TWI and EWI conduct several hundred of these strictly confidential projects per year. The following list gives an indication of the types of projects undertaken. The Case Studies, which have all been cleared with the sponsoring companies, give further details.

Weldability and Metallurgy

  • Welding of superplastic alloys
  • Avoidance of preheat when welding Q1N and Q2N steels
  • Metallurgical investigation of welded military equipment - a survey of high strength low alloy steels
  • Investigation of weld cracking in fabricated water ram cylinders
  • Manual metal arc welding of high-purity Cu-Ni-Cr castings (see also case study on Arc Welding)
  • Metallurgical review of weldable Al-Zn-Mg alloys
  • Examination of welds in armour plate
  • Welding of Ni-Cu-Nb age hardening steel
  • Welding of leaded gunmetal
  • A preliminary examination of the weldability of modified FV520(S) steel
  • Review of the TIG welding of Cupro-Nickel alloys
  • Rapid methods for diffusible Hydrogen measurement in standard test welds

Corrosion/Hydrogen cracking

  • Hydrogen cracking in welds made with austenitic electrodes
  • Resistance of compass B555 steel to hydrogen cracking
  • Accelerated corrosion fatigue tests on a quenched and tempered steel
  • Stress corrosion cracking of high strength steel weld metals
  • Evaluation of delay time before inspection for detection of hydrogen cracks
  • Delayed hydrogen cracking in steels with 700Mpa and over yield strength

Welding and joining procedures

  • Determination of welding procedures for 9% Ni and 18% Ni maraging steels
  • Welding procedures for a range of low alloy steels (see also case study on EB Welding)
  • Development of welding procedures for the orbital TIG welding of 70/30 Cupro-Nickel pipe
  • Procedures for pre-coating of Vermiculite (see also case study on Barrikade®)
  • MIG Welding of Maraging Steel

Repair

  • Repair welding of armour quality castings
  • Repair methods for composite structures
  • Repair welding of armour quality steel castings and test methods
  • Repair welding of castings in air hardening armour steel

Welding and joining processes

  • Drawn arc stud welding of mild steel studs to Q2(N) steel plate
  • GMA welding of titanium without auxiliary shielding gas
  • Friction welding of aluminium alloy tubular structures (see also case study on Friction welding)
  • Quality control of the ultrasonic wire bonding process - A literature survey
  • Feasibility study of inert gas metal arc welding equipment
  • Joining of textiles (see also case study on ClearWeldTM )
  • Lightweight field welding equipment wire feed motor unit
  • Laser welding of titanium and aluminium alloys (see also case study on Laser Welding)
  • Reduced electromagnetic emission from arc welding systems

NDT

  • A comparison of the performance of the TOFD technique with pulse-echo ultrasonics and radiography for evaluating cracks, lack of fusion and near surface flaw types
  • Evaluation of methods for non-destructive testing of sprayed coatings
  • Non destructive inspection of welds in a diving system (see also case study on Training)
  • Acoustic Pulsing - Studies of Structural Monitoring Procedures and Equipment

Fatigue, fracture and integrity assessment

  • Fracture toughness of welded joints in primed plate
  • Fatigue tests on MGB junction panel jaw block specimens
  • Stress relief of high strength cast cupro-nickel
  • Assessment of extrusion imperfections in 6082 aluminium alloy hollow box members
  • Tensile tests on naturally aged welds in Al-Zn-Mg alloy
  • Strength and toughness of two welded high strength steels (see also case study on Materials Testing)
  • Examination of fatigue tested Al-Zn-Mg welds
  • Finite element stress analyses of diffusion bonded joints
  • Properties of joints between similar and dissimilar metals
  • Drop weight testing of armour plate
  • Fatigue crack propagation in maraging steel
  • The influence of vehicle loading spectra on fatigue strength

Ceramics/surfacing/adhesives

  • Improved quality of metal-bonded carbide, ceramic and metallic Coatings by HVOF spraying
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