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2021<br />
<strong>DVS</strong>-BERICHTE<br />
International<br />
Electron Beam<br />
Welding Conference
S T R A H L T E C H N I K<br />
STEIGERWALD STRAHLTECHNIK<br />
WELCOME TO<br />
THE FUTURE!<br />
LOHNFERTIGUNG MIT DER<br />
ELEKTRONENSTRAHLTECHNIK<br />
THE INNOVATORS OF THE<br />
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Entlasten Sie Ihre Ressourcen und steigern<br />
die Effektivität!<br />
Wir sind Ihr Partner – vom Prototypen bis zur<br />
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unser kompetentes Team stellen die termingerechte<br />
Lieferung Ihrer Produkte in Spitzenqualität<br />
sicher.<br />
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zugeschnittenes Maschinenkonzept.<br />
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Oberflächenbehandeln und Perforieren erfolgreich<br />
im Einsatz.<br />
www.ptr-ebeam.com<br />
PTR Strahltechnik GmbH<br />
Am Erlenbruch 9 · 63505 Langenselbold · Germany<br />
Telefon: +49 6184 2055-0 · E-Mail: zentrale@ptr-ebeam.com<br />
www.sst-ebeam.com<br />
Steigerwald Strahltechnik GmbH<br />
Emmy-Noether-Str. 2 · 82216 Maisach · Germany<br />
Telefon: +49 8141 3535-0 · E-Mail: info@sst-ebeam.com
IEBW – International<br />
Electron Beam Welding<br />
Conference<br />
Lectures of the 6th International Conference taking<br />
place online on 9 to 10 March 2021<br />
Organiser:<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> – German Welding Society, Düsseldorf
Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek<br />
e etce ationaliliote lit ti lication in te etce ationaliliorae<br />
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.<br />
<strong>DVS</strong>-<strong>Bericht</strong>e Band <strong>368</strong><br />
ISBN 978-3-96144-133-4<br />
The lectures are printed in form of manuscripts.<br />
All rights, also for translation, are reserved. The reproduction of this volume or of parts of it only<br />
with approval of the <strong>DVS</strong> Media GmbH, Düsseldorf.<br />
© <strong>DVS</strong> Media GmbH, Düsseldorf 2021<br />
Printing: Print Media Group GmbH & Co. KG, Hamm
Welcome<br />
Are you interested in efficient and powerful electron beam welding technology and technological leadership?<br />
Well, you are at one of the best events in your industry.<br />
The International Electron Beam Welding Conference, IEBW 2021, offers a forum at which users and manufacturers<br />
of electron beam welding and processing technology can meet with R&D specialists to share their experience and<br />
learn about the latest developments in the field.<br />
In 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are moving the 6th International Electron Beam Welding Conference<br />
into the virtual world, combining pre-recorded video presentations with an exciting innovative and interactive digital<br />
conference format. The IEBW conference will bring together scientists, engineers and technical personnel from<br />
around the globe involved in research, development and application of electron beam welding processes.<br />
The year 2020 will go down in history as the year of many changes. Much has developed differently than planned;<br />
the good remains. The electron beam is certainly one of them. Hardly any technology has been in use so reliably and<br />
reproducibly for decades. Let's discover trends and developments in electron beam applications and advance them<br />
together.<br />
Also, IEBW provides an excellent opportunity for experts not using the electron beam presently but to getting to know<br />
the technical capabilities and advantages of the electron beam. Common fields where the electron beam is used are<br />
for example aircraft and aerospace, automotive and transportation, shipbuilding and off-shore constructions, rail,<br />
nuclear, oil gas and chemical, military and defense, construction and also many outstanding general fabrication yobs<br />
in electronics and medical.<br />
The event is truly one that anyone involved in sophisticated joining challenges should plan to attend.<br />
Many thanks to the International Institute of Welding (IIW), the American Welding Society (AWS) and the German<br />
Welding Society (<strong>DVS</strong>), moreover to the sponsor FOCUS and last but not least to the ISF of RWTH Aachen University<br />
and Forschungszentrum Jülich for great assistance and support.<br />
We are pleased to welcome you to the 6th International Electron Beam Welding Conference in the digital world.<br />
Enjoy your first digital IEBW meeting!<br />
Wilfried Behr<br />
Technical Chairman of Program Committee<br />
and Chairman of <strong>DVS</strong> Working Group<br />
International “Electron Beam Welding”<br />
Ernest Levert<br />
Chairmen of Commission C-IV-B<br />
“Electron Beam Processes”<br />
Institute of Welding (IIW)
Table of contents<br />
Preface<br />
Education, Diagnostics and Control Technologies<br />
K. Schulze, Neuberg/DE<br />
Action to address the lack of knowledge of EB technology amongst engineers and others ..................................... 1<br />
S. Gach, S. Olschok, U. Reisgen, Aachen/DE<br />
Process monitoring in electron beam welding by optimizing the in-process sensor technology by means of<br />
backscattered electrons and optical emission .......................................................................................................... 6<br />
Norbert Sieczkiewicz, Lancaster/Cambridge/UK, Colin Ribton, Cambridge/UK, Andrew Kennedy, Lancaster/UK, Yingtao Tian, Lancaster/UK,<br />
Darren Williams, Lancaster/Cambridge/UK<br />
Electron beam characterisation using time series imaging and deep learning ....................................................... 12<br />
Innovations with Electron Beam<br />
M. Muecke, Wöllstadt/DE; D. Kovalchuk, Kyiv/UA<br />
Electron Beam Ion Sources and a novel Electron Beam Source for enhanced Additive Manufacturing ................. 21<br />
T. Tóth, J. Hensel, K. Dilger, Braunschweig/DE<br />
Effect of beam oscillation parameters on the weld geometry and dilution in electron beam welding of<br />
duplex stainless steels with nickel-based filler wire ................................................................................................. 27<br />
T. Krichel, S. Gach, T. Evers, A. Senger, S. Olschok, U. Reisgen, Aachen/DE<br />
Pulsed electron beam spot welding of non-oriented electrical steel sheets ........................................................... 34<br />
Surface Treatment<br />
S. Valkov and P. Petrov, Sofia/BG<br />
Improvement of the surface properties of light metals by electron beam additive technique .................................. 40<br />
M. Ormanova, S. Valkov, P. Petrov, Sofia/BG<br />
Influence of the electron beam parameters on the structure and properties of electron beam surface treated<br />
Ti-6Al-4V alloy .......................................................................................................................................................... 46
Applications<br />
U. Reisgen, S. Olschok, O. Engels, Aachen/DE; M. Sawannia, M. Jarwitz, Stuttgart/DE<br />
Temporally and spatially controlled temperature fields during material processing with the electron beam ........... 50<br />
P. Hollmann, M. Michler, A. Buchwalder, Freiberg/DE; R. Zenker, Mittweida/DE<br />
Electron Beam Welding (EBW) of Additively Manufactured Alloyed Steels ............................................................. 56<br />
T. Pinto, D. Oliver, M. Nunn; Cambridge/UK; E. Warner, G. Jones, P. Wallace; Derby/UK<br />
Electron beam welding for the manufacture of safety critical components<br />
from hot isostatic pressed low alloy steel ................................................................................................................. 64<br />
Special Materials<br />
A. Senger, T. Evers, T. Krichel, S. Olschok, U. Reisgen Aachen/DE; T. Jokisch, Berlin/DE<br />
Electron beam welding of the conventionally casted and directionally<br />
solidified superalloy Alloy-247 LC ............................................................................................................................. 73<br />
T. Jokisch, Berlin/DE; N. Doynov, R. Ossenbrink, V. Michailov, Cottbus/DE; B. Böttger, A. Senger, Aachen/DE<br />
Analysis of temperature field during electron beam welding of hot crack sensitive nickel base alloy ...................... 81<br />
H. Kendziora<br />
Electron beam brazing of fusion reactor heat sinks ................................................................................................. 88<br />
Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing<br />
Baufeld B., Schönfelder S., Löwer T., Gilching/DE<br />
Wire Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing at pro-beam ....................................................................................... 93<br />
List of authors 100
Action to address the lack of knowledge of EB technology amongst<br />
engineers and others<br />
Klaus-Rainer Schulze, Neuberg, Germany<br />
Since 1958 electron beam welding has been recognized as an outstanding technology and used worldwide on an<br />
industrial scale over the course of decades. The number of applications is legendary and well known amongst experts.<br />
But most engineers engaged with industrial welding or product design work are not sufficiently experienced,<br />
or even aware of the possibilities or opportunities that EB technologies offer. So major advantages, both in product<br />
realization, cost saving and manufacturing efficiency are missed. This happens despite the availability of an appreciable<br />
number of publications both for experts [1] and – essentially within the idea illustrated here - for beginners [2].<br />
Therefore, it is now high-time to address this lack of knowledge and to establish a better system for further education.<br />
Some outlines for introducing these changes are given below.<br />
1 Common experiences<br />
Years ago, when I was employed within sales and marketing of EB machines, one day I got a call from industry asking<br />
for a laser machine. After engaging with the caller, he replied: “Oh what? EB that’s yesterday’s technology! Today<br />
we have lasers.” - On other multiple occasions I experienced similar reactions; during the installation of a new<br />
EB machine on a customer’s site, some not directly involved with the project were amazed to learn about the possibilities<br />
of the EB processing. They had never heard about this tool during their studies at university.<br />
To be honest, there are a few universities giving lessons which include electron beam processing. But even those<br />
establishments only provide a basic outline, sometimes no longer than a single chapter. I understand most course<br />
studies are jam-packed. But why is there always time and space for laser topics to a greater extent but not comparably<br />
for EB?<br />
Similarly, throughout the education and qualification for Welding Engineers within the Welding Societies, topics relating<br />
to EB are only lighted touched upon. (I assume, this applies not only in Germany).<br />
Moreover, in the past all the existing education content relating to EB – how much or little, only seem to focus on the<br />
beam in itself and its manipulation as well as to the basics of the welding process but not to the importance of EB<br />
technologies in respect of component design as well as its economic efficiency. In other words, we have to much<br />
better in education, not only for welding specialists but also for designers and production engineers as well.<br />
2 What should be included in education and training, etc. – and to whom<br />
We have to distinguish between project engineers, production planners and EB shop-floor operatives. So, the depth<br />
of subjects taught should be different – and following the extent of the related courses. According to our experiences<br />
we have to specify the courses to three groups of participants:<br />
A. University courses for students<br />
B. Advanced training for engineers<br />
C. Basic education for operators.<br />
But for all groups we recommend a basic content as given in fig. 1<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong> 1
Figure 1.<br />
General basic content for education in EB processes and technologies<br />
etail to te rincial oint lite in ill e elaine y te oral reentation rin te conference o et<br />
a etter ireion a fe eale of oeroint lie ere elin toic only are iven in <br />
2<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong>
Figure 2.<br />
Minor extract from PowerPoint for the EB welding chapter<br />
can e een te ect atter an core to e covere are<br />
• Importance of EB technologies<br />
• Beam generation, forming and handling<br />
• Welding process and conditions<br />
• Many examples of welded applications<br />
• Custom tailored EB machines<br />
• Automation of mass production parts by EB processing<br />
Further essential topics include<br />
• Part design within EB guidelines<br />
• Welding procedure requirements<br />
• Quality assurance procedures<br />
• Safety precautions<br />
• conoic eciency ot enerally an in etail<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong> 3
lto te leon ncle concern elin in vac oter rocere are alo reviee<br />
• rface oication<br />
• EB Drilling and Perforation<br />
• Nonvacuum EB applications.<br />
Naturally, a short comparison between electron beam and laser beam is also reviewed. This comparison is non-partian<br />
an oe not roote or icreit eiter tecnoloy t treat eac attrite realitically<br />
It must be emphasized, that the whole course is a theoretical one – even if some real example parts help to illustrate<br />
certain matters. There is no practical exercise on an EB machine included but visiting any site with EB processing<br />
would be an advantage.<br />
3 Practice of courses<br />
From my own knowledge and practical experience over many years, I can state the following:<br />
A. t niverity level a loc lectre coverin lectre or ill ll te tie for ater an acelor tent<br />
with new and interesting content. EB topic examination is part of the general one for the semester.<br />
B. Because the EB topic is included within the general program of study, the younger students will receive tuition<br />
ic ee rly itin anfactrin rocee o tey ol not overee it later on in ractice<br />
C. vance trainin core for enineer fro intry it ol incle te ae content t en oe ore<br />
time, up to 24 lecture hours over a three-day time frame. This should also include the two hours required for the<br />
examination. Participants to these courses bring a lot of practical experiences with them along, which when<br />
discussed within the course can usually develop into new ideas and solutions for existing problems.<br />
D. aic trainin for oerator ol ave an overvie of te iortance of ein eciency an oter aect<br />
of employing the technology, but will concentrate on aspects concerning machine handling, developing optimum<br />
parameters and welding procedures. Whilst this course is also a theoretical one covering 8 lecture hours,<br />
it i neceary tat it i folloe it intrction on te on acine nly ten ill a certicate e ie<br />
Following this approach, operators will have a better understanding and appreciation of what they are doing<br />
instead of just button pushing.<br />
4 Status quo<br />
A number of people should have the technical experience as well as the skill in teaching to conduct the EB education<br />
mapped out. Unfortunately, only some professors at a few universities are familiar with EB technology. They may<br />
also not have enough time to spend more than two or three lecture hours for this subject. The situation at welding<br />
societies like <strong>DVS</strong>-SLV is not much better, and in fact their trainers are mostly even less familiar with EB.<br />
A solution to this problem would be to engage an expert as a guest lecturer. We tried this on a number of occasions<br />
over the past years – both at universities and at SLV. Moreover, the same expert can undertake advanced training<br />
core in intry an reearc etalient it eai ecically orientate to teir reireent n all<br />
cae te articiant ave a very oitive feeac o it i ree to rovie real enet<br />
it reect to ro e ave in te eanile create certie ecation ieline [ ic otline<br />
not only te tecnical content of te core t alo all te etail of it eection inclin eaination e rt<br />
core accorin a el in anary at alle articiant cae fro erany an fro<br />
iterlan <br />
Figure 3.<br />
e rt core accorin <br />
4<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong>
Unfortunately, due to the corona virus pandemic we were prevented from undertaken following courses. Now we<br />
hope for better times. But this is only half the truth, too few responses from industry to a website announcement<br />
means that scheduling with a fixed date (from SLV) is not economically viable. So, the SLV have revised its position<br />
and will only offer the course without a fixed date, until there are sufficient interested parties. Having collected a<br />
number of them, SLV will then make an arrangement of dates to bring all together. But to make this into a success<br />
story, wider publicity and advertising is necessary – not only through SLV Halle.<br />
Coming to group (C), an equivalent guideline is still in preparation. Content and procedure are defined (as quoted<br />
above) as well as examination questions, now the certification body is asked to finish the approval. But the aspects<br />
for its implementation will be the same as for <strong>DVS</strong> 1190.<br />
5 Prospects and task setting<br />
As everybody within the EB community knows, this technology has worldwide acceptance over many years, but it<br />
survives through the dedicated activity of a limited group of insiders. However most the active groups do not promote<br />
the technology outwardly, but nearly always faced inwardly towards their own groups. Although we have tried for<br />
many years to get greater publicity for EB technologies, we have recognised that a way to achieve this could be<br />
through better education. Both lectures for students and advanced training for engineers will then enable them to use<br />
EB within their own fields, and to gain real advantages. These new “experts” will then be able to spread and share<br />
their experience and widen so the greater public awareness.<br />
Therefore, maximum success of the education and training programs is the primary goal, and as much as possible<br />
experts should be engaged as lecturers, in any institution. It is not the question of defining a course’s content – this<br />
already exists within the <strong>DVS</strong> guidelines. Of course, an experienced guest instructor can help to “find one’s feet”.<br />
This support is addressed especially to other SLV besides Halle.<br />
Last but not least, every one of us should promote the training courses and point out to his peers, up to and including<br />
industry management, the announcements on SLV’s website.<br />
6 What else?<br />
Undoubtedly, the content of the lectures must be updated in line with current technological and research developments.<br />
At least within <strong>DVS</strong> this will be assured by the scheduled review of all documents.<br />
Even though we have discussed this topic based on a German version of education program, it should also be possible<br />
to establish a comparable one in other languages and countries – compare e. g. [3].<br />
Literature<br />
[1] H. Schultz: Elektronenstrahlschweißen – Grundlagen, Maschinen, Anwendungen, <strong>DVS</strong> Media GmbH,<br />
2017<br />
[2] K.-R. Schulze: Elektronenstrahltechnologien, Band 1 Wissen kompakt, <strong>DVS</strong> Media GmbH, 2011<br />
[3] K.-R. Schulze: Electron Beam Technologies, Vol. 1e Wissen kompakt, <strong>DVS</strong> Media GmbH, 2012<br />
[4] Richtlinie <strong>DVS</strong> 1190, <strong>DVS</strong>-Lehrgang Fachkraft Elektronenstrahlschweißen, 2019<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong> 5
Process monitoring in electron beam welding by optimizing the in-process<br />
sensor technology by means of backscattered electrons and optical<br />
emission<br />
S. Gach, Aachen, S. Olschok, U. Reisgen, Aachen<br />
The demands of the market on manufacturing companies and their products require a time and cost efficient production.<br />
There is an ever-increasing need to make welding production more transparent and to ensure and document<br />
processes and quality in order to be able to meet the requirements of customers as well as laws and regulations. The<br />
extension of sensor technology in electron beam welding can contribute to the achievement of these objectives - by<br />
integrating the detection of discrete wavelength ranges of optical process emissions, optimizing the detection of<br />
backscattered electrons and correlating the measurement signals to process changes and events, irregularities can<br />
be detected in-situ.<br />
The presented investigations include the further development of the detection and analysis of backscattered electrons<br />
and the utilization of optical sensors for the electron beam process. Weldings are performed with the simulation<br />
of typical failure scenarios. The data are evaluated with the aim to find temporal and causal correlations to the<br />
induced defects. It is investigated whether the correlation to welding defects of the combination of optical and conventional<br />
sensor technology is also possible with the optimized backscatter electron sensor technology alone.<br />
In the field of optical sensors the identification of characteristic optical process emissions by spectroscopy and a<br />
selection of suitable photodiodes and band-pass filters based on these results is investigated.<br />
1 Introduction<br />
Process monitoring in electron beam welding is usually limited to recording machine data such as acceleration voltage,<br />
beam current or lens currents and, if necessary, the correction values of the beam device. These enable process<br />
disturbances resulting from beam generation or beam guidance to be detected, but do not provide any information<br />
about a process disturbance from the actual impact zone of the beam on the component. Sporadically, the<br />
detection of the sample or component current and the measurement of the backside passing electron current at full<br />
penetration welds are carried out with the capillary open downwards. While the sample current is primarily relevant<br />
for the determination of the efficiency, the penetrating current allows at least a detection of a continuously opened<br />
capillary. A reliable assignment of signals to welding defects does not exist at present.<br />
2 State of the art<br />
When an electron beam interacts with a material, the kinetic energy of the electrons is converted into thermal energy.<br />
The majority of the energy is transferred to the conduction electrons in the lattice structure, which results in a higher<br />
lattice vibration, which in turn is equivalent to a higher temperature. Although efficiencies >90% are achieved, especially<br />
in deep welding, part of the energy is converted into secondary effects: As a result of the energy transfer to the<br />
conduction electrons, optically visible radiation and thermal radiation are emitted from the material. In addition, X-ray<br />
radiation is released, which is emitted directly by the beam electrons during their deceleration, called X-ray braking<br />
radiation, as well as the emission of the characteristic X-ray radiation, which is emitted by the hit material atoms. [1]<br />
[2] Not all beam electrons participate equally in the energy conversion, some are diffracted in the Coulomb fields and<br />
leave the material with only a small loss of energy. These are called backscattered electrons. During energy transfer,<br />
individual electrons of the lattice compound of the material may receive sufficient energy that they exceed the exit<br />
energy to leave the material compound and leave the material as free electrons. These are called secondary electrons<br />
and can be differentiated from the backscattered electrons by their significantly lower velocity, respectively<br />
energy. In addition to the effects already described, vapourisation of the material occurs, especially in deep welding.<br />
The metal vapour, similar to a PVD process, spreads out in a hemispherical shape over the vapour capillary in a<br />
vacuum and coats everything that is exposed to it. The vapour contains positively charged metal vapour ions. [3][4]<br />
The described side effects all originate from the effective range of the electron beam and can thus be regarded as<br />
information carriers of the welding process. Detected by means of suitable detectors and correlated with associated<br />
process disturbances, they could form a basis for process monitoring systems in the future.<br />
6<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong>
3 Experimental procedure and analysis<br />
Backscattered electrons are detected by means of a detector unit consisting of eight individual detector plates, which<br />
are mounted in a ring around the beam path on the chamber ceiling, Figure 1 left. The individual detector plates are<br />
made of graphite and can be aligned orthogonally to the beam spot by means of a cam disk. Electrons hitting the<br />
etector late are ie to ron via a earin reitor nt e voltae ro at te nt t<br />
allows the detection of the incident electrons, Figure 1 (middle). The analogue converter from National Instruments<br />
(Ni9205) provides a cumulative sampling rate of 250kHz.<br />
Figure 1.<br />
Backscatter detector in installed condition (left), circuit of the measurement setup shunt and detector<br />
gap (middle), Row data signal record (inverted) of a backscattered electron measurement (right)<br />
The optical process emission is recorded using the Ocean HDX-XR spectrometer with an integration time of 6ms in<br />
a etectale avelent rane eteen n an n otical re i ie tro a vac feetro<br />
into te orin caer an aline to te roce colliatin len enre cient aralleli e len i<br />
rotecte fro vaoriation y te roce ae y a rotective la an a coaial rotective a o eli<br />
40mnl/min). Comparative measurements using the DIABEAM beam measurement system [5] show no adverse<br />
cane in ea iaeter e to te vole o te caer rere ettle at a tale eiliri -3 mbar.<br />
4 Results<br />
4.1 Backscattered Electrons<br />
Several challenges exist during the acquisition of backscattered and secondary electrons. Firstly, the raw data of the<br />
accattere electron inal o noiy eareent recor ere are neative eection recore a ol<br />
be expected from the detection of backscattered and secondary electrons, but also positive signals are occur, Figure<br />
1 (right). The reason for latter is that positively charged ions hit the detector plates, being ejected by the plasma<br />
jet from the vapour capillary. If positively charged ions meet the detector plate at the same time as negative electron<br />
tey erae eac oter inal n tatitical averae ti lea to a noie of te inal eenin of te<br />
amount of negative and positive particles.<br />
Secondly, metal vapour that emits from the capillary and spreads throughout the vacuum chamber accumulates on<br />
te etector late it increain layer ticne a in a yicalvaoreoition roce i falie<br />
the measurement due to a changed degree of absorption of the detector material. The measurement results stabilise<br />
if a homogeneous vapour deposition layer occurred on the detector surfaces. Ventilation of the vacuum chamber<br />
leads to a change in the absorption conditions as well due to oxidation. Successful, reliable measurements can only<br />
be achieved by deliberately coating the detectors directly before welding, using material of the same kind as being<br />
welded.<br />
eenin on te ele alloy no tainale rface layer i fore n oe alloy layer eel o fro te etector<br />
surfaces. Depending on the alloy, this makes reliable measurement impossible.<br />
Two possibilities are currently being evaluated to improve the noise ratio - on the one hand, increasing the sampling<br />
rate of the analogue converter, which probably reduce the noise through temporal equalisation. For this purpose, the<br />
electron beam welding system will be equipped with a measuring computer with fast analogue inputs, which will<br />
allo te etector late to e canne at to er cannel a clearer teoral ierentiation eteen<br />
positive vapour ions and electrons will be possible. On the other hand, protecting the detector plates via a coaxial<br />
inert a vole o i a econ aroac i tecnie i alreay cceflly in e in te el of laer ea<br />
welding under vacuum (LaVa) to protect the laser optics [6]. It will possibly minimise vaporisation of the detector<br />
late ic avoi te neative eect of layerin an aitionally it i reventin te eavy an lo vaor ion<br />
fro reacin te etector late ile te lit an fat electron ol e only litly aecte ll te analye<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong> 7
presented below were carried out on high-alloy steel after prior vapour deposition of the detector plates. The analyses<br />
are based on the mean values of the backscatter electron signals, recorded during a complete weld.<br />
Figure 2.<br />
Backscattered electron distribution on the detector plates during a weld. The signals on a detector plate<br />
are normalised to the total backscatter current and plotted in a spider web diagram (in percent). The<br />
position of the emphasis of the distribution provides information about the capillary.<br />
A local evaluation of the backscatter signals relative to the welding direction allows statements to be made about the<br />
alignment of the capillary. For this purpose, the signals of the individual detectors are shown in the form of a spider<br />
web diagram, Figure 2. The proportion of a detector plate is normalised to the total measured backscattering electron<br />
radiation. Thus, the scales of the diagram are given in percent. A completely point-symmetrical distribution should<br />
terefore relt in for eac etector late f te inivial inal are connecte it a line te relt i a<br />
polygon (blue line) that allows conclusions to be drawn about the distribution of the backscattered electrons. If chan-<br />
e occr in te caillary tee ol alo e reecte in te accatter inal ortoonal to te elin<br />
direction, there should be a symmetrical distribution on the left and on the right. If one side is disproportionately re-<br />
reente ti ol inicate a tiltin of te roce c a col e cae y an ee oet or iilar<br />
One way to express the distribution in two numerical values is to introduce the emphasis of the polygon (red dot). It<br />
allows a direct description of the distribution via its X or Y coordinate. If it is located in the coordinate origin, the distribution<br />
is point-symmetrical, e.g. if there is no welding movement at all. This is also approximately present at slow<br />
welding speeds, Figure 3 above. If it moves orthogonally to the welding direction (Y-Direction), the case of tilting<br />
described above is present. This is clearly visible in the welds with higher welding speed, Figure 3 below. The seams<br />
were welded in only one evacuation-cycle to avoid oxidation of the detector plates. They were directly welded one<br />
next to the other on one specimen (sheet metal dimension 300x200x6, material 1.4301), clamped on one side. As<br />
component distortion occurs, the angle between the beam and the workpiece changes, causing the welds to yield<br />
laterally, visible in the micrographs. Observing the emphasis, the tilting of the specimen is shown in a displacement<br />
in the negative Y-direction. With increasing welding speed, the scattering pattern shifts against the welding direction.<br />
The proportion of forward scattered electrons decreases, while it increases in the opposite direction. Likewise, the<br />
distribution narrows, Figure 3. The emphasis shifts from zero in negative X-direction. This means that with increasing<br />
welding speed, the electron beam interacts primarily on the front half-shell of the capillary wall and electrons are also<br />
reecte ac fro tere ooite to te elin irection<br />
4.2 Optical process emission<br />
Analysis of the optical process emission shows that the wavelength spectrum of an electron beam welding process<br />
is basically the same, regardless of which material it is exposed to, Figure 4. The investigated materials, unalloyed<br />
teel ialloye tainle teel a ell a alini l only o ierence in te inten-<br />
ity of teir eiion ic can e reconie y ierent cont in te ectr e ierent intenitie of te<br />
ierent aterial are not irectly coarale it eac oter a tey ere etecte it ierent aertre to<br />
avoid saturation of the spectrometer.<br />
8<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong>
Figure 3.<br />
accatter electron inal itrition at ierent elin ee aterial nery er nit<br />
length constant at 40J/mm – Accelerating voltage 60 kV, sheet metal dimension 300x200x6<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong> 9
Figure 4.<br />
Optical emission of an electron beam welding process on the unalloyed steel S355 (blue), high-alloyed<br />
stainless steel 1.4301 (grey) as well as the aluminium alloy Al5083 (orange)<br />
In the ultraviolet range (UV) up to the blue range of the visible spectrum (VIS), there is almost no emission for all<br />
materials. The exception is aluminium, which shows characteristic peaks at individual wavelengths, which can be<br />
assigned to individual alloy elements, beside aluminium these are manganese and magnesium. In the range of the<br />
green light spectrum from approx. 500 nm wavelength, the intensity begins to increase over the visible spectrum in<br />
the direction of red to reach the highest radiation intensity in the near-infrared range (IR) at approx. 900nm. At<br />
n all crve o a inicant ro in intenity i i roaly e to te rotective la or te len aterial,<br />
which is not completely transmissive in this wavelength range.<br />
If the emission spectrum is not considered as a snapshot, but is extended by a time axis in which it is recorded during<br />
a weld, it is possible to infer various events from the interaction zone of the electron beam through changes in the<br />
ectr or eale oenin a caillary on te root ie a occr en elin a ee ecien i reecte<br />
in a drop in the luminous intensity, Figure 5. When the capillary is opened on the root side, a certain portion of the<br />
raiation ae tro onar an i no loner reecte ar i alie to te entire ectr itot<br />
individual wavelengths emerging. During a slope-up of the beam current the capillary builds up into the depth of the<br />
material which is accompanied by a certain time delay. Thus, an increased intensity of the optical signal can always<br />
e een rin te loe ic level o a oon a a tale caillary i fore<br />
coarale eavior can e een it a eect f a a of an oint i oene teie in ti cae fro ero<br />
gap to 0.1 mm followed by 0.2 mm, Figure 6 above, the intensity of the optical signal decreases with the width of the<br />
gap. The spectrometer observes the welding process from behind at an angle of 135° in the X-Y plane during all<br />
tet e eect i ineenent of eter te lit oen toar or aay fro te ectroeter f coer in<br />
(Ø3 mm) are inserted into boreholes in the weld pass at equidistant intervals, a periodically increase of the intensity<br />
appears as soon as the beam hits copper, Figure 6 below. In addition, the characteristic wavelengths of the copper<br />
appear, particularly visible in the blue region of the wavelength spectrum, where the actual EB process is absent.<br />
oarale eect can alo e etecte if te coer aterial i not lace oen to te rface t at a et of<br />
6 mm from the root.<br />
Figure 5.<br />
ectr of a ee ecien ae of itrent teel recore rin elin left<br />
Sketch of the weld conditions with parameters given and top view of the weld (right)<br />
10<br />
<strong>DVS</strong> <strong>368</strong>