News for the Rail industry sector
Latest news / events
- NEW modelling demonstrations
- Steel and aluminium production...halving carbon emissions by 2050?
- Materials issues surfacing and particulate engineering
- Friction stir variant open new doors for transport applications
- Welding Co-ordination - The Knowledge to Comply
- Success on track - high speed MIG/laser welding for aluminium alloy railcars
- Cost cutting software - predicting distortion and improving fatigue performance
- Continuous health monitoring and non-destructive assessment of composites and composite repairs on surface transport applications
- Fatigue Life Prediction for Toe Ground Joints
- Training: An Introduction to Friction Stir Welding
- Specialist Materials and Joining - A new section at TWI?
- Correlation of Phased Array Inspection and Fatigue Performance of FSW Joints
- Laser Surface Hardening with Adaptive Control
NEW modelling demonstrations
To explore examples of our core business in the modelling area and to learn more about our work and solutions offered to customers, please follow the link below to our new demonstration pages. Enjoy the animations and presentations which will give you a good overview of how we can help and add value to your company by using the latest modelling technology.
Steel and aluminium production...halving carbon emissions by 2050?
Approaches for cutting carbon emissions, and the emerging business opportunities, will be thrust under the spotlight at Great Abington later this year when TWI hosts a one-day conference on the subject.
The event follows the recent award by the UK government of a £1.5 million 'Leadership fellowship' to Dr Julian Allwood to lead an emissions related project. Known as Well Met 2050 the five year long project's central theme will be to explore a full range of options for reducing the impact on the climate of steel and aluminium production and usage.
A groundswell of interest in just how carbon emissions can be reduced has become a hot topic for many TWI Industrial Members of late. So TWI is now working with the University of Cambridge and a number of major industrial partners to explore the relevant issues.
Scheduled for 29 September 2009 the one-day conference is designed to communicate a range of options that can be pursued. There will be time to discuss the key issues and identify the potential business opportunities that will arise. The underlying issues are indeed important ones. Climate change scientists believe that it is necessary to make a cut of at least 50% in global carbon emissions by 2050 to contain global warming. The UK government actually hopes to achieve an 80% cut.
Roughly two thirds of man-made carbon emissions arise from the use of energy, and it is estimated that steel and aluminium are responsible for 10% of these. Until the credit crunch last year, global demand for these two metals was growing at around 6% per year, with demand forecast to double by 2050.
The primary producers for both metals are focusing on widespread adoption of carbon capture and storage, or CCS as it is dubbed, as the key solution to allow demand to grow without limit.
The EU ULCOS consortium proposes that for steel, smelting reduction will allow easy separation of CO2 from other flue gases, which can be captured, compressed and cooled into liquid form, then transported to geologically suitable sites for permanent underground storage.
Energy requirements for aluminium production are largely in the form of electricity, so provision of 'carbon-free' electricity, from CCS or nuclear power, also apparently allows unlimited growth.
But the dream of CCS as the ideal solution to respond to concern about climate change is not based on certainty. CCS is itself energy intensive. The first CCS pilot scale power plant opened in September 2008. It is uncertain if there is enough storage capacity, and the risks are unknown.
An alternative response to global warming is to seek radical reductions in the demand for energy. Conventional recycling of steel and aluminium is clearly beneficial in energy saving, cutting energy requirements by about half for steel and to a tenth for aluminium.
To be kept informed of details for the conference at TWI on 29 September, please contact chris.peters@twi.co.uk.
Materials issues surfacing and particulate engineering
WJS Materials Technical Group Meeting held at TWI Conference Centre on Tuesday 2 June 2009
The Welding and Joining Society hosted the anticipated Materials Technical Group Meeting on Tuesday 2 June 2009 at TWI Cambridge Conference Centre and captured both the historical and present issues on the subject of surfacing and particulate engineering, through discussions and presentations from Rolls Royce, Atomising Systems, Hoganas, Leicester University and TWI. The highly successful meeting was co-sponsored by the Particulate Engineering Committee of IOM3.
This one day event included a tour of TWI Surfacing facilities for a demonstration of thermal spraying as well as a visit to the TWI library for a brief introduction to the information services with a particular focus on the latest MI-21 data base (www.mi-21.com, a new service run by TWI in collaboration with NAMTEC and World Metal Index).
Delegates had a chance to network and establish contacts throughout the day. Those, particularly interested in professional development were encouraged to join WJS, The Welding Institute and IOM3, and informed of benefits of professional membership and the registration with the Engineering Council towards for example, CEng status.
For a full summary of this meeting and further information on future meetings of the WJS Materials Technical Group, please contact directly the secretary, Dr. Cem Selcuk at cem.selcuk@twi.co.uk
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Left to right: Chairman, Peter Boothby (Macaw Engineering) and speakers: Jeffrey Allen (Rolls Royce), Roger Fairclough (TWI), John Dunkley (Atomising Systems), Paul Nurthen (Hoganas) and Dave Harvey (TWI) with Secretary, Cem Selcuk (TWI) |
Friction stir variant open new doors for transport applications
Development of the world famous friction stir welding process has just literally turned a corner. In a radical adaptation of the process FSW has been used to perform right angled inside corner joints.
Full case study
Welding Co-ordination - The Knowledge to Comply
With the function of welding co-ordination being defined by the tasks and responsibilities set out in EN ISO 14731, and compliance with EN ISO 14731 being required by the quality standard EN ISO 3834 (Quality requirements for fusion welding of metallic materials), and product standards such as EN 15085 (Railway applications - Welding of railway vehicles and components), it is necessary for manufacturers to demonstrate that they have competent welding co-ordinators.
Responsible Welding Co-ordinators must be able to demonstrate technical knowledge at a level relative to the nature and complexity of the products for which they are responsible.
Although the standard does not require the welding co-ordinators to hold any particular qualification or certification, the International Institute of Welding (IIW) has developed a harmonized diploma course, of which the Engineer, Technologist and Specialist levels satisfy the knowledge requirements of ISO 14731 and will assist in the process of company certification. This diploma is available in the UK through TWI Training & Examination Services (www.twitraining.com) and overseas members can find local training by contacting their Authorised National Body (www.iiw-iis.org).
For those who do not hold an IWE, IWT or IWS diploma, there are other routes to demonstrate the knowledge requirements of ISO 14731. Additional training, such as the Welding Supervisors or Welding Inspectors schemes (www.cswip.com), may be relevant to supplementing existing knowledge. Also, the Welding Institute (www.twiprofessional.com) membership grades of Senior Member (SenMWeldI), Incorporated Member (IncMWeldI) and Technician Member (TechWeldI) are associated with Engineering Council registration classes of Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer and Engineering Technician.
These are internationally recognised qualifications that use Professional Review Interviews to assess an individual's knowledge of welding and experience of application. TWI Certification Ltd is able to utilise these qualifications to verify a welding coordinator's knowledge as part of its ISO 3834 assessment process.
Competence comes from the combination of knowledge and experience; don't delay in gaining the qualifications that demonstrate knowledge, as you will also be required to show experience in applying that knowledge to your scope of work.
If you would like some guidance on the possible routes to compliance with EN ISO 14731, please submit the preliminary enquiry form, which can be found with supporting information at www.iso3834.org, enclosing copies of CVs of the candidates that you intend to nominate as Responsible Welding Coordinators. With these details of your intended scope of certification and staff competences, TWI Certification Ltd will identify the options available to you.
Success on track - high speed MIG/laser welding for aluminium alloy railcars
In high speed rail transport, reducing weight whilst maintaining performance is all important. Railcar structures are often fabricated from extruded aluminium alloy sections, which offer lightweight performance from a combination of high specific strength and stiffness.
Full case study
Cost cutting software - predicting distortion and improving fatigue performance
Software which enables non-expert users to predict distortion and achieve better fatigue performance in welded structures is being developed by TWI.
Optweld, as it is known, is a collaborative project, funded by Technology Strategy Board and includes Greenwich and Newcastle Universities, BVT, BAE Systems, the ESI Group, ThyssenKrupp and TWI.
It is designed to appeal to fabricators which use the arc processes to manufacture structures, out of sheet ferrous material, particularly plate thicker than 3mm. End users will include shipbuilders, train makers and land vehicle manufacturers in the military and civil sector.
One of the objectives behind the Optweld project is to promote the use of thinner sheet and sections. It is also expected to reduce the cost of associated computing.
'The main benefit of using this software is to reduce the cost of re-work during the assembly processes' says project co-ordinator Marcus Warwick. 'In other words the need to bash something straight during assembly is avoided, or at least reduced.'
The target user will be a welding engineer assigned to assembling a fabrication from the blueprint stage. The software will recommend an order of assembly, the required process conditions for welding, the weld geometry, the weld speed, the power input, and the thickness and grade of material.
Since the software is largely related to joining thin sheet using the arc processes it is expected to appeal to shipbuilders, train makers and the military and civilian vehicle markets.
The benefits of using the software include improved quality and dimensional accuracy in the finished fabrication. And, by using thinner sheet and section, material costs will be reduced and weight savings achieved.
'The software will allow the user to try different options and find out which gives the least distortion' says Warwick. 'You will be able to input different geometries, different welding conditions, and different welding assembly procedures,... for instance one could compare the relative merits of assembling from one end to the other, as opposed to welding from the middle outwards.'
Above all, manufacturing costs will be reduced in two areas. Fixed costs will be lower in the areas of re-work, fit-up time and scrap. And recurring costs will be reduced through weight savings achieved, improved fatigue performance and reduced repair costs.'
Continuous health monitoring and non-destructive assessment of composites and composite repairs on surface transport applications
The ComPair project is partly funded by the European Seventh Framework Program (FP7) over three years and will develop new techniques to non destructive assessment and monitoring of composites and composite repair on surface transport (Buses, trucks, trams and high and low speed trains).
The aim of ComPair is to create an improved way for continuous health monitoring and non-destructive assessment of composites and composite repairs.
The project will also establish a certificated procedure - guidelines on these applications, in order to generate a cost effective manufacturing and maintenance procedure.
The three main objectives of ComPair projects are:
- To develop quantitative non-invasive NDT approaches for prompt assessment of composites during the manufacturing and assembly stages of the composite materials and structures.
- To develop a health monitoring approach for the composite components on full scale structures.
- To develop a robotic scanner that will accommodate the NDT approach for the in situ testing of the structures during inspection and maintenance.
For more information about ComPair, visit www.compairproject.com or contact Dr Chiraz Ennaceur at chiraz.ennaceur@twi.co.uk.
Fatigue Life Prediction for Toe Ground Joints
Weld toe grinding is a well established technique for improving the fatigue performance of welded components. Design codes, such as BS 7608, allow an increase in the fatigue endurance (fatigue life) of 2.2 times after proper weld toe grinding. It is expected that crack initiation would become a more significant component in the total endurance for toe ground joints than for as-welded joints. Although many attempts have been made to predict the fatigue endurance of welded joints by considering crack initiation and propagation, work on ground joints is limited. Furthermore, there is little convincing data in the literature to verify any model predicting the life to crack initiation.
Full report (Members only - login required)
Training: An Introduction to Friction Stir Welding
The course will be an intensive mixture of classroom lectures, tutorials and practical demonstrations using both video footage and live demonstrations on TWI's equipment. There will be opportunities for individual discussions with TWI engineers.
Among the topics to be discussed will be history of the process, licensing, patents and standards, process fundamentals, process advantages and disadvantages, process control, comparison with other processes, machine technology, tool technology, materials and weld performance issues, quality control, economic benefits, current/planned applications.
Attending the course will give students the necessary knowledge to make balanced decisions about the process and to deal with confidence with suppliers of equipment or friction stir welding process providers/users.
The date for the next FSW training course at Sheffield will be 20-22 October 2009.
More information about the course.
Specialist Materials and Joining - A new section at TWI?
Well no, not really, more a case of a better description of what two existing sections, Ceramics & Microtechnology, already do.
These two sections have always been closely aligned, having many areas of common interest ranging from packaging for electronics and sensors in safety critical or aggressive environments and thermal management in hybrid vehicles through to development of special purpose coatings.
The two sections have now come together to enhance the service they can offer to Industrial Members across a range of sectors, including rail, marine, off-highway, defence, construction and fabrication.
So whether it's the development of bespoke brazing or diffusion bonding cycles, advice on ceramic materials or precision reliability in safety critical components, SMJ is here to help.
Correlation of Phased Array Inspection and Fatigue Performance of FSW Joints
Friction stir welding (FSW) of aluminium alloys is now an established joining technique and there is increasing application to joining of critical components and structures. Much emphasis has been placed on optimising tool design and process parameters to ensure joint quality but flaws may still be created in the production environment if the limits of the process window are exceeded. There is a requirement to understand the type of flaws that may be generated, and their causes, when welding conditions deviate from the optimum.
Full report (Members only - login required)
Laser Surface Hardening with Adaptive Control
Laser surface hardening was one of the first industrial applications of lasers and is rapidly developing as new and more cost-effective lasers, advanced laser optics and control systems, become available. The compact and energy-efficient direct diode lasers give a higher process efficiency and higher energy efficiency, making them more attractive to be integrated into a manufacturing line. The key factor for laser surface hardening is to maintain a constant surface temperature during the process. Variations in the surface temperature can cause fluctuations in the profile of the hardened layer. More recently, the development of new beam-forming optics and process monitoring systems has enabled the process to be controlled in real time to suit different industrial applications. Laser hardening parameters can be adaptively controlled based on the surface temperature of the sample and interactions between the laser beam and workpiece surface to achieve consistent surface properties.
Full report (Members only - login required)
Archive
- Process monitoring for quality control of friction stir welding
- Low stress no distortion (LSND) modelling of aluminium alloy welds
- Welding Estimator Software
- Materials Issues in Weld Integrity
- A crashworthy solution ... Friction stir welding in aluminium rolling stock
- Successful Seminars on Structural Integrity in Japan and China
- Critical review of joining processes for powder metallurgy parts
- Assessment of Bobbin Friction Stir Welding for the Joining of Aluminium Alloys
Process monitoring for quality control of friction stir welding
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a relatively new welding technology, which has been rapidly developed and implemented throughout the world, since its invention by TWI in 1991. Control methods for FSW have also developed rapidly during this period, and a number of different systems have been produced by various FSW machine manufacturers and process users. Such systems usually act to control one of the key welding parameters, most commonly z-axis position or force (although systems that control x-axis force, z-axis torque, or weld/tool temperature have also been demonstrated). A review of these different control approaches is timely in order to provide guidelines for process users on the most appropriate choice of system for a given FSW application.
Full report. (Members only- login required)
Low stress no distortion (LSND) modelling of aluminium alloy welds
Distortion of welded fabrications primarily occurs due to forces produced by differential contraction of different locations as material solidifies and cools from the non-uniform heating produced by welding. Fabrications of thin material are more prone to distortion than thicker fabrications because there is less stiffnesss against out of plane bending moments and lower resistance to buckling. Industry sectors like shipbuilding, automotive and aerospace are particularly affected since their components are fabricated from thin sheets and plates.
Full report. (Members only- login required)
Welding Estimator Software
Calculates and compares welding costs for consumables, gases and welding processes. Quick and easy weld, welding procedure and welding project cost estimation tool. To read more...
Materials Issues in Weld Integrity
The eagerly anticipated WJS Materials Technical Group meeting took place on 27 November 2008 at the Ramsay Moon conference centre situated at the TWI headquarters in Great Abington, near Cambridge.
The highly successful one-day event, supported by the Younger Members Committee of The Welding Institute, helped address Materials Issues in Weld Integrity across several industry sectors including construction & engineering. This conference also allowed useful networking opportunities between participants from industry and academia, with several graduates encouraged on the day for their professional development via membership of The Welding Institute and WJS.
The next Materials Technical Group meeting will be held in spring 2009, details for which will be available via the TWI website.
Watch this space!
For further information and related enquiries, please contact Dr. Cem Selcuk, at cem.selcuk@twi.co.uk
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Left to right: Secretary, Cem Selcuk (TWI) and speakers: Ian Scott (Joy Mining Machinery), Bob Andrews (BMT Fleet), Isabel Hadley (TWI), Alan Thompson (Corus), Norrie McPherson (BVT Surface Fleet) and John Krancioch (SFR plc) with Chairman, Peter Boothby (Macaw Engineering) |
A crashworthy solution ... Friction stir welding in aluminium rolling stock
Since the invention of friction stir welding at TWI in 1991, companies from all parts of the world have implemented the process, predominantly in the fabrication of aluminium components and panels. As Stephan Kallee and Calvin Blignault report friction stir welded structures are now revolutionising the way in which trains, metro cars and trams are built.
Full article. (Members only- login required)
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Modern railcar design - Mock-up of the Hitachi Class 395 at Ebbsfleet International railway station |
Successful Seminars on Structural Integrity in Japan and China
In October this year TWI's Structural Integrity Group held technical seminars in Japan and China. Presentation topics included amongst others fatigue, fracture, modelling, distortion, residual stresses and risk based inspection. The Japanese Seminar in Tokyo is a well established annual event which has been successfully running since 1989. The British Embassy was once more a very welcoming and most hospitable partner and many of TWI's longstanding business friends attended the event. The idea to hold a seminar in a similar format in China was a first try this year and we were overwhelmed by the response! About 100 attendees from a large variety of companies were present at the event which was held at the Jiaotong University in Shanghai. The photos below give a little impression of the atmosphere at the seminars. Plans for 2009 are already being developed and we look forward to a long lasting and growing relationship with our Members in Japan and China.
| Attendees at TWI Seminar in Japan, British Embassy, Tokyo |
Attendees at TWI Seminar in China, Jiaotong University, Shanghai |
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For more information, please contact integrityandcorrosion@twi.co.uk
Critical review of joining processes for powder metallurgy parts
EuroPM2008 International Powder Metallurgy Congress and Exhibition
(29 September - 1 October 2008) Mannheim, Germany
Powder metallurgy (PM) processes have high productivity and are ideal for making near net-shape parts of especially complex geometries from a range of materials, which maximises material utilisation, and hence minimises or eliminates secondary operations such as machining. Secondary operations are common for components made via liquid metal processing, and result in an additional step in manufacturing with substantial cost and waste implications. Despite this obvious advantage of PM processes, however, the joining of materials synthesized from powders has been associated with difficulties related to their inherent characteristics, such as porosity, contamination and inclusions, at levels, which tend to influence the properties of a welded joint.
This paper presents a critical review of the current state-of-art of welding PM components. It also seeks to identify preferred joining processes and identify apparent technology gaps in joining of PM parts, in terms of initial processing and attendant materials issues, with an emphasis on offering solutions to welding problems.
Full paper. (Registered users only- login required)
Assessment of Bobbin Friction Stir Welding for the Joining of Aluminium Alloys
The friction stir welding (FSW) process was invented by TWI and was originally developed for industrial exploitation via a TWI Group Sponsored Project (GSP), the Sponsors of which were amongst the first to benefit from the new technology. TWI has recently developed a novel enhancement to the FSW process, which offers the potential to produce improved full penetration welding performance using significantly simplified, and therefore cheaper, equipment. The enhanced process can be implemented in two varieties named fixed and floating bobbin FSW. Bobbin friction stir welding has the potential to be a valuable high productivity manufacturing technique for structures of interest to the transport industries, offering high quality, highly repeatable welds at a competitive cost. It is proposed to develop, evaluate, and demonstrate the capabilities and benefits of bobbin FSW via a new GSP. Participants in the GSP will be ideally placed to become early adopters of the new technique and to benefit from the enhanced capabilities that it offers.
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