32 Welding Technology and Design

cloud is thus created near its surface. A metallic shield, known as Wehnelt, is fixed
near the cathode to make the electric field sharper and regulate the electron flow.
The electric field between cathode and anode accelerates the electrons and sets
them free with considerable energy. Thus an electron beam is created which is
made to impinge on the parts to be welded. Magnetic lenses are used to focus the
beam on the work piece. Magnetic coils are also used for beam deflection and
manipulation of the beam spot on the work piece.
The speed of welding which depends on the width and depth of the weld must
be properly controlled as, otherwise, it will lead to either incomplete penetration
or overheating. As the fusion zone in the weld joint is very narrow, there will be
very small disturbances in the base material. Shrinkage allowance to be given in
the design is small compared to other arc welding and the residual stresses produced
in the component are also small. As the focal length of the EB system is quite high,
the EB gun can be placed at a distance, as farther as one meter from the work
pieces, unlike in electric arc or plasma jet welding. Thus welding narrow and
restricted area is possible with EBW. Welding can be done over a wide range of
thicknesses (0.1 mm to 100 mm) and dissimilar metals can be easily welded by the
process due to precise heat control. Welding speed in EB is much higher than
electric arc methods, thus reducing the welding time. Also the repeatability of EB
welds is high compared to other processes.
In EB welding the weld zone narrows down from the upper bead to the lower
bead. The metal vapour generated at the centre of the molten column may not be
able to escape through the narrow slot at the bottom of the joint interface. Thus
when the molten metal solidifies, root porosity may form in EB welds.
In deep penetration welds, it will be difficult to achieve fusion of the whole
depth. To get heating lower beads, weld parameters selected should be greater
than those set for truly narrow weld. Backing support to the lower bead will help
in achieving a full penetration joint. The backing can be removed after welding.
The gun-to-work piece distance depends on the vacuum in the gun chamber. At
about a vacuum of 10–4 torr, a sharp focus over a greater gun-to-work piece distance
can be achieved. When the chamber pressure is 10–3 torr, electron scattering becomes
significant, resulting in wide bead with lower penetration. Thus welds made in a
high vacuum are narrower with narrow HAZ than those welds made in medium
vacuum (10–1 to 10–2 torr) or at atmospheric pressure. High vacuum welding, though
takes longer time (to achieve the required vacuum level) is good for reactive material
welding.
Because of the narrow welds and HAZ, the residual stress and strain fields
produced are comparatively small and this reduces the cracking tendency of the
weld. High welding speed attainable in EBW helps in achieving a weld with grain
boundary condition almost free from liquation in the HAZ. Thus cracking can be
avoided immediately after welding or on PWHT. When welding refractory alloys
of high melting point, EBW reduces the grain growth substantially leading to
improvement in tensile strength and ductility.
The fusion zone in the EB weld is effectively a fine grained cast structure, often
with directional solidification towards the centre line of the weld. The solution
treated areas are narrow and the overaged regions in the base metal is almost