Issue 171 March/Apr i l 2 0 1 1

The magazine of TWI

Events
April 2011 Conference Association of Welding, Fabrication, Training and Education Fri 1 Great Abington Technical Group meeting Welding Processes Wed 13 Great Abington May 2011 Workshop Introduction to the UK Nuclear Industry Wed 4 Stirling 19th IoRW Technical Seminar Current and future developments in rail welding Wed 11 Derby Conference The Welding & Joining Society Wed 18 Thu 19 Great Abington June 2011 Workshop (joint event with BSSA) Fabrication Mon 13 Great Abington Webinars Ultrasonic inspection requirements and current capabilities for critical welds
Contact: lois.appleyard@twi.co.uk
Workshops and seminars are recognised Continuous Professional Development events

TWI announces CompoSurfTM technology for applying coatings to composites

The successful application of thick, well bonded coatings to composite materials has long been an aspiration in the thermal spray industry. and and recent work in this area by TWI has yielded some exciting results.
An entirely new approach has enabled the application of metallic coatings to thicknesses in excess of one millimetre. Whilst machinable alloy coatings were the focus of early work, carbide and ceramic coatings are also yielding promising results. Such coatings could provide solutions to engineering challenges being faced in many industries, including aerospace, automotive, power generation (eg wind turbines and wave/ tidal energy devices) and architectural applications. The coatings enhance the surface properties of composites to provide greater resistance to wear, corrosion, bio-fouling, or cavitation, as well as providing electrically conductive, decorative or tooling surfaces and thermal management. TWI is conducting further research targeted at optimising the new technology for specific applications in key industries. Companies partnering TWI in the development of the technology will benefit from access to TWIs know-how and will be licensed to use TWIs Trade Mark for coatings produced with the new technology. Contact details for more information: surfacing@twi.co.uk

For further information on TWI visit the website at www.twi.co.uk

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March/April 2011

Local MP meets TWI apprentices

On Friday 4 March, Andrew Lansley MP came to TWI in Great Abington as part of his continuing interest in apprenticeship schemes for young people in the South Cambridgeshire area. During his lunchtime visit Mr Lansley met Jade Wilson who recently began her career as a Business Administration Apprentice with TWI Certification Ltd. He was also introduced to nine other past and current TWI apprentices, including: Martin Peak who progressed from apprenticeship to recently graduating with a First Class BEng with Honours in Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering and Emma Farr, who also worked through a Business Administration apprenticeship and received the Apprentice of the Year award in 2009. TWI has a long history of encouraging staff through apprenticeship schemes and of helping them fulfil their potential throughout their careers. Mr Lansley was welcomed to TWI by Chief Executive, Dr Christoph Wiesner and hosted by Eur Ing Chris Eady, Associate Director, Professional Affairs and Certification, who also began his professional life as an apprentice in the RAF. Mr Lansley was very pleased to hear of the work and career progression of our apprentices, commenting that a structured combination of work and study greatly benefits both the organisation and the individual. He continued: It is a system which enhances a persons confidence as they can see the real life possibilities in a working environment. Also attending the meeting were Rachel Colmer from the West Anglia Training Association and Glen Moore from the National Apprenticeship Service.

TWI is pleased to welcome the following as Industrial Members

New Members of TWI

Alstom Power Thermal Services Ltd UK Power generation services Aquamarine Power Ltd UK Marine renewable energy Bureau Veritas do Brasil - Oil & Gas Division Brazil Certification and conformity assessment China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology Peoples Republic of China Space flight

Crown Packaging UK plc UK Metal packaging ECAPS (Ecological Advanced Propulsion Systems) Sweden High performance green propulsion Honeywell Control Systems Ltd UK Military and aerospace manufacturing Junguang Industry Development Co Ltd TJPRC Peoples Republic of China Wood products, manufacturing

processing, sales and import and export business Kimberley-Clark Corporation USA Consumer products National Grid GLNG Isle of Grain UK LNG Terminal Pearson Engineering Ltd UK Mechanical design Sandvik Riser Technology AS Norway Design and production of riser connectors

Siddall & Hilton Products Ltd UK Production of resistance welded steel mesh Siemens Energy Inc, Orlando USA Construction and upgrades of power plants Southwire Company USA Manufacturer of wire products for electrical transmission UYT Limited UK Automotive body in white spot/MIG welding

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March/April 2011

Rapid heat exchanger and boiler tube inspection using ultrasonic guided waves
TWI has been researching the use of ultrasonic guided waves for the rapid inspection of structures for more than two decades and now works closely with its sister company Plant Integrity Ltd. which provides commercial inspection equipment and services for the defect screening of pipelines with ultrasonic guided waves
There is an industrial need to improve the inspection methods available for heat exchanger and boiler tubing. The technology that has been developed for pipeline screening can be applied to pipes of small diameter. However, access is extremely limited and there are often thousands of low diameter pipes in each heat exchanger or boiler bundle, making the existing equipment unsuitable. TWI has developed a prototype probe that only requires to be inserted into the first 100mm of a small diameter pipe to be able to screen its entire length with ultrasonic guided waves. By developing this system further, TWI would like to improve heat exchanger/boiler tube inspection and offer to the industry the following benefits: Faster inspection and reduced downtime No need for cleaning beyond that required for normal operation More accurate and reliable inspection at tube bends and underneath baffle plates More effective inspection for internal and external defects One technique for ferrous and non-ferrous materials A user-friendly system TWIs prototype probe uses an inflatable shaft to couple the transducers onto the inside of the tube, which can then be used to transmit and receive ultrasonic pulses. This design allows for very quick probe deployment and single shot testing of entire tubes. A demonstration of the tool is given in the Figure, where a small defect was detected at 2.1m along a 2.9m copper pipe with a 20mm internal diameter. For more information on this project, please contact alex.haig@twi.co.uk
Defect detection trials of long-range ultrasonic testing of narrow tubes using insert probe.

Come and see us - TWI will be attending the following exhibitions during 2011.
ExpoEquip 7th 2011 10-13 May 2011 Pernambuco, Brazil Weld India 2011 21-23 July 2011 Chennai, India
www.twi.co.uk e-mail:twi@twi.co.uk

Materials Testing Exhibition 2011 13-15 September 2011 Telford, Shropshire FABTECH 2011 14-17 November 2011 Chicago, USA
Connect March/Apr il 2011

Technolog y Transfer

Job Knowledge
111 Welding of copper and its alloys Part 1
Of all metals copper is the most ancient, having been first used to fabricate tools and weapons since about 3500 years BC. Welders and metallurgists can therefore claim to have a very long pedigree! Pure copper is soft, ductile and easily worked but can be strengthened only by cold working. It does not undergo phase changes so cannot be hardened by heat treatment as can a steel. This also applies to many of the copper alloys so that any application of heat will soften the cold worked alloy, resulting in a significant loss of strength in the heat affected zones. Two additional characteristics of copper and some of its alloys are a) high thermal conductivity, meaning that preheat is required for many joints, even at quite modest thicknesses, and b) the high coefficient of thermal expansion, meaning that distortion can be an issue with root gaps rapidly closing during welding. Alloying with a range of metals can be used to improve the mechanical properties and/or corrosion resistance. These alloys can be conveniently placed into nine separate groups as listed below. In addition to those listed there are several grades of free machining alloys containing lead (Pb) or selenium (Se). These free machining grades are hot-short and very sensitive to hot cracking. They are best avoided by the welder although they can be successfully joined by brazing or soldering. Pure copper with less than 0.7% residual elements High copper alloys with less than 5% alloying elements Copper alloys with up to 40% zinc (Zn) (brasses) Copper alloys with less than 10% tin (Sn) (bronzes) Copper alloys with less than 10% aluminium (Al) (aluminium bronzes often shortened to ally-bronze) Copper alloys with less than 3% silicon (Si) (silicon bronze) Copper alloys with less than 30% nickel (Ni) (cupronickel alloys)
Repair of copper boiler from the Flying Scotsman.

Copper alloys with less than 40%Zn and less than 18%Ni (nickel silvers) Copper alloys with less than 10%Sn and less than 4%Zn (red brass or gunmetal) Special alloys containing a) 0.1-1.5% cadmium (Cd) b) less than 2.7% beryllium (Be) c) 0.6-1.2% chromium (Cr) d) 0.1-0.2% zirconium (Zr). This group of special alloys are capable of being precipitation hardened. Copper alloys can be welded with most of the conventional welding processes although of the arc welding processes, gas shielded arc methods are the most common. Pure copper alloys There are three separate grades of pure copper: Oxygenfree copper with less than 0.02% oxygen; tough pitch copper that contains <0.1% of oxygen, present as copper oxide, and phosphorous (P) deoxidised copper with 0.05% P up to 0.05% arsenic (As). Oxygen-free copper has the highest electrical conductivity, P-deoxidised copper is the alloy most frequently used for pressure vessel and heat

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Technolog y Transfer

exchangers. Oxygen-free copper is the most readily weldable although porosity may be a problem if non-deoxidised filler metals are used. The copper oxides in tough pitch copper can result in embrittlement of the heat affected zones due to oxide films forming on the grain boundaries. Weld metal porosity, even when using fully deoxidised filler metals, is also a major problem caused by the dissociation of the copper oxide, particulaly when hydrogen (H) is present.

Process TIG

Thickness (mm) 1.0 1.0 - 2.0 2.0 5.0 6.0 10.0 12.5 15.0

Shielding Gas argon argon argon/75helium argon/75 helium argon/75 helium argon/75 helium argon argon/75 helium argon/75 helium argon/75 helium

Preheat OC >10 >10 50 100 - 200 350 400 - 450 10 - 100 100 200 - 300 350 - 450

Welding Current (amps) 20 - 60 50 - 160 120 - 300 250 - 375 350 - 420 400 - 470 175 - 240 250 - 320 300 - 400 350 - 600

MIG < 5.0 5.0 7.0 10.0 - 12.5 >16.0

Phosphorus deoxidised copper presents less of a porosity problem although weld metal porosity is still likely to be formed, particularly in autogenous welds. It is essential therefore that filler metals contain strong deoxidants, the commonest being silicon (Si) and manganese (Mn). Hydrogen control is also necessary so correctly baked low hydrogen electrodes are necessary when manual metal arc welding. Clean, grease-free wires and rods and high purity shield gases are required when TIG or MIG welding. The two filler metals most often selected to weld the pure copper alloys are AWS A5.7 ERCu, the C7 of the now superceded BS 2901 Part 3 and ERCuSi-A, the old C9 of BS 2901. ERCu typically contains 0.4% of Si and Mn with 0.8% of Sn to aid fluidity; ERCuSi-A contains 1%Mn and 3%Si and is the preferred filler metal for tough pitch and P-deoxidised copper. BS 2901 Part 3 has been replaced by BS EN ISO 24373:2009 Welding consumables. Solid wires and rods for fusion welding of copper and copper alloys. Shielding gases for welding are argon, helium and nitrogen or mixes of two or more of these. Pure argon may be used for TIG welding up to a thickness of some 2mm and for MIG welding up to approximately 5mm above these thicknesses an argon-helium mixture will give better results with greater heat input and less risk of lack of fusion defects.

preheat and welding current levels is given in the table for TIG and MIG welding. When welding thick copper with preheats of over 250OC and welding currents of more than 350 amps then the health and safety of the welder and personnel working in the vicinity must be considered. Lagging the item being welded with thermal blankets is essential as is the provision of adequate screening from the very powerful TIG or MIG arc. The welder should select a dense filter glass of at least shade 13 when using welding currents above 300 amps to reduce eye strain. Typical butt weld preparations are: up to 1.5mm thickness square edge,no gap 1.5 to 3mm square edge with1.5mm gap 3 to 12mm single V, included angle of 60O to 90O, feather edge and up to a 1.5mm gap 12mm to 25mm single V, included angle of 60 to 90O, 1.5 to 3mm root face, 1.5mm maximum gap Over 25mm thickness double V, included angles of 60 to 90O, 1.5 to 3mm root face, 1.5mm maximum gap Carbon, stainless steel or ceramic tiles or tape can be used as temporary backing strips and are helpful in controlling root bead shape.

The Job Knowledge series is aimed at the welder and Nitrogen and argon-nitrogen gas mixes have been used in therefore tends to concentrate on the conventional arc the past with some advantages being gained in terms of increased heat input from the high voltage nitrogen arc but welding processes. It is worth bearing in mind that electron such gases are not commercially available and argon-helium beam and friction welding, including friction stir, have been used extensively and very successfully to weld thick section or helium shield gases are now the preferred choice.. The copper without the need for filler metals, high preheat high thermal conductivity of copper means that not only temperatures and expensive shielding gases. are high heat input shielding gases required as thickness increases, but preheat is necessary at section thicknesses This article was written by Gene Mathers exceeding 2mm. A very rough guide to recommended

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March/April 2011

Inspection and maintenance of wind farm installations

There have been a lot of developments around renewable energy recently and much speculation regarding the number of wind farm installations being built around the European coast. In some European countries, legislation states that any fixed installation requires an annual inspection. course took place in February in Middlesbrough, UK and the attendees feedback was excellent. The training covers: Basic explanation of health and safety legislation Scope and areas covered by the code Explaining definitions within the regulations Explanation of roles and responsibilities within the Dive Team focusing on the role of a Diver Tender General diving methods and equipment Description of functions of various plant and equipment relating to a dive site Glossary of terms and comprehensive check list Safety considerations working with or in the vicinity of various hazards Description of various diving dress and their functions used within the industry Instruction on the various diving hats and locking systems used within the industry Practical application which would involve dressing commercial divers under supervision at our underwater facility in Middlesbrough, UK. The CSWIP 3.3U Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Inspector course run by TWI Training & Examination Services is the perfect first point of call. A small ROV can conduct a general video survey of the entire submerged structure including scour survey, cathodic protection and thickness readings if required. A Diver Tender course would be of great benefit. Inshore diving regulations require a minimum three-man dive team comprising supervisor, diver and a stand-by diver. The remaining members of the team are not required to be qualified commercial divers however, the inshore regulations state that the diving contractor must be satisfied that the Diver Tenders are competent. TWI offers such training based around the Diving at Work Regulations 1997 Approved Code of Practice. The first For further information, please contact Dave McIver on: +44 (0) 1642 216320 or email: dave.mciver@twi.co.uk

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March/April 2011

News in brief
Government Minister learns of TWIs Asia connections
On Thursday 10 February, TWI hosted a visit from the Right Hon Jeremy Browne MP, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Mr Browne was interested to hear about TWIs longstanding presence in Asia and he was also taken on a tour of the Granta Park facilities during which he was shown demonstrations of friction stir welding and laser processing..

19th IoRW seminar Current and future developments in rail welding Wednesday 11 May 2011, The Derby Conference Centre
A wide range of welding and weldingrelated developments will be covered in this one day event. A key feature will be mobile flash butt welding including the latest information from Network Rail on their plans to expand the use of this technology in the months ahead. Developments in other welding processes and in the techniques being

developed to weld newer materials like coated rail will also be covered. For further information, e-mail meetings@twi.co.uk

New training course: Low alloy and creep strength enhanced ferritic steels for advanced power plants
This new course is aimed at engineers, inspectors or managers who require an appreciation of high temperature alloys welding and fabrication. Find out more at www.twitraining.com

TWI experts keep flying legend airborne

A thin sheet stainless steel shroud surrounding the jet pipe of a North American Aviation F-86A Sabre jet fighter was sent to TWI recently. The the shroud deflects any leaking exhaust gases away from the internal structure during the brief period between start-up and the engine reaching running temperature, when previously weeping seals around the jet expand and become leakproof. Although within limits, several small cracks and tears were in need of attention during the Sabres annual maintenance if the aircraft was to achieve its Permit to Fly. Its very tricky to weld materials like this but were lucky here at Duxford said Roger King of the Aircraft Restoration Company. TWI is almost on our doorstep. Its arc welding department had exactly the skills we required and offered to help us out. Using TIG welding and an appropriate consumable for the aged material, TWI was able to arrest and repair cracks in the wafer thin material. Its not a structural part clarifies King. It is a heat deflector. Had it made a structural contribution a more rigorous and detailed procedure would have been demanded. New parts no longer exist for this aircraft so the only alternative to repair would be to remanufacture from scratch. The cracked state of the shroud has been attributed to strain and thermally related fatigue. During its 64 year life the component would have endured many thousands of heating and cooling cycles. The Americans are very good at mass production says King. The part was probably rolled and formed in mass production back in the forties. Nowadays a replacement would have to be hand beaten. The Sabre is best known for its service in the Korean War where it was pitted against the Soviet MiG-15. The aircraft is expected to be back on view at its Duxford base by April 2011 and will be flown at many British and near European air shows this summer.

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Connect March/Apr il 2011

Issue 171 March/Apr i l 2 0 1 1

Connect is the bi-monthly magazine of TWI

Editor Penny Edmundson Photography Simon Condie Production Penny Edmundson
Copyright TWI Ltd 2011

WELD-IT - software for SMEs

TWI has joined the recently started European Union FP7-funded WELD-IT project. Aimed primarily at small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), the project will develop a software system that will enable welding and fabrication companies to cost welding operations more reliably.
The WELD-IT software will read CAD drawings to identify welds in structures and components and provide a welding cost. The costing will include other aspects such as pre and post weld heat treatment, manipulation and handling. Furthermore, it will use data entered by the user to generate provisional Welding Procedure Specifications (WPS) suitable for the welds identified in the CAD drawing. As the system gathers more input data it will be able to learn in order to generate more numerous and accurate WPSs. The project meets a long held need of fabrication companies to automate and optimise these processes to provide quicker and more accurate costings. Currently there is no system that combines calculation of manufacturing costs and optimisation of welding processes. WELDIT aims to meet these requirements. TWI is acting as Research Technology and Development (RTD) partner and is responsible for all welding related development, including defining the parameters of the costing tool, managing the database development effort and defining reporting requirements for the software. Other partners include PRVA ZVARACSKA, a. s. (First Welding Company Inc.) (Slovakia), Nemetschek (Bulgaria), Infotron (Turkey), GI-Flex (Hungary), Sudotim (Romania) and MFKK (Hungary and Project Coordinator). The project began in November 2010 and runs for two years. The specification for the software was recently finalised and work has started on the database design. Further articles will be published as the project progresses and more information is available on the project website at http://www.weldit.eu/

Articles may be reprinted with permission from TWI. Storage in electronic media is not permitted. Articles in this publication are for information only. TWI does not accept responsibility for the consequences of actions taken by others after reading this information. This publication is also available in alternative formats. Please contact marketing@twi.co.uk to request a copy.

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