News: TWI causes a stir in the world of welding steel
Pioneering work by experts at The Welding Institute (TWI) in Rotherham is set to improve the steel manufacturing industry, in the same way that it has for manufacturers pioneering their technique with aluminium.
TWI is one of the world's foremost independent research and technology organisations, with expertise in solving problems in all aspects of manufacturing, fabrication and whole-life integrity management technologies.
The Cambridge organisation has a Technology Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham where experts provide technical support in joining and technologies such as material science, structural integrity, NDT, surfacing, electronic packaging and cutting.
Friction stir welding was initially invented by TWI for welding aluminium and has quickly become the process of choice for world-leading manufacturers such as Boeing, for the fabrication of strong, stiff, lightweight aluminium structures.
Following its widespread acceptance by the aerospace, shipbuilding, train making and automotive industries for manufacturing aluminium structures, TWI is developing the process for application to steel.
The work undertaken at TWI Technology Centre on the AMP has shown that welds in steel made by friction stir welding have considerably better mechanical properties than those made by conventional arc welding. This means that steel structures have improved toughness and can last longer. The lack of melting also means that less heat is used, reducing distortion in the welded structures.
Stephen Cater, a researcher at the TWI Technology Centre on the AMP, recently presented ground-breaking results on friction stir welding of steel at an international conference in Chicago. He said: "The results just published show that for 6mm thick, high strength shipbuilding steel, friction stir welding reduces distortion along the length of a 2m welded plate from 115mm to 15mm while tripling weld toughness and increasing fatigue life compared to submerged arc welding.
"As up to 40% of the costs of building a ship are associated with correcting distortion of welded plates, this new technique has potential to introduce considerable cost savings during manufacture."
The technique is not just for improving shipbuilding, it was recently used in a joint project involving the art and design sector of Sheffield Hallam University. The work involves a novel method for producing mixed metal multi-coloured layered materials using friction stir welding and compares the results with the ancient Far Eastern art of Mokume Gane.
Mokume Gane is a unique process involving sheets of different coloured metal alloys bonded together. Materials from a number of different metals including gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper and brass have been created using the new welding process.
Stephen added: "The visual effect is stunning, whether it be with the noble metals of silver and gold, or the industrially popular materials of brass and copper. Early on in the development of friction stir the process was identified as ideally suited for joining dissimilar materials.
"Using these multi-coloured layers in the process has given TWI a unique insight into how the material flows around the friction stir tool and has thereby enhanced TWI's tool design capability."
TWI website
Images: TWI
TWI is one of the world's foremost independent research and technology organisations, with expertise in solving problems in all aspects of manufacturing, fabrication and whole-life integrity management technologies.
The Cambridge organisation has a Technology Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham where experts provide technical support in joining and technologies such as material science, structural integrity, NDT, surfacing, electronic packaging and cutting.
Friction stir welding was initially invented by TWI for welding aluminium and has quickly become the process of choice for world-leading manufacturers such as Boeing, for the fabrication of strong, stiff, lightweight aluminium structures.
Following its widespread acceptance by the aerospace, shipbuilding, train making and automotive industries for manufacturing aluminium structures, TWI is developing the process for application to steel.
The work undertaken at TWI Technology Centre on the AMP has shown that welds in steel made by friction stir welding have considerably better mechanical properties than those made by conventional arc welding. This means that steel structures have improved toughness and can last longer. The lack of melting also means that less heat is used, reducing distortion in the welded structures.
Stephen Cater, a researcher at the TWI Technology Centre on the AMP, recently presented ground-breaking results on friction stir welding of steel at an international conference in Chicago. He said: "The results just published show that for 6mm thick, high strength shipbuilding steel, friction stir welding reduces distortion along the length of a 2m welded plate from 115mm to 15mm while tripling weld toughness and increasing fatigue life compared to submerged arc welding.
"As up to 40% of the costs of building a ship are associated with correcting distortion of welded plates, this new technique has potential to introduce considerable cost savings during manufacture."
The technique is not just for improving shipbuilding, it was recently used in a joint project involving the art and design sector of Sheffield Hallam University. The work involves a novel method for producing mixed metal multi-coloured layered materials using friction stir welding and compares the results with the ancient Far Eastern art of Mokume Gane.
Mokume Gane is a unique process involving sheets of different coloured metal alloys bonded together. Materials from a number of different metals including gold, silver, platinum, palladium, copper and brass have been created using the new welding process.
Stephen added: "The visual effect is stunning, whether it be with the noble metals of silver and gold, or the industrially popular materials of brass and copper. Early on in the development of friction stir the process was identified as ideally suited for joining dissimilar materials.
"Using these multi-coloured layers in the process has given TWI a unique insight into how the material flows around the friction stir tool and has thereby enhanced TWI's tool design capability."
TWI website
Images: TWI
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