Final Report - Strategic Environmental Research and Development ...

3.4. Methodology
Because the project was completed in two distinct phases and the second phase was
designed after the completion of the first phase there are many differences between the
methodologies for each of the phases. To avoid confusion, the methodologies for each of
the phases are presented in order.
3.4.1. Phase One
3.4.1.1. Materials
All coupons used in this project were IN718. The ESD electrodes were also IN718.
3.4.1.2. Robot Methodology
Programming the MOTOMAN robot is performed with a hand held teach pendant. In the
teach mode the user moves the arm through desired mechanized steps. Each arm
movement is recorded as a line of code that can later be modified, e.g. to change
movement velocities. The programming involved for this experiment consisted of
creating 75 ESD passes that slightly overlap to create the 1.25” square. The arm then
rotates 90° and moves through another 75 ESD passes. After these two ESD layers have
been applied the robotic arm moves the torch to a cleaning station were the electrode tip
is cleaned. This entire process is repeated through six ESD layers at which time the arm
moves to a home position. The coupon is ready to have UIT or other surface preparation
performed. This process in repeated until the coupon has reached the desired amount of
layers.
3.4.1.3. ESD Torch Motion
ESD is applied with the electrode travel direction and rotation creating a cutting motion.
After a pass the electrode was lifted from the surface and returned to the opposite side to
begin the next pass. The progression direction was perpendicular to the pass direction
with the torch leading. Each pass took approximately 3 seconds with a travel speed of
0.35 inch/sec.
3.4.1.4. Test Matrix
The test matrix used in phase 1 of this project is presented in Table 3-1.
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