Browsing by Author "Weihe, Stefan"

Now showing 1 - 16 of 16

Open Access
Abschlussbericht zum Projekt "Ressourcenschonende Mischschweißverbindungen für Hochleistungs-Leichtbauverbunde"
(Stuttgart : Institut für Materialprüfung, Werkstoffkunde und Festigkeitslehre (IMWF) der Universität Stuttgart, 2018) Panzer, Florian; Werz, Martin; Nguyen, Phuc Lanh; Schneider, Matthias; Weihe, Stefan; Liewald, Mathias
Im Rahmen des Projektes wurde das Rührreibschweißen als ressourceneffizientes und umweltfreundliches Fertigungsverfahren zur Herstellung von beanspruchungs- und gewichtsoptimierten Automobilbauteilen erforscht. Dabei galt es, Aluminium und Stahl in verschiedenen Dicken durch Rührreibschweißen zu fügen und durch anschließendes Umformen zum End- bzw. Zwischenprodukt umzuformen. Die auf die Festigkeiten der Werkstoffe angepassten Blechdicken führen zu einer optimalen Ausnutzung der Werkstoffe, da an jeder Stelle der Werkstoff verwendet werden kann, der die lokalen Anforderungen am besten erfüllt. Durch den Einsatz dieser sogenannten Tailor Welded Blanks sinkt der Werkstoffverbrauch insgesamt und es können auf Leichtbau optimierte Bauteile hergestellt werden. Im Rahmen des Projektes wurden verschiedene Aluminium- und Stahlgüten in unterschiedlichen Dicken durch Rührreibschweißen gefügt und die Festigkeits- sowie Umformeigenschaften ermittelt. Da die Einhaltung von engen Toleranzen mit hohen Kosten in der Fertigung einhergeht, wurden die für den Prozess notwendigen Toleranzen untersucht, Lösungen zum Umgang mit diesen Toleranzen erarbeitet und Anforderungen an Anlagen zur Produktion von Tailor Welded Blanks identifiziert. Zudem wurde das Umformen von Blechen mit unterschiedlichen Materialen und Blechdicken untersucht. Darüber hinaus wurde eine Reihe weiterer Themen wie das Verschweißen von Gusswerkstoffen und Wärmebehandlungsstrategien beleuchtet. Abschließend wurden Demonstratorbauteile in Form von Tailor Welded Blanks in Aluminium-Stahl- Mischbauweise durch Rührreibschweißen und anschließendes Umformen gefertigt.
Open Access
Analysis of hydrogen-induced changes in the cyclic deformation behavior of AISI 300-series austenitic stainless steels using cyclic indentation testing
(2021) Brück, Sven; Blinn, Bastian; Diehl, Katharina; Wissing, Yannick; Müller, Julian; Schwarz, Martina; Christ, Hans-Jürgen; Beck, Tilmann; Staedler, Thorsten; Jiang, Xin; Butz, Benjamin; Weihe, Stefan
The locally occurring mechanisms of hydrogen embrittlement significantly influence the fatigue behavior of a material, which was shown in previous research on two different AISI 300-series austenitic stainless steels with different austenite stabilities. In this preliminary work, an enhanced fatigue crack growth as well as changes in crack initiation sites and morphology caused by hydrogen were observed. To further analyze the results obtained in this previous research, in the present work the local cyclic deformation behavior of the material volume was analyzed by using cyclic indentation testing. Moreover, these results were correlated to the local dislocation structures obtained with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in the vicinity of fatigue cracks. The cyclic indentation tests show a decreased cyclic hardening potential as well as an increased dislocation mobility for the conditions precharged with hydrogen, which correlates to the TEM analysis, revealing courser dislocation cells in the vicinity of the fatigue crack tip. Consequently, the presented results indicate that the hydrogen enhanced localized plasticity (HELP) mechanism leads to accelerated crack growth and change in crack morphology for the materials investigated. In summary, the cyclic indentation tests show a high potential for an analysis of the effects of hydrogen on the local cyclic deformation behavior.
Open Access
Analytical description of the criterion for the columnar-to-equiaxed transition during laser beam welding of aluminum alloys
(2021) Böhm, Constantin; Hagenlocher, Christian; Wagner, Jonas; Graf, Thomas; Weihe, Stefan
Open Access
Dilution ratio and the resulting composition profile in dissimilar laser powder bed fusion of AlSi10Mg and Al99.8
(2020) Böhm, Constantin; Werz, Martin; Weihe, Stefan
Open Access
Effect of weld length on strength, fatigue behaviour and microstructure of intersecting stitch-friction stir welded AA 6016-T4 sheets
(2023) Walz, Dominik; Göbel, Robin; Werz, Martin; Weihe, Stefan
Friction stir welding is a promising joining process for boosting lightweight construction in the industrial and automotive sector by enabling the weldability of high-strength aluminum alloys. However, the high process forces usually result in large and heavy equipment for this joining method, which conflicts with flexible application. In order to circumvent this issue, a friction stir welding gun has been developed which is capable of producing short stitch welds-either stand-alone as an alternative to spot welds or merging into each other appearing like a conventional friction stir weld. In this study, the influence of the stitch seam length on the strength properties of intersecting friction stir welds is investigated, and the weld is characterized. For this purpose, EN AW-6016 T4 sheets were welded in butt joint configuration with varying stitch lengths between 2 and 15 mm. Both the static and dynamic strength properties were investigated, and hardness and temperature measurements were carried out. The results show a scalability of the tensile strength as well as the fatigue strength over the stitch seam length, while the substitute proof strength is not affected. Hereby, the tensile strength reached up 80% of the base materials tensile strength with the chosen parameter setup. Likewise, the stitch weld length influences the hardness characteristics of the welds in the transition area.
Open Access
Fatigue behavior and lifetime assessment of an austenitic stainless steel in the VHCF regime at ambient and elevated temperatures
(2023) Schopf, Tim; Weihe, Stefan; Daniel, Tobias; Smaga, Marek; Beck, Tilmann
While the LCF behavior of austenitic steels used in nuclear power plants is already well investigated, the VHCF regime has not been characterized in detail so far. For this, fatigue tests on the metastable austenitic steel AISI 347/1.4550 were performed with a servo‐hydraulic testing system at test frequencies up to 980 Hz and with an ultrasonic fatigue testing system at a test frequency of 20,000 Hz. To compare these test results to the ASME standard fatigue curve (total strain amplitude vs. load cycles to failure), a fictitious‐elastic and an elastically plastic assessment method was used. The elaborated elastic-plastic assessment method generates good results, while a purely elastic assessment in the VHCF regime, commonly used in literature, leads to significantly nonconservative results. Moreover, phase transformation from metastable austenite into stable α′‐martensite can take place, and no specimen failure occurs in the VHCF regime. Consequently, for this material, a real endurance limit exists.
Open Access
Feasibility study on additive manufacturing of ferritic steels to meet mechanical properties of safety relevant forged parts
(2022) Mally, Linda; Werz, Martin; Weihe, Stefan
Additive manufacturing processes such as selective laser melting are rapidly gaining a foothold in safety-relevant areas of application such as powerplants or nuclear facilities. Special requirements apply to these applications. A certain material behavior must be guaranteed and the material must be approved for these applications. One of the biggest challenges here is the transfer of these already approved materials from conventional manufacturing processes to additive manufacturing. Ferritic steels that have been processed conventionally by forging, welding, casting, and bending are widely used in safety-relevant applications such as reactor pressure vessels, steam generators, valves, and piping. However, the use of ferritic steels for AM has been relatively little explored. In search of new materials for the SLM process, it is assumed that materials with good weldability are also additively processible. Therefore, the processability with SLM, the process behavior, and the achievable material properties of the weldable ferritic material 22NiMoCr3-7, which is currently used in nuclear facilities, are investigated. The material properties achieved in the SLM are compared with the conventionally forged material as it is used in state-of-the-art pressure water reactors. This study shows that the ferritic-bainitic steel 22NiMoCr3-7 is suitable for processing with SLM. Suitable process parameters were found with which density values > 99% were achieved. For the comparison of the two materials in this study, the microstructure, hardness values, and tensile strength were compared. By means of a specially adapted heat treatment method, the material properties of the printed material could be approximated to those of the original block material. In particular, the cooling medium/cooling method was adapted and the cooling rate reduced. The targeted ferritic-bainitic microstructure was achieved by this heat treatment. The main difference found between the two materials relates to the grain sizes present. For the forged material, the grain size distribution varies between very fine and slightly coarse grains. The grain size distribution in the printed material is more uniform and the grains are smaller overall. In general, it was difficult and only minimal possible to induce grain growth. As a result, the hardness values of the printed material are also slightly higher. The tensile strength could be approximated to that of the reference material up to 60 MPa. The approximation of the mechanical-technological properties is therefore deemed to be adequate.
Open Access
Friction stir welded and deep drawn multi-material tailor welded blanks
(2019) Panzer, Florian; Schneider, Matthias; Werz, Martin; Weihe, Stefan
The ever increasing demand for more resource-efficient and safer vehicles in today’s automotive industry makes lightweight construction techniques necessary. However, overcoming contradicting requirements arising from lightweight design and safety remains a challenging task. The extent to which lightweight measures can be applied in order to save fuel, heavily depends on the fact that rising safety requirements have to be met by increasing strength of parts. This contradicting demand for parts with high strength and low weight leads to the development of new production technologies. One example, regarding car body components, is the tailor welded blank (TWB) technology. In tailor welded blanks, materials and thicknesses are locally adapted to meet the needed strength and strain properties while keeping the weight as low as possible. While tailor welded blanks consisting of similar materials with different thicknesses are already used in vehicles, the use of TWBs with dissimilar materials, e.g. steel and aluminum, is still in development due to the problems in joining dissimilar materials. Especially when manufacturing parts made of TWBs through joining and subsequent deep drawing, the joint needs to have very good strength properties in order not to fail during forming. One way to overcome these joining difficulties is friction stir welding. In this paper, a methodology is presented to produce multi-material tailor welded blanks with varying thicknesses through friction stir welding (FSW) and deep drawing in a subsequent step. A newly developed FSW joint configuration is used to weld steel sheets in 1 mm thickness to 2 mm thick aluminum sheets. A welding parameter study is conducted to investigate the influence of the process parameters on the joint quality. Tensile and Nakajima tests show that the joint strength, obtained with optimal process parameters, exceeds the strength of the steel base material. Thus, failure occurs in the steel, whereas the joint remains intact. The friction stir welded blanks were furthermore deep drawn. Two different tool approaches were tested to compensate the different sheet thicknesses during the forming process. Using the more suitable approach, blanks were deep drawn with three different punch geometries to show the potential of friction stir welding for the manufacturing of multi-material tailor welded blanks.
Open Access
Investigation of oxide layer development of X6CrNiNb18-10 stainless steel exposed to high-temperature water
(2024) Veile, Georg; Hirpara, Radhika; Lackmann, Simon; Weihe, Stefan
The oxide layer development of X6CrNiNb18-10 (AISI 347) during exposure to high-temperature water has been investigated. Stainless steels are known to form a dual oxide layer in corrosive environments. The secondary Fe-rich oxide layer has no significant protective effect. In contrast, the primary Cr-rich oxide layer is known to reach a stabilized state, protecting the base metal from further oxidation. This study’s purpose was to determine the development of oxide layer dimensions over exposure time using SEM, TEM and EDX line scans. While a parabolic development of Cr in the protective primary layer and Fe in the secondary layer was observed, the dimensions of the Ni layer remained constant. Ni required the presence of a pronounced Fe-rich secondary layer before being able to reside on the outer secondary layer. With increasing immersion time, the Ni element fraction surpassed the Cr element fraction in the secondary layer. Oxide growth on the secondary layer could be observed. After 480 h, nearly the entire surface was covered by the outer oxide layer. In the metal matrix, no depletion of Cr or Ni could be observed over time; however, an increased presence of Cr and Ni in the primary layer was found at the expense of Fe content. The Nb-stabilized stainless steel was subject to the formation of Niobium pentoxide (Nb2O5), with the quantity and magnitude of element fraction increasing over exposure time.
Open Access
Investigation of tool degradation during friction stir welding of hybrid aluminum-steel sheets in a combined butt and overlap joint
(2024) Göbel, Robin; Schwertel, Stefanie; Weihe, Stefan; Werz, Martin
Friction stir welding, as a solid-state welding technique, is especially suitable for effectively joining high-strength aluminum alloys, as well as for multi-material welds. This research investigates the friction stir welding of thin aluminum and steel sheets, an essential process in the production of hybrid tailor-welded blanks employed in deep drawing applications. Despite its proven advantages, the welding process exhibits variable outcomes concerning formability and joint strength when utilizing an H13 welding tool. To better understand these inconsistencies, multiple welds were performed in this study, joining 1 mm thick steel to 2 mm thick aluminum sheets, with a cumulative length of 7.65 m. The accumulation of material on the welding tool was documented through 3D scanning and weighing. The integrity of the resulting weld seam was analyzed through metallographic sections and X-ray imaging. It was found that the adhering material built up continuously around the tool pin over several welds totaling between 1.5 m and 2.5 m before ultimately detaching. This accretion of material notably affected the welding process, resulting in increased intermixing of steel particles within the aluminum matrix. This research provides detailed insights into the dynamics of friction stir welding in multi-material welds, particularly in the context of tool material interaction and its impact on weld quality.
Open Access
Investigations of metallurgical differences in AISI 347 and their influence on deformation and transformation behaviour and resulting fatigue life
(2024) Veile, Georg; Regitz, Elen; Smaga, Marek; Weihe, Stefan; Beck, Tillmann
Due to variations in chemical composition and production processes, homonymous austenitic stainless steels can differ significantly regarding their initial microstructure, metastability, and thus, their fatigue behavior. Microstructural investigations and fatigue tests have been performed in order to evaluate this aspect. Three different batches and production forms of nominally one type of steel AISI 347 were investigated under monotonic tensile tests and cyclic loading under total strain and stress control in low and high cycle fatigue regimes, respectively. The deformation induced α’-martensite formation was investigated globally by means of in situ magnetic measurements and locally using optical light microscopy of color etching of micrographs. The investigation showed that the chemical composition and the different production processes influence the material behavior. In fatigue tests, a higher metastability and thus a higher level of deformation induced α’-martensite pronounced cyclic hardening, resulting in significantly greater endurable stresses in total strain-controlled tests and an increase in fatigue life in stress-controlled tests. For applications of non-destructive-testing, detailed knowledge of a component’s metastability is required. In less metastable batches and for lower stress levels, α’-martensite primarily formed at the plasticization zone of a crack. Furthermore, the formation and nucleation points of α’-martensite were highly dependent on grain size and the presence of δ-ferrite. This study provides valuable insights into the different material behavior of three different batches with the same designation, i.e., AISI 347, due to different manufacturing processes and differences in the chemical composition, metastability, and microstructure.
Open Access
Micro-twinning in IN738LC manufactured with laser powder bed fusion
(2023) Megahed, Sandra; Krämer, Karl Michael; Kontermann, Christian; Heinze, Christoph; Udoh, Annett; Weihe, Stefan; Oechsner, Matthias
Components manufactured with Metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB/M) are built in a layerwise fashion. The PBF-LB/M build orientation affects grain morphology and orientation. Depending on the build orientation, microstructures from equiaxed to textured grains can develop. In the case of a textured microstructure, a clear anisotropy of the mechanical properties affecting short- and long-term mechanical properties can be observed, which must be considered in the component design. Within the scope of this study, the IN738LC tensile and creep properties of PBF-LB/M samples manufactured in 0° (perpendicular to build direction), 45° and 90° (parallel to build direction) build orientations were investigated. While the hot tensile results (at 850 °C) are as expected, where the tensile properties of the 45° build orientation lay between those of 0° and 90°, the creep results (performed at 850 °C and 200 MPa) of the 45° build orientation show the least time to rupture. This study discusses the microstructural reasoning behind the peculiar creep behavior of 45° oriented IN738LC samples and correlates the results to heat-treated microstructures and the solidification conditions of the PBF-LB/M process itself.
Open Access
A physically based material model for the simulation of friction stir welding
(2020) Panzer, Florian; Shishova, Elizaveta; Werz, Martin; Weihe, Stefan; Eberhard, Peter; Schmauder, Siegfried
A physically based material model, taking into account the interdependence of material microstructure and yield strength, is presented for an Al 5182 series aluminum alloy for the simulation of friction stir welding using continuum mechanics approaches. A microstructure evolution equation considering dislocation density and grain size is used in conjunction with a description of yield stress. In order to fit experimental stress-strain curves, obtained from compression tests at various strain rates and temperatures, phenomenological relationships are developed for some of the model parameters. The material model is implemented in smoothed particle hydrodynamic research code as well as in the commercial finite element code Abaqus. Simulations for various strain rates and temperatures were performed and compared with experimental results as well as between the two discretization methods in order to verify the material model and the implementation. Simulations provide not only an accurate approximation of stress based on temperature, strain rate, and strain but also an improved insight into the microstructural evolution of the material.
Open Access
Practical approach to eliminate solidification cracks by supplementing AlMg4.5Mn0.7 with AlSi10Mg powder in laser powder bed fusion
(2022) Böhm, Constantin; Werz, Martin; Weihe, Stefan
Open Access
Residual stress formation mechanisms in laser powder bed fusion : a numerical evaluation
(2023) Kaess, Moritz; Werz, Martin; Weihe, Stefan
Additive manufacturing methods, such as the laser powder bed fusion, do not need any special tool or casting mold. This enables the fast realization of complex and individual geometries with integrated functions. However, the local heat input during the manufacturing process often leads to residual stresses and distortion. This in turn causes poor quality, scrap parts or can even terminate a job prematurely if the powder recoating mechanism collides with a distorted part during the process. This study investigates the generation mechanisms of residual stresses and distortion during laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) of stainless steel 316L in order to reduce these effects and thus contribute to improved process safety and efficiency. Therefore, numerical investigations with a finite element model on the scale of a few melt tracks and layers serve to develop a detailed understanding of the mechanisms during production. The work includes an investigation of the build plate temperature, the laser power and speed and the layer thickness. The results show a strong dependency on the build plate preheating and energy per unit length. A higher build plate temperature and a reduction of the energy per unit length both lead to lower residual stresses.
Open Access
A short-time approach for fatigue life evaluation of AISI 347 steel for nuclear power energy applications
(2021) Bill, Tobias; Acosta, Ruth; Boller, Christian; Donnerbauer, Kai; Lücker, Lukas; Walther, Frank; Heckmann, Klaus; Sievers, Jürgen; Schopf, Tim; Weihe, Stefan; Starke, Peter
AISI 347 austenitic steel is, as an example, used in nuclear energy piping systems. Piping filled with superheated steam or cooled water is particularly exposed to high stresses, whereupon local material properties in the pipes can change significantly, especially in the case of additional corrosive influences, leading to aging of the material. In the absence of appropriate information, such local material property variations are currently covered rather blanketly by safety factors set during the design of those components. An increase in qualified information could improve the assessment of the condition of such aged components. As part of the collaborative project “Microstructure-based assessment of the maximum service life of core materials and components subjected to corrosion and fatigue (MiBaLeB)”, the short-time procedure, StrainLife, was developed and validated by several fatigue tests. With this procedure, a complete S-N curve of a material can be determined on the basis of three fatigue tests only, which reduces the effort compared to a conventional approach significantly and is thus ideal for assessing the condition of aged material, where the material is often rare, and a cost-effective answer is often very needed. The procedure described is not just limited to traditional parameters, such as stress and strain, considered in destructive testing but rather extends into parameters derived from non-destructive testing, which may allow further insight into what may be happening within a material’s microstructure. To evaluate the non-destructive quantities measured within the StrainLife procedure and to correlate them with the aging process in a material, several fatigue tests were performed on unnotched and notched specimens under cyclic loading at room and elevated temperatures, as well as under various media conditions, such as distilled water and reactor pressure vessel boiling water (BWR) conditions.