May - June 2001
By joining Group Sponsored R&D Projects TWI Industrial Members gain access to substantial programmes at low cost, with the opportunity to steer work undertaken into areas of specific interest. The following GSP's have been, or are about to be, launched.
For a full list of proposed, active and closed projects see here
Beam probing for quality assurance and machine set-up for production electron beam welding
Launched February 2001
Duration two years
Cost per sponsor £9000 pa
Project leader: O Nello
The use of beam probing techniques for electron beam welding potentially enables manufacturers to improve welding quality. This project will investigate the relationships between gun geometry, probe traces and welding performance. Based on this analysis, industrial procedures and standards will be developed for achieving consistent electron beam welding machine set-up, monitoring gun condition and controlling welding performance.
Joining of thin sheet aluminium, stainless and coated steels by the AC pulsed MIG welding and brazing processes
To be launched April 2001
Duration nine months
Cost per sponsor £8000
Project leader: G Melton
AC MIG welding is claimed to offer significant advantages in welding sheet materials. The AC waveform can be precisely controlled to reduce the depth of weld penetration during welding. This enables the AC MIG process to weld thinner materials and bridge wider gaps than can be achieved with the traditional DC and pulsed MIG processes. The aim of this project is to evaluate the AC MIG welding and brazing processes for a range of applications as chosen by the sponsors. The project has been budgeted for 12 applications in total, enabling two applications to be evaluated per sponsor. This will involve up to three sheet material types including aluminium, stainless and coated steel.
Procurement of welding fume exposure data
Launched January 2001
Duration three months
Cost per sponsor £3500
Project leader: G Carter
Exposure to manganese, nickel and chromium compounds in welding fume are of interest because the harmful effects that may be associated with exposure to them are severe. However, it is often difficult to establish a causative link between exposure and disease because there are few pedigree exposure data available. This lack of exposure data is important when defining safe exposure limits and in assessing the impact of changes in those limits on industry. If quality data were available, they could be used in risk assessment. It is proposed that sufficient exposure data to alleviate the above problems be gathered by reviewing available literature and conducting a survey of the welding industry (Phase I). If sufficient data are not forthcoming, exposure data should be generated by measuring exposure in on-site situations or simulations.
Design and integrity of pipe-in-pipe riser systems for deep water applications
To be launched May 2001
Duration eighteen months
Cost per sponsor $70 000 (operators)
$35 000 (contractors)
Project leader: R Fletcher
Flow assurance requirements in deepwater field developments present a key technological challenge for the design of riser systems. This is due to the difficulty of maintaining production fluid temperature above the hydrate formation and wax appearance temperatures. One solution is the use of pipe-in-pipe (PIP) systems for deepwater risers and flowlines. While providing high levels of thermal insulation, such systems have a more complicated design, particularly with respect to structural integrity, than conventional single pipe systems. At present there is significant technological uncertainty and risk associated with this technology. This project is intended to address a number of the major areas of uncertainty in the optimisation of design for riser systems, and the structural behaviour of such systems during installation and operation.
