide 6 and surface-structured austenitic steel X5CrNi18-10 (EN 1.4301) were joined using reactive Al/Ni multilayer foils of the type Indium-NanoFoil®. Main objective is to examine possibilities of influencing crack initiation in the foil plane by variation of joining pressure and different metal surface structures with regard to geometry, density and orientation. Thus, the position of foil cracks is superimposed onto the metal structure and associated filling with molten plastic is improved. Consequently, characterisation of occurring crack positions as function of joining pressure and metal structure, analysis of the composite in terms of structural filling and joint strength as well as possible causes of crack initiation are evaluated.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202302254
Recurrent autoencoder for weld discontinuity prediction. - In: Journal of advanced joining processes, ISSN 2666-3309, Bd. 9 (2024), 100203, S. 1-12
Laser beam butt welding is often the technique of choice for a wide range of industrial tasks. To achieve high quality welds, manufacturers often rely on heavy and expensive clamping systems to limit the sheet movement during the welding process, which can affect quality. Jiggless welding offers a cost-effective and highly flexible alternative to common clamping systems. In laser butt welding, the process-induced joint gap has to be monitored in order to counteract the effect by means of an active position control of the sheet metal. Various studies have shown that sheet metal displacement can be detected using inductive probes, allowing the prediction of weld quality by ML-based data analysis. The probes are dependent on the sheet metal geometry and are limited in their applicability to complex geometric structures. Camera systems such as long-wave infrared (LWIR) cameras can instead be mounted directly behind the laser to overcome a geometry dependent limitation of the jiggles system. In this study we will propose a deep learning approach that utilizes LWIR camera recordings to predict the remaining welding process to enable an early detection of weld interruptions. Our approach reaches 93.33% accuracy for time-wise prediction of the point of failure during the weld.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jajp.2024.100203
Heat input control in horizontal lap joint welding through active wire preheating in GMAW-P. - In: Welding in the world, ISSN 1878-6669, Bd. 68 (2024), 4, S. 893-904
In gas metal arc welding (GMAW) the arc power, in general, increases when the wire feed speed is increased. Thus, controlling heat input into the workpiece becomes a challenge, especially when trying to increase productivity. Metal transfer modes such as pulsed and controlled short circuit have been successfully applied to allow smooth metal transfer with relatively low energy. The effect of increasing the electrified length of the electrode or decreasing wire diameter in reducing current has been known for years. However, to some extent, this effect is limited to the physical conditions when using a large distance from contact tip to workpiece. To further increase melting efficiency and reduce arc power the torch presented in this paper includes a second electric circuit into GMAW to preheat the wire by ohmic heating before it reaches the main circuit. In this context, the objective of this work was to verify the effects of active wire preheating in GMAW in lap joint case in terms of electric signal behavior, thermal behavior in the plate, and weld bead formation. By increasing the preheating current, significant reduction in arc power was achieved. This reflects on the resulting weld by avoiding molten pool sagging, reducing fused area, silicate formation, and backside oxidation. The reduction in heat input resulted finally in a smaller heat affected zone which had a finer microstructure. In conclusion, the use of active wire preheating in GMAW expands the potential for increasing productivity and controlling heat input into the workpiece.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40194-023-01654-9
Application of novel constrained friction processing method to produce fine grained biomedical Mg-Zn-Ca alloy. - In: Journal of magnesium and alloys, ISSN 2213-9567, Bd. 12 (2024), 2, S. 516-529
In order to obtain Mg alloys with fine microstructures and high mechanical performances, a novel friction-based processing method, name as “constrained friction processing (CFP)”, was investigated. Via CFP, defect-free Mg-Zn-Ca rods with greatly refined grains and high mechanical properties were produced. Compared to the previous as-cast microstructure, the grain size was reduced from more than 1 mm to around 4 µm within 3 s by a single process cycle. The compressive yield strength was increased by 350% while the ultimate compressive strength by 53%. According to the established material flow behaviors by “tracer material”, the plastic material was transported by shear deformation. From the base material to the rod, the material experienced three stages, i.e. deformation by the tool, upward flow with additional tilt, followed by upward transportation. The microstructural evolution was revealed by “stop-action” technique. The microstructural development at regions adjacent to the rod is mainly controlled by twinning, dynamic recrystallization (DRX) as well as particle stimulated nucleation, while that within the rod is related to DRX combined with grain growth.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jma.2023.10.007
An integrated approach to developing modular product families in the engineer-to-order sector. - In: Production at the leading edge of technology, (2024), S. 737-746
Nowadays, companies face challenges such as globalization, individualization and shorter product lifecycles, resulting in a constant stream of new product development processes (PDP). Modularized product families represent a powerful concept for reducing complexity and increasing resource efficiency in the PDP and beyond. Despite existing approaches and methods in the development of modular product families, there are deficits in the state of the art regarding their transfer and application to the engineer-to-order (ETO) sector, as well as for neutral indicator-based evaluation. Therefore, this paper derives a generic modularization procedure for the ETO sector and verifies it in an industrial use case. For this purpose, a heuristic swapping algorithm has been developed for grouping the components of a product family into clusters and enabling an objective mathematical evaluation. By integrating modular product structures into organizational processes, ETO manufacturers can strengthen their competitive position as well as increase their resource efficiency.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-47394-4_72
Influence of strain rate on metallurgical and mechanical properties of friction stir spot welded aluminium joints. - In: Advanced technologies and materials, ISSN 2620-147X, Bd. 48 (2023), 2, S. 37-43
Nowadays, the substitution of copper with aluminium is widely pursued in order to save weight and material costs, for battery components and wire connectors. Additionally, cost reductions can be further enhanced with effective reduction of energy consumption through efficient manufacturing. Therefore, friction stir spot welding as a solid-state welding technique is a potential choice with low energy demands and high joining performances. However, the joining of aluminium and its alloys with solid-state welding techniques is still a challenging task due to a persistent and chemically stable aluminium oxide layer formed at the sheets prior to the welding, due to the reaction between aluminium and atmospheric oxygen. In this paper, the influence of strain rate induced during friction stir spot welding process on the metallurgical, mechanical and electrical properties of friction stir spot welding of AA 5754-H111 was studied. The strain rate was calculated according to the rotational speed of the tool and the effective (average) radius and depth of the stir zone. It was observed that the specimens welded with a lower strain rate endured a 15 % higher average strain failure load compared to the specimens welded at a higher share rate. The microhardness profiles of the specimens obtained at low strain rates imply strain hardening mechanisms in the weld zone, while the microhardness of specimens welded at high strain rates expressed thermal softening. It was also found that the friction welded sheets, regardless of the strain rate, show increased electrical resistance compared to the base material, however, it decreases with an increase in strain rate. Microstructural analysis reveals a stress-induced metallurgical transformation in the narrow zone around the weld-faying interface.
https://doi.org/10.24867/ATM-2023-2-001
Aggregated production planning for engineer-to-order products using reference curves. - In: Production at the leading edge of technology, (2023), S. 642-651
The production of highly individualized engineer-to-order products has special characteristics that lead to a significant increase in the complexity of production planning and control. Therefore, aggregate resource planning is a dynamic and complex process that must always deliver reliable results. But without appropriate tools, these predictions can only be achieved with significant manual effort. Therefore, this paper presents a holistic method that predicts and schedules the required manufacturing resources for new customer orders based on a type representative by means of product modularization and data preparation of approximately identical historical manufacturing orders. This allows the actual processing status of the current customer project to be derived from the preplanning by means of a concurrent calculation in order to be able to initiate countermeasures at an early stage in the event of project delays and also to reduce the lead time of the customer order by preallocating the required production resources.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18318-8_64