In situ observation and reduction of hot-cracks in laser additive manufacturing. - In: Communications materials, ISSN 2662-4443, Bd. 5 (2024), 84, S. 1-10
Cracking during Laser Additive Manufacturing is a problem for many higher-strength aluminium alloys, including AA6061. Here, we used a pulsed laser with ramp-down power modulation to improve the cracking resistance by about 50% compared to the use of a rectangular pulsed laser. Using synchrotron in situ X-ray imaging at 100,000 images s−1, ground truth data was obtained about changes in melt pool geometry, solidification rate, and thermal gradients were calculated. An analytical hot cracking model was developed to show that these changes lead to a decreased hot tear susceptibility. Therefore, laser pulse modulation can be an effective tool to reduce crack susceptibility of alloys. More fundamentally, the results demonstrate that modifying thermal conditions provides a pathway to crack elimination in LAM and the model established in our study sets the foundation for further complex laser manipulation in modifying the printability and resulting mechanical properties of hard-to-process alloys in Laser Additive Manufacturing.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-024-00522-3
Controlling propagation velocity in Al/Ni reactive multilayer systems by periodic 2D surface structuring. - In: Advanced engineering materials, ISSN 1527-2648, Bd. n/a (2024), n/a, 2302272, S. 1-11
The chemical energy released as heat during the exothermic reaction of reactive multilayer systems has shown potential applications in various technological areas, e.g., in joining applications. However, controlling the heat release rate and the propagation velocity of the reaction is required to enhance their performance in most of these applications. Herein, a method to control the propagation velocity and heat release rate of the system is presented. The sputtering of Al/Ni multilayers on substrates with periodic 2D surface structures promotes the formation of growth defects into the system. This modification in the morphology locally influences the reaction characteristics. Tailoring the number of 2D structures in the substrate enables the control of the velocity and maximum temperature of the propagation front. The morphology of the produced reactive multilayers is investigated before and after reaction using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. In addition, the enthalpy of the system is obtained through calorimetric analysis. The self-sustained and self-propagating reaction of the systems is monitored by a high-speed camera and a high-speed pyrometer, thus revealing the propagation velocity and the temperatures with time resolution in the microsecond regime.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202302272
Impact of substrate thickness and surface roughness on Al/Ni multilayer reaction kinetics. - In: Advanced engineering materials, ISSN 1527-2648, Bd. n/a (2024), n/a, 2302269, S. 1-10
Reactive multilayers comprising alternating nanoscale layers of Al and Ni exhibit potential across various applications, including localized heating for welding and joining. Control over reaction properties is pivotal for emerging applications, such as chemical time delays or neutralization of biological or chemical weapons. In this research, insights are offered into the intricate interplay between substrate thickness, surface roughness, and the behavior of Al/Ni reactive multilayers, opening avenues for tailored applications in various domains. To observe this interplay, silica with various thicknesses from 0.4 to 1.6 μm is deposited on polished single-crystalline Si and rough poly-Si base substrates. Additionally, to analyze the impact of varying silica thickness along the sample length on reaction behavior, silica in steplike shape is fabricated. Subsequently, Al/Ni multilayers with 5 μm total thickness and 20 or 50 nm bilayer periodicities are deposited. Reaction velocity and temperature are monitored with a high-speed camera and pyrometer. In the results, it is indicated that silica thickness significantly affects self-propagation in multilayers. The reaction is not self-sustained for silica layers ≤ 0.4 μm, depending on bilayer periodicity and substrate roughness. The velocity increases or decreases based on the direction of reaction propagation, whether it moves upward or downward, in relation to the thickness of silica.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202302269
Development of an indirect measurement method for the Contact Tube to Workpiece Distance (CTDW) in the Direct Energy Deposition - Arc (DED-ARC) process for different arc types. - In: Journal of advanced joining processes, ISSN 2666-3309, Bd. 9 (2024), 100228, S. 1-9
During the layer-by-layer build-up in the Direct Energy Deposition (DED) - Arc additive manufacturing (AM) process, the distance between the contact tube and the workpiece, effectively the welded layer, changes. Since the weld paths are predefined by the path planning software, a constant Contact Tube to Workpiece Distance (CTWD) and weld bead height is assumed. However, even small changes in geometry, such as crossovers of weld paths, result in higher weld beads than assumed. Similarly, an incorrectly assumed bead height as input to the path planning will result in a change in the CTWD. The sum of the deviations of the real weld geometries from the assumed ones in the path planning can greatly influence the CTWD. This implies that the dimensional accuracy may be significantly compromised. This research presents an approach for a general indirect measurement method using the welding current to obtain the CTWD during the actual welding process. A real-time process control method is implemented and validated using the mechanically controlled short arc and the pulsed arc process. Varying process parameters are used to validate the general applicability for a specific material. For the mechanically controlled short arc process, the model underestimates the measured CTWD by a mean error of 3.4 mm. The pulse process is overestimated by a mean error of 2.2 mm. The standard deviation for the pulse process with 1.3 mm is slightly smaller than for the short arc process with 1.7 mm.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jajp.2024.100228
Experimental-assisted approach to develop a numerical model for simulating the reaction propagation in reactive multilayers. - In: Advanced engineering materials, ISSN 1527-2648, Bd. 26 (2024), 2302179, S. 1-11
Accepted Articles : Accepted, unedited articles published online and citable. The final edited and typeset version of record will appear in the future.
One outstanding feature of self-propagating reactions is their ability to release heat of reaction over both temporal and spatial scales, enabling the sustained progression of the reaction after a local ignition. They propagate in the form of a continuous reaction front through the mixture of the starting materials. Previous research on reactive materials has predominantly focused on unraveling the microstructure property relationships influencing released energy in reacting multilayers. This involved considering coupled differential equations, including the heat conduction equation and Fick's law. In this study, the introduction of a purely thermal numerical macroscale model is made, incorporating two states of material properties that differentiate between the thermal characteristics before and after phase formation. The homogenization of material properties before the phase formation is accomplished through the consideration of directional-temperature-dependent thermal conductivity and temperature-dependent-specific heat capacity. The energy-release function is derived using experimental data for the reaction velocity depending on bilayer thickness. This model allows for the exploration of reaction motion and temperature profiles, achieving qualitative conformity with experimental measurements for freestanding foil, and necessitating reasonable computational effort.
https://doi.org/10.1002/adem.202302179
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