Laser Joining of Dissimilar Metallic Materials for Advanced Structural and Engineering Applications
Lead Research Organisation:
Cranfield University
Department Name: Sch of Applied Sciences
Abstract
Joining of dissimilar metallic materials for advanced structural applications, e.g. car body, ship structures, medical appliances etc., is important for design flexibility. This will allow complementary characteristics of different metals to be exploited efficiently and therefore, will allow design engineers to push existing design boundaries for cost effective manufacturing of components. To realise the full potential it is vital to device energy efficient joining of such dissimilar metallic components. Welding is a simple and robust joining technique but the heat of welding will cause interfacial reactions between the participating alloys by triggering diffusion of atoms across the interface. This will result in formation of intermetallic compounds which would make the joint brittle and unserviceable. Therefore, development of welding processes for joining of dissimilar alloy combinations can play an important role in shaping next generation component architecture and transform manufacturing sector.
Laser fusion welding has the unique advantage of controlling the heat input and high resolution in applying the heat source. Therefore, laser fusion process offers the flexibility to control the weld pool shape and therefore mixing of the participating alloys. The proposed research programme aims at formulating robust and transformational laser joining technology for joining of different dissimilar metallic material combinations. A fundamental scientific approach will be deployed by systematically identifying and understanding the key underpinning process factors that determine the metallurgical characteristics and mechanical strength of a joint.
Three different dissimilar alloy combinations will be studied in the proposed research programme viz. iron-aluminium, titanium-stainless steel and nitinol-stainless steel. The dissimilar alloy combinations are chosen based on relevance to different industrial sector.
Laser fusion welding has the unique advantage of controlling the heat input and high resolution in applying the heat source. Therefore, laser fusion process offers the flexibility to control the weld pool shape and therefore mixing of the participating alloys. The proposed research programme aims at formulating robust and transformational laser joining technology for joining of different dissimilar metallic material combinations. A fundamental scientific approach will be deployed by systematically identifying and understanding the key underpinning process factors that determine the metallurgical characteristics and mechanical strength of a joint.
Three different dissimilar alloy combinations will be studied in the proposed research programme viz. iron-aluminium, titanium-stainless steel and nitinol-stainless steel. The dissimilar alloy combinations are chosen based on relevance to different industrial sector.
Planned Impact
Successful development of laser fusion welding for dissimilar metallic materials will have impact in multi-direction. It will push the existing boundaries of component design by allowing the design engineers to optimise architecture of structural components. On the other hand it will also bring a transformational change in the manufacturing processes for production of components of complex design and for critical applications. Successful completion of the project will have a positive impact in the economy, academia and society as a whole.
In the current global financial climate, manufacturing has been clearly identified as one of the extremely important and obvious sector which can be reliably depended on to generate resources which will stimulate growth.
Welding of dissimilar alloys is timely. The automotive sector is set to increase its aluminium usage as structural material from the current average of 140 kg to almost 250 kg per vehicle by 2025. This drive is entirely based on practical issues e.g. carbon footprint and high uncertainty in oil prices. Lowering of vehicle weight will improve durability, lower carbon emission and make it more affordable to drive. Similarly in aerospace industry there is requirement to join Al to Ti and between different alloys of aluminium. These two industries have an annual turnover of more than £31bn, employ more than 600,000 people directly and in supply chain. Similarly in ship and boat industries there is a continuous thrust to use more aluminium as structural material. However, the joining process is not cost effective and also the resulting structure is not mass efficient. Ship building and repairing industries, including both commercial and naval, have an annual turnover of £4.6bn and employs 60000 people. Both these industrial sectors have contributed significantly towards the UK economy and will continue to do in foreseeable future. The outcome from the proposed research will reinforce the international leading status of UK manufacturing in these sectors.
Medicine is the other target sector for this research. Joining of Ti based alloys to stainless steel will create new generation of cost effective surgical implants e.g. stents. The medical OEM (original equipment manufacturers) sector also has a very strong growth potential with an estimated market of more than a billion USD. However, development of joining principles between Ti based alloys and stainless steel will go far beyond medical applications into energy and aerospace sectors.
A robust plan to disseminate the research findings has also been proposed through organisation of a number of industry days and by creating a web portal for further outreach.
In the current global financial climate, manufacturing has been clearly identified as one of the extremely important and obvious sector which can be reliably depended on to generate resources which will stimulate growth.
Welding of dissimilar alloys is timely. The automotive sector is set to increase its aluminium usage as structural material from the current average of 140 kg to almost 250 kg per vehicle by 2025. This drive is entirely based on practical issues e.g. carbon footprint and high uncertainty in oil prices. Lowering of vehicle weight will improve durability, lower carbon emission and make it more affordable to drive. Similarly in aerospace industry there is requirement to join Al to Ti and between different alloys of aluminium. These two industries have an annual turnover of more than £31bn, employ more than 600,000 people directly and in supply chain. Similarly in ship and boat industries there is a continuous thrust to use more aluminium as structural material. However, the joining process is not cost effective and also the resulting structure is not mass efficient. Ship building and repairing industries, including both commercial and naval, have an annual turnover of £4.6bn and employs 60000 people. Both these industrial sectors have contributed significantly towards the UK economy and will continue to do in foreseeable future. The outcome from the proposed research will reinforce the international leading status of UK manufacturing in these sectors.
Medicine is the other target sector for this research. Joining of Ti based alloys to stainless steel will create new generation of cost effective surgical implants e.g. stents. The medical OEM (original equipment manufacturers) sector also has a very strong growth potential with an estimated market of more than a billion USD. However, development of joining principles between Ti based alloys and stainless steel will go far beyond medical applications into energy and aerospace sectors.
A robust plan to disseminate the research findings has also been proposed through organisation of a number of industry days and by creating a web portal for further outreach.
Publications
Joesbury A
(2018)
Weld-bonded stainless steel to carbon fibre-reinforced plastic joints
in Journal of Materials Processing Technology
Meco S
(2015)
Application of laser in seam welding of dissimilar steel to aluminium joints for thick structural components
in Optics and Lasers in Engineering
Meco S
(2017)
Laser welding of steel to aluminium: Thermal modelling and joint strength analysis
in Journal of Materials Processing Technology
Meco S
(2012)
Overlap conduction laser welding of aluminium to steel
in The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Meco S
(2019)
Design of laser welding applied to T joints between steel and aluminium
in Journal of Materials Processing Technology
Meco S
(2014)
Effect of Laser Processing Parameters on the Formation of Intermetallic Compounds in Fe-Al Dissimilar Welding
in Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance
Pardal G
(2017)
Laser spot welding of laser textured steel to aluminium
in Journal of Materials Processing Technology
Pardal G
(2014)
Dissimilar metal laser spot joining of steel to aluminium in conduction mode
in The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
Pardal G
(2016)
Dissimilar metal joining of stainless steel and titanium using copper as transition metal
in The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology
| Description | Laser processing can be used as a unique and effective tool to join different dissimilar metallic combinations. The unique advantage of using laser is the flexibility that it offers in terms of application of heat and thereby controlling the welding thermal cycle and the resulting metallurgical structure. Joining of chemically different alloys is difficult not only due to the difference in their physical properties but also due to the formation of detrimental intermetallic phases owing to the lack of solubility between the two alloys. Formation of hard intermetallic compounds severely reduces joint strength and toughness. Two different dissimilar structural alloy combinations were investigated. The different combinations, titanium (Ti) to stainless steel (Fe) and aluminium (Al) to steel (Fe), are selected based on their application potential in energy and surface transportation sector. Joining of thick sections of Al (5 mm) to Fe (2 mm) in autogenous mode, i.e. without addition of any other intermediate alloy, was attempted on the understanding that Al has some solubility in steel. However, Fe does not have any solubility in Al and therefore, joint formation critically depends on the thermal cycle and the resulting weld metal dimension and intermetallic formation. Thermal cycle in laser joining depends on the application of heat energy which is dependent governed by the product of power density, time of application (also known as interaction time) and area over which the power is applied. They are termed as the fundamental material interaction parameters. In this programme, each of these parameters was individually varied to see its effect on weld pool dimension and intermetallic formation. It was observed that the mechanical strength is critically dependent on the weld pool dimension and thickness of intermetallic layer in the interface of the joint. Larger the weld pool width better is the strength and thicker the intermetallic layer lower is the strength. In observing the individual effect of the fundamental material interaction parameters it was found that while power density tends to increase the weld pool width and thereby load bearing ability, increase in interaction time at a constant power density, contributes towards the growth of intermetallic layer. This understanding was exploited in creating joint which did not show brittle failure and the joining configuration developed was exploited to demonstrate possibility of design modification for a structural application in surface ship systems. A joint prototype was manufactured which will be tested. Joining of stainless steel to titanium was carried out in 2 mm thick sections. Unlike the previous combination, Fe and Ti show no solid solubility and therefore, it was impossible to join them without adding a third alloy as interlayer. In this project we termed it as weld metal engineering. In this project it was found that there is no common metallic species which can bond with both iron and titanium without forming any intermetallic phase. Therefore, weld metal engineering was required with more than two alloys where each alloy is metallurgically compatible with either of the participating alloy and with each other. Nb and Cu have been identified as the interlayer where Nb exhibits good solid solubility with Ti and Cu with Fe and they can form good metallurgical binding amongst themselves. However, precaution needs to be taken to prevent diffusion of Ti and Fe within a common weld pool. A novel approach was proposed where Nb and Cu inserts will be produced by arc welding using additive manufacture technology and then the apply laser to join Nb to Ti and stainless steel to Cu. Application of laser is vital to control the weld metal dimension within a very narrow margin to prevent diffusion. The research activity performed within this programme helped in developing the most vital understanding of heat source, material interaction and subsequent microstructure and metallurgical phase formations. Also the application of weld metal engineering was investigated at a substantial depth. Laser as a flexible heat source can be applied with high spatial and temporal resolution. This characteristic can be exploited in joining of dissimilar alloys which can bring substantial benefit to designer to create cost effective, design efficient structures with better carbon footprint. The application of the single mode fibre lasers on dissimilar joining of thin advanced alloys for engineering applications show significant potential and gain that can be achieved through this. Finding showed that joining of dissimilar alloys can be strongly dependent on the dissimilar joint configuration and how the laser irradiation is used which can be correlated to the physical properties of the two alloys. The other interesting observation was that the latest generation fibre pulsed lasers could be an effective source for joining dissimilar combination as the short pulse duration and high frequency would result in faster freezing of the weld pool restricting diffusion and formation of intermetallic phases. |
| Exploitation Route | The project has extremely high application potential. Since the inception, BAE Systems, AWE plc and Attica components were industrial partners and Manchester University supported through the LATEST2 platform grant. The research activities that were performed over the last two years not only generated greater understanding, knowledge and reinforced the underpinning science of dissimilar material joining, it also showed how design modifications and application of other advanced manufacturing tools e.g., wire and arc based additive layer manufacture methods can be deployed in creating innovative design for advanced structural applications. Joining of dissimilar and highly dissimilar metallic alloys is now a flagship research theme in the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser Based Production Processes. AWE plc is interested in taking the project further through more direct research. The results of this project was disseminated to scientific communities through international conferences and to industrial community e.g. Association of industrial laser user through their annual conference Industrial Laser Application Symposium. The following ways would be helpful in taking the work forward; Application: - Direct industry sponsored programme project with a clear vision of application in specific components. There is a possibility of taking the work on joining of titanium to stainless steel further with support from AWE. A novel manufacturing route involving additive built inserts were proposed to exploit the findings further. - Exposing the work to other industrial community and encourage them to think about design modifications where the boundary of the existing design can be pushed by exploiting complimentary properties of different alloys to create more cost effect and design efficient structures. Industry day is being organised to achieve this. Further research: - Understanding the performance of a hybrid layered structure for different service environments, particularly in view of corrosive environment. - Understanding elemental distribution in the intermetallic layer through neutron transmission imaging. This will help in more in-depth understanding of intermetallic formation with transient thermal cycles and its effect on mechanical properties. Thermal cycles could then be correlated to fundamental material interaction parameters - Application in ultra thin sections for electronic appliances using the state-of-the-art pulsed lasers with high frequency and low pulse energy |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Agriculture, Food and Drink,Education,Energy,Healthcare,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Description | The findings are used in the following ways; - The optimised laser processing parameters are used to create a prototype through novel design modification in structural application in surface transportation. Discussion with BAE surface ship systems in planned to see whether this route can be a viable proposition in future. - Further project with AWE plc to exploit the route of additive manufacture towards joining titanium to stainless steel - Further research into the area with wider industrial and academic collaborators through Centre of Innovative Manufacturing in Laser Based Production Processes (CIM_LBPP). Joining of dissimilar and highly dissimilar materials has been identified as a flagship project and the present team will wok further in this area. - Presenting the work to industrial communities e.g. Association of Industrial Laser User (AILU) through their conference Industrial Laser Application Symposium (ILAS) - Presenting the work to scientific communities through keynote lecture, student presentation through high impact conferences e.g. EUROMAT 2013. - Publication in peer reviewed journals - More research are being conducted in joining of different dissimilar combinations e.g. Al-Cu, Al-Mg, Al-stainless steel etc. The knowledge generated are being utilised to understand the application of latest generation fiber lasers in forming dissimilar joints for relatively thin structural applications - Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Center with SPI, Laser, UK created a new knowledge transfer partnership on Advanced Laser Joining Technologist in the area of joining of similar and dissimilar alloys for power train applications within the e-mobility sector |
| Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Electronics,Transport |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic |
| Description | Course content in Advanced Welding Processes |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (MC-IRSES) |
| Amount | € 29,000 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | Proposal number - 295263; Micro and nanoscale design of thermally actuating system |
| Organisation | European Commission |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | European Union (EU) |
| Start | 01/2014 |
| End | 12/2017 |
| Description | Joining of duplex stainless steel using nickel based filler alloys |
| Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | Industrial grant |
| Organisation | Industry Partners |
| Sector | Private |
| Country | United States |
| Start | 05/2016 |
| End | 09/2016 |
| Description | Royal Academy of Engineering |
| Amount | £50,000 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Royal Academy of Engineering |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 03/2021 |
| Title | FE modelling of laser conduction welding process for joining of dissimilar (Fe-Al) combination in overlap configuration |
| Description | FE model of laser conduction welding process which would predict the thermal cycle and weld pool width near the interface of Fe to Al dissimilar combination |
| Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
| Provided To Others? | No |
| Impact | The model helps in understanding of the fundamental material interaction parameters to the thermal cycle and weld pool dimension. The dependency of intermetallic layer growth on thermal cycle and how fundamental material interaction parameters influence thermal cycle can be clearly understood. |
| Description | Application of latest generation fibre pulsed lasers for dissimilar joining of aluminium to stainless steel |
| Organisation | SPI Lasers UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | The project evaluated the possibility of joining thin sheet of dissimilar alloys in overlap configuration. The research team focused on understanding laser metal interaction for the two alloys separately and then the possibility of joining these two alloys in dissimilar configuration was evaluated. Fe and Al atoms on interaction forms intermetallic compounds (IMC) which are very hard and often results in cracking near the interface due to formation of such intermetallic alloys. application of the latest generation pulsed laser which has pulse energy in the range of (~1 mJ) but very high repetition rate, may able to overcome the problem of IMC formation by fast freezing weld pool which prevents inter-diffusion of the two dissimilar alloys. The research team worked evaluated the thickness range that can be welded by such pulse energy and evaluate the strength of the dissimilar joint under different welding conditions and by different weld lengths. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Our partner provided the laser to perform the welds and gave us input regarding the performance of the laser under different operating conditions and also shared information on research effort on dissimilar joining of different alloy combinations at their premises |
| Impact | - Two Masters project - SPI is now strategic partners with CU in a number of laser processing related projects, the main one being an Innovate, UK sponsored project on joining of tab to end of extremely thin Al alloy (Environment Domed End) |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Centre for Innovative Manufacturing for Laser Based Production Processes |
| Organisation | Heriot-Watt University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Group (WELP) is a major strategic partner in the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser Based Production Processes an EPSRC platform grant led by Prof Duncan Hand of HW University. Joining of dissimilar metallic materials has been identified as a one of the flagship research project which will be built on the research finding from the project "Laser Joining of Dissimilar Metallic Materials for Advanced Structural and Engineering Applications" where Dr Supriyo Ganguly was the principal investigator. Manchester Materials Science Centre is also one of the major partners and mainly involved in joint characterisation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The photonics group of HW is involved in developing lasers with specific end application and Manchester Materials Science Centre would contribute towards joint characterisation and developing understanding as to how the two different alloys interact with each other under different transient thermal cycles. |
| Impact | The partnership is in place in the form of a platform research grant and joining of dissimilar alloys was identified as one of the flagship research theme. Specific project in this area will be initiated shortly. A strong understanding was developed on weld metal engineering to join dissimilar combinations which are generally regarded as unweldable by fusion process. Application of a graded additive built insert was considered to fusion join titanium to stainless steel. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Centre for Innovative Manufacturing for Laser Based Production Processes |
| Organisation | University of Manchester |
| Department | School of Materials Manchester |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | The Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Group (WELP) is a major strategic partner in the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Laser Based Production Processes an EPSRC platform grant led by Prof Duncan Hand of HW University. Joining of dissimilar metallic materials has been identified as a one of the flagship research project which will be built on the research finding from the project "Laser Joining of Dissimilar Metallic Materials for Advanced Structural and Engineering Applications" where Dr Supriyo Ganguly was the principal investigator. Manchester Materials Science Centre is also one of the major partners and mainly involved in joint characterisation. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The photonics group of HW is involved in developing lasers with specific end application and Manchester Materials Science Centre would contribute towards joint characterisation and developing understanding as to how the two different alloys interact with each other under different transient thermal cycles. |
| Impact | The partnership is in place in the form of a platform research grant and joining of dissimilar alloys was identified as one of the flagship research theme. Specific project in this area will be initiated shortly. A strong understanding was developed on weld metal engineering to join dissimilar combinations which are generally regarded as unweldable by fusion process. Application of a graded additive built insert was considered to fusion join titanium to stainless steel. |
| Start Year | 2014 |
| Description | Knowledge Transfer Partnership on Advanced Laser Joining |
| Organisation | SPI Lasers UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | SPI Lasers and Cranfield University are collaborating through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership to advance application of the state of the art lasers and welding processes for joining of similar and dissimilar alloy combinations with a specific target to increase the application of laser processing in the e-mobility sector. The research team at Cranfield University is working in the area of innovative laser processing and joining of dissimilar alloys for over last 6 years. The Center for Innovative Manufacture using Laser (CIM_L) grant is laser processing and joining of thin alloys played a major role in creating larger collaboration opportunity. The advancement of understanding in dissimilar joining at a fundamental level is a important factor for recognizing the research team at Cranfield as an internationally leading expert in this area. |
| Collaborator Contribution | SPI Lasers are inventing the state-of-the-art in laser processing by creating single mode CW and pulsed lasers for advanced processing. They are also developing their customer base through strategic and application oriented tailored joining and processing using lasers. |
| Impact | A KTP position was created. A suitable researcher for this position is being recruited. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Laser joining of dissimilar alloys: aluminium to copper and stainless steel |
| Organisation | SPI Lasers UK |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Private |
| PI Contribution | Application of pulsed fibre lasers for dissimilar joining of aluminium to copper. Experiments performed as a Masters group project work at Cranfield University with very useful results. In process of publication. |
| Collaborator Contribution | SPI Laser, UK and Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Centre of Cranfield University works very closely in a range of different projects. One of the major area where we collaborate is in evaluating the different potential applications of the state-of-the-art fibre laser that SPI developed. One of the major thematic area is dissimilar joining of very thin metallic components for applications in battery, automobile, electronics and other consumer sectors. SPI initially provided us with the laser and we also worked in close relationship through the Centre for Innovative Manufacturing using Laser. This close collaboration benefits us from having lasers for research purposes and also most importantly understanding the application area from the customer base of SPI. |
| Impact | Three presentations will be made in the LPM2018 - Laser Precision Micro-fabrication Symposium 2018 to be held at Edinburgh in June. SPI is an active member and support our hub proposal bid and also we are planning to have a Research Associate as Knowledge Transfer Partner between Cranfield and SPI. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Laser texturing of steel for improving the mechanical strength of the dissimilar metal laser spot welded joints of steel to aluminium |
| Organisation | Heriot-Watt University |
| Department | School of Engineering & Physical Sciences |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | A seedcorn project for 4 months has been performed to evaluate the applicability of laser surface texturing, in order to improve the surface energy, towards joining of highly dissimilar alloys |
| Collaborator Contribution | The researcher from HW was involved in forming the textured surface with the application of laser and researchers from Cranfield University were engaged in dissimilar joining |
| Impact | A technical paper has been submitted and in future this may form part of greater proposals in the area of joining of dissimilar materials |
| Start Year | 2015 |
| Description | Laser welding of Al to Mg |
| Organisation | Nanjing Tech University |
| Country | China |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | This project specifically investigated the application of the latest generation fibre pulsed lasers and continuous wave lasers in dissimilar joining of aluminium to magnesium for electronic applications. At Cranfield University all the experiments were performed using CW and pulsed lasers. Different interlayers were experimented with to understand their suitability in forming a robust joining solution for these two alloys |
| Collaborator Contribution | At Nanjing University, all the characterisations were performed. The researcher is a PhD student from the collaborating University |
| Impact | Not as yet but journal articles are being written |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | A study on the effect of the laser processing parameters on the formation of intermetallic compounds in Fe-Al dissimilar welding presented in EUROMAT 2013 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
| Results and Impact | A relatively novel joining process was presented where the fundamental laser-material interaction and the resulting microstructural features and mechanical properties were presented. This was followed by discussion on the principles of joining and suitability of application of laser Colleagues showed interest in our work and express interest in visiting our lab |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Article in Association of Industrial Laser Users title "Dissimilar metal joining using a 8 kW fibre laser |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Received queries related to laser processing The Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Center (WELP) of Cranfield University is a more familiar name to the wider laser processing community and the center is submitting more proposals in the area of advancing laser processing of materials. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Conference - Open day - Display of Masters programme - Group project presented on "Dissimilar welding of thin metallic sheets using fibre pulsed laser" plus contributions made in PhD poster presentation day |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Group worked on a project sponsored by SPI Lasers on dissimilar joining of thin structural alloys. The project led to further projects and ongoing collaborative activities in this area and finally in a KTP project in 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Poster presentation in the doctoral training center event in Cranfield on Welding of Dissimilar Alloys |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Post grad students discussed on the research area, questions and discussion on other possibilities Other post-grads/research fellows visited our lab. Discussion on how coating can be used to solve the problem of intermetallic formation in dissimilar alloy welding was discussed and further trials were organised - This poster was adjudged the best in the DTA poster competition. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Poster presentation on "Joining of steel to aluminium using laser welding-brazing", DTC program, Cranfield University, 2012 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Post grad students saw the poster which was followed by discussions and possible future impact of such work Interested students visited our lab |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Poster presentation on "Welding of dissimilar metals" in AWE- Cranfield strategic alliance showcase event |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation in the showcase event helped in outreaching the research outcome to a wider audience and decision makers (higher management) in AWE plc. Such activity reinforced the strategic alliance between Cranfield and AWE and presently Welding Engineering and Laser Processing Centre is having more than one collaborative project with AWE |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
| Description | Presentation in Industrial Laser Application Symposium joining on Joining of steel to aluminium using laser welding-brazing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | The presentation generates interest among the audience particularly laser manufacturers and people who are using laser for dissimilar joining purpose. The interest is mainly towards how laser characteristics can be modified for better control (spatial and temporal) of applied energy by beam shape modification, pulsing etc. Few people involved in dissimilar joining of different series of aluminium facing problems related to defect such as porosity and how joint set-up can be designed for better control on weld metal integrity. Some people are interested in visiting our welding and laser processing facilities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |