Aws WJ 201205

PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY TO ADVANCE THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND APPLICATION OF WELDING
AND ALLIED JOINING AND CUTTING PROCESSES WORLDWIDE, INCLUDING BRAZING, SOLDERING, AND THERMAL SPRAYING
May 2012
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Electroslag
Welding of
Bridges
Choosing an Engine Drive
Laser Technology Transfer
New Faces in Welding
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3 WELDING JOURNAL
CONTENTS
24 Narrow Gap Electroslag Is Process of Choice for Welding
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
Ironworkers created 10-m-long welds using the ESW
process for the suspension bridges tower
B. Turpin et al.
33 Welding Researchs New Talent Pool
Five promising young researchers outline their welding
interests
A. Cullison et al.
38 What Do You Need in an Engine-Driven Welding Machine?
These tips will help you figure out the features you need in an
engine-driven welding machine
J. Leisner and J. Gitter
44 Is Small Town America the New Face in Welding?
A group of high school welding contest winners from
Americas smaller and rural communities discuss what drew
them to the field and what they hope for their careers
B. Wehrman
50 Moving Laser Research from the Lab to Industry
The National Laser Centre in South Africa provides state-of-
the-art R&D photonic facilities and promotes the use of lasers
in industry through technology transfer
F. Sciammarella
Welding Journal (ISSN 0043-2296) is published
monthly by the American Welding Society for
$120.00 per year in the United States and posses-
sions, $160 per year in foreign countries: $7.50
per single issue for domestic AWS members and
$10.00 per single issue for nonmembers and
$14.00 single issue for international. American
Welding Society is located at 550 NW LeJeune Rd.,
Miami, FL 33126-5671; telephone (305) 443-9353.
Periodicals postage paid in Miami, Fla., and addi-
tional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address
changes to Welding Journal, 550 NW LeJeune Rd.,
Miami, FL 33126-5671. Canada Post: Publications
Mail Agreement #40612608 Canada Returns to be
sent to Bleuchip International, P.O. Box 25542,
London, ON N6C 6B2
Readers of Welding Journal may make copies of
articles for personal, archival, educational or
research purposes, and which are not for sale or
resale. Permission is granted to quote from arti-
cles, provided customary acknowledgment of
authors and sources is made. Starred (*) items
excluded from copyright.
Departments
Editorial ............................4
Press Time News ..................6
News of the Industry ..............8
International Update ............12
Stainless Q&A ....................14
Product & Print Spotlight ......18
Conferences ......................54
Coming Events....................56
Certification Schedule ..........58
RWMA Q&A ......................60
Welding Workbook ..............62
Society News ....................65
Tech Topics ......................66
Errata B2.1:2009................66
Errata D17.1:2010..............66
Addenda: B2.1:2009 ..........66
Guide to AWS Services ........88
Personnel ........................90
Classifieds ........................98
Advertiser Index ................100
133-s Reagent Selection in Austenitic Stainless Steel
Solidification Modes Characterization
This research compared eight different reagents to determine
which produced the best results for microstructural
characterization of solidification modes
M. A. Valiente Bermejo
140-s Nonlinear Modeling of Dynamic Metal Transfer in
Laser-Enhanced GMAW
Estimating an improved laser recoil pressure force aided
development of a modified nonlinear model
Y. Huang et al.
149-s Analysis of Thermal Cycle during Multipass Arc
Welding
A new method is proposed to account for convection and
radiation heat loss from the plate surface during multipass gas
tungsten arc welding
C. S. Pathak et al.
155-s Weldability of Aluminum Alloys with High-Power Diode
Laser
By controlling the experimental variables, butt joints were
produced with higher penetration than previously reported for
the conduction regime
J. M. Snchez-Amaya et al.
Features
Welding Research Supplement
24
44
38
May 2012 Volume 91 Number 5
AWS Web site www.aws.org
On the cover: The electroslag welding process was used to make 20 welds in 60
days at the base of the single-tower, self-anchored suspension span on the new
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. (Photo courtesy of Electroslag Systems,
Technology and Development, Portland, Ore.)
EDITORIAL
We would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to attend the 65th Annual
Assembly of the International Institute of Welding, July 813, in Denver, Colo. We
believe this will be your best educational opportunity of the year; you will find no other
conference anywhere offering a wider range of technical information. The reason for this
is that welding experts from all over the world will be sharing their knowledge with the
people who make it to Denver.
The IIW Annual Assembly is a full week of technical presentations combined with
several social activities. This allows you to hear the presentations during the day, and fol-
low up on the information with the speakers in the evening. It is an outstanding venue
for discovering what is going on in welding around the world as well as for developing
the contacts to keep you in touch with the work that interests you in the future. The week
consists of three (or more) days of Commission and Committee meetings followed by a
two-day conference. The first three days of meetings involve technical presentations on
a wide range of subjects. These are based in the Commissions and Committees. Each
group has a particular area of technical interest, much like those of the AWS Technical
Committees. The final two days are given over to an International Conference. This
years conference is Welding for Repair and Life Extension of Plants and Infrastructure,
and has an international group of invited papers. The conference will open and close
with plenary sessions and has two tracks running concurrent sessions in between the ple-
nary sessions.
This Annual Assembly offers a unique opportunity to participate in an international
event without leaving the U.S.A. It gives you an opportunity to evaluate the value of the
meetings without the expense in time and money to attend the Annual Assembly when
it is on another continent. The Assembly was last in the United States in 1997 and on the
North American continent in 2006 in Quebec. In addition, the International Conference
is on a subject of major interest in the United States and will provide the latest informa-
tion on the subject from the worlds experts. If you cant participate in the entire Annual
Assembly, you should at least register to attend the International Conference.
Details of the Annual Assembly can be found in the Special Supplement that has
been included with this copy of the Welding Journal. In it, you will find abstracts for the
papers to be presented at the International
Conference, as well as biographies of the invited
speakers. Further information on the International
Institute of Welding and its Annual Assembly can be
found in the February 2012 Welding Journal on pages
28 and 29. The complete program and registration
information can be found at www.IIW2012.com.
We would also like to thank the sponsors of the
Annual Assembly, who are listed in the Supplement.
This event would not be possible without their assis-
tance. The American Council of the IIW is the spon-
soring body of this Assembly. The American Council is
the coordinating body for our U.S. members: the
American Welding Society, the Edison Welding
Institute, and the Welding Research Council. Without
these three organizations paying our IIW dues, none
of us could participate in the work of the IIW. Finally,
we would like to thank the members of the Organizing
Committee as well as the staff of the American
Welding Society who have done all of the work to
make this event possible.
MAY 2012 4
Officers
President William A. Rice Jr.
OKI Bering
Vice President Nancy C. Cole
NCC Engineering
Vice President Dean R. Wilson
Kimberly-Clark Global Safety
Vice President David J. Landon
Vermeer Mfg. Co.
Treasurer Robert G. Pali
J. P. Nissen Co.
Executive Director Ray W. Shook
American Welding Society
Directors
T. Anderson (At Large), ITW Global Welding Tech. Center
J. R. Bray (Dist. 18), Affiliated Machinery, Inc.
J. C. Bruskotter (Past President), Bruskotter Consulting Services
G. Fairbanks (Dist. 9), Fairbanks Inspection & Testing Services
T. A. Ferri (Dist. 1), Thermadyne Industries
D. A. Flood (Dist. 22), Tri Tool, Inc.
R. A. Harris (Dist. 10), Total Quality Testing
D. C. Howard (Dist. 7), Concurrent Technologies Corp.
J. Jones (Dist. 17), Thermadyne Industries
W. A. Komlos (Dist. 20), ArcTech, LLC
R. C. Lanier (Dist. 4), Pitt C.C.
T. J. Lienert (At Large), Los Alamos National Laboratory
J. Livesay (Dist. 8), Tennessee Technology Center
M. J. Lucas Jr. (At Large), Belcan Corp.
D. E. Lynnes (Dist. 15), Lynnes Welding Training
C. Matricardi (Dist. 5), Welding Solutions, Inc.
D. L. McQuaid (At Large), DL McQuaid & Associates
J. L. Mendoza (Past President), Lone Star Welding
S. P. Moran (At Large), ESAB Welding & Cutting Products
K. A. Phy (Dist. 6), KA Phy Services, Inc.
W. R. Polanin (Dist. 13), Illinois Central College
R. L. Richwine (Dist. 14), Ivy Tech State College
D. J. Roland (Dist. 12), Marinette Marine Corp.
N. Saminich (Dist. 21), Desert Rose H.S. and Career Center
N. S. Shannon (Dist. 19), Carlson Testing of Portland
T. A. Siewert (At Large), NIST
H. W. Thompson (Dist. 2), Underwriters Laboratories, Inc.
R. P. Wilcox (Dist. 11), ACH Co.
M. R. Wiswesser (Dist. 3), Welder Training & Testing Institute
D. Wright (Dist. 16), Zephyr Products, Inc.
Founded in 1919 to Advance the Science,
Technology and Application of Welding
Get the Most Technical Info:
Come to IIW
Thomas M. Mustaleski (top) and Damian J. Kotecki
Co-chairs, 2012 IIW Planning Committee; past presidents, AWS
Cutting
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PRESS TIME
NEWS
Energy Department Announces $180 Million for Initiative to
Deploy U.S. Offshore Wind Projects
Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently announced the start of an initiative to capture
the potential of wind energy off American coasts. As part of a planned six-year $180
million initiative, an initial $20 million will be available this year as the first step in sup-
porting up to four offshore wind energy installations across the United States.
Americas offshore wind resources, estimated at more than 4000 gigawatts, will help
the United States meet its energy, environmental, and economic challenges and provide
energy to coastal cities.
The department will focus this latest research and demonstration initiative on tech-
nologies that will achieve large cost reductions. These will help address key challenges
associated with installing utility-scale offshore wind turbines, connecting offshore tur-
bines to the power grid, and navigating new permitting and approval processes.
Future Naval Force May Sail with the Strength of Titanium
A U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR)-funded project will produce a full-size ship
hull section made entirely with marine-grade titanium using a welding technique that
could help bring titanium into future Navy ship construction.
The team building this section recently completed the industrys longest friction stir
titanium-alloy welds and aims to complete the ship hull section this summer. Friction-
stir welds more than 17 ft long joined the titanium-alloy plates for the sections deck.
If constructed in titanium, Navy ships would have lighter weight for the same size, al-
lowing for a bigger payload, and virtually no corrosion. However, titanium costs up to
nine times more than steel and is technically difficult and expensive to manufacture into
marine vessel hulls.
Researchers at the University of New Orleans School of Naval Architecture and Tex-
tron Marine and Land Systems are demonstrating the feasibility of manufacturing tita-
nium ship hull structures. Using lower-cost marine-grades of titanium, they fabricated a
20-ft-long main deck panel composed of six titanium plates, joined together by friction
stir welding, as part of technology studies for an experimental naval vessel.
The researchers used new titanium friction stir welding methods by Florida-based
Keystone Synergistic Enterprises, Inc., with funding from the ONR and Air Force. The
processes were transferred to the National Center for Advanced Manufacturing.
To fabricate the ship hull structure, more than 70 ft of welded linear joints were made
at a high linear speed, indicating reduced manufacturing time; showed good weld pene-
tration, indicating a secure connection; and had no distortion of the titanium adjoining
the weld. Experts attribute the success to an effective pin tool design, process parame-
ters that emphasized pin tool life, and exact duplication of the process steps.
Airgas Acquires Nordan Smith
Airgas, Inc., Radnor, Pa., acquired the assets and operations of Industrial Welding
Supplies of Hattiesburg, LLC, doing business as Nordan Smith, Hattiesburg, Miss.
The acquired business, with 17 locations throughout Mississippi, Arkansas, and Ala-
bama, generates annual revenues in excess of $30 million. After a transitional time, six
of the acquired locations will be integrated into the mid-South region of Airgas USA,
LLC, and eleven will be integrated into the South region.
RoboVent Joins List of Manufacturers Located in Minnesota
RoboVent, a U.S. manufacturer of ventilation and filtration equipment, has opened
a suburban Minneapolis office. Proximity to various industries, including defense con-
tractors, marine manufacturing, food processing, composites manufacturing, and a few
others, prompted the company to open its 8th location in North America.
As our product offerings expand beyond our traditional customers in automotive
and transportation, we identified a few geographical markets where RoboVent can make
an important contribution to the success of key manufacturing segments. Minnesota
and the neighboring states was one of them, so were very happy to be here, said Jim
Reid, president of the RoboVent Solutions Group.
MAY 2012 6
MEMBER
Publisher Andrew Cullison
Publisher Emeritus Jeff Weber
Editorial
Editorial Director Andrew Cullison
Editor Mary Ruth Johnsen
Associate Editor Howard M. Woodward
Associate Editor Kristin Campbell
Peer Review Coordinator Melissa Gomez
Design and Production
Managing Editor Zaida Chavez
Senior Production Coordinator Brenda Flores
Manager of International Periodicals and
Electronic Media Carlos Guzman
Advertising
National Sales Director Rob Saltzstein
Advertising Sales Representative Lea Paneca
Senior Advertising Production Manager Frank Wilson
Subscriptions
Subscriptions Representative Sylvia Ferreira
sferreira@aws.org
550 NW LeJeune Rd., Miami, FL 33126
(305) 443-9353 or (800) 443-9353
Publications, Expositions, Marketing Committee
D. L. Doench, Chair
Hobart Brothers Co.
S. Bartholomew, Vice Chair
ESAB Welding & Cutting Prod.
J. D. Weber, Secretary
T. Birky, Lincoln Electric Co.
D. Brown, Weiler Brush
J. Deckrow, Hypertherm
D. DeCorte, RoMan Mfg.
J. R. Franklin, Sellstrom Mfg. Co.
F. H. Kasnick, Praxair
D. Levin, Airgas
E. C. Lipphardt, Consultant
R. Madden, Hypertherm
D. Marquard, IBEDA Superflash
J. Mueller, Thermadyne Industries
J. F. Saenger Jr., Consultant
S. Smith, Weld-Aid Products
N. C. Cole, Ex Off., NCC Engineering
J. N. DuPont, Ex Off., Lehigh University
L. G. Kvidahl, Ex Off., Northrup Grumman Ship Systems
S. P. Moran, Ex Off., ESAB Welding & Cutting Prod.
E. Norman, Ex Off., Southwest Area Career Center
R. G. Pali, Ex Off., J. P. Nissen Co.
R. Ranc, Ex Off., Superior Products
W. A. Rice, Ex Off., OKI Bering
R. W. Shook, Ex Off., American Welding Society
D. Wilson, Ex Off., Kimberly-Clark Global Safety
Copyright 2012 by American Welding Society in both printed and elec-
tronic formats. The Society is not responsible for any statement made or
opinion expressed herein. Data and information developed by the authors
of specific articles are for informational purposes only and are not in-
tended for use without independent, substantiating investigation on the
part of potential users.
NEWS OF THE
INDUSTRY
AWS Energy Conference Comes to
San Diego in June
The American Welding Society (AWS)-sponsored conference
on Welding in the Energy Industries will be held June 12 and 13
at the Courtyard San Diego Old Town in San Diego, Calif. Listed
are the speakers names, positions, and presentation topics.
Richard Campbell, the first engineer from the welding field
to be named a Bechtel fellow, the use of several technologies, in-
cluding gas metal arc welding surface tension transfer;
Michael Ludwig, segment manager, shipbuilding and power
generation for Fronius USA, high deposition cladding methods
for energy applications;
Kevin Beardsley, a pipeline expert from Lincoln Electric,
the companys entry into laser welding to produce claddings;
Bill Newell, vice president of Euroweld, preheat misun-
derstood, often overlooked and sometimes misapplied;
Shane Findlan, chief welding engineer at the Shaw Group,
the use of D1.1, Structural Welding Code Steel, D1.4, Structural
Welding Code Reinforced Steel, and D1.6, Structural Welding
Code Stainless Steel, rules for nuclear fabrication;
Jack Schroeder, an ESAB automation sales manager, wind-
tower fabrication and patented isolated cold electrode process;
Ian Harris, Edison Welding Institute, plasma gas metal
arc/hybrid arc welding and high brightness laser welds;
Bruce Thompson, Edison Welding Institute, friction stir
welding, including tool material innovations;
Matthew Yarmuch, Alberta Innovates Technology Fu-
tures, an overview of the tar sands in Alberta and the role mod-
ern welding technologies play in their development;
John Babich, ArcelorMittals steel plate operation, the avail-
ability of roll-bonded C276 clad for coal-fired power plant FGD
equipment and stacks;
Ben Pletcher, Chicago Bridge & Iron, welding 9% nickel
LNG storage tanks;
Michael Blakely, Dynamic Materials, how explosion weld-
ing is used to provide plate for use in many industries;
Larry Paul, ThyssenKrupp VDM, weld overlay options for
fossil fired boilers; and
Koike Fabricates 130-Ton Weld Positioner for Chinese Nuclear Reactor
MAY 2012 8
The 130-ton weld positioner created by Koike for Harbin Electric in China
will be used to weld and clad component parts for a new nuclear reactor.
It was expected to be shipped in mid-April.
Koike Aronson, Inc./Ransome, Arcade, N.Y., has
created its largest weld positioner with a 130-ton
model for Harbin Electric Corp., Qinhuangdao City,
China. The $1.5 million device will be used to weld
and clad component parts for a new nuclear reactor
in that region. It can hold, rotate, and tilt 550,000 lb.
We will be shipping the machine by the third
week in April, said Koike President and CEO Jerry
Leary.
In addition, the company has plans to expand its
headquarters with a $3.5 million addition. The ini-
tial expansion will be 40,000 sq ft with the potential
to go to 100,000 sq ft.
We are in the process of obtaining the necessary
permits and contractor quotes for this latest expan-
sion. We hope to start it by mid year, Leary added.
Currently, the company has 140 employees but
several openings still need to be filled. As of press
time, the following positions were available: me-
chanical designer/engineer; electrical engineer;
water jet/laser cutting machine specialist; field serv-
ice technician; second shifts for a CNC machinist,
mechanical builder, welder/fitter, and spray painter;
plus a part-time parts picker. For more details, go to
www.koike.com, and click on the U.S. map.
Also, in related company news, Turner Motor-
sports, Mooresville, N.C., recently announced the
addition of Koike to the sponsorship lineup for the
2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pro-
gram. The cutting equipment and positioning ma-
chinery manufacturer will adorn the hood and sides
of the No. 31 Chevy Silverado driven by James
Buescher during the 2012 campaign.
9 WELDING JOURNAL
Randall Dooley, Kennametals Conforma Clad, unusual so-
lutions to problems in the power-generation industry.
For additional information, visit www.aws.org/conferences/
2012energy.html.
Gulf States Shipbuilders Consortium Boot
Camp Students Graduate into Jobs
Last November, 18 students started a 10-week shipfitter boot
camp developed by the Gulf States Shipbuilders Consortium
(GSSC) to prepare them for entry-level employment in the mar-
itime industry. Before an invitation was extended to participate,
candidates completed prequalification activities.
On March 1, the 12 individuals who completed the pilot pro-
gram participated in a graduation ceremony hosted by Missis-
sippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) at its Advanced
Manufacturing and Technology Center in Gulfport, Miss. A job
fair followed the event giving graduates an opportunity to inter-
view with representatives from area shipyards, including Bollinger
Shipyards, Ingalls Shipbuilding, Trinity Yachts, and VT Halter
Marine. All 12 graduates were offered employment.
GSSCs Shipfitter Boot Camps are part of a larger project
funded through a U.S. Department of Commerce Katrina Grant
to develop a standardized, performance-based shipfitting cur-
riculum with a portable skill certificate that is recognized by its
members along the Gulf Coast and can be used by high schools,
colleges, shipyards, and skilled trade providers to train individu-
als on core shipfitting skills.
Because this curriculum was designed by industry for indus-
try, it assures that the participants are coming out of the training
ready to begin entry-level jobs in shipbuilding and metal fabrica-
tion, said Mark Landry, MGCCC workforce director in Jack-
son and George counties.
Alcoa Wins Navy Contract to Develop
Advanced Welding Techniques
Alcoa, New York, N.Y., has won a $2.1 million U.S. Navy con-
tract to develop advanced welding techniques designed to reduce
manufacturing costs on aluminum-intensive ships.
/ The Fronius Tandem System is a true ready to weld package for both high deposition steel, stainless
and aluminum welding. The perfect marriage of a compact 900A/100% duty cycle torch, digital
power source and optimized synergic lines for Pulse-Pulse, Pulse-CV and CV-Pulse.
Want to know more? Check out: www.fronius-usa.com
/ Battery Charging Systems / Welding Technology / Solar Electronics

For info go to www.aws.org/ad-index
After completing the 10-week shipfitter boot camp by the Gulf States
Shipbuilders Consortium, all 12 graduates were offered employ-
ment. Shown above, student Joshua Chiles grinds a plate edge in
preparation for welding. He will also attach a 10 in. 10 ft plate to
the edge. (Photo courtesy of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community
College.)
MAY 2012 10
Under the program, developed through a collaboration with
Alcoas Government Affairs team and researchers at the Alcoa
Technical Center in New Kensington, Pa., the company will adapt
high-deposition gas metal arc welding technology to marine struc-
tures, enabling the Navy to reduce the cost of shipbuilding. Total
projected savings for the Navy could be as much as $200 million
under current shipbuilding plans.
The process will be applied to the Navys Littoral Combat
Ship and could be transferred to the Navys Joint High Speed
Vessel and other aluminum-intensive ships.
Jet Edge Featured on Modern Marvels and
DIGGERS
The History Channels Modern Marvels show highlighted Jet
Edge waterjets and Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) in its recent
episode, Under Pressure. Considering that few things could be
under more pressure than a 90,000 lb/in.
2
industrial waterjet cut-
ting machine and a NASCAR team racing to get ready for the
next green flag, the shows production crew traveled to MWRs
shop in Cornelius, N.C., to shoot the episode. It explores the sci-
ence behind creating an extreme ultrahigh-pressure waterjet that
can cut parts from virtually any material, and explains how the
shop uses its Jet Edge X-Stream waterjet cutting machine to cut
more than 1000 parts for each of its race cars. The episode has
interviews with Michael Wheeler, Jet Edges R&D engineer; Nick
Hughes, MWRs technical director; and Jeremy Vanderleest,
MWRs waterjet operator.
In addition, National Geographic TVs new show DIGGERS
focusing on the treasure hunting adventures of Tim Saylor
and George Wyant features a metal logo of its name made by
Jet Edge shown at the start of each episode. The -in.-steel logo
was cut with a 90 ksi X-Stream-powered High Rail Gantry wa-
terjet cutting system. To distress the part and encourage faster
rusting, its test lab crew ran a fan-tipped waterjet head over the
finished part to rough up the surface, then raised the water level
in the tank and let the part soak overnight under water on top of
metal slats. The part was sprinkled with sidewalk salt and left on
the slats for a day to continue rusting. Within two days, the com-
pany had a part that looked like it had been in the ground for
years waiting for DIGGERS to find it.
Caterpillar to Expand South Carolina
Facility, More Than 80 New Jobs Expected
Caterpillar, Inc., is planning a $20 million expansion to its
manufacturing facility in Sumter, S.C., bringing the total foot-
Jet Edge R&D Engineer Michael Wheeler holds a Modern Mar-
vels logo. The shows Under Pressure episode explores the science
behind creating an extreme ultrahigh-pressure waterjet. (Photo cour-
tesy of Jet Edge.)
11 WELDING JOURNAL
print to approximately 275,000 sq ft once complete. When the
expansion is operational and at full capacity, it is anticipated the
company will add more than 80 jobs over a two-year period. Work
is scheduled to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2012. Hir-
ing is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2012. Positions
will be posted on www.jointeamcaterpillar.com.
The facility produces small hydraulic cylinders used in a vari-
ety of Cat products. The extra capacity will bring the produc-
tion of large hydraulic cylinders from the companys Joliet, Ill.,
facility to Sumter. Once the expansion is completed, the Sumter
facility will be the primary source for small and large hydraulic
cylinders for North and South America.
RathGibson to Be Acquired by Precision
Castparts Corp.
RathGibson, Janesville, Wis., a manufacturer of welded,
welded and drawn, and seamless stainless steel, nickel, and spe-
cialty alloy tubing, agreed to be acquired by Precision Castparts
Corp., a manufacturer of complex metal components and prod-
ucts. The takeover is pending regulatory approvals.
Mark G. Essig, CEO of RathGibson, stated that operating as
part of Precision will allow the company to accelerate growth
plans and offer a more complete product capability. In addition,
he thanked the current ownership group, led by Wayzata Part-
ners, for guiding the company through its recent restructuring.
Robert Wooler Increases Capacity with
Vacuum Furnace from Solar Manufacturing
Robert Wooler, Dresher, Pa., a commercial heat-treating com-
pany, recently commissioned a new vacuum furnace from Solar
Manufacturing, Souderton, Pa. The custom-built product fea-
tures a SolarVac 3000 control system, operator interface, and
temperature programmer/control. The horizontal front-loading
furnace has a 36 in. wide 36 in. high 48 in. deep work zone
and 3500-lb load capacity. With a maximum operating tempera-
ture of 2500F, the Class 2 furnace has a temperature uniformity
of 10F per AMS 2750-D standards. With the addition, Robert
Wooler can offer furnace availability and capacity especially for
austenitic, martensitic, and precipitation hardening stainless
steels. The total installed investment, inclusive of utilities and
upgrades, was $600,000.
Photographed are Philip Biff Keidel Jr. (left), president of Robert
Wooler, and William R. Jones, CEO of Solar Manufacturing.
INTERNATIONAL
UPDATE
Damen Develops Single Weld Nozzle
Spinning Method
Damen Marine Components recently developed a propeller
nozzle production method based on a single weld joint on the
inner side of the nozzle. This makes the process more efficient
and environmentally friendly. The new machine, which has been
installed at the companys facility in Gdansk, Poland, can pro-
duce nozzles with an inside diameter from 1000 mm to 4.5 m.
The machine utilizes an automated system and can handle
stainless steel, duplex steel, and special steel alloys.
Under the traditional system, the inside of the nozzle is con-
structed from several small welded parts. The new method requires
less welding and grinding, and results in a smoother surface.
Damen Marine Components is based in Hardinxveld, The
Netherlands, and is part of the Damen Shipyards Group.
Australian Firm Sets Up Keyhole GTAW
Demo Facility
Keyhole TIG (K-TIG) Ltd. recently
installed a $150,000 demonstration
unit at its Salisbury, Australia, of-
fices. The unit was set up to show how
keyhole gas tungsten arc welding
(GTAW) can weld thick-gauge mate-
rials, including stainless steel and ti-
tanium, in less time than is possible
with standard GTAW.
The system includes a welding
torch, controller unit, underfloor
power supply, and rigging to hold and
rotate large pipes while they are
being welded. The patent-protected
technology was originally developed
by CSIRO, but now is wholly owned by K-TIG.
With this, we can do a weld in three minutes that would nor-
mally take as long as six hours, said K-TIG CEO Gordon Kay.
Besides the demonstration unit, the company is also preparing
to launch a series of videos that show how companies can achieve
required welds, he added.
New Welding School Opens in South Africa
The Eskom Academy of Learning Welding School recently
opened in Midrand, South Africa. The school is a partnership be-
tween the South African Institute of Welding (SAIW) and public
electric utility company Eskom. Brian Dames, Eskom CEO, indi-
cated that the school will train at least 700 young people as welders
over the next seven years.
There is a massive shortage of welding professionals in South
Africa, said Etienne Nell, SAIW manager of training services.
One of the reasons for this is that the training of welding ap-
prentices no longer gets priority.
At the opening of the school, Minister of Public Enterprises
Malusi Gigaba said it is important for state institutions to de-
velop skills in house. The welders will be able to work not only
for Eskom, but will also be of use to the broader South African
economy, he said.
Once the trainees finish the course, which includes a theory
component as well as on-the-job training at power stations, they
will receive a dual qualification that will be recognized not only
in South Africa, but internationally as the certificate is accred-
ited by the International Institute of Welding.
Fronius Opens UK Welding Business
Fronius International GmbH recently opened a subsidiary of its
welding business in the United Kingdom. Located in Milton Keynes,
Fronius U.K. Ltd.s 3800-sq-m facility houses the tech support team,
a repair center, warehouse, and training area.
The company offers solutions for gas metal arc welding, gas
tungsten arc welding, electrodes, laser beam welding, plasma, re-
sistance spot welding, and automation. By the end of the year, three
sales and service teams will work out of the head office and an ad-
ditional team will be based in Scotland.
12 WELDING JOURNAL
Damens nozzle spinning machine produces a single weld joint
on the inner side of the propeller nozzle.
The Fronius UK team. The company has opened a 3800-sq-m
facility in Milton Keynes.
The Eskom Academy of Learning Welding School will help to al-
leviate the shortage of qualified welding professionals in South
Africa. Many South African companies in the construction and
steel sectors have to import welders from countries such as Korea,
Argentina, and the Phillipines. (Image: photo.machinestogo.net.)
K-TIG CEO Gordon Kay
GREINER
INDUSTRIESINC.
Capacity Precision Strength
At Greiner, weve always been about absolute precision and constant
quality. Over the years, weve added equipment to handle jobs that few
could match. We continue to super-size our capabilities while doing more
on the fabrication end that reduces labor time on the installation end
resulting in a better product at a lower cost. Hows that for value-added?
Call us at 800-782-2110 for a free quote on your
next Metal Bending job.
www.greinerindustries.com
Structural Steel Fabrication
Steel Plate & Sheet Metal Fabrication
Miscellaneous Metals
Machining
Rolling & Forming Services
Cutting Services
Industrial Coatings
Industrial & Electrical Contracting
Crane Rental & Trucking Services
Heat-Bending Services
(AISC Certified for Major Steel
Bridge Fabrication)
Able to 90-degree bend a 1-inch thick, grade-50 steel
plate the full 40-foot length of the bed
2,750-ton capacity
40-foot bed
Larger capacity means fewer cuts, which
means fewer seams to weld, which means less
labor, which means lower cost!
Greiners new Press-Brake, shown
cone-forming 2-inch thick plate.
STAINLESS
Q&A
BY DAMIAN J. KOTECKI
Q: We prepared an all-weld-metal tensile
test specimen from a lot of E312-16
austenitic stainless steel electrodes in
order to qualify the lot. The AWS A5.4
standard (Ref. 1) requires 22% elongation
in the tensile test, but we only observed
10%. The ferrite content measured be-
tween 55 and 60 FN, which seems normal.
Why should we get such a low elongation
result, and what can we do about it?
A: First, let me observe that 312 weld
metal, contrary to popular belief and many
handbooks, is not austenitic stainless steel.
Metallurgically, 312 weld metal is duplex
stainless steel. It solidifies as 100% ferrite
and only forms austenite during cooling
after solidification, just as do the other du-
plex stainless steel weld metals like 2209,
2553, 2593, 2594, and 2595, all of which
typically produce weld metal of 30 to 60
FN. The only significant difference be-
tween 312 and the other duplex stainless
steel weld metals is that the other duplex
stainless steel weld metals rely almost en-
tirely on nitrogen to promote the forma-
tion of austenite in the solid state, while
312 relies mainly on carbon, with some as-
sistance from nitrogen, to promote forma-
tion of austenite. Typically, 312 weld metal
contains about 0.10% C and 0.08% N,
while the other duplex stainless steel weld
metals typically contain 0.03% C, or less,
and 0.15% N or more. Since 312 is mainly
used for joining difficult-to-weld low-alloy
steels, the high carbon content has no ef-
fect on corrosion resistance of the joint.
In addition to the carbon and nitrogen
mentioned above, 312 typically contains
29% Cr and 9% Ni. According to the
WRC-1992 Diagram, such a composition
is predicted to contain about 55 to 60 FN,
just about what you found. So everything
about your lot of electrodes seems to be
normal. However, there is another factor
to consider diffusible hydrogen. Dif-
fusible hydrogen has no effect on
austenitic stainless steel weld metals, but it
has a pronounced effect on duplex stain-
less steel weld metals, similar to, but not
the same as, the effect it has on low-alloy-
steel weld metals.
In low-alloy-steel weld metals, dif-
fusible hydrogen can produce delayed
cracking, as is well known. However, less
well known is that levels of diffusible hy-
drogen below that which will produce de-
layed cracking in low-alloy-steel weld
metal can result in low tensile elongation,
just as you have observed in your 312 weld
metal. A common experience is that, when
low-alloy-steel weld metal, such as that
from E11018M electrodes, is rushed from
the welding stage, through the machine
shop, to the tensile testing stage, low ten-
sile elongation is observed even if the weld
metal is very low in diffusible hydrogen.
Low hydrogen is not zero hydrogen. This
diffusible hydrogen will diffuse out of the
low-alloy weld metal in a few days at room
temperature, or more quickly at slightly el-
evated temperatures. Accordingly, the
AWS A5.5 standard (Ref. 2) permits aging
of low-alloy-steel weld metal tensile test
specimens at 90 to 105C (200 to 220F )
for up to 48 h before tensile testing in
order to reveal the weld metals inherent
tensile ductility.
Unlike the situation with low-alloy-
steel weld metal, however, aging of the
tensile specimen at room temperature or
at slightly elevated temperatures will not
allow escape of diffusible hydrogen from
duplex stainless steel weld metal within
your lifetime. This is because the austenite
that first forms during cooling from solid-
ification temperature invariably forms
along the original ferrite grain boundaries.
All of the ferrite is encapsulated within
austenite envelopes that are virtually im-
permeable to diffusible hydrogen at ambi-
ent temperature or even at temperatures
well above the aging temperature permit-
ted by the AWS A5.5 standard. Tempera-
tures high enough to remove the hydrogen
in a reasonable time frame (e.g., 450 to
650C [840 to 1200F]) will embrittle the
duplex stainless steel weld metal by for-
mation of alpha prime and/or sigma phase.
When low-alloy-steel weld metal ten-
sile test specimens fail elongation require-
ments due to diffusible hydrogen rem-
nants, the fracture surface often exhibits
local brittle areas commonly called
fisheyes. Fisheyes are clear evidence of
diffusible hydrogen damage. Next, I note
that many duplex stainless steel weld met-
als, including 312, exhibit tensile strengths
above 110 ksi (760 MPa), not unlike
E11018M weld metal. And, when the du-
plex stainless steel weld metal fails with
low tensile elongation, it often exhibits
fisheyes. An example of a tensile specimen
fracture containing a fisheye from my own
experience with duplex stainless steels
(Ref. 3) is shown in Fig. 1.
I suspect that your electrodes had
picked up enough coating moisture to pro-
duce the hydrogen damage that accounted
for your low tensile elongation. Duplex
stainless steel electrodes need to be
treated like low-hydrogen electrodes for
low-alloy steels. This means they need to
be baked at a high temperature such as
450C (840F) during manufacture. Then
they need to be protected from moisture
pickup by storing in sealed containers or in
an oven at elevated temperature (e.g., at
100 to 125C [210 to 260F]) until use.
Exposed electrodes need to be rebaked to
dry them.
Follow up: The inquirer advised that he
did indeed find a fisheye on his failed ten-
sile specimen fracture surface. He then re-
baked the exposed electrodes at 350C
(660F), and welded a new test plate. This
time the tensile test produced 21% elon-
gation, slightly less than the 22% elonga-
tion requirement of the AWS A5.4 stan-
dard, but much better than the 10% elon-
gation reported for as-exposed electrodes.
I advised him to rebake at a still higher
temperature, closer to 450C (840F).
References
1. A5.4/A5.4M:2006, Specification for
Stainless Steel Electrodes for Shielded Metal
Arc Welding. American Welding Society.
Miami, Fla.
2. A5.5/A5.5M:2006, Specification for
Low-Alloy Steel Electrodes for Shielded
Metal Arc Welding. American Welding So-
ciety. Miami, Fla.
3. Kotecki, D. J. 1989. Heat treatment
of duplex stainless steel weld metals. Weld-
ing Journal 68(11): 431-s to 441-s.
DAMIAN J. KOTECKI is president,
Damian Kotecki Welding Consultants, Inc.
He is treasurer of the IIW and a member of
the A5D Subcommittee on Stainless Steel
Filler Metals, D1K Subcommittee on Stain-
less Steel Structural Welding; and WRC
Subcommittee on Welding Stainless Steels
and Nickel-Base Alloys. He is a past chair of
the A5 Committee on Filler Metals and Al-
lied Materials, and served as AWS president
(20052006). Send questions to damian@
damiankotecki.com, or Damian Kotecki,
c/o Welding Journal Dept., 550 NW LeJeune
Rd., Miami, FL 33126.
MAY 2012 14
Fig. 1 Tensile specimen fracture face of
2553-type duplex stainless steel weld metal
exhibiting evidence of hydrogen damage.
This specimen fractured at 13% elongation.
Hydrogen damage, often called a fisheye,
is visible as the bright flat area near the top
edge of the specimen.
Friends and Colleagues:
The American Welding Society established the honor of Counselor to recognize individual
members for a career of distinguished organizational leadership that has enhanced the image and
impact of the welding industry. Election as a Counselor shall be based on an individuals career of
outstanding accomplishment.
To be eligible for appointment, an individual shall have demonstrated his or her leadership in the
welding industry by one or more of the following:
Leadership of or within an organization that has made a substantial contribution to the welding
industry. The individuals organization shall have shown an ongoing commitment to the industry, as
evidenced by support of participation of its employees in industry activities.
Leadership of or within an organization that has made a substantial contribution to training and
vocational education in the welding industry. The individuals organization shall have shown an
ongoing commitment to the industry, as evidenced by support of participation of its employee in
industry activities.
For specifics on the nomination requirements, please contact Wendy Sue Reeve at AWS
headquarters in Miami, or simply follow the instructions on the Counselor nomination form in this
issue of the Welding Journal. The deadline for submission is July 1, 2012. The committee looks
forward to receiving these nominations for 2013 consideration.
Sincerely,
Alfred F. Fleury
Chair, Counselor Selection Committee
Nomination of AWS Counselor
I. HISTORY AND BACKGROUND
In 1999, the American Welding Society established the honor of Counselor to recognize indi-
vidual members for a career of distinguished organizational leadership that has enhanced the
image and impact of the welding industry. Election as a Counselor shall be based on an
individuals career of outstanding accomplishment.
To be eligible for appointment, an individual shall have demonstrated his or her leadership in
the welding industry by one or more of the following:
Leadership of or within an organization that has made a substantial contribution to the
welding industry. (The individuals organization shall have shown an ongoing
commitment to the industry, as evidenced by support of participation of its employees
in industry activities such as AWS, IIW, WRC, SkillsUSA, NEMA, NSRP SP7 or other
similar groups.)
Leadership of or within an organization that has made substantial contribution to training
and vocational education in the welding industry. (The individuals organization shall
have shown an ongoing commitment to the industry, as evidenced by support of partici
pation of its employees in industry activities such as AWS, IIW, WRC, SkillsUSA, NEMA,
NSRP SP7 or other similar groups.)
II. RULES
A. Candidates for Counselor shall have at least 10 years of membership in AWS.
B. Each candidate for Counselor shall be nominated by at least five members of
the Society.
C. Nominations shall be submitted on the official form available from AWS
headquarters.
D. Nominations must be submitted to AWS headquarters no later than July 1
of the year prior to that in which the award is to be presented.
E. Nominations shall remain valid for three years.
F. All information on nominees will be held in strict confidence.
G. Candidates who have been elected as Fellows of AWS shall not be eligible for
election as Counselors. Candidates may not be nominated for both of these awards
at the same time.
III. NUMBER OF COUNSELORS TO BE SELECTED
Maximum of 10 Counselors selected each year.
Return completed Counselor nomination package to:
Wendy S. Reeve
Senior Manager
Award Programs and Administrative Support
550 N.W. LeJeune Road
Miami, FL 33126
Telephone: 800-443-9353, extension 293
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: July 1, 2012
(please type or print in black ink)
COUNSELOR NOMINATION FORM
DATE_________________NAME OF CANDIDATE________________________________________________________________________
AWS MEMBER NO.___________________________YEARS OF AWS MEMBERSHIP____________________________________________
HOME ADDRESS____________________________________________________________________________________________________
CITY_______________________________________________STATE________ZIP CODE__________PHONE________________________
PRESENT COMPANY/INSTITUTION AFFILIATION_______________________________________________________________________
TITLE/POSITION____________________________________________________________________________________________________
BUSINESS ADDRESS________________________________________________________________________________________________
CITY______________________________________________STATE________ZIP CODE__________PHONE_________________________
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND, AS APPLICABLE:
INSTITUTION______________________________________________________________________________________________________
MAJOR & MINOR__________________________________________________________________________________________________
DEGREES OR CERTIFICATES/YEAR____________________________________________________________________________________
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER: YES_________NO__________ STATE______________________________________________
SIGNIFICANT WORK EXPERIENCE:
COMPANY/CITY/STATE_____________________________________________________________________________________________
POSITION____________________________________________________________________________YEARS_______________________
POSITION____________________________________________________________________________YEARS_______________________
SUMMARIZE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS IN THESE POSITIONS:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IT IS MANDATORY THAT A CITATION (50 TO 100 WORDS, USE SEPARATE SHEET) INDICATING WHY THE NOMINEE SHOULD BE
SELECTED AS AN AWS COUNSELOR ACCOMPANY THE NOMINATION PACKET. IF NOMINEE IS SELECTED, THIS STATEMENT MAY
BE INCORPORATED WITHIN THE CITATION CERTIFICATE.
**MOST IMPORTANT**
The Counselor Selection Committee criteria are strongly based on and extracted from the categories identified below. All in-
formation and support material provided by the candidates Counselor Proposer, Nominating Members and peers are considered.
SUBMITTED BY:
PROPOSER_______________________________________________
AWS Member No.___________________
The proposer will serve as the contact if the Selection Committee requires further information. The proposer is encouraged to include a
detailed biography of the candidate and letters of recommendation from individuals describing the specific accomplishments of the can-
didate. Signatures on this nominating form, or supporting letters from each nominator, are required from four AWS members in addition
to the proposer. Signatures may be acquired by photocopying the original and transmitting to each nominating member. Once the sig-
natures are secured, the total package should be submitted.
NOMINATING MEMBER:___________________________________Print Name___________________________________
AWS Member No.______________
AWS Member No.______________
AWS Member No.______________
AWS Member No.______________
CLASS OF 201
SUBMISSION DEADLINE JULY 1, 2012
3
PRODUCT & PRINT
SPOTLIGHT
Welding Helmet Features
Four Sensors
The WeldSkill autodarkening weld-
ing helmet contains four sensors, can be
used in weld and grind modes, and will
darken when GTA welding even at 5 A. It
has a 3.86 1.69 in. viewing area, weighs
16 oz, and uses solar power. When switch-
ing from light to dark, the helmet darkens
in 33 microseconds. When switching from
dark to light, users can select from three
switching speeds short (0.25 to 0.35 s),
medium (0.35 to 0.50 s), and long (0.50 to
0.80 s). The four-sensor helmet passes all
of the 49 tests required under the ANSI
Z87.1-2010 standards. The sensitivity and
delay knobs are placed on the outside of
the helmet shell. When setting the helmet
down, a recessed lens design prevents the
faceplate from touching the table, pro-
tecting it from scratches. Backed by a two-
year warranty, the helmet comes in car-
bon fiber, patriot eagle, chopper rider, or
skull and fire styles.
Tweco
www.tweco.com
(800) 231-9353
Saw Useful for Cutting
Structural Steel
The K20RS, 20-in. abrasive saw is de-
signed to cut structural steel and wide
parts. It can be operated chop style for
MAY 2012 18
The Big Blue 450 Duo CST, a dual-operator diesel
engine-driven welding generator, features two CST 280
SMA/GTA inverters and 12,000 W of continuous three-
phase power in a single unit. Powered by Mitsubishis S4L2
4-cylinder diesel engine, it allows two welders to work off
the same machine with two separate welding outputs. Also,
the machine is suitable for SMA electrodes in structural
steel and fabrication applications, such as E6010, and GTA
for pipe fabrication and maintenance applications. The
Tier 4i-compliant machine operates at 1800 rev/min. It
contains an easy process selector for SMA and GTA ap-
plications. SMA welders can further tailor welding output
by selecting the type of electrode and whether to weld in
a stiff (more dig/arc force) or soft setting (lower dig/arc
force). The system has Adaptive Hot Start for SMAW
applications that increases the output amperage at the
start of a weld to help prevent the electrode from sticking
and creating an inclusion. Lift-Arc technology improves
GTA arc starts without the use of high frequency. In addi-
tion, the machine offers the following: a three-phase, ro-
tating-field generator that requires less fuel and horse-
power to operate; built-in thermal overload protection
prevents damage if the duty cycle is exceeded or if airflow
is blocked; an engine designed to run more than 10,000 h
before its first major overhaul; and meter maintenance
display that reports hours, oil change intervals, high
coolant temperature/low oil shutdowns, and a low fuel
shutdown.
Miller Electric Mfg. Co.
www.millerwelds.com
(800) 426-4553
Power Source Designed to Work Well with
Difficult SMAW Electrodes in Structural Steel Applications
19 WELDING JOURNAL
cutoff or radial style for long parts. The
sawhead moves lengthwise for wide cuts
and locks in place for chop action. Also,
the product features a 1-in. spindle arbor;
2500 rev/min spindle speed; 15-hp, 3-
phase motor; and foot-operated chain
vise. Capacities are 6 18 in. for struc-
tural, I-beams, and shapes.
Kalamazoo Industries, Inc.
www.kalamazooind.com
(800) 592-2050
Complete Oxyacetylene
Welding Course on DVD
The Oxyacetylene Welding, Brazing, and
Cutting DV30.0 skill course, suitable for
training on the job and in educational in-
stitutions, is presented on four DVDs. The
three-hour-long program is divided into
31 topics, detailing a variety of fillet welds,
lap joints, square groove welds, square
and bevel cuts, single V-groove welds, fil-
let braze welds, square groove welds, butt
joints, flat and vertical position-up, and
edge bead welds, and hardfacing opera-
tions. The course includes the DVDs, one
instructor guide, and 50 copies each of
four written tests. The complete course
lists for $995. For more information, visit
the Web site shown, then type DV30 in
the search window.
Hobart Institute of Welding Technology
www.welding.org
(800) 332-9448
Casters and Wheel
Products Illustrated
Available in hard copy and online, the
117-page, full-color 2012 catalog features
a number of additions to the product line,
including the Trans-form LT wheel, and
L and G series of lighter-duty casters, En-
core economy line of caster and wheel reddarc.com 1-866-733-3272
Welders...
Positioners...
Generators...
Specialty Equipment.
MAY 2012 20
products, an expanded replacement-parts
section, plus additional information, spec-
ifications, and product photographs. Call
the number shown to order a hard copy
or visit the Web site shown, click the re-
sources button, then click literature on the
scroll-down menu to download the PDF.
Colson Caster Corp.
www.colsoncaster.com
(800) 643-5515
Dust Collector Comes with
Extractor Arm
The PCH series of portable dust col-
lection systems are suitable for chemical,
pharmaceutical, and food processing
dusts and powders; buffing, polishing, and
grinding dusts; weld smoke; fumes and
odors; and oil mists. It includes the
patented E-Z Arm extractor arm, plus
an all-aluminum motor designed and built
by the company along with its patented
Vibra-Pulse filter cleaning system. The
PCH-1 model is available with a 0.5-,
1.0-, or 1.5-hp motor capable of air flow
rates up to 800 ft
3
/min. The PCH-2 model
is offered with a 1.0-, 1.5-, or 3.0-hp motor
capable of air flow rates up to 1200 ft
3
/min.
Airflow Systems, Inc.
www.airflowsystems.com
(214) 503-8008
Orbital Welding Detailed in
Free Handbook
The free, 56-page, full-color Orbital
Welding Handbook explains and illustrates
the process from the basics to specific ap-
plications. Detailed are the GTAW
process, types of electrodes, filler metals,
shielding gases, calculating heat input,
hardware components, programmable
power sources, orbital welding heads, wire
feeders, remote control pendants, weld
cycle programming, real-time data acqui-
sition, tube-to-tube fusion welding, calcu-
lation of weld parameter values, joint and
electrode preparation, narrow gap and hot
wire GTAW, welding recessed tubes, etc.
The 5
3
4- 8
1
4-in. handbook is available in
English, French, or German. Complete
the form on the Web site to receive up to
three copies in the mail.
Polysoude S.A.S.
www.polysoude.com
(661) 702-0141
Software Contains 3-D
Simulation Package
An updated version of the companys
Wincaps III offline programming software
saves development time by allowing a
robot to be programmed on an offline
computer. It also enables remote moni-
toring of workcell operations via real-time
I/O status indicators and control logs. The
products 3-D simulation package allows
users to lay out an entire automation
workcell in a virtual environment. This
version employs more of the robots na-
tive command language; gives a more ac-
curate cycle-time representation; and al-
lows users to record the simulation ses-
sion and save it as an AVI file. The Easy
Teach feature lets users move the robot
to a particular point by clicking on the sur-
face of the virtual model.
Denso
www.densorobotics.com
(888) 476-2689
Remote Field Probes
Featured in Brochure
The eight-page, full-color Advances in
RFT Tube Testing Solutions brochure illus-
trates and explains the differences be-
tween remote field testing (RFT) models,
the near-field technique using eddy cur-
rent technology, software improvements
and details of CARTO software, probe
adapters, reverse probe adapters, acces-
sories, foot switch, and ordering informa-
tion. To download the PDF, visit the Web
site, click the support button, the PDF li-
brary button, then scroll down to the doc-
ument desired.
Olympus NDT, Inc.
www.olympus-ims.com
(781) 419-3900
Shearing/Flanging Machine
Works on Steel, Aluminum
Model EFM, a combination shear-
ing/flanging machine, offers up to
1
4 118
in. capacity in steel and aluminum and up
to
5
32 in. in stainless steel for flat and
crowned, round and elliptical, and double
D heads and bottoms as well as other non-
symmetrical shapes. As optional accessory
equipment for the larger flanging ma-
chines, dishing machines are available
with capacities of 165 to 400 tons and with
or without a manipulator.
Cole-Tuve, Inc.
www.coletuve.com
(877) 989-0700
Industrial Reels Pictured in
Catalog
The 56-page, full-color Hose, Cord &
Cable Reels catalog highlights the com-
21 WELDING JOURNAL
panys complete lines of products featur-
ing a user-friendly index and easily navi-
gated layout. Described is the EZ-Coil
safety reel line. A hard copy may be re-
quested by phone or e-mail at info@
coxreels.com. The PDF may be viewed or
downloaded from the Web site shown.
Coxreels
www.coxreels.com
(800) 269-7335
Welding Processes
Handbook Updated
The 280-page Welding Processes Hand-
book is described as a concise, authorita-
tive, and practical introduction to weld-
ing and its applications for both students
and engineers. This substantially revised
and extended second edition reflects the
latest developments in the main welding
technologies and their applications. It re-
views the gas welding processes and dis-
cusses the fundamentals of arc welding,
including arc physics and power sources.
Also detailed are resistance and laser-
beam welding and their applications for
cutting, hardfacing, soldering, and braz-
ing. Included are a discussion of mecha-
nization, safety, residual stress and distor-
tion, welding design, costs, and quality as-
surance, as well as the welding of steel and
aluminum. The list price is 83 euros (ap-
proximately $111), plus shipping. To view
the table of contents or to order, visit the
Web site, then enter welding processes in
the search window.
Research and Markets
www.researchandmarkets.com
(800) 526-8630
Blaster Eliminates Need for
Lower Screw Auger
The redesigned 72T table blaster has
a wraparound door for easy access and
eliminates the need for a lower screw
auger. The air intake allows for an appli-
cation of more than 2800 ft
3
/min. Several
wear liners are available, including a
1
2-
MAY 2012 22
in.-thick cast chrome/moly, replaceable
liner. Most applications are covered by
the standard offering, but it can also be
fitted with a rotary scalping drum, auxil-
iary abrasive hoppers, peening packages,
and various horsepower options. Custom
sizes and wheel configurations are offered
to accommodate application require-
ments. All company cartridge-style dust
collectors are sold with NFPA-required
deflagration panels as standard.
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The Fibre-Metal Roughneck P2A
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crack resistance; handles hard knocks
without developing nicks and cracks; and
meets ANSI-Z89.1-2009 impact resist-
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is offered with three headgear options
the Fibre-Metal nonslip/nonstrip ratchet,
SwingStrap, or TabLok. It also comes
with the Quick-Lok or Speedy loop
helmet attachment system for face shields
and welding helmets. Each of the caps
nine shades of solid-color resin gives a
permanent, no-chip, no-peel finish.
Honeywell Safety Products
www.fibre-metal.com
(800) 430-4110
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Intended for GMAW, GTAW
The 2012 Torch Saver water cooler fil-
ter, designed to filter the coolant in weld-
ing water coolers, is for applications such
as GMAW, GTAW, automatic, robotic,
and laser welding. Both screen and 25 mi-
cron filters are available. These extend
coolant life and reduce the amount of con-
taminants in the water cooling system.
BRW Technologies
www.brwtechnologies.com
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23 WELDING JOURNAL
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MAY 2012 24
Narrow Gap Electroslag
Is Process of Choice for
Welding San Francisco-
Oakland Bay Bridge
25 WELDING JOURNAL
T
he California Department of
Transportation (Caltrans) is build-
ing a new East Span of the San
Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge connect-
ing Oakland to Yerba Buena Island. The
new span consists of three parts: a con-
crete viaduct section called the Skyway;
a steel, single-tower self-anchored sus-
pension span (SAS) bridge; and a cast-
in-place concrete transition section.
The 1.2-mile-long Skyway originates
on the Oakland side near the toll plaza.
It forms the east portion of the bridge
and is attached to the SAS bridges east-
ern terminus (Ref. 1). The Skyway was
completed in 2007 as reported in Roads
and Bridges (Ref. 2).
The SAS bridge is located between the
Skyway on the east and the Yerba Buena
Island transition on the west. The bridge
has a single suspension tower. This sin-
gle-tower design is unique in that the
main suspension cable of the SAS is not
anchored to an adjoining land mass but
to the suspended roadway itself. The SAS
roadway is 470 m (1542 ft) long.
The existing tunnels through Yerba
Buena Island will be retained for the new
bridge, which is located just north of the
existing bridge. The bridge will have in-
dependent east- and westbound road-
ways with five lanes each and one ap-
pended bike path cantilevered off the
south side of the eastbound road deck.
The bike path requires a complementary
counterweight be hung off the westbound
road deck.
Building a span on a
critical time schedule
while ensuring high-
quality, 10-m-long
welds in heavy stock
was possible using an
ESW process
BY BOB TURPIN,
DAN DANKS,
JOHN CALLAGHAN, AND
WILLIAM WOOD
BOB TURPIN and DAN DANKS
(drdanks@teleport.com) are with
Electroslag Systems, Technology and
Development, Portland, Ore.;
JOHN CALLAGHAN is with American
Bridge/Fluor Enterprises, Inc., A Joint
Venture (ABFJV); and WILLIAM E.
WOOD is a professor at Portland State
University, Portland, Ore.
MAY 2012 26
The single, four-legged suspension
tower is located approximately 30 m (98
ft) from the east edge of Yerba Buena Is-
land. Its 6.4-m- (21-ft-) thick concrete
foundation is supported by 13 concrete-
filled piles, 2.4 m (8 ft) in diameter. Each
pile is driven through the Bay mud and
anchored into bedrock to a depth of 59.7
m (196 ft). The tower is 160 m (525 ft)
high. It was erected using a series of
strand jack lifts that placed successive leg
pieces on top of the previous ones. The
four tower legs and tower base plate are
joined by shear plate sections and stiff-
ener plates to form a monolithic steel
structure for the first ten m (33 ft) of the
tower.
The first lift of the individual legs, not
including the connecting shear plates,
weighs 1052 mT (1159 tons) each. Above
that, the four separate legs are joined at
regular intervals with energy-absorbing
seismic links that will act as protective
shear members during an earthquake.
The old bridge, built by American
Bridge Co. between 1936 and 1938, was
significantly damaged by the 1989 Loma
Prieta earthquake. It will be removed
after the new bridge is commissioned.
The new SAS structure, scheduled to
open in late 2013, is being built by the
American Bridge/Fluor Joint Venture
(ABFJV) (Ref. 1).
The Tower Base Welds
Twenty vertical welds, 10 m (32.8 ft)
long, on A-709 Grade 345 steel were re-
quired to complete the assembly of the
four tower legs to form the monolithic
base. Plate in or adjacent to the weld
joints were between 45 and 100 mm thick.
Five weld configurations were required
that included two transition joints (60 to
80 mm, 80 to 100 mm), and three T-joints
to join 60-mm plate to the tower leg with
one entrant angle at 90 deg and the sec-
ond angle at 90, 120, or 150 deg Figs.
13.
The narrow gap improved electroslag
welding (ESW-NG) process was used to
weld the shear plate sections and stiff-
ener plates to the tower legs because of
its ability to produce single-pass vertical
welds on heavy-section structural steel
without a preheating requirement. Ac-
cess within the tower base was limited
and the preheating requirement with any
other welding process would have been
prohibitive from the standpoint of safety
and economy. In addition, these welds
Fig. 1 Electroslag weld locations in
base between tower legs. Center four
arrows indicate two separate welds per
arrow.
Fig. 2 Upper approximately seven
meters of an 80- to 100-mm transition
weld (between arrows).
27 WELDING JOURNAL
had to be made in a very short amount
of time and FCAW-G, SMAW, and
FCAW-S do not offer the deposition
rates necessary to meet the schedule re-
quirements.
The ESW process is better known for
shop welding applications, and there is
no record of ESW-NG being used to
make welds longer than 6 m (21 ft) , ei-
ther on-site or in a fab shop. Therefore,
in addition to the normal D1.5 (Ref. 3)
procedure qualification, it was necessary
to demonstrate the field-ready ESW-NG
process to Caltrans. Prior to conducting
welds on the actual tower, a full-scale
mock-up was welded and inspected in the
Oakland ABFJV yard using the produc-
tion equipment. The mock-up joint was
a 10-m-long, 80- to 100-mm transition
weld. The joint restraint was designed to
simulate the actual tower conditions.
Project Plan
The project was divided into three pri-
mary tasks: development of equipment
and process, proof of process, and actual
welding on the bridge tower.
The development stage included such
things as adapting existing equipment to
the specific requirements of the tower,
designing and fabricating special compo-
nents like shoe clamps and consumable
guide holder, and devising the procedure
for fabricating the required 11-m-long
consumable electrode guides.
The development task started with
600-mm- (2 ft-) high plate welds in the
Electroslag Sytems, Technology and De-
velopment (EST&D) shop. The welding
parameters required to produce weld
metal properties were developed in this
task along with the evolution of equip-
ment appropriate for the long welds. The
proof-of-process utilized exact replicas
of the welds in the 600-mm-high format.
With the successful completion of the
shorter welds, 2.4-m- (8-ft) high dupli-
cates of the exact weld joints were made.
Six total of the 2.4-m welds were used to
demonstrate the process to the bridge
owner, qualify the weld procedure, and
train the Ironworker gang in the ESW
process Fig. 4. The last step of the
proof-of-process phase was welding the
full-size mock-up (10 m high) of the 80-
to 100-mm transition weld in the ABFJV
yard in Oakland.
Once the bridge owner was satisfied
with the results of the full-sized mock-
up, the last task consisted of moving the
equipment out to the tower located in the
San Francisco Bay and making the 20
tower welds in situ and in short order.
Fig. 3 Cross sections of the five differ-
ent weld joint configurations and corre-
sponding cooling shoes: Detail A, 120-
deg T (shoes 3 and 4); Detail B, 150-deg
T (shoes 3 and 5); Detail C, 60 to 80 mm
transition (shoes 1 and 2); Detail D, 90-
deg T (shoe 3); Detail E, 80- to 100-mm
transition (shoes 1 and 2).
Fig. 4 ABFJV, Caltrans, Portland State
University, Smith Emery, and EST&D per-
sonnel witness procedure qualification
record (PQR) welds in Portland.
Equipment
Consumable Guide. The 10-m weld
length presented special challenges es-
pecially with respect to the consumable
guide. The electrode feed equipment
needed to be capable of pushing the 2.4-
mm- (
3
32-in.-) diameter wire through the
entire length of the 11-m guide. The
guide, made from very low-carbon steel,
also had to survive carrying 1200 A of
current. As the weld progressed and the
guide was consumed, the electrical resist-
ance changed requiring adjustments to
the welding voltage during the 4.5-h-long
welds. The guide is certified and becomes
part of the weld.
Welding Machine Power and Elec-
trode Drive. Two EST&D ESW con-
trollers were required to regulate two
Lincoln DC-1000 power supplies, and
two NA5 wire-drive motors were adapted
to the consumable guide clamping and
positioning system. Independent wire-
speed monitors were set up as backups
for the welding machine controller indi-
cators. Several layers of redundancy were
built into all systems to minimize the
chance of a weld stopping inadvertently.
Cooling System. The cooling system
also required special adaptation. Two
water chillers, one active and one in
ready standby, were moved to the tower
work area. They were connected to a
water-distribution manifold that serviced
six independent copper cooling shoes,
three for each side of the weld Fig. 5.
As the weld progressed upward, the three
cooling shoes per side were leap-frogged
in unison ahead of the molten slag and
weld pools. Only two shoes were actually
needed per side with the leap-frogging
technique but a third shoe was included
for redundancy. The water chillers main-
tained the water temperature within 5C
(10F) of a predetermined setpoint.
Weld Data Collection and Recording.
Special records were required by the
bridge owner. A data-collection system
was cooperatively designed and assem-
bled by VGO Engineering and Inte-
grated Welding Systems. Among the pa-
rameters measured and recorded were
welding voltage, welding amperage, elec-
trode speed (two channels), water flow
rate (two channels), and water return
temperature (two channels). The weld
voltage and amperage traces were used
to monitor and control the slag pool
depth and flux feed rate. The recorder
system, sampling at a rate of 10 Hz, made
permanent records of all development
and tower welds.
Cooling Shoe Retaining System. A
means to clamp the cooling shoes against
the joint was required for the entire 10-
m height. The system that was devised in-
cluded a universal square tube strong-
back that was welded to the tower ap-
proximately 460 mm (18 in.) from the
joint surface. A custom-designed and
fabricated spring-loaded clamp was then
inserted between the cooling shoe and
the strongback. The system allowed for
movement between the shoes, strong-
back, and plates to accommodate move-
ments due to thermal changes and plate
fitup variations.
Proof of Process. Development of the
welding procedure was done on 600-mm-
(24-in.-) high welds. Mechanical testing
MAY 2012 28
Fig. 5 Cooling water manifold serv-
icing six independent cooling shoes,
three on either side of the weld.
Table 1 PQR Weld Properties (Average Sample Set)
Weld Yield Strength Ultimate Strength % Elong. % R.A. Charpy Impact Bend
kPa; (psi) kPa;(psi) (in 2 in.) 0F, J (ft-lb)
60 70 mm 457, 815 (66,400) 612,944 (88,900) 26.5 67.0 45.4 (33.5) No cracks
80100 mm 499,180 (72,650) 660,518 (95,800) 24.2 67.2 35.3 (26.0) No cracks
90-deg T 496,423 (72,000) 613,633 (89,000) 27.7 69.0 37.3 (27.5) No cracks
120-deg T 501,938 (72,800) 620,528 (90,000) 25.0 60.0 43.5 (32.1) No cracks
150-deg T 497,112 (72,100) 614,426 (89,115) 27.7 69.0 41.4 (30.5) No cracks
29 WELDING JOURNAL
Fig. 6 Cross sections. A 150-deg T; B 80100-mm
transition electroslag weld (ESW).
Fig. 7 Full-sized mock-up weld con-
ducted in ABFJV yard prior to making the
actual welds on the bridge tower.
Fig. 8 An ABFJV ironworker is shown
working in the tight area for a tower weld.
6A 6B
was conducted on welds per AWS D1.5
and included chemical composition, yield
and ultimate tensile strengths, Charpy
impact toughness in the base and weld
metal, percent reduction of area, and
percent elongation (Table 1). Most of
the testing was conducted by IMR KHA
in Portland with support of the Materi-
als Science Department at Portland State
University. After the proper welding pa-
rameters were established, 2.4-m- (8-ft-)
high welds of the five bridge weld config-
urations were made in the shop to test
the equipment and provide training for
the Ironworker gang. A total of six 2.4-
m welds were made and witnessed by the
bridge owner. Those welds were used for
the procedure qualification welds
(PQRs) and were 100% ultrasonic (UT)
inspected. Transition welds were 100%
radiographed (RT) and all PQR welds
were sectioned for a full suite of mechan-
ical property testing per D1.5. Cross sec-
tions of all PQRs were also extracted and
etched Fig. 6. After the PQRs were
established on the 2.4-m welds, the weld-
ing equipment was transported to the
ABFJV site on the Bay in Oakland where
the full-sized mock-up 80- to 100-mm
weld was conducted in the ABFJV yard
Fig. 7.
Welding on the Tower
Among the components that were re-
quired for the tower welds were four sets
of access ladders (two per each side of the
weld), lightweight movable ladder plat-
forms (tree stands), cooling shoe strong-
backs, consumable guide positioning and
clamping system, two-wire electrode-
drive system, cooling water manifold, ad-
equate welding cable to conduct the nom-
inal 35-V, 1200-A welding energy, and six
cooling shoes (three per side). Each weld
required approximately 91 kg (200 lb) of
2.4-mm (
3
32-in.) electrode that conformed
to the AWS D1.5 code and 68 kg (150 lb)
of consumable guide material.
Each 11-m-long consumable guide
had to be withdrawn from a water-tight
storage container and carefully lowered
into the joint opening. The container was
kept at the site attached to the side of the
tower. The two-wire consumable guides
were 6 mm (
1
4 in.) thick and between 63
mm (2.5 in.) and 88 mm (3.5 in.) wide.
Nominal weld travel speed (rate of rise)
was 37 mm (1.5 in.) per minute, and each
weld took about 4.5 h to complete. Ac-
cess to the weld joints was limited and
often a challenge for many of the welds
Fig. 8.
Each weld joint was designed with an
access-hole at the base of the weld. The
weld starting block was designed to fit
within the access-hole and met the D1.5
requirements for ESW-NG run-on
Fig. 9. Finish work required the plugs and
weld starts be removed so that only sound
weld metal remained Fig. 10.
Results
All 20 ten-m welds were successfully
completed in 60 days Fig. 11. At the
time of this writing, the welds had been
100% UT inspected. Required repair
work has been detailed but the welding
crews are working on other locations on
the bridge so repairs have not been com-
pleted. The areas requiring repair are
less than 5% of the total 200 m of weld.
Most locations that require repair were
MAY 2012 30
Fig. 9 (Top) Typical weld start config-
uration with access-hole plugged, start-
ing block and consumable guide in place,
and insulators placed between guide and
plates.
9
10
Fig. 10 (Bottom) An ABFJV ironworker
is shown finishing the weld start shown
in Fig. 9 after access-hole plug removal.
the result of a momentary low slag pool
level caused by slag loss or variations in
the plate fit-up that caused a shallower
slag pool. One weld, No. 19, was inter-
rupted due to an unexplained loss of pri-
mary power to the welding machine
power supplies. That weld was immedi-
ately reprepped, restarted and completed
the same day. Ultrasonic examinations
of the restart area showed no indications
of any kind.
The extraordinary length of the tower
base welds presented several challenges.
Alternatives such as FCAW-G, SMAW,
and FCAW-S would have been more chal-
lenging for the welders, would have had
higher repair rates and would have taken
impossibly longer. The ESW process
proved to be safe, reliable, and efficient.
31 WELDING JOURNAL
Fig. 11 Approximately 460 mm (18 in.)
of typical transition electroslag welds: A
80 to 100 mm; B 60 to 80 mm.
11A
11B
References
1. www.baybridgeinfo.org
2. Zeyher, A. 2007. All the
states horses. Roads and
Bridges (45)5: 2630.
www.roadsbridges.com/
all-states-horses.
3. AASHTO/AWS
D1.5M/D1.5:2010, Bridge
Welding Code. 2010. Miami,
Fla. American Welding
Society. pp. 1.3.3.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge
K&K Fabrication, Integrated Welding
Systems, VGO Engineering, Portland
State University, Hobart Brothers, Smith
Emery, IMR KHA Portland, the ABFJV
Ironworker Gang from the International
Association of Bridge, Structural, Orna-
mental, and Reinforcing Ironworkers
(Local 377 San Francisco and Local 378
Oakland), Caltrans and the American
Bridge Fluor Joint Venture for their in-
valuable support and professionalism
during this unique project.
Entry deadline is July 31, 2012
An Association of Welding Manufacturers
For more information and to submit a nomination form online,
visit www.aws.org/awards/image.html or call 800-443-9353.
The Image of Welding Awards Program recognizes outstanding
achievement in the following categories:
Individual
(you or other individual)
Section
(AWS local chapter)
Large Business
(200 or more employees)
Small Business
(less than 200 employees)
Distributor
(welding products)
Educator
(welding teacher at an institution, facility, etc.)
Educational Facility
(any organization that conducts welding
education or training)
Media
(open to industry and business publications)
Know an individual, company,
educator, or educational
facility that exemplifies what
welding is all about?
Nominate them for the

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Individual

elding W The Image of

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(welding products)
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wards Program recogn AAw elding

outstanding wards Program recognizes

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WS local chapter) (A
Section

Media
ganization that conducts welding (any or
(welding teacher at an institution, facility

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Small Business
Large Business

ganization that conducts welding
, etc.) (welding teacher at an institution, facility

When Dr. Stephen Liu of Colorado
School of Mines, Golden, Col., was asked
to name an up-and-coming talent in the
welding industry, he said, I have just the
right person Caleb Roepke.
Conscientious and thorough, he blos-
somed in his graduate studies, working in
the field of hybrid laser arc welding. With
growth and increasing maturity, Calebs
role as a senior PhD student and leader
was clearly noticeable. He helped his jun-
ior colleagues and he shared my load by
giving them solid advice on research and
experimentation. Caleb is an excellent
speaker, well organized, clear and con-
cise. I would definitely rate him as one of
the top research students with whom I
have had the good fortune to work. He
will serve and lead the welding industry
well in the coming years, said Liu.
It began in high school for Caleb
Roepke when he became interested in
physics and chemistry and started think-
ing about a career in engineering. But it
wasnt an interest in an engineering field
that focused on just one discipline. He
wanted a multidiscipline field of engineer-
ing that could be applied to building large
structures like bridges, ships, and
pipelines. Welding fit the bill. I got ex-
cited about how the welding field draws
on those scientific disciplines in a very
practical and hands-on way, he said.
Welding spans a wide spectrum of engi-
neering and science, from heavy construc-
tion to the latest in welding equipment
and consumables to the study of metal-
lurgy, continued Roepke. There are fas-
cinating opportunities whether you are in
the fabrication yard or a research lab.
He started his undergraduate work at
LeTourneau University, Longview, Tex.,
under the direction of Prof. Yoni Adonyi,
earning a bachelor of science in engineer-
ing with a concentration on materials join-
ing. He went on to study for his PhD at
the Colorado School of Mines under the
tutelage of Prof. Liu. I did most of my
graduate work on hybrid laser arc weld-
ing. The interaction of a laser beam and
a welding arc is something we are just be-
ginning to understand, said Roepke.
Hybrid laser arc is a welding process that
has moved out of the research lab and is
starting to be considered for more indus-
trial applications. It was fun to be part of
33 WELDING JOURNAL
Welding Researchs New Talent Pool
ANDREW CULLISON
(cullison@aws.org) is publisher,
MARY RUTH JOHNSEN
(mjohnsen@aws.org) is editor, and
HOWARD WOODWARD
(woodward@aws.org) and
KRISTIN CAMPBELL
(kcampbell@aws.org)
are associate editors of the
Welding Journal.
Heres a look at five up-and-coming
researchers who are making their mark
in welding
BY ANDREW CULLISON,
MARY RUTH JOHNSEN,
HOWARD WOODWARD, AND
KRISTIN CAMPBELL
Theres a lot of talk these days about the average age of welders and the short-
age thats expected as the welders from the Baby Boomer generation retire. But
the fact is that the welding industry in all its facets employs a mature workforce,
welding research being no exception. So who are the people seeking the answers
to todays welding questions? The Welding Journal asked five well-respected
welding researchers/educators to recommend some of their promising students
or former students. Profiles of five individuals follow.
Caleb Roepke, PhD
Colorado School of Mines
Caleb Roepke in the hybrid laser arc
welding lab at the Colorado School of
Mines during his graduate student
days.
that even in a small way, he noted. By the
time he had earned his PhD in metallur-
gical and materials engineering in 2010,
he had invested nine years in studying
welding, and it was time to put that knowl-
edge to work.
For the last year and a half, Roepke
has been employed by ExxonMobil De-
velopment Co., Houston, Tex., as a mate-
rials specialist. It is a job that gives him
the variety he enjoys. I support new con-
struction projects around the world, he
said. I get to help solve challenges re-
lated not only to welding and metallurgy
but also materials selection, nondestruc-
tive testing, corrosion control, fracture
mechanics, and even nonmetallics like
coatings and insulation. I really enjoy the
variety of challenges that I get to take on.
Welding is proving to be filled with
challenges and opportunities, and he sees
it as a profession full of possibilities.
From welder to scientist, skilled individ-
uals in this field are in high demand. There
is room to advance your career within the
field as you develop your skills; there are
always more responsibilities and chal-
lenges waiting to be taken on. The expe-
rience gained in the welding field is also
highly valuable outside of it in areas like
nondestructive testing, quality, materials
manufacturing, project management, and
engineering design, he said.
One of his driving ambitions now is to
become an expert in welding processes
and metallurgy as they relate to the oil and
gas industry. I am very interested in weld-
ing processes. There is a lot of new devel-
opments in processes that can provide im-
provements to safety, weld integrity, pro-
ductivity, and reducing costs.
For those who may be contemplating
entering the welding profession, he has
some good advice. Push yourself in both
directions of the welding career spectrum.
Put on a helmet and strike an arc, gain
some hands-on experience with welding
processes. Take a class and spend some
time studying the science and metallurgy
of welding (the research supplement in
the Welding Journal is a great place to
start). A wide range of technical experi-
ences will help you learn quickly where
your interests lie, and the experiences
gained through the process will be invalu-
able no matter where you decide to start
your career in the welding profession.
MAY 2012 34
Eleven years ago, Rick Noecker
thought the time had come to determine
his next career step. Although honored to
serve in the U.S. Air Force, he faced a dif-
ficult decision should he remain in the
military or pursue his passion for science
and engineering? He chose the latter,
viewing graduate school as a once-in-a-
lifetime opportunity to compete in the
intellectual Olympics required to earn
a doctoral degree.
Originally from Reading, Pa., Noecker
started his college education in the 1990s
through the Air Force ROTC program at
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa.
In 1996, he graduated from Lehigh cum
laude with a bachelor of science degree in
materials science and engineering, and
that same year earned a commission in the
Air Force. He served for five years, as an
aircraft maintenance and munitions offi-
cer, and also received the Air Force Insti-
tute of Technologys full scholarship for a
masters degree, which he declined.
Noecker first became interested in
welding while looking at graduate school
programs in 2001. Dr. John DuPont, a
professor of materials science and engi-
neering at Lehigh, presented a compelling
case that welding involves many aspects
of metallurgy and materials science.
Noecker wanted to learn more about the
practical application of phase transforma-
tions, material characterization, struc-
ture-property relationships, failure analy-
sis, fracture mechanics, and alloy
development.
He chose to study at Lehigh again in
part because the colleges professors, in-
cluding Dr. Arnold Marder, associate di-
rector of the Energy Research Center
(ERC), and DuPont, also associated with
the ERC, made a positive impact on him.
Taking on a military veteran who had
not performed engineering or research
for five years was a big risk. When I en-
tered graduate school, I didnt know if I
could make the transition to civilian life
and academia. Professor DuPont was in-
strumental in that transition and was a
tremendous help to my family, Noecker
said.
Noecker earned a master of science
degree in 2004. His thesis focused on un-
derstanding the solidification cracking
tendency of steel-copper alloys. The end
application, the tool and die industry, was
interested in tailoring the cooling capac-
ity of their dies by selectively depositing
materials with higher thermal conductiv-
ity, such as copper, onto H-13 tool steel.
Noeckers effort toward a PhD, ac-
complished in 2007, focused on problems
the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Program
(NNPP) experienced with a high-
chromium, nickel-based welding consum-
able prone to ductility dip cracking. This
started as a consulting project Noecker
performed with DuPont as he finished his
masters, then grew into dissertation re-
search after receiving a NNPP graduate
fellowship in 2004.
DuPont selected his former student as
a profile candidate for this article partly
Rick Noecker, PhD
Lehigh University
Dr. Rick Noecker, pictured onboard an
offshore pipelay vessel, prepares to
enter a confined space where he will
perform a visual inspection of the inter-
nal bead for a double joint girth weld.
Last October, Noecker supported in-
stallation of the Papua New Guinea
Liquefied Natural Gas projects off-
shore pipeline.
because of his outstanding work ethic.
Many times during his graduate stud-
ies, I would propose new experiments to
prove our theories. Rick would never view
these as extra work, but would instead
become excited about the potential for
learning something new and validating
our proposed ideas, DuPont said.
Noeckers tough choice of deciding
what path to follow has paid off. Cur-
rently, he is the lead engineer of the fab-
rication group within the materials and
corrosion group of the ExxonMobil De-
velopment Co., Houston, Tex.
I am responsible for the daily and
weekly work effort of the eight engineers
in my group...at any given time, there are
more than 100 projects in the ExxonMo-
bil portfolio that we may provide welding
and fabrication support, Noecker said.
Services range from specifying com-
pany welding and fabrication require-
ments to engineering contractors and
weld procedure qualification document
reviews to qualifying new technology for
application on upstream projects.
In addition, Noecker is a materials
project coordinator for two capital proj-
ects, and serves as the primary resource
for materials and corrosion related issues.
The one word to describe my role is
adventure, Noecker said, noting the
pace, business impact, and satisfaction.
Welding and fabrication issues often-
times have a significant execution risk for
our projects. If we cant quickly solve the
problem, the company can stand to lose
millions of dollars and/or be delayed.
He is grateful for his colleagues; access
to researchers at the Upstream Research
Co. and Corporate Strategic Research
Center in Clinton, N.J.; working world-
wide; and his motivators, wife Heather
and sons Erick, Joshua, and Thad.
His array of professional honors in-
cludes an invitation to present at the Ma-
terials Science and Technology Confer-
ence in 2010 based on an article,
Overview of Joining Challenges in the
Oil and Gas Industry in Support of Large
Capital Projects. He received the
William Sparagen Memorial Certificate
Award, also in 2010, for a paper published
in the Welding Journal Research Supple-
ment, Metallurgical Investigation into
Ductility Dip Cracking in Ni-Based Al-
loys: Part I, written with DuPont.
As for future positions, Noecker antic-
ipates an assignment to a different Exxon-
Mobil company or an international as-
signment supporting a project team and
hopes to be a supervisor for the career de-
velopment of assigned personnel and
meeting business objectives of their group.
DuPont believes Noeckers excellent lead-
ership qualities will propel him into a high-
level management position.
The satisfaction of solving a problem,
and working with others of like mind, but
different ideas and perspectives, has kept
me interested in the industry, Noecker
added.
35 WELDING JOURNAL
Jeremy Caron, PhD
The Ohio State University
Jeremy Carons first introduction to
welding was in an undergraduate welding
engineering class taught by Dr. Randy
Bowers at the University of Windsor in
Canada, where he received his bachelors
degree in mechanical engineering and his
masters in engineering materials.
His interest in welding grew during his
masters research project, which involved
testing of developmental resistance spot
welding electrodes in an automotive as-
sembly plant. Because he was intrigued
by metallurgy and welding, he pursued an
opportunity to join the Welding and Join-
ing Metallurgy Group at The Ohio State
University. There, under the supervision
of Professors John Lippold and S. Suresh
Babu, his dissertation research focused
on a weldability evaluation of a new high-
strength, blast-resistant steel for naval
applications.
Lippold recommended Caron be pro-
filed for this article because he was a co-
recipient of the 2011 AWS Warren F. Sav-
age Memorial Award for the best welding
metallurgy paper published that year in
the Welding Journal, and because he has
published a number of other papers in
top-rated journals as well. Carons award-
winning paper is titled Effect of Contin-
uous Cooling Transformation Variations
on Numerical Calculation of Welding-In-
duced Residual Stresses. It was produced
in collaboration with associates from the
BAM Institute in Berlin, Germany, where
he spent time as a visiting researcher dur-
ing the period he was working on his PhD.
Carons dissertation project not only
fit his welding metallurgy interests, but
the knowledge he gained through that
project has proved useful for his work with
his current employer. A year and a half
ago, after graduating from OSU, Caron
joined the Research and Technology
Group at Haynes International, Inc.,
Kokomo, Ind., as a staff engineer and
welding metallurgist. The company devel-
ops and manufactures high-performance,
nickel- and cobalt-based alloys.
While the main focus of my work (at
Haynes) involves weldability testing and
welding metallurgy studies, I am involved
in other research areas as well, Caron ex-
plained. I have enjoyed learning more
about metal production and manufactur-
ing processes. It is satisfying to frequently
apply engineering and metallurgical prin-
ciples learned in school to my daily work.
Among the discoveries he has made
since leaving academia has been how to
manage many different projects and al-
loys simultaneously. In addition, each
and every alloy has specific property dif-
ferences and it can be challenging to un-
Dr. Jeremy Caron is now involved with
the welding of corrosion-resistant and
high-temperature nickel- and cobalt-
based alloys as a staff engineer and
welding metallurgist for Haynes Inter-
national. He was a co-recipient of the
2011 AWS Warren F. Savage Memorial
Award.
derstand these sometimes subtle differ-
ences, he said. It is also challenging to
develop new alloys that will have commer-
cial significance, which is one of the main
goals of our research.
As far as his career aspirations, Caron
sees himself at Haynes for the foreseeable
future and knows that he intends to re-
main actively involved in the metallurgi-
cal and welding communities throughout
my career.
MAY 2012 36
There are those who consider welding
and joining as mature technologies and
so they may think theres nothing new to
research. Dr. Vahid Firouzdor is not
among them.
Welding and joining technology is not
an old research topic, he said. Its ex-
tremely important and there are a lot of
engineering and scientific gaps that need
to be filled. No engineered product can
be developed without joining and by grow-
ing the industry and moving to more high-
technology products, the joining technol-
ogy to make these products needs to be
updated, too. Therefore, the science and
technology of welding and joining can play
a very important role in the creation
of the next generation of high-tech
industries.
Firouzdor earned degrees in Materi-
als Science and Engineering from Sharif
University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
His concentration for his B.Sc. was mate-
rials characterization and for his M.Sc., it
was welding engineering. To enter the
masters program, he took the nationwide
entrance exam and placed second among
2300 materials science and engineering
graduates.
I did my thesis with Prof. A. H.
Kokabi, the most famous welding profes-
sor in Iran, and Prof. A. Simchi, Firouz-
dor recalled. I worked on bi-metal com-
ponents, i.e., tool steel/stainless steel
joints by co-sintering of powder-injected
molded components.
After graduating, he worked for a year
as a welding engineer in Irans railroad
industry, but he knew he wanted to con-
tinue his education and he had decided
he really enjoyed welding. So he applied
to the doctoral program at University of
Wisconsin-Madison and was accepted by
Prof. Sindo Kou.
I really wanted to do research in a
new, challenging topic in welding engi-
neering and Prof. Kou suggested a PhD
thesis topic on joining of dissimilar mate-
rials by the friction stir welding (FSW)
process, he recalled. Joining of dissimi-
lar materials is rather challenging due to
dissimilarities in materials properties. It
is of high demand for special applications
and is indicated as a high priority in ma-
terials joining technology these days.
I tried to weld Al to Mg and Al to Cu.
We ended up achieving strong dissimilar
welds that are as strong as similar welds
between two similar pieces of the weaker
material, Firouzdor said. We also
showed that FSW cannot be considered
as a pure solid-state welding process and
liquation can happen in the case of dis-
similar metal welding like Al to Mg welds,
which causes a lot of problems like crack-
ing and severe intermetallic formation.
For this work, Firouzdor received the
2010 AWS Charles H. Jennings Memorial
Award. In recommending Firouzdor for
this article, Dr. Kou cited that paper and
mentioned Firouzdor has published other
excellent papers on FSW of dissimilar
metals. Thus far, Firouzdor has published
14 journal papers and has five more under
submission. He also won the AWS Inter-
national Student Scholarship Award in
2009 and 2010, and received an AWS Dis-
trict Scholarship Award in 2010.
Following graduation, Firouzdor took
a position in the Department of Engi-
neering Physics and Nuclear Engineering
at the university. There he worked to de-
velop diffusion barrier coatings for miti-
gation of fuel-cladding chemical interac-
tions using the electrophoretic deposition
technique. The most challenging part of
this project again comes back to bonding
and joining, where we want to join the
nanoparticles together by proper sinter-
ing and, more importantly, join the coat-
ing material to the substrate by diffusion
bonding.
Firouzdor recently accepted a position
as a materials engineer in the etch depart-
ment of Applied Materials, Inc., Santa
Clara, Calif. There he is finding the proj-
ects being assigned to him are relating
back to his experiences in welding and
coating technology. According to our
companys goals, we are trying to turn in-
novations into industry and my role is to
participate in the materials science sec-
tion of it, which is a very important and
challenging part.
Vahid Firouzdor, PhD
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Thus far in his research career, Dr.
Vahid Firouzdors main interests have
been joining of dissimilar metals with
the friction stir welding process and de-
velopment of diffusion barrier coatings.
37 WELDING JOURNAL
Weijie Zhang
Graduate Student, University of Kentucky
Yu Ming Zhang, a professor in the De-
partment of Electrical and Computer En-
gineering at the University of Kentucky,
recommended that one of his students,
Weijie Zhang, pursue his doctoral thesis
in the area of welding. Weijie graduated
from Harbin Institute of Technology
(China) with a masters degree in electri-
cal engineering. Zhang noted he was very
motivated and demonstrated a desire to
make a difference as a new PhD student.
As a result, he chose Weijie to be the
major researcher for a new welding re-
search project funded by a grant from the
National Science Foundation.
Weijie admitted he knew nothing
about welding prior to meeting Dr.
Zhang, but his enthusiasm for welding has
grown because of his advisors influence.
He noted that Zhang acts as though doing
his job (research) is fun for him every day,
and his confidence and passion have af-
fected Weijie and his other students.
Weijies project is to build a machine-
human cooperative control system to as-
sist lesser-skilled manual welders to per-
form like higher-skilled welders. The mo-
tivation for this project is based on the
fact there are too few skilled welders avail-
able in the workplace.
Skilled welders adjust their welding re-
sponses based on observations of the weld
pool. This project will use both a control
system to monitor the welding process
combined with a method to predict the
welders reaction to the weld pool changes
then make any necessary adjustments.
Determining this relationship between
the weld pool appearance and a skilled
welders response is another major task.
When the welder does not react to the
weld pool changes correctly, i.e., moves
too slow, misjudges the arc length, etc.,
the machine must correct for the errors
as a skilled welder would.
Weijie is designing a flexible monitor-
ing system that will measure the weld pool
surface in real time. Dr. Zhang and Wei-
jie have devised a detector based on a reg-
ular helmet fitted with a camera, imaging
plane, etc. While the welder wears the hel-
met, the system will continuously moni-
tor the weld pool surface.
Weijie considers the design of the hel-
met the most interesting part for him, and
how to make it work as planned will be
the most difficult.
He said accurately measuring the weld
pool was his next big challenge. To pre-
pare, he first read many publications dis-
cussing various methods of sensing the
weld pool. Only a few papers described a
method that actually measured the weld
pool surface accurately, hindered because
of the dynamic nature of the weld pool
and the severe interference caused by the
welding arc. Weijies system is further
complicated by the monitoring system
mounted in a helmet that will be in con-
tinuous movement as the welder works.
Currently, he has a general idea how to
solve these problems, but he plans to re-
solve them in the next several months.
Next, hell be concerned with making
the system more accurate, cost-efficient,
and flexible. Fortunately, he has Dr.
Zhangs expertise to lean on occasionally.
Weijie said that something good happens
every time they disuss his work. In addi-
tion, Weijies colleagues in the lab help
each other a lot. The students have dif-
ferent areas of expertise so they often can
offer enlightening insights on problems
to cause each other to think more
creatively.
Now that he has some experience in
welding research, Weijie is looking for-
ward to what the future holds. He does-
nt consider himself a social guy. He
prefers his lifes work interface more with
machines than people. So, he has set his
ultimate goal to do college research. But,
first, he wants to work in industry for a
while after obtaining his doctorate. He
wants to get to know first-hand the needs
in industry that might be benefited by
welding research. Then, after two or three
years, he will seek a position in a college
to start his research work in welding.
Weijie understands that welding re-
search has been going on for a long time,
and it is difficult to develop a brand-new
process or a sensing/control technology
that no one has yet devised. So, he thinks
it would be much wiser to find a challenge
in the welding industry that has not been
completely investigated. Also, it would be
more meaningful and fun to tackle a prac-
tical problem than develop something
that has little application in industry.
Weijies advice for an aspiring post-
graduate student is to maintain a passion
about your chosen field, have fun with it,
be audacious and aggressively creative,
and since welding research demands a lot
of experiments, dont be afraid of getting
your hands dirty.
Doctoral student Weijie Zhang, who
holds a research assistantship at the
University of Kentucky, is working on a
project to build a machine-human co-
operative control system to assist
lesser-skilled manual welders to per-
form like higher-skilled welders.
MAY 2012 38
H
eld together by thousands of
pounds of weld metal, todays
structural steel buildings are
built under the guidelines of AWS Codes
D1.1D1.9. These codes dictate specific
welding processes and techniques for
everything from moment frames to floor
decks and handrails, but there are
variables to take into consideration when
selecting an engine-driven welding
machine/generator for structural appli-
cations.
Process Versatility Is Key
The two most common processes in
structural welding are shielded metal arc
(SMA) and flux cored arc (FCA) weld-
ing. Both are self shielded and offer less
chance of contamination compared to a
solid wire with a shielding gas (wind
blows away the shielding gas in outdoor
applications). Shielded metal arc weld-
ing has the simplest equipment, the low-
What Do You Need
in an Engine-Driven
Welding Machine?
Apex welder Barry Neal welds a column of -in. A36
structural steel at Seattle University. The company selects
300-A engine-driven welding machines to run the
5
64-in. wire
it needs to get to the production speeds it needs.
JOHN LEISNER and
JOE GITTER are
product managers,
Miller Electric Mfg.
Co., Appleton, Wis.,
www.millerwelds.com.
BY JOHN LEISNER
AND JOE GITTER
39 WELDING JOURNAL
est cost, and is relatively easy to use. Flux
cored arc welding is advantageous in
high-volume applications as it is more ef-
ficient and has higher deposition rates,
although it requires a wire feeder Fig.
1. The wire feeder requires a constant
current (CC) or constant voltage (CV)
welding machine. A CV welding machine
is required with wires designed to meet
specific codes/requirements, such as
AWS D1.8. Such wires are not designed
to run with a CC machine.
Most structural steel contractors
choose a machine that performs SMAW,
FCAW, gas metal arc welding (GMAW),
gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), and
carbon arc gouging, and is even compat-
ible with spool guns for GMAW of alu-
minum (for use on handrails and other
internal/finishing components) Fig. 2.
Machines ranging from 250 to 300 A pro-
vide more than enough power to meet
the demands of most structural electrode
diameters and codes.
We need a 300-A machine to run the
5
64-in. wire that gets us to production
speeds and allows us to be competitive,
said Kevin Callahan, project manager,
Apex Steel, Redmond, Wash. (see lead
photo). A 200-A machine isnt going to
do it.
Another option for structural steel
erectors is multioperator systems. The
benefit of a multioperator system exists
in its ability to provide two high-quality
welding arcs from one engine-driven
unit. This allows you to get the work of
two machines done with one (two oper-
ators use one machine). In addition to
the equipment cost savings of one ma-
chine compared to two, multioperator
systems can use more than 50% less fuel
than two single-operator units with com-
parable engine power. Its also easier to
transport, and produces less noise and
fewer emissions compared to two sepa-
rate machines. Its important to note that
many standard engine-driven welding
generators can easily be turned into a
multioperator system by running another
welding machine off of the machines
generator power.
Power Generation/Air
Capabilities
Engine drives offer power generation
capabilities ranging from 5000 to 27,000
W. Choosing the right one depends on
the tools you run and if you need to si-
multaneously weld and run other tools.
Knowing the wattage needed to run tools
such as grinders (1800 W), cut-off saws
(up to 2400 W), air compressors (8200
starting W), and plasma arc cutting ma-
chines (10,000 to 12,000 W) will help you
pick the right unit Fig. 3.
When you only have to move a sin-
gle unit from job to job, you have obvi-
ous cost savings in labor and fuel, said
Steve Price, president, Coastal Steel,
Here are some of the things you need to consider before purchasing an
engine-driven welding machine/generator for structural steel applications
Fig. 1 Coastal Steel Field Superintendent
Chad Hummel welds a diagonal moment brace
using the FCAW process. Flux cored arc is pre-
ferred for wire welding in the field for its high
deposition rates and self shielding.
MAY 2012 40
Tacoma, Wash. The less you have on
site, the less cluttered things are, and the
less equipment you have to secure at
night to prevent theft. Having this one
unit makes obsolete the other individual
pieces of equipment. And it doesnt take
any more fuel to run than just a stand-
alone welding machine.
Another factor to consider when
choosing a welding generator is whether
it has enough generator power to sustain
both a welding arc and power tools. Some
models currently feature independent
welding and generator power, while oth-
ers offer enough generator power so that
interference is not a concern. Interfer-
ence with the welding arc leads to re-
duced penetration, an unacceptable com-
promise in structural steel welding.
If youve got a guy welding, and an-
other crafter comes along and plugs in a
vacuum, it will mess with his arc, Cala-
han said. Its an advantage not having
to worry about that.
Air Capabilities
Manufacturers now build air com-
pressors into welding generators to cre-
ate a powerful three-in-one tool espe-
cially useful to structural steel welders.
Contractors can now weld, and run power
and air tools simultaneously off one cen-
tral unit.
Well pull a 12/3 power cord off its
generator to run the shear wrench, ex-
plained Chad Hummel, field superin-
tendent, Coastal Steel. And while one
guy is doing that, you can run a pneu-
matic button punch and weld at the same
time. All of that can go on if you have a
unit centrally located and enough air
hose and welding lead to reach.
Theres no longer a need for a com-
pressor and a welding machine, said
Price, thereby saving the cost of trans-
porting two machines and the fuel to run
those two machines. It uses virtually the
same fuel while both operations (com-
pressor and welding machine) are
working.
Fig. 2 While many of the construction weld-
ing applications today rely on the shielded
metal arc welding (SMAW) process, most struc-
tural steel contractors select multiprocess ma-
chines that can handle nearly every need, such
as the FCAW process shown here.
41 WELDING JOURNAL
Tier 4 Final (T4F) emissions regulations go into
effect Jan. 1, 2013, for machines used in the United
States and Canada with engines in the 25- to 75-hp
range, including engine-driven welding machines/gen-
erators. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys
(EPA) T4F regulations significantly reduce the par-
ticulate emissions of diesel engines. This typically re-
quires major engine changes and exhaust aftertreat-
ment devices, dramatically increasing costs. All en-
gine manufacturers must supply T4F-compliant en-
gines as of Jan. 1, 2013. There will be some carryover
associated with the normal delivery lead time that will
stretch into early 2013, which means that some Tier 4
Interim (T4i) engines exceeding 25 hp will still be
available for sale after the deadline. T4F regulations
do not apply to previously purchased equipment, and
these regulations only apply to the United States and
Canada.
How will diesel engine-driven welding
machine/generators with more than 25 hp
change? The greatest change will come in terms of
price. T4F diesel engine-driven welding
machines/generators greater than 25 hp could in-
crease in price by as much as 50% due to engine and
installation cost increases. Machines may also get
physically larger due to exhaust aftertreatment de-
vices added to the engine. These devices get larger as
horsepower increases. The new aftertreatment de-
vices also give off additional heat, which requires
proper machine design to manage airflow while still
being optimized for installation on trucks.
What are manufacturers doing to address
T4F? While the regulations affect engines with 25 to
75 hp, some manufacturers have gone to great lengths
to improve machines with engines under 25 hp, pro-
viding the performance and output many contractors
need at a much lower price point than the new T4F
designs will allow. These improvements include max-
imizing power output and improving fuel efficiency.
Similar changes are being implemented on machines
greater than 25 hp to help offset the impact of in-
creased prices when they hit the market, but it begs
the question: Do you NEED to buy a fleet of 500-A
machines (greater than 25 hp) when a fleet of 300400
A machines (less than 25 hp) may handle a great ma-
jority of your applications?
Can I use a machine with lower horse-
power? When you examine most construction weld-
ing applications, you will find that contractors have
been buying machines with more horsepower and am-
perage than they need because greater output was
available at a reasonable price. If the difference in a
350-A machine (less than 25 hp) and a 500-A machine
(more than 25 hp) was only $2000$3000, many con-
tractors would pay that premium just to have that extra
power when needed. In examining structural steel
welding applications, most welding machines rarely
exceed 350 A, and the majority of welding applica-
tions are performed at 250 A or less. If you occasion-
ally have the need to run high amperages, whether to
run much larger electrodes or to perform carbon arc
gouging, you may be able to buy one or two 500-A ma-
chines for those less-common applications while buy-
ing 350-A machines for the rest of your fleet. This
strategy could potentially save you thousands of dol-
lars in equipment purchase costs, while also adding
machines that are smaller, more fuel-efficient, and
offer a lower total cost of ownership.
Another way to get more out of a smaller machine
is to change processes. The majority of construction
welding applications today rely on the shielded metal
arc welding (SMAW) process. Contractors buy 400-
to 500-A machines to handle large-diameter SMAW
electrodes, but they might be able to achieve the same
results by switching to the flux cored arc welding
(FCAW) process while transitioning to a machine with
less than 25 hp at 350 A. This requires the added cost
of a wire feeder, but that cost is more than accounted
for in the lower price of the engine-drive compared
to a T4F machine. The FCAW process provides higher
deposition rates at an amperage that is easily attained
with machines less than 25 hp. It also produces less
waste as you use all of the wire, compared to SMAW
where you regularly discard stubs and spend time
switching electrodes in and out.
Dual-operator systems are also an effective option
to help lower costs. While some machines fall under
the T4F restrictions, they allow two operators to work
off of one system (and in some cases, up to six welders
with the addition of inverters running off the ma-
chines generator power). This can reduce fuel use by
more than 50% compared to two single-operator units
with comparable engine power, and lower total cost
of ownership to counteract the price increases caused
by T4F.
T4F: An opportunity to assess your equip-
ment choices. While some will be discouraged by
the inevitable price increases that come along with
T4F over 25 hp, this is a great opportunity to exam-
ine your welding processes and determine if you may
be able to get by with equipment that falls below 25
hp and is not affected by EPA T4F regulations. Man-
ufacturers will also be working hard to improve effi-
ciencies (fuel efficiency, reduced maintenance, added
performance, and productivity) to offset the cost in-
creases.
EPA Tier 4 Final Changes for Diesel
Engine-Driven Welding Machines/Generators
Fuel Considerations
What type of fuel do you need? The
most popular engine drives are available
in gasoline, diesel, and even LP models.
Gas engines offer a lower product cost,
reduced weight, and a smaller size while
diesel engines use 20 to 35% less fuel,
have longer engine lives, and are required
on some sites (see the sidebar on how Tier
4 Final (T4F) regulations will affect diesel
engine drives). New electronic fuel-
injected (EFI) gas welding generators
further reduce fuel use by as much as 27%
a major benefit as many contractors
are prohibited from storing fuel on site.
Extended runtimes allow for these con-
tractors to spend less time worrying about
fueling up machines, and the ability to
use less fuel helps drive down costs.
Its not just the price of the fuel, ex-
plained Callahan. Its the time it takes
to get it. Its a killer. It could easily be an
hour for my superintendent to take the
cans and go to the gas station and fill
them up. If we can improve the fuel econ-
omy of our machines, the less time well
spend filling them up. Its a huge time
savings.
Additional Factors: Size
and Sound
Consider portability before you
choose a machine are you working on
a single-story building or a ten-story high
rise? Will a machine on a trailer or run-
ning gear suffice, or do you need to add
lifting points for a crane/hoist? Machines
being introduced now are noticeably
lighter, and often provide a smaller foot-
print to take up less space on site and on
work trucks.
Noise may also be a concern depend-
ing on where you work. New machines
are being introduced that run up to 70%
quieter than older machines, which can
help when working in urban areas and
near schools and hospitals.
MAY 2012 42
Fig. 3 Three-in-one machines
(welding machine/generator/air com-
pressor) provide greater versatility by
allowing contractors to run pneumatic
tools as well as the standard welding
and generator functionality.
MAY 2012 44
I
f the Built with Class student contest
results are any indication, many of
the new faces in welding are coming
from Americas smaller and rural
communities.
Of the eight winning schools selected,
only two were located in towns with a
population of more than 16,000, and
none larger than 93,000.
Sponsored by Thermadyne, St. Louis,
Mo., the contest was launched last year
to encourage and support students en-
tering the welding industry. Beginning
students were asked to write an essay on
why they were interested in learning
about welding. Intermediate to advanced
students, working in groups of two to five,
could submit a team welding project plan.
While the contest required the plan only,
all team winners completed their proj-
ects (visit www.thermadyne.com/builtwith-
class/gallery.html).
Winners in the beginning category re-
ceived $250, while team winners received
$500 each. In addition, their high schools
received a Thermal Arc Fabricator
181i multiprocess welding system. This
machine is one of the companys 3-in-
1 welding machines, which can be used
for shielded metal arc, gas metal arc, and
gas tungsten arc welding. These inverter-
based, integrated systems feature a DC,
constant current-constant voltage weld-
ing output and were developed with tech-
nical and training institutions in mind.
Later this spring, the company will an-
nounce details for its 2012 Built with Class
contest.
Growing up around
Welding
The National FFA Organizations
Agricultural Mechanics career devel-
opment program emphasizes welding,
and many of the Built with Class winners
participate in this program.
Overall, the necessity of welding on a
farm or ranch means rural students are
exposed to welding at a much earlier age
than their urban counterparts.
Donating to the Local Fire Dept.
When I was about 10 years old, I
walked into my dads shop at home,
grabbed a piece of metal out of the scrap
bin, threw a hood over my head, and
started running some beads, said Colby
Siptak, a senior at Bellville High School,
Bellville, Tex.
While practicing various skills, Siptak
discovered he could build items to do-
Is Small Town America
the New Face in Welding?
BILL WEHRMAN is the marketing com-
munications manager for Thermadyne
Industries (www.thermadyne.com), St.
Louis, Mo.
Several high school students from rural
areas enrolled in welding and agricultural
mechanics programs are looking forward
to their bright futures
BY BILL WEHRMAN
Fig. 1 Kyle Supak is shown with the
log splitter that won a team award for
Bellville High School.
nate to the fire department for their auc-
tions, then they could use the money
raised to buy necessary materials.
Building a Log Splitter
Colby Siptak, along with classmates
Kyle Supak and Blake Mounts plus in-
structor Jacob Diezi IV, won a team cat-
egory award Fig. 1. They built a log
splitter with a 20-ton hydraulic press that
they lend to the community.
I grew up around welding. My uncle
owned a welding shop here in Bellville.
He welded odds and ends for people. I
got into welding my freshman year, fell
in love with it, and didnt want to get out,
Supak explained.
Mounts, who already works for a
heavy-equipment repair company, said,
On the ranch we live on, Ive always
worked around farm equipment. Im al-
ways doing a lot of repair or construction
on pens or hog traps.
Making a Unique Coffee Table
While Ashlin Rosamond, a junior at
Sulphur Springs High School, Sulphur
Springs, Tex., also participates in an agri-
cultural mechanics program, she had
never been around welding until she took
a class. She joined because, I like to ex-
press my artistic ability, and I thought it
would be neat to express that in a me-
chanical way.
Rosamond, along with partner Jesse
Brown and instructor Dan Froneberger,
created a metal and wood coffee table
featuring a praying cowboy design that
she considers her brand Fig. 2. Rosa-
monds next project maintains that West-
ern theme; she is currently fabricating
a BBQ smoker shaped like a Colt .45
revolver.
Benefits of a Rural Upbringing
Growing up in a rural area a place
as boonie as you can imagine, accord-
ing to one winner has its advantages.
Theres no other welding type of
shop, so anybody who needs anything
fixed, they bring it to the school, said
Joel Keevert, a senior at Swiss Hills Ca-
reer Center, Woodfield, Ohio Fig. 3.
His instructor Tom Rouse added, It
varies from farmers bringing in trailers
and plows to a 13-ton skimmer pump for
a government forestry project.
45 WELDING JOURNAL
Fig. 2 Ashlin Rosamond of Sulphur
Springs High School took a welding
class to help express her artistic ability.
This Praying Cowboy coffee table com-
bines welding, plasma cutting, and
woodworking.
Fig. 3 Joel Keevert of Swiss Hills Ca-
reer Center, shown along with instruc-
tor Tom Rouse, plans to find an ap-
prenticeship with one of the skilled
trade unions after graduation.
MAY 2012 46
An Early Introduction to
Welding
For students not exposed to welding
on the farm or through family members,
creating the next generation of welders
requires reaching out to them as early as
eighth grade.
Emphasize Exciting Career
Paths
We need to send our students the
message that welding offers many differ-
ent career paths, said Nicki Howard, di-
rector of secondary education at Canton
South High School, Canton, Ohio.
She added that the typical pattern in
secondary education has been to wait
until students are juniors or seniors and
say, Okay, now pick a job. Thats too
late. Students need to think about that
in advance. If they choose a technical ed-
ucation path, they need the opportunity
to apply what they learn (while still in
school).
Invest Time in Guiding Students
Canton South High School winner
Dentale White wrote in her essay that
during a freshman year tour of the
schools technical annex, I first remem-
ber going into the wood-shop room
thinking it was the coolest room ever.
Then she entered the welding lab.
There were flames flying everywhere! It
looked like fireworks! It was like noth-
ing I had ever seen beforeat that point,
the wood-shop room was no longer the
coolest room ever.
In addition, instructor Art Baughman
believes: Kids often want to do what
their parents did, and a lot of them are
not aware of welding. Thats where Den-
tale has been a real ambassador because
shes talking-up welding when we pro-
mote the program. Kids are going to lis-
ten to her more than me. We also need
more industry people willing to let kids
job shadow, coordinate plant field trips,
or come in and talk to students. Were
not asking them for money, were asking
them for time. We have to get students
interested in welding, and a catalog isnt
going to do it Fig. 4.
Welding Class = Working
Creatively with Your Hands
Joel Keevert, mentioned earlier in the
article, confirms the sentiment about par-
ents who do not know that much about
welding. Only when he brought items
home did they start to grasp the basic
idea. After I told them a little bit about
it, they really got into it, he said.
Keevert wrote that he first explored
welding during his sophomore year. I
went on a tour of the lab and got to try
my hand at welding steel. Although my
first bead didnt look that good, I knew
this was what I wanted to do. I like to do
things with my hands, and I like to be able
to step back and show people what I have
done. Not everyone can sit in a class all
day. I am a person who has to be doing
something creative. For me, I could
spend all day in my booth welding on the
same plate over and over again.
Many students admit they find class-
rooms dry and boring, and their grades
tend to decline as a result. Put them in a
welding class, however, and their focus
sharpens exponentially. Instead of fidg-
eting, they have the discipline to spend
hours under the hood trying to make the
next bead better than the last. Using
welding as an anchor point, instructors
can then pull through the other academic
disciplines.
Preparing for Welding
and Real-World Challenges
In addition to reading, math, blue-
print reading, operating mills, lathes,
forklift trucks, and other equipment re-
lated to metal fabricating, welding in-
structors seem especially committed to
preparing students for the real world.
I like to think that they learn a little
bit about respecting each other and team-
work, said Coy Hall, an instructor at
Clark County Area Technical College,
Winchester, Ky. A lot of times, its not
how good of a welder you are, but the
employability skills that you bring to an
interview, such as punctuality and pre-
paredness. Honesty and trustworthiness
are important, too. I tell my students that
if something breaks, theres no sense in
trying to hide it. Come to me, and we can
probably fix it.
It is important students work toward
their daily goals. But if youre not work-
ing, said Hall, Im right on your hip.
Im going to treat you like a boss will treat
you. I expect work to get done on time.
Also, new faces in welding need to
think beyond themselves and recognize
every individual has the opportunity to
contribute to or detract from the
reputation of their schools welding or
agricultural mechanics program. Postsec-
ondary institutions and local employers
know which schools consistently produce
the most desirable prospects and which
do not.
Fig. 4 Instructor Art Baughman of
Canton South High School said student
Dentale White makes a great ambas-
sador by helping the school promote
the benefits of its welding program.
Kids are going to listen to her more
than me, he said.
Young Women Among the
New Faces in Welding
Of the 13 winning entrants in the Built
with Class contest, five were determined
young women. Coy Halls student, 15-
year-old Aimee Bowman, pulled no
punches in her essay Fig. 5.
I could sit here and think of a mil-
lion reasons why I chose to take a weld-
ing class. Im sure most of those reasons
would sound better than the real reason.
I am currently taking welding classes to
show girls who are younger than I am that
doing something that is male dominated
is perfectly okay.
Bowman feels that welding gives her
a sense of power and confidence. Yes,
Im a girl, but I can do the same things
as guys can do. Some women may be
scared that they will be ridiculedI want
to try and make welding a more gender-
friendly occupation.
Making Parents Appreciate and
Understand the Trade
Becoming a top-notch welder is hard
enough for anyone, but young women
also have to deal with classmates who
sometimes act like little boys instead of
young men.
The boys give you a hard time every
now and then, maybe saying, Oh, thats
not going to be good. But you show them
wrong by turning out something really
great, said Ashlin Rosamond.
At first, Rosamonds father did not
understand why she took welding classes,
But now that he sees what Ive made,
hes happy. He sees that I can make re-
ally cool projects and do them well. My
mom was really happy. Shes into agri-
culture, so shes got me teaching her how
to weld.
Dentale White also received encour-
agement from her mother.
A lot of people were surprised to see
that this is what I wanted to go into,
White said. My mother always told me
to do what I wanted and dont let anyone
stop me. I didnt come down to the weld-
ing lab to be noticed or stand out. I came
to work. People may think because Im a
girl I get a lot handed to mebut I dont.
I work just as hard if not harder than most
boys. Me being the only girl in my class
47 WELDING JOURNAL
Fig. 5 Aimee Bowman signed up for
instructor Coy Halls welding class at
Clark County Area Technical College
specifically to set an example for other
young women. Doing something that
is male dominated is perfectly okay,
she said.
Fig. 6 I would much rather say I built
or repaired a piece of equipment on my
own vs. saying that someone else did
the job for me, said Kristi Hallmark,
shown here with instructor John Griffith
of Alto High School.
made me a lot stronger mentally and
physically. I had to earn respect in this
class just like anyone else.
Sixteen-year-old Kristi Hallmark of
Alto High School, Alto, Tex., believes that
welding can give anyone the personal sat-
isfaction of being independent Fig. 6.
So many people in todays time have
forgotten how to perform tasks on their
own, and they have become overly de-
pendent on others to repair and build
things. It may be my pride thats getting
to me, but I would much rather say I built
or repaired a piece of equipment on my
own vs. saying that someone else did the
job for me, Hallmark said.
Next Steps Ahead
Built with Class winners such as Den-
tale White make their own edge. They
go above and beyond, according to in-
structor Art Baughman. White intends
to pursue a mechanical engineering de-
gree at the University of Akron. Baugh-
man hopes that she eventually comes
back to Canton South as a teacher be-
cause of her patience when working with
other students.
Ashlin Rosamond also wants to be-
come a teacher, in this case an agricul-
tural instructor, after attending Angela
State University.
Instructor Tom Rouse, a former iron-
worker, recently brought in a union rep-
resentative to speak to the class. Joel
Keevert was impressed and feels fairly
sure that becoming an apprentice with a
skilled trade union is in his future. Be-
cause his high school is located in the
Marcellus Shale Formation and the as-
sociated natural gas fracking boom, the
need for pipe welders should be boom-
ing when he graduates. That apprentice-
ship just might be with the United
Association.
Two of the students from Bellville also
see hydrocarbons in their future. Colby
Siptak plans to attend Texas State Tech-
nical College (TSTC) in Waco to obtain
his degree and become a pipeline welder.
Blake Mounts wants to attend a four-year
college and become a petrochemical in-
spector. That involves welding 24/7 be-
cause you have to be able to find whats
wrong with tanks and vessels, and then
you have to be able to tell the welders
how to fix it.
Kyle Supak plans to trade in his gas
metal arc welding gun for a brazing and
soldering kit. I actually have a full ride
to go to an air-conditioning and heating
class and electrical class, he said. The
program he is referring to is at Blinn Col-
lege, Brenham, Tex. After he completes
that, he is thinking about attending TSTC
to earn welding certifications, and if he
achieves a few, I always have something
else to fall back on.
Instructor Coy Hall said Aimee Bow-
man has multiple options as well. While
she plans to continue his welding class,
he feels that her health sciences classes
hold a greater attraction, which he has
no problem with her pursuing.
In the rural area where Bowman lives,
there are only a few large employers.
Whatever their chosen career path, Hall
advises these new faces in welding to be
willing to travel wherever the work is.
If youre going to spend all this time on
technical education, you have to get out
there and use it. If you can, get out of
your comfort zone and experience the
world.
MAY 2012 48
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MAY 2012 50
A
small group in South Africa has,
despite obstacles, done a tremen-
dous amount of quality research
and has had a great impact on the na-
tions manufacturing industry. This arti-
cle highlights some of the work done and
shows some examples of how the South
African manufacturing industry has ben-
efited from their support. The next time
you are looking for an experienced part-
ner in laser materials processing or want
to get experience in laser materials pro-
cessing, think South Africa and the Na-
tional Laser Centre (NLC).
The National Laser Centre became
part of the Council for Scientific &
Industrial Research (CSIR) in 2003.
The NLC serves a dual purpose. First, it
acts as a national asset by doing the
following:
Playing an enabling role in the
academic environment
Providing state-of-the-art R&D
photonic facilities
Promoting the use of lasers in
industry.
Moving Laser Research
from the Lab to Industry
FEDERICO SCIAMMARELLA
(fsciammarella@csir.co.za) is compe-
tency area manager, Laser
Materials Processing, Council for Sci-
entific & Industrial Research (CSIR),
National Laser Centre, Pretoria,
South Africa.
A small research group has made an impact on
the South African economy by transferring
laser-based technology to companies
throughout industry
BY FEDERICO SCIAMMARELLA
Lead photo Laser metal deposition of con-
tinuous caster roll.
51 WELDING JOURNAL
Secondly, it also offers contract R&D,
in which it does development of laser-
based processes and provides systems
and services for industry. The NLC has
three main branches: Laser Physics and
Technology (LPT), Higher Education In-
stitutions (HEI), and Laser Materials
Processing (LMP). This article concen-
trates on the LMP group. For more in-
formation about it and the other groups,
visit www.csir.co.za/laser.
The key objective for LMP is to opti-
mize the competitiveness of the South
African manufacturing industry through
targeted research aimed at
Development
Dissemination
Implementation
of appropriate laser-enabled manufac-
turing processes to meet the current and
future needs of the South African man-
ufacturing industry. Therefore, most of
the research conducted is tied to indus-
try. Following are some examples of the
groups work. The first few deal with the
aerospace industry, an area that has
tremendous potential for growing the
South African economy. Other examples
include solutions for the steel-making in-
dustry and ongoing work in the area of
additive manufacturing of titanium aero-
space components. All this work has been
published and references are provided
for further information.
Laser Powder Welding of TiAl
Alloys
One project dealt with laser powder
welding of titanium aluminide alloys
(TiAl). The work itself (Ref. 1) led to a
successful process development in which
crack-free welds were produced. This
work had been extensively researched in
the past, and traditional methods com-
bined with the sensitive nature of these
particular alloys made it almost impossi-
ble to produce crack-free welds. The TiAl
alloys are of interest because of their high
ratio of modulus and strength to density
at elevated temperatures (a key compo-
nent for the aerospace and automotive
industries). As detailed in the work, V-
groove weld plates were preheated with
an ohmic resistance heating device up to
900C; the system developed at LMP also
enabled controlled cooling. This ap-
proach enabled production of a crack-
free weld. Figure 1 shows a cross section
taken from one of the welds. While the
figure does not show the complete-joint-
penetration welds that were achieved in
the research important because fa-
tigue is an issue in aerospace it does
show the good metallurgical structure
that was also achieved.
While this work yielded good initial
results, future research will be conducted
to establish an optimized process and/or
postweld heat treatment that homoge-
nizes the microstructure in the weld and
base material in an attempt to eliminate
the
2
saturated region at the weld inter-
face that causes higher hardness values.
It is important to maintain a consistent
microstructure in the welded conditions
to avoid any fatigue issue.
Deep-Penetration Nd:YAG
Laser Welding of Rheo-Cast
F357 Al Alloys
This work was done in conjunction
with Material Science & Manufacturing,
another unit within the CSIR. That group
possesses the capability for rheo-casting
of Al alloys. The interest in aluminum
Alloy F357 is due to the fact that it has
been used for semi-solid processing for
more than 30 years and has various mar-
kets (i.e., automotive and aerospace) it
has found its way into as a result of good
weldability and good mechanical prop-
erties such as high strength and tough-
ness. This process has already produced
a large number of components (i.e., fuel
rails, engine mounts, engine brackets,
and suspension parts) for the industries
mentioned.
A comprehensive welding analysis
(Ref. 2) was done on F357, a hypo-eutec-
tic Al-7%Si-0.6%Mg alloy, without beryl-
lium. It is well known that welding Al al-
loys, particularly those that are cast,
poses significant challenges. The goal
was to establish a baseline of operating
parameters in which an Nd:YAG laser
could be used to successfully perform au-
togenous welds in butt joints on the
CSIRs rheo-cast semi-solid metal plates,
which were either left as-cast or in a T4
or T6 condition. Some of the main con-
cerns were porosity and the variation of
mechanical properties due to precipitate
dissolution in the weld and overaging in
the heat-affected zone (HAZ). Figure 2
shows a cross section of one of the welds
obtained.
Autogenous deep penetration
Nd:YAG laser welding of SSM rheo-cast
F357 aluminium was investigated with a
range of parameters in order to create
defect-free welds. These parameters in-
cluded laser beam spot configuration,
laser beam spot intensity distributions,
center-to-center spot separation dis-
tances, and shielding gas combinations
and flow rates, along with various purg-
ing gases. Because laser welding facili-
tates high cooling rates, it is possible
to produce weld joints through deep-
penetration laser welding of age-hard-
enable Al-Si-Mg alloys, with mechanical
properties matching those of the T6 tem-
per condition. The key advantage is that
it is possible to do this without a post-
weld solid-solution heat treatment. The
Fig. 1 Transverse section of a TiAl weld.
MAY 2012 52
resulting mechanical properties of SSM
rheo-cast F357 aluminium welded in the
T4 condition and only artificially aged
after welding (T4+ condition) compares
very well with the T6 base material
properties.
Transmission electron microscopy
(TEM) was utilized to analyze the
strengthening mechanisms obtained dur-
ing laser welding as well as the different
heat treatments. The TEM analysis was
consistent with the expected precipita-
tion-hardening processes in Al-Si-Mg al-
loys. The quench sensitivity of SSM rheo-
cast F357 aluminium alloy is low enough
to obtain an increase in strength values
during laser welding, and no postweld
heat treatment is necessary to obtain T6
mechanical properties according to per-
formance specifications.
Laser Metal Deposition of
Low-Carbon Martensitic
Stainless Steel
This project has been in progress for
a number of years and is still ongoing. It
is related to the refurbishment of contin-
uous casting rolls that are used in the
steelmaking industry (see lead photo).
One of the most cost-effective refurbish-
ment processes for continuous casting
rolls involves cladding with martensitic
stainless steels. When cladding via con-
ventional methods, there are a number
of issues that can arise, such as large vari-
ations in chemical composition and met-
allurgical structures, which results in pre-
mature and unpredictable failure of the
cladding. A laser-based approach was uti-
lized because it had the capability to con-
trol the heat input and solidification
process. Although martensitic stainless
steels currently provide one of the most
cost-effective routes for these applica-
tions, the laser based process has another
advantage over traditional methods be-
cause it offers access to a wider variety
of advanced and improved alloys. This is
due to the fact that it is not limited to the
range of commercially available welding
consumables, but can also utilize alloy
powders and mixtures of these powders.
This was the focus of the research and is
detailed quite well in Ref. 3. The goal was
to develop new alloy combinations capa-
ble of producing clad layers with supe-
rior properties to that of the traditional
martensitic stainless steels.
This research was innovative because
it combined the nonequilibrium mi-
crostructures that can result from rapid
solidification via laser processing and
new alloy compositions developed by the
LMP group. An example is the develop-
ment of modified low-C martensitic
stainless steels with molybdenum. Laser
cladding of these alloys resulted in fully
martensitic microstructures with no delta
ferrite. The presence of delta ferrite re-
sults in sensitization at the ferrite grain
boundaries that decreases corrosion and
oxidation resistance. In this instance, the
novelty lies in the combination of rapid
solidification with a desirable phase com-
position that results in improved corro-
sion and oxidation resistance.
The future scope of research will con-
tinue with additional alloy modification
required to further improve corrosion
properties, wear resistance, and oxida-
tion properties. The addition of various
elements will be investigated such as the
addition of N and Ti. Optimization of
postweld heat treatment parameters will
also be investigated so that the required
mechanical properties are maintained,
as this plays a key role particularly in the
steel-making industry. Currently, there
are rollers that have undergone this laser
metal deposition process that are in use
in a plant here in South Africa. The cur-
rent lifetime for rollers that are repaired
conventionally is around 150,000 tons.
The ones that underwent the laser metal
deposition process developed at the Na-
tional Laser Centre will, at a minimum,
double that lifetime. This is based on pe-
riodic checks of these rollers, which cur-
rently have not shown any signs of wear.
Additive Manufacturing of Ti
Aerospace Components
The race has been on for some time
in the area of additive manufacturing.
This is particularly true in the aerospace
field. Despite having to be very conser-
vative on what it can put on aircraft, the
industry is always an early adapter of
technology. The NLC has been working
with Aerosud, a South African aerospace
company, on the development of an ad-
ditive manufacturing system to produce
large aerospace components (~ 6.5 2
2 ft) specifically from Ti alloys. With
the second-largest reserve of titanium
ore in the world, South Africa exports a
lot of raw material. However, it then must
purchase a finished product (i.e., billet,
sheet). This obviously makes the supply
Fig. 2 Stereo microstructure of the bead geometry of an F357
laser butt-joint weld.
Weld interface
chain very long and costly, and increases
the industrys buy-to-fly ratio. In con-
junction with the Material Science &
Manufacturing group, which is produc-
ing Ti powder through a novel and inex-
pensive process, the NLC will design a
system that will enable Aerosud to make
these components, which will be used by
the Boeings and Airbuses of the world.
There are many challenges to face for
this system to come on-line, but by some-
time next year, an operational model will
be available and presented to South
Africa and the world as a one of a kind.
There have been many projects ongo-
ing at LMP: from laser welding of marag-
ing steel rocket motor casings to in-situ
welding/repairing of stainless steel water
tanks that were leaking. Despite being a
small group, the Laser Materials Pro-
cessing group has made an impact on the
South African economy. In fact, the LMP
group has, on average, over the past three
years supported 20 short technology fea-
sibility studies per year for a variety of
companies. At present, it is estimated
that more than 60% of these studies have
resulted in the adoption of a laser-based
technology solution by the company in-
volved. The group hopes to continue
growing and making a difference by cre-
ating valuable jobs as well as wealth.
53 WELDING JOURNAL
References
1. Smal, C., Meacock, C., and
Rossouw, H. 2010. Laser powder
welding of Ti52Al46.8Cr1SiO
2
ti-
tanium aluminide alloy at elevated
temperature. High Temperature
Materials Processing Vol. 1-2,
pp.157160.
2. Theron, M. 2010. Quench-
ing and tempering effects on rheo-
cast F357 aluminium alloy during
Nd:YAG laser welding. MsC the-
sis. University of Cape Town,
South Africa.
3. Van Rooyen, C. 2008. Mi-
crostructural development during
laser cladding of low-CC marten-
sitic stainless steel. Welding in the
World, Vol. 52, No. 3/4, pp. 2229.
CONFERENCES
The Energy Boom:
Get on the Bandwagon
June 12, 13
San Diego, Calif.
The demands for new and improved welding technology from
the expanding energy markets are starting to pay off in the devel-
opment of superior hybrid welding processes, new filler metals, and
a host of cladding procedures. These technologies are showing up
in nuclear power plants, in coal-fired utilities, and especially in new
1700-mile-long pipelines designed to bring oil and natural gas to
American markets. On the agenda are talks on Lincoln Electrics
new laser hot wire cladding process and the ICE process from ESAB
in Sweden that is intended for wind-power fabrication. Other top-
ics will include the successes of the new P87 filler metal, the variety
of applications for explosion welding, and, from Edison Welding
Institute, a close look at the less-expensive plasma/GMA hybrid
welding process.
15th Annual Aluminum Welding
Conference, September 18, 19
Seattle, Wash.
A panel of distinguished aluminum industry experts will
survey the state of the art in aluminum welding technology and
practice.
The 15th Aluminum Welding Conference will also provide
several opportunities to network informally with speakers and
other participants, as well as an exhibition showcasing products
and services of interest to the aluminum welding industry.
Aluminum lends itself to a wide variety of industrial applica-
tions because of its light weight, high strength-to-weight ratio,
corrosion resistance, and other attributes. However, because its
chemical and physical properties are different from those of steel,
welding of aluminum requires special processes, techniques, and
expertise.
FABTECH 2012
November 1214
Las Vegas, Nev.
North Americas largest metal forming, fabricating, welding,
and finishing event heads to the Las Vegas Convention Center.
If your job requires you to look for new ways to work smarter,
operate leaner, and boost productivity, then you and your team
need to attend FABTECH. Make plans now to attend your in-
dustrys main event and youll find the products, resources, and
ideas to strengthen your business and achieve your manufactur-
ing goals. Following are conferences being offered at the Show.
Activity Picks up in Underwater Welding
November 12
Installations in the Gulf of Mexico in particular are increas-
ing and the divers in those areas are making sure that everything
is okay in all of the welds connected to the offshore platforms.
Uwe Aschemeier will be on hand to discuss the performance of
wet welding electrodes as well as tell you about some underwa-
ter repair work.
Covering the Many Aspects in
Health and Safety, November 13
As industry awaits the next ruling on fumes from manganese,
companies have their work cut out for them in such areas as the
control of radiation, ventilation, welder comfort and visibility,
plasma cutting, and the light from lasers. There is much to keep
tabs on. This conference will focus on many of the solutions.
What Are Some of the New Wrinkles in
Nondestructive Testing? November 14
Such processes as alternating current field measurement
(ACFM), time of flight diffraction (TOFD), computed radiogra-
phy, and the many types of phased array methods are moving more
and more into critical inspection lines. This conference will also
provide information on the new technologies that are also being
approved for use in the demanding work under the ASME Code.
For more information, please contact the AWS Conferences
and Seminars Business Unit at (800) 443-9353, ext. 264, or e-
mail zoliva@aws.org. You can also visit the Conference De-
partment Web site at www.aws.org/conferences for upcoming
conferences and registration information.
MAY 2012 54
REGISTER NOW at fabtechexpo.com

FABTECH 2012.
Scan this code to watch
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COMING
EVENTS
AWS Weldmex. May 24. Mexico City, Mexico. Sponsored by the
American Welding Society, the event will focus on welding and
cutting products, including thermal spray, metal finishing, and
safety equipment. The show will co-locate with Metalform Mex-
ico and FABTECH Mexico. www.weldmex.com.
SME Annual Conf. June 35, Cleveland Marriott Downtown
Hotel, Cleveland, Ohio. Sponsored by the Society of Manufac-
turing Engineers. www.sme.org/conference.
17th Beijing-Essen Welding and Cutting Fair. June 47. New
China Intl Exhibition Centre, Beijing, China. www.cmes.org/
essen/en/index.htm.
North American Manufacturing Research Conf. (NAMRC). June
48, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind. Sponsored by
the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. www.sme.org/namrc.
Alloys in Power Plant Technology. June 12, 13. ABBA Berlin
Hotel. Berlin, Germany. Sponsored by VDI, Association of Ger-
man Engineers. www.vdi.de/materialsinpowerplants.
Global Petroleum Show. June 1214. Stampede Park, Calgary,
Alb., Canada. http://globalpetroleumshow.com.
The Energy Boom: Get on the Bandwagon. June 12, 13, San
Diego, Calif. Sponsored by the American Welding Society.
www.aws.org/conferences.
Optimizing Operations through Continuous Improvement Conf.
June 2628. Loews Vanderbilt Hotel, Nashville, Tenn. Sponsored
by Tube & Pipe Association, Intl; UK-based Intl Tube Associa-
tion; and Fabricators & Manufacturers Association, Intl;
www.pipetubeconf.com/nashville.
65th Annual Assembly of the International Institute of Welding
(IIW). July 813. Hyatt Regency Hotel Denver and Colorado Con-
vention Center, Denver, Colo. Sponsored by the American Welding
Society, Edison Welding Institute, and Welding Research Council.
Featured will be a conference on Welding for Repair and Life Ex-
tension of Plants and Infrastructure. For complete information, visit
www.iiw2012.com.
Review of Progress in Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation
(QNDE). July 1520. Hyatt Regency Tech Center, Denver, Colo.
Contact heidil@iastate.edu or www.qndeprograms.org.
Educational Opportunities
Fundamentals of Brazing. Sept. 2527, Wyndham Hotel San Jose,
San Jose, Calif. Lucas Milhaupt, a Handy & Harman Co. (800)
558-3856; www.lucasmilhaupt.com/en-US/training/upcomingtrain-
ingeventsdetail/29.
Machine Safeguarding Seminars. Rockford Systems, Inc.; (800)
922-7533; visit www.rockfordsystems.com.
NACE Intl Training and Certification Courses. National Assoc.
of Corrosion Engineers; (281) 228-6223; www.nace.org.
Online Education Courses. Topics include Introduction to Die
NOTE: A DIAMOND ( ) DENOTES AN AWS-SPONSORED EVENT.
MAY 2012 56
Gentec is a total solution provider for your welding, cutting, and gas control needs.
From components to fully integrated systems, we can offer customized solutions
to ft your specifc needs. Our team is dedicated to servicing you with engineering
and support.
Genstar Technologies Company nc.
909.606.2726 www.genstartech.com
Welding & Cutting Automation Welding & Cutting Apparatus Gas Delivery Systems
57 WELDING JOURNAL
Casting ($99), Metal Melting and Handling ($99), Product
Design ($59), Energy Training ($19), Dross Training ($19),
Managing Dust Hazards ($19), Safety (free). North American
Die Casting Assn., www.diecasting.org/education/online; or call
(847) 808-3161.
Robotics Operator Training. Presented by ABB University at
13 locations nationwide. For course titles and locations:
www.abb.us/abbuniversity; (800) 435-7365, opt. 2, opt. 4.
Servo-Robot Training Seminars. Two-day laser-vision seminars
held throughout the year at Servo-Robot, Inc., near Montreal,
Canada. Seminars include tutorials and hands-on practical train-
ing. For seminar schedule and costs, e-mail request to info@ser-
vorobot.com.
TIP TIG Manual and Automated Plate and Pipe Welding
Workshops. Held the third Thursday of every month. 1901
Kitty Hawk Ave., Bldg. 68, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard,
Philadelphia, Pa.; (215) 389-7700; www.tiptigusa.com.
Tool and Die Welding Courses. Troy, Ohio. Hobart Institute of
Welding Technology; (800) 332-9448; www.welding.org.
Unitek Miyachi Corp. Training Services. Personalized training
services on resistance and laser beam welding and laser mark-
ing; (626) 303-5676; www.unitekmiyachi.com.
Vibration Training Short Courses. Presented at locations
nationwide, customers site, and by correspondence. Vibration
Institute; www.vibinst.org.
Victor Training Seminars. Programs for gas apparatus and serv-
ice repair technicians, end users, and sales personnel; www.vic-
torequip.com.
TECHNICAL TRAINING
The Hobart Institute of Welding Technology
offers our comprehensive Technical Training
courses through the year! Upcoming start-dates:
Prep for AWS Certified Welding Supervisor Exam
Nov 12
Prep for AWS Welding Inspector/Educator Exam
May 14 : Jun 18 : Jul 23 : Sep 10 : Oct 22 : Dec 3
Visual Inspection
Sep 5 : Nov 19
Welding for the Non Welder
Jun 4 : Aug 27 : Sep 24
Arc Welding Inspection & Quality Control
May 7 : Jun 11 : Jul 16 : Oct 8 : Nov 26
Welding Instructor Course
Jul 9
Liquid Penetrant & Magnetic Particle Inspection
Aug 13 : Nov 5
1-800-332-9448
or visit us at www.welding.org
for more information.
2012 Hobart Institute of Welding
Technology, Troy, OH
St. of Ohio Reg. No. 70-12-0064HT
No
Prep for AWS Certifi fied W
year c th ourses through the
fe offers our comprehensiv
In Hobart Institute of Th The
TECHNICAL T

Nov 12
Welding Supervisor Exam
start-dates: ar! Upcoming
Technical in Training nsive
f of Welding Technology
L TRAINING

Welding Ins
Ju May ay 7 : Jun 11 :
Arc Welding Inspect
t
Jun 4 : Aug
Welding for t
Sep 5 :
Visual Ins
he
May ay 14 : Jun 18 : Jul 23
Prep for AWS Welding
No
Ins

tructor Co
Jul 16 : Oct 8 : Nov 26
ion &Quality Control
urse
g 27 : Sep 24
he Non Weld
: Nov 19
Inspection
er
: Dec 3 : Oct 22 : Sep 10
Inspector/Educator E
Nov 12
xam

St

or
Aug 13
Liquid Penetrant &Magn
visi
Ju
Welding Inst

-0064HT 12 t. of Ohio Reg. No. 70-
Technology, Troy, OH
2012 Hobart rt Institu tute of Welding
for more inf nformation.
www. w.weldi di rg ng.org visit us at
1-800-332-944
: Nov 5
Magnetic Particle Inspection
8
Jul 9
tructor Course

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o
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n
f
o

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o

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o

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CERTIFICATION
SCHEDULE
Certified Welding Inspector (CWI)
LOCATION SEMINAR DATES EXAM DATE
Long Beach, CA Exam only May 26
Spokane, WA June 38 June 9
Oklahoma City, OK June 38 June 9
Birmingham, AL June 38 June 9
Hartford, CT June 1015 June 16
Pittsburgh, PA June 1015 June 16
Beaumont, TX June 1015 June 16
Corpus Christi, TX Exam only July 7
New Orleans, LA July 813 July 14
Phoenix, AZ July 813 July 14
Memphis, TN July 813 July 14
Miami, FL July 813 July 14
Orlando, FL July 1520 July 21
Milwaukee, WI July 1520 July 21
Los Angeles, CA July 1520 July 21
Sacramento, CA July 1520 July 21
Louisville, KY July 1520 July 21
Kansas City, MO July 2227 July 28
Cleveland, OH July 2227 July 28
Denver, CO July 29Aug. 3 Aug. 4
Philadelphia, PA July 29Aug. 3 Aug. 4
San Diego, CA Aug. 510 Aug. 11
Chicago, IL Aug. 510 Aug. 11
Miami, FL Aug. 510 Aug. 11
Baton Rouge, LA Aug. 510 Aug. 11
Bakersfield, CA Aug. 1217 Aug. 18
Charlotte, NC Aug. 1217 Aug. 18
Rochester, NY Exam only Aug. 18
San Antonio, TX Aug. 1217 Aug. 18
Miami, FL Exam only Aug. 18
Portland, ME Aug. 1924 Aug. 25
Minneapolis, MN Aug. 1924 Aug. 25
Salt Lake City, UT Aug. 1924 Aug. 25
Pittsburgh, PA Aug. 1924 Aug. 25
Seattle, WA Aug. 1924 Aug. 25
Corpus Christi, TX Exam only Sept. 8
Houston, TX Sept. 914 Sept. 15
St. Louis, MO Sept. 914 Sept. 15
New Orleans, LA Sept. 914 Sept. 15
Miami, FL Sept. 914 Sept. 15
Anchorage, AK Exam only Sept. 22
Miami, FL Exam only Oct. 18
Tulsa, OK Oct. 1419 Oct. 20
Long Beach, CA Oct. 1419 Oct. 20
Newark, NJ Oct. 1419 Oct. 20
Nashville, TN Oct. 1419 Oct. 20
Portland, OR Oct. 2126 Oct. 27
Roanoke, VA Oct. 2126 Oct. 27
Detroit, MI Oct. 2126 Oct. 27
Cleveland, OH Oct. 2126 Oct. 27
9Year Recertification Seminar for CWI/SCWI
For current CWIs and SCWIs needing to meet education
requirements without taking the exam. The exam can be taken
at any site listed under Certified Welding Inspector.
Pittsburgh, PA June 49 No exam
San Diego, CA July 914 No exam
Miami, FL July 1621 No exam
Orlando, FL Aug. 2025 No exam
Denver, CO Sept. 1015 No exam
Dallas, TX Oct. 1520 No exam
New Orleans, LA Oct. 29Nov. 3 No exam
Certified Welding Supervisor (CWS)
Minneapolis, MN July 1620 July 21
Miami, FL Sept. 1014 Sept. 15
Norfolk, VA Oct. 1519 Oct. 20
CWS exams are also given at all CWI exam sites.
Certified Radiographic Interpreter (CRI)
Miami, FL June 48 June 9
Dallas, TX July 1620 July 21
Chicago, IL Sept. 1014 Sept. 15
Pittsburgh, PA Oct. 1519 Oct. 20
The CRI certification can be a stand-alone credential or can
exempt you from your next 9-Year Recertification.
Certified Welding Sales Representative (CWSR)
CWSR exams will be given at CWI exam sites.
Certified Welding Educator (CWE)
Seminar and exam are given at all sites listed under Certified
Welding Inspector. Seminar attendees will not attend the Code
Clinic portion of the seminar (usually the first two days).
Certified Robotic Arc Welding (CRAW)
WEEKS OF, FOLLOWED BY LOCATION AND PHONE NUMBER
May 11, Aug. 10, Nov. 9 at
ABB, Inc., Auburn Hills, MI; (248) 3918421
May 21, Aug. 20, Dec. 3 at
Genesis-Systems Group, Davenport, IA; (563) 445-5688
Oct. 22, Oct. 26 at
Lincoln Electric Co., Cleveland, OH; (216) 383-8542
July 9, Oct. 15 at
OTC Daihen, Inc., Tipp City, OH; (937) 667-0800
May 7, July 9, Sept. 10, Nov. 5 at
Wolf Robotics, Fort Collins, CO; (970) 225-7736
On request at:
MATC, Milwaukee, WI; (414) 297-6996
Certified Welding Engineer (CWEng) and Senior Certified
Welding Inspector (SCWI)
Exams can be taken at any site listed under Certified Welding
Inspector. No preparatory seminar is offered.
International CWI Courses and Exams Schedules
Please visit www.aws.org/certification/inter_contact.html.
MAY 2012 58
IMPORTANT: This schedule is subject to change without notice. Applications are to be received at least six weeks prior to the sem-
inar/exam or exam. Applications received after that time will be assessed a $250 Fast Track fee. Please verify application deadline
dates by visiting our website www.aws.org/certification/docs/schedules.html. Verify your event dates with the Certification Dept. to
confirm your course status before making travel plans. For information on AWS seminars and certification programs, or to register
online, visit www.aws.org/certification or call (800/305) 443-9353, ext. 273, for Certification; or ext. 455 for Seminars. Apply early to
avoid paying the $250 Fast Track fee.
Certification Seminars, Code Clinics, and Examinations
These are the must-have references for engineers, structural designers, technologists, inspectors,
welders, welding educators and others who need to understand this dynamic and evolving industry.
Put all the facts at your fingertips and make sure youre on the cutting edge with new and updated
material. These books represent:

The largest body of knowledge on welding available anywhere.

Practical, hands-on information that you can put to immediate use.

The most current information on best practices regarding safety, quality, and qualification issues.

Unparalleled authoritychapters are written by leading scientists, engineers, educators, and other
technical and scientific experts. Everything is peer-reviewed for accuracy and timeliness.

The most valuable resource on welding on the market today, covering the entire spectrum of
welding from science and technology, history, welding processes, and materials and applications.
The most
authoritative
reference on
welding in
the world.
www.awspubs.com
1-888-935-3464
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MAY 2012 60
RWMA
Q&A
BY BOB WHITE JR.
Q: How do I pick out a welding machine
to do resistance welding to military spec-
ifications (Mil Specs)?
A: This is a question that we receive all
the time. The biggest problem is that when
someone buys a welding machine to do
Mil Spec welding they dont know the right
questions to ask to properly select the cor-
rect machine. There are plenty of weld-
ing machines out there that can make the
weld, but will not be able to produce the
consistency that a Mil Spec welding ma-
chine requires.
The first thing you want to figure out
is what types of materials (alloys) you will
want to weld. This is important because
some alloys require mechanical forging of
the weld nugget during a weld sequence.
Next, what thickness combinations are
you going to weld, and will there be only
two layers or will you weld five or even
more layers in the same stack-up? Also,
what will be the maximum total thickness
of the material stack-up? You need to
know all of this in order to select the
proper size welding machine.
Once the materials and thicknesses are
addressed, we need to size the welding
machine. What pressure (electrode force)
will be needed to make both the thickest
and the thinnest weld? When this is estab-
lished, we need to see what weld currents
and duty cycle the welding machine must
be able to achieve. Duty cycle require-
ments will be quite different for a spot
welding machine as opposed to a seam
welding machine.
One of the biggest problems is the re-
quirement to weld 0.125 to 0.125 alu-
minum and then weld 0.016 to 0.016 alu-
minum to a class A weld on the same ma-
chine. When this happens, you have to
make sure that the right size and type air
cylinder has been picked. Otherwise, the
welding machine might only be able to
weld 0.025 to 0.025 aluminum but not
properly weld 0.016 to 0.016.
Now that the required weld current
and weld pressures are known, we are
ready to pick out the right welding ma-
chine. Following is an example for weld-
ing aluminum 0.016 to 0.016 up to 0.125
to 0.125, and stainless steel 0.010 to 0.010
up to 0.125 to 0.125.
1. Weld pressures for these materials
will be a maximum of 4500 lb with forg-
ing for some aluminum alloys, and 200 lb
for the thinnest stainless steel.
2. Select the maximum throat depth
needed to handle your largest part. Throat
depth is the measurement from the weld-
ing electrode to the back of the welding
machine throat (maximum depth).
3. Forging is required for welding alu-
minum. When forging, you want to make
sure the welding machine can reach forge
force within 612 milliseconds. If forging
is installed on a standard welding machine
with a standard air cylinder, reaching
forge force can take up to two to three cy-
cles. With this time delay, your weld will
be inconsistent, contain internal cracks or
voids, and you will not be able to qualify
your welding machine on a class A weld.
4. The maximum weld current needed
to weld 0.125 to 0.125 aluminum will be
around 50,000 A.
5. Do you need single phase or three
phase? It is possible to do Mil Spec alu-
minum and stainless steel welds on a sin-
gle-phase machine; however, when weld-
ing aluminum you need very high current.
This high weld current on single-phase
welding machines will produce very high
primary current on your power lines, and
your power factor will drop to 60 or 70.
Both of these conditions can cause flick-
ering in the rest of the plant, and the
power company can shut you down. So, if
you are welding heavy aluminum, a three-
phase welding machine is the better
choice.
6. When considering purchase of a
large welding machine, it is important to
first check to be sure your plant has elec-
tric service large enough to handle the
high currents. Many times a company will
buy a welding machine just to find out that
it cant be used because there is not
enough power available. Even though you
have 800-A service in your plant, that
doesnt mean you have 800 A available for
the welding machine. Typically, for a 480-
V, three-phase welding machine, you will
need 100 A for each 100 kVA of welding
machine size, and for a 240-V, three-phase
welding machine you will need 200 A for
each 100 kVA of welding machine size.
Check with your power company if there
is any doubt about service availability be-
fore installing a new welding machine.
7. The next main question will be
whether you should choose a rocker arm
style or press welding machine style. Ei-
ther will work just fine for Mil Spec weld-
ing, and if designed properly, both should
have the same amount of machine and
arm deflection. Therefore, this choice
should depend on the configuration of
the parts you will be welding. However,
when welding weld nuts or other compo-
nents with projections the press welding
machine style is the only practical choice.
Now that you have the answers to most
of your questions about selecting the
proper welding machine, it is time to find
a company to supply that machine. Be sure
the company you select understands Mil
Spec welding and can help with the quali-
fication of the welding machine after in-
stallation. Many times a supplier under-
stands commercial welding but is not con-
versant with Mil Spec welding.
Your ultimate ability to produce parts
successfully welded to Mil Specs depends
on both selection of the proper welding
machine and working with a knowledge-
able and qualified welding machine man-
ufacturer or distributor.
BOB WHITE JR. is president of Janda
Company, Inc., Corona, Calif. Janda Com-
pany, Inc., is a member of the RWMA, a
standing committee of the American Weld-
ing Society. Send your comments and ques-
tions to Bob White Jr. at bobjr@jan-
dawelders.com, or mail to Bob White Jr.,
c/o Welding Journal, 550 NW LeJeune Rd.,
Miami, FL 33126.
June 1213, 2012 / San Diego, Calif.
Register early and save.
Early Bird Attendee
Member Rate $575 / Non-member Rate $705
For the latest conference information and registration visit our web site at
www.aws.org/conferences or call 800-443-9353, ext. 264.
Earn PDHs toward your AWS recertification when you attend the conference.
AWS Conference on
The Energy Boom:
Get on the Bandwagon
Hosted by:

Bird Attendee Early

Earn PDHs toward your

WS recertification when you attend the conference. A Earn PDHs toward your
.aws.org/confe wwww.

WS recertification when you attend the conference.
800-443-9353, ext. 264 or call .aws.org/conferences
Bird Attendee Early

. 800-443-9353, ext. 264







WELDING
WORKBOOK
Melt-through is visible root reinforcement in a joint welded
from one side. Examples of melt-through are shown in Fig.
1AD. The root surface is the exposed surface of a weld oppo-
site the side from which welding was done. The root surface is
shown in Fig. 1E, F.
MAY 2012 62
Datasheet 332
Excerpted from AWS A3.0M/A3.0:2010, Standard Welding Terms and Definitions.
Melt-Through and Root Surface Profiles
Fig. 1 Examples of melt-through and root surface profiles.
awo.aws.org
Earn PDHs and increase your ability to improve safety and health of your welding operations.
Three-hour self-paced course covers electric shock, vision and skin protection, ventilation,
fire protection, handling of gases, and much more.
Online Welding Safety Certificate Course
Sample seminar at awo.aws.org/seminars/safety
Online Welding Safety Certificate Course Online Welding Safety Certificate Course elding Safety Certificate Course elding Safety Certificate Course
Three-hour self-paced course covers electri
Earn PDHs and increase your ability to impro
fire protection, handling
Three-hour self-paced course covers electri
Earn PDHs and increase your ability to impro
of gases, and much more. fire protection, handling
c shock, vision and skin protection, ventilation, Three-hour self-paced course covers electri
ve safety and health of your welding operations. Earn PDHs and increase your ability to impro
of gases, and much more.
c shock, vision and skin protection, ventilation,
ve safety and health of your welding operations.
c shock, vision and skin protection, ventilation,
ve safety and health of your welding operations.
ample seminar a S g/seminars/saf .or s w .a o w t a ample seminar a y et g/seminars/saf
SOCIETYNEWS SOCIETYNEWS
BY HOWARD M. WOODWARD
woodward@aws.org
65 WELDING JOURNAL
Two AWS standing committees,
WEMCO, an association of welding man-
ufacturers, and the Resistance Welding
Manufacturing Alliance (RWMA) held
their third annual colocated meetings Feb.
2325, at the Miramonte Resort & Spa, in
Indian Wells, Calif.
During WEMCOs passing-the-baton
ceremony on Feb. 24, the following offi-
cers were announced for 2012: Bob Ranc,
senior vice president of Superior Products,
was named chair; Nigel Scotchmer, presi-
dent of Huys Industries, Ltd., was named
first vice chair; and Dave Sullivan, national
sales manager of 3M Co., was named sec-
ond vice chair.
The RWMA reelected its 2011 officers
for an additional one-year term, ending
Dec. 31, 2012: Wade Burnette, chairman;
Mark Gramelspacher, first vice chair; Ed
Langhenry, second vice chair; and Roger
Hirsch, RWMAs 20092010 chair, mem-
ber of the executive committee. Burnette
is vice president, sales, at NSRW, Inc.;
Gramelspacher is president of CMW, Inc.;
Langhenry is senior vice president, sales,
at Watteredge, Inc.; and Hirsch is presi-
dent of Unitrol Electronics, Inc.
WEMCO past chairs were recognized
at the event, including Jeff Deckrow (Hy-
pertherm, Inc.), Bob Roth (RoMan Mfg.,
Inc.), Dean Wilson (Kimberly-Clark Pro-
fessional), Jim Horvath (Thermadyne),
Dennis Brown (Weiler Corp.), and Hector
Villarreal (Weldcoa).
With social media being recognized as
one of the most effective methods to en-
gage customers and receive measurable
results, both organizations agreed to focus
on how businesses connect and market
using this digital tool.
The speakers included Gord Hotchkiss,
CSO of Mediative based in British Colum-
bia, Canada, and author of The Buyer
Sphere Project: How Business Buys from
Business in a Digital Marketplace; Alf
Schmidt, CEO, IBG Group, Cologne,
Germany; and Nelson Squires, vice presi-
dent, North America gas, for Air Products
and Chemicals in Allentown, Pa.
Schmidt described general market per-
spectives worldwide and for the welding
sector from his companys perspective,
WEMCO and RWMA Hold Joint Annual Event
which also includes Abicor Binzel, Astaras
Welding Accessories, Kemper System, and
Thermacut all WEMCO members.
Squires discussed Air Products pres-
ence in the social media arena, and how
he plans to expand it in the future.
Another highlight of the meetings was
the entertaining talk by renowned econo-
mist Alan Beaulieu, president of the In-
stitute for Trend Research (ITR), who pre-
sented his annual economic forecast.
The fourth WEMCO and RWMA
colocated annual meeting is tentatively
scheduled for Florida, dates and venue to
be announced. For complete information
about WEMCO and RWMA member-
ship, activities, and upcoming meetings,
call (800) 443-9353, ext. 239.
The RWMA officers reelected for a one-year term are (from left) Ed Langhenry, Roger Hirsch,
Mark Gramelspacher, and Chair Wade Burnette.
WEMCO past chairs are (from left) Jeff Deckrow, Bob Roth, Dean Wilson, Jim Horvath,
Dennis Brown, and Hector Villarreal.
MAY 2012 66
Tech Topics
New Standards Projects
Development work has begun on the
following two revised standards. Affected
individuals are invited to contribute to this
work. Contact Efram Abrams, ext. 307,
for complete information. Participation
on AWS Technical Committees and Sub-
committees is open to all persons.
C1.4M/C1.4:20XX, Specification for
Resistance Welding of Carbon and Low-
Alloy Steels. This specification provides
the shear strength and weld button diam-
eter requirements for carbon and low-
alloy steel sheet resistance and projection
welds. Stakeholders: Resistance welding
community.
C4.6M:2006 (ISO 9013:2002 IDT)
(R20XX), Thermal Cutting Classifica-
tion of Thermal Cuts Geometric Prod-
uct Specification and Quality Tolerances.
This is the U.S. national adoption of ISO
9013:2002, Thermal cutting Classifica-
tion of thermal cuts Geometric product
specification and quality tolerances. It in-
cludes three annexes, criteria for describ-
ing oxygen-cut surfaces, a photographic
surface roughness guide, and reference
documents. Stakeholders: Oxyfuel gas
welding and cutting community.
Standards for Public Review
A5.4/A5.4M:20XX, Specification for
Stainless Steel Electrodes for Shielded Metal
Arc Welding. Revised. $29.50. 5/14/12.
A5.34/A5.34M:20XX, Specification for
Nickel-Alloy Electrodes for Flux Cored Arc
Welding. Revised. $26.50. 5/21/12.
A9.5:20XX, Guide for Verification and
Validation in Computation Weld Mechan-
ics. New. $35. 4/23/12.
B5.1:20XX, Specification for the Quali-
fication of Welding Inspectors. Revised.
$25. 5/7/12.
C4.5M:20XX, Uniform Designation
System for Oxyfuel Nozzles. Revised. $25.
5/21/12.
C4.6M:2006 (ISO 9013:2002 IDT)
(R20XX), Thermal Cutting Classifica-
tion of Thermal Cuts Geometric Prod-
uct Specification and Quality Tolerances.
Reaffirmed. $25. 5/21/12.
AWS was approved as an accredited
standards-preparing organization by the
American National Standards Institute
(ANSI) in 1979. AWS rules, as approved
by ANSI, require that all standards be
open to public review for comment dur-
ing the approval process. The above stan-
dards are submitted for public review with
the expiration dates shown. Draft copies
may be obtained from Rosalinda ONeill,
ext. 451, roneill@aws.org.
Technical Committee Meetings
All AWS technical committee meet-
ings are open to the public. To attend a
meeting, call the staff secretary, (305) 443-
9353, at the extension shown.
May 911, A2B Subcommittee on Def-
initions. Gatlinburg, Tenn. S. Borrero, ext.
334.
May 9, 10, A2C Subcommittee on Sym-
bols. Gatlinburg, Tenn. S. Borrero, ext.
334.
May 10, A2 Committee on Definitions
and Symbols. Gatlinburg, Tenn. S. Bor-
rero, ext. 334.
May 14, C6D Subcommittee on Fric-
tion Stir Welding. Huntsville, Ala. B. Mc-
Grath, ext. 311.
May 15, C1 Committee on Resistance
Welding. Livonia, Mich. E. Abrams, ext.
307.
May 15, D8 Committee on Automotive
Welding. Livonia, Mich. E. Abrams, ext.
307.
May 15, J1 Committee on Resistance
Welding Equipment. Livonia, Mich. E.
Abrams, ext. 307.
May 22, D15C Subcommittee on Track
Welding. Kansas City, Mo. S. Borrero, ext.
334.
May 22, D17D Subcommittee on Re-
sistance Welding. Cape Canaveral, Fla. A.
Diaz, ext. 304.
May 22, D17J Subcommittee on Fric-
tion Stir Welding for Aerospace. Cape
Canaveral, Fla. A. Diaz, ext. 304.
May 22, D17K Subcommittee on Fu-
sion Welding. Cape Canaveral, Fla. A.
Diaz, ext. 304.
May 23, D15 Committee on Railroad
Welding. Kansas City, Mo. S. Borrero, ext.
334.
May 23, D15A Subcommittee on
Freight Cars and Locomotives. Kansas
City, Mo. S. Borrero, ext. 334.
May 23, D17 Committee on Welding
in the Aircraft and Aerospace Industries.
Cape Canaveral, Fla. A. Diaz, ext. 304.
Errata B2.1/B2.1M:2009-ADD1
Specification for Welding Procedure and
Performance Qualification
The following errata, in addition to pre-
viously announced corrections (see
www.aws.org), have been identified and will
be incorporated into the next reprint.
Page 63. Figures B.5B, Guided Bend
Fixture-BottomType-Note
b
Correct
For M-26, M-81, and M-83 materials, two
macroetch specimens shall be used in lieu
of guided bend testing (see also Figures
B.5B and B.5C). To: For M-26, M-81,
and M-83 materials, two macroetch speci-
mens shall be used in lieu of guided bend
testing (see also Figures B.5A and B.5C).
Page 64. Figures B.5C, Guided Bend
Fixture-Wrap-Around-Note
b
Correct
For M-26, M-81, and M-83 materials, two
macroetch specimens shall be used in lieu
of guided bend testing. See also Figures
B.5B and B.5C. To: For M-26, M-81, and
M-83 materials, two macroetch specimens
shall be used in lieu of guided bend test-
ing (see also Figures B.5A and B.5B).
Errata D17.1/D17.1M:2010
Specification for Fusion Welding for
Aerospace Applications
The following errata have been identi-
fied and will be incorporated into the next
reprinting of this document.
Page 35. Table 7.1, Acceptance Criteria
in (mm), Discoloration
b
Titanium,
Green, Class B. Correct Acceptance
a
to
Acceptance
c
Page 35. Table 7.1, Acceptance Criteria

in (mm), Discoloration
b
Titanium,
Green, Class C. Correct Acceptance
a
to
Acceptance
c
Addenda B2.1/B2.1M:2009
The following Addenda have been
identified and will be incorporated into the
next reprinting of this document.
AWS Standard: B2.1/B2.1M:2009, Specifi-
cation for Welding Procedure and Perform-
ance Qualification
Addenda No.: ADD1
Subject: Annex D, Normative, Base Metal
Grouping
Page 73, D1 Base Metal Specifications:
Remove AISI
Page 73, D1 Base Metal Specifications.
Add Table D.3 List base metal specifica-
tions for iron castings in accordance with
AWS D11.2 groups
Page 74-135, Table D.1, List of Base
Metal Specifications. New base metals have
been added and corrections have been made
to Table D.1.
Page 136-258, Table D.2, M-Number
Listing of Base Metals. New base metals
have been added and corrections have been
made to Table D.2.
To order custom reprints of Welding
Journal articles in quantities of 100 or
more, or electronic posting of articles,
contact Rhonda Brown, Foster Printing
Services, rhondab@fosterprinting.com;
(866) 879-9144, ext. 194; www.market-
ingreprints.com. To order individual
copies of Welding Journal articles, con-
tact Edalia Suarez, suarez@aws.org, or
Ruben Lara, rlara@aws.org.
To order AWS standards, books, and
other publications, contact World Engi-
neering Xchange, www.awspubs.com;
call toll-free in the United States (888)
935-3464; elsewhere call (305) 826-6192;
or FAX (305) 826-6195.
How to Order Journal Article Reprints and AWS Documents
67 WELDING JOURNAL
Damian Kotecki (left), an AWS past president, presents the
20-year anniversary pin to Harry Wehr, chair, A5 Committee
on Filler Metals and Allied Materials.
A5 Committee Chair Harry Wehr (right) presents a ten-year
service pin to Rick Sutherlin, chair, A5K Subcommittee on Ti-
tanium and Zirconium Filler Metals.
A5 Recognizes Its Veteran Volunteers
Nominate Your Candidate for the M.I.T. Prof. Masubuchi Award
November 5, 2012, is the deadline for
submitting nominations for the 2013 Prof.
Koichi Masubuchi Award.
This award is presented each year to
one person, 40 years old or younger, who
has made significant contributions to the
advancement of materials joining through
research and development.
Nominations should include a descrip-
tion of the candidates experience, list of
publications, honors, and awards, and at
least three letters of recommendation
from fellow researchers.
This award is sponsored by the Dept.
of Ocean Engineering at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), this
award includes a $5000 honorarium.
E-mail your nomination package
to Todd A. Palmer, assistant professor,
The Pennsylvania State University,
tap103@psu.edu.
Persons with experience in welding copper, lead, and zinc are
sought to help revise two chapters of Welding Handbook, Vol. 5,
Materials and Applications: Chapter 3, Copper and Copper Al-
loys; and Chapter 5, Lead and Zinc.
Working on the Welding Handbook Committee provides an
opportunity to share your expertise with your peers.
For complete information, contact Annette OBrien, secre-
tary, aobrien@aws.org; (800/305) 443-9353, ext. 303.
Welding Handbook Committee Seeks Copper, Lead, and Zinc Welding Pros
Robotic and Automatic Welding
The D16 Committee on Robotic and
Automatic Welding seeks general interest
and educators to help revise:
D16.1M/D16.1, Specification for Robotic
Arc Welding Safety; D16.2M/D16.2, Guide
for Components of Robotic and Automatic
Arc Welding Installations; D16.4M/D16.4,
Specification for the Qualification of Ro-
botic Arc Welding Personnel. Brian Mc-
Grath, bmcgrath@aws.org; ext. 311.
Soldering; Joining Nickel Alloys
The B2E Subcommittee on Soldering
Qualifications; G2C Subcommittee on
Nickel Alloys to review B2.3/B2.3M, Spec-
ification for Soldering Procedures and Per-
formance Qualification. Contact Steve
Hedrick, steveh@aws.org; ext. 305.
Local Heat Treating of Pipe Work
The D10P Subcommittee for Local
Heat Treating of Pipe to revise D10.10,
Recommended Practices for Local Heating
of Welds in Piping and Tubing. Contact B.
McGrath, bmcgrath@aws.org; ext. 311.
Magnesium Alloy Filler Metals
A5L Subcommittee on Magnesium
Alloy Filler Metals to assist in the updat-
ing of AWS A5.19-92 (R2006), Specifica-
tion for Magnesium Alloy Welding Elec-
trodes and Rods. Contact Rakesh Gupta,
gupta@aws.org, ext. 301.
Soldering; Joining Nickel Alloys
The B2E Subcommittee on Soldering
Qualifications; G2C Subcommittee on
Nickel Alloys to review B2.3/B2.3M, Spec-
ification for Soldering Procedures and Per-
formance Qualification. Alex Diaz,
adiaz@aws.org; ext. 304.
Thermal Spray
C2 Committee on Thermal Spraying
to update C2.16, Guide for Thermal Spray
Operator Qualification; C2.21, Specifica-
tion for Thermal Spray Equipment Accept-
ance Inspection; and C2.25, Specification
for Thermal Spray Feedstock Solid and
Composite Wire and Ceramic Rods.
Surfacing Industrial Mill Rolls
D14H Subcommittee on Surfacing and
Reconditioning of Industrial Mill Rolls
to revise AWS D14.7, Recommended Prac-
tices for Surfacing and Reconditioning of
Industrial Mill Rolls. Contact Matt Rubin,
mrubin@aws.org, ext. 215.
Automotive Welding
The D8 Committee on Automotive
Welding seeks members to help prepare
standards on all aspects of welding in the
automotive industry.
The next meeting of the D8 Commit-
tee will be held during the week of the
Great Designs in Steel 2012 conference
and exhibition (May 16), Laurel Manor
Conference Center, Livonia, Mich. Con-
tact Efram Abrams, eabrams@aws.org;
ext. 307. To submit an online application
visit www.aws.org/171T.
Opportunities to Contribute to AWS Welding Standards and Codes
MAY 2012 68
T. Geisler, Pittsburgh 9
C. Kipp, Lehigh Valley 9
J. Kline, Northern New York 9
G. Smith, Lehigh Valley 8
C. Hobson, Olympic 7
J. McCarty, St. Louis 7
D. Zabel, SE Nebraska 7
J. Boyer, Lancaster 6
M. DAndrea, Kern 6
R. Ledford Jr., Birmingham 6
S. Poe, Central Michigan 6
T. Shirk, Tidewater 6
S. Colton, Arizona 5
J. Ginther, Pittsburgh 5
T. Moore, New Orleans 5
W. Wilson, New Orleans 5
B. Amos, Mobile 4
A. Badeaux, Washington, D.C. 4
J. Crocker, N. Texas 4
A. Reis, Pittsburgh 4
H. Rendon, Rio Grande Valley 4
J. Saterland, Spokane 4
J. Smith, Greater Huntsville 4
P. Deslatte, New Orleans 3
A. Holt, St. Louis 3
J. Meyer, San Francisco 3
G. Seese, Johnstown-Altoona 3
Member-Get-A-Member Campaign
AWS Member Counts
April 1, 2012
Grades
Sustaining ......................................532
Supporting.....................................329
Educational ...................................596
Affiliate..........................................481
Welding Distributor........................58
Total Corporate ..........................1,996
Individual .................................58,805
Student + Transitional ...............11,688
Total Members.........................70,493
Listed below are the members participat-
ing in the 20112012 Member-Get-A-Mem-
ber Campaign. Standings are as of March 20,
2012. For rules and prize list, see page 81 of
this Welding Journal, or visit www.aws.org/
mgm. Call the AWS Membership Dept. at
(800) 443-9353, ext. 480, with any questions
about your member-proposer status.
Winners Circle
Listed are the sponsors of 20 or more Indi-
vidual Members per year, since June 1, 1999.
The superscript denotes the number of years the
member has earned Winners Circle status.
E. Ezell, Mobile
8
J. Compton, San Fernando Valley
7
J. Merzthal, Peru
2
G. Taylor, Pascagoula
2
L. Taylor, Pascagoula
2
B. Chin, Auburn
1
S. Esders, Detroit
1
M. Haggard, Inland Empire
1
M. Karagoulis, Detroit
1
S. McGill, NE Tennessee
1
B. Mikeska, Houston
1
W. Shreve, Fox Valley
1
T. Weaver, Johnstown/Altoona
1
G. Woomer, Johnstown/Altoona
1
R. Wray, Nebraska
1
Presidents Guild
Sponsored 20 or more new members
E. Ezell, Mobile 23
Presidents Roundtable
Sponsored 919 new members
M. Pelegrino, Chicago 18
R. Holdren, Columbus 9
Presidents Club
J. Walker, Blackhawk 6
D. Biddle, Milwaukee 5
T. Palmer, Atlanta 5
J. Vincent, Kansas City 4
D. Wright, Kansas City 4
G. Bish, Atlanta 3
B. Goerg, Fox Valley 3
D. Hale, East Texas 3
J. Mehta, San Francisco 3
J. Miller, Oklahoma City 3
G. Mulee, South Carolina 3
P. Phelps, Western Carolina 3
Presidents Honor Roll
T. Baber, San Fernando Valley
T. Baldwin, Atlanta
M. Boggs, Stark Central
O. Burrion, S. Florida
P. Carney, Philadelphia
J. Compton, San Fernando Valley
G. Fehrman, Philadelphia
J. Gordy, Houston
G. Holl, Lexington
G. Jacobson, Cumberland Valley
J. Lopez-Padilla, Cuautitlan Izcalli
J. Mueller, Ozark
G. Sanford, Houston
H. Suthar, Charlotte
M. Wheeler, Cleveland
T. White, Pittsburgh
C. Whitesell, Tulsa
Student Member Sponsors
M. Pelegrino, Chicago 90
G. Bish, Atlanta 50
D. Saunders, Lakeshore 43
N. Baughman, Stark Central 37
A. Alvarez, Houston 35
R. Belluzzi, New York 34
M. Box, Mobile 34
R. Hammond, Birmingham 33
H. Hughes, Mahoning Valley 28
D. Berger, New Orleans 27
M. Anderson, Indiana 24
S. Siviski, Maine 24
W. England, W. Michigan 23
M. Boggs, Stark Central 22
G. Gammill, NE Mississippi 21
B. Scherer, Cincinnati 21
R. Huston, Olympic 20
J. Lopez-Padilla, Cuautitlan Izcalli 20
R. Richwine, Indiana 20
J. Theberge, Boston 20
C. Daily, Puget Sound 19
J. Fox, NW Ohio 19
A. Baughman, Stark Central 17
J. Bruskotter, New Orleans 17
J. Ciaramitaro, N. Central Florida 17
W. Davis, Syracuse 17
J. Dawson, Pittsburgh 17
C. Donnell, NW Ohio 17
R. Evans, Siouxland 17
S. Robeson, Cumberland Valley 17
R. Wahrman, Triangle 17
R. Jones, Houston 16
S. Miner, San Francisco 16
E. Norman, Ozark 16
J. Gable, El Paso 15
J. Daugherty, Louisville 14
D. Pickering, Central Arkansas 14
B. Wenzel, Sacramento 14
H. Browne, New Jersey 14
M. Haggard, Inland Empire 12
R. Hutchinson, Long Bch/Or. Cty 11
J. Johnson, Madison-Beloit 11
D. Schnalzer, Lehigh Valley 11
E. Ramsey, Johnstown-Altoona 10
R. Simpson, Charlotte 10
Austin Cottrell (right), with the AWS Whitmer Career & Technology Center Student Chapter,
receives the Student Chapter Member Award from Advisor Craig Donnell, Northwest Ohio
Section, District 11. See notice on page 69.
Cottrell Receives Student Chapter Award
69 WELDING JOURNAL
Shown from left (standing) are Donald Llopis, Pablo Bernardo, lvaro Sez, Miguel Jorge, Ramn Ochoa, Roberto Lacave, instructor
ngela Lzaro Martin, Borja Siz, Mario Berceruelo, and Jos Sardinero; (front) Pedro Noguera and Ramon Ochoa.
Shown are (from left) instructor ngela Lzaro Martin, Roberto Lacave, Carmen Diaz,
Manuel Soria, lvaro Sez, Pedro Noguera, Jos Sardinero, and Ramon Ochoa.
New International Agent Established in Spain
The American Welding Society recently
established Sol y Sol (Soluciones Industri-
ales y Soldadura 2008, S.L.) as a new In-
ternational Agent based in Toledo, Spain.
The agent held its first training seminar
and CWI certification examination based
on D1.1/D1.1M:2010, Structural Welding
Code Steel. The exam was held Feb. 6.
Sol y Sol is owned by ngela Lzaro
Martin, an AWS Certified Welding Inspec-
tor, and one of Spains few female CWIs.
She also conducts the D1.1 training semi-
nars. The AWS representative overseeing
the examination was Donald Llopis, sen-
ior coordinator, international business.
Sol y Sol already has finalized plans for
its second training seminar for June and
the next CWI certification exam is sched-
uled for June 25.
Jordan Hostetter, AWS Columbiana
County Career and Technical Center Stu-
dent Chapter, has been selected by Stu-
dent Chapter Advisor Huck Hughes, Ma-
honing Valley Section, District 10, to re-
ceive the AWS Student Chapter Member
Award. Hostetter, a leader in his welding
class, has served as both the Chapters
treasurer and chairman. He actively par-
ticipates in the community as a volunteer
for Toys for Tots and the local food drive,
and has helped to weld a new handrail for
a local church.
Dentale White, AWS Canton South
High School Student Chapter, has been
selected by Advisor Art Baughman, Stark
Central Section in District 10, to receive
this award. White has served the Chapter
as both secretary and chairman. Her aca-
demic achievements include Student of
the Month (career technology). She is a
varsity cheerleader, member of the SADD
club, student teacher, and guidance aide.
White is an active volunteer in the local
YMCA Soup Kitchens, and the Adopt a
Family and Meals on Wheels programs.
Austin Cottrell, AWS Whitmer Career
& Technology Center Student Chapter,
has been selected by Advisor Craig Don-
nell, Northwest Ohio Section, District 11,
to receive this award. Cottrell maintained
a 3.9 GPA in the welding program, won
this years local SkillsUSA welding com-
petition, placed third in the regionals, and
participated at the SkillsUSA State com-
petition. See photo on page 68.
James B. Scott, Lawson State Commu-
nity College Student Chapter, has been
selected by Advisor Roy Ledford Jr., Birm-
ingham Section. Scott has served as Chap-
ter chair, has a 4.0 GPA, and has com-
pleted several welding procedure qualifi-
cations. He was named the Outstanding
Student in theWelding Technology Pro-
gram, and helped to coordinate the LSCC
welding seminar, and will participate in
the June AWS CWI seminar as the Birm-
ingham Section representative.
The AWS Board of Directors estab-
lished the Student Chapter Member
Award to recognize AWS Student Mem-
bers whose Student Chapter activities
have produced outstanding school, com-
munity, or industry achievements. This
award also provides an opportunity for
Student Chapter advisors, Section offi-
cers, and District directors to recognize
outstanding students affiliated with Stu-
dent Chapters, as well as to enhance the
image of welding in their communities.
To qualify for this award, the student
must be an active member of an AWS Stu-
dent Chapter. Download the application
at www.aws.org/sections/awards/student_
chapter.pdf, or call the Membership Dept.
at (800) 443-9353, ext. 260.
Student Chapter Member Awards Presented
MAY 2012 70
New AWS Supporters
Supporting Companies
Advanced Material Services, Inc.
7291 Wheatland Meadow Ct.
West Chester, OH 45069
Alcoa Howmet
555 Benston Rd., Whitehall, MI 49461
ArcMelt Co. L.C.
4734 Earth City Express Way
Bridgeton, MO 63044
Atlas Machine and Supply, Inc.
7000 Global Dr., Louisville, KY 40258
Bay State Surface Technology, Inc.
201 Washington St., Auburn, MA 01501
Carpenter Powder Products, Inc.
600 Mayer St., Bridgeville, PA 15017
Cascadura Industrial SA
Rua Jose Maria Hannickel
150- 3rd Andar, Sorolaba
Sa Paulo 18 047 760, Brazil
Curtiss-Wright Surface Technologies
12 Thompson Rd.,
East Windsor, CT 06088
Exline Inc.
3256 E. Country Club Rd.
Salina, KS 67401
Flame Spray Technologies, Inc.
4881 Kendrick St. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
Global Tungsten & Powders Corp.
1 Hawes St., Towanda, PA 18848
H.C. Starck North American Trading, LLC
45 Industrial Pl., Newton, MA 02461
Lineage Alloys, Inc.
1901 Ellis School Rd., Baytown, TX 77521
Meso Coat, Inc.
24112 Rockwell Dr., Euclid, OH 44117
Metallisation Ltd.
Pear Tree Ln.
Dudley, W. Midlands DY2 OXH, UK
Nation Coating Systems, Inc.
501 Shotwell Dr., Franklin, OH 45005
Nigen Industries, LLC
13938 Chrisman Rd., Houston, TX 77039
N. American Hoganas High Alloys LLC
101 Bridge St., Johnstown, PA 15902
Plasma Coatings
1440 13th Ave., Union Grove, WI 53182
Progressive Surface, Inc.
4695 Danvers Dr. SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
PTR-Precision Technologies, Inc.
120 Post Rd.
Enfield, CT 06082
Thermach, Inc.
W8921 State Hwy. 96
Hortonville, WI 54944
Thermion, Inc.
PO Box 780
Silverdale, WA 98383
St. Louis Metallizing Co.
4123 Sarpy Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63110
Superior Shot Peening, Inc.
13930 Luthe Rd., Houston, TX 77039
Affiliate Companies
Arc Training & Consultation Services
110 Northwood Ave., West Seneca NY
14224
DMS Machining & Fabrication
PO Box 477, 10 Transport Dr.
Barre, VT 05641
Eagle Technology Group
11575 W. Theodore Trecker Way
Milwaukee, WI 53214
Gish Fabrication & Machine LLC
344 S Weaver, Hesston, KS 67062
MK Custom Fabrication LLC
7912 S Depew St. # D, Littleton, CO 80128
NTR Custom Metals LLC dba
Petes Custom Metals, 1400 Railroad St.
PO Box 791, Fremont, NE 68026
PC Constructora
Carlos Tosi y Primera
Cuenca Azuay, Ecuador
Petrohab LLC
4930 Dacoma, Ste. E, Houston, TX 77092
Specialty Fabrication and Powder Coating
455 Allegheny Blvd., PO Box 790
Franklin, PA 16323
StairCrafters Inc.
105 Beacon Hill Ct., Easley, SC 29640
Welding Distributors
Depke Gases & Welding Supplies
628 E. Williams St., Danville, IL 61832
Educational Institutions
Blue Ridge Technical Center
280 Luray Ave., Front Royal, VA 22630
Columbia Basin Job Corps CCC
6739 24th Ave., Bldg. 2402
Moses Lake, WA 98837
Columbus State C. C.
550 E. Spring St., Columbus, OH 43215
Cranfield University
Kings Norton Library
Info & Library Services
Bedfordshire, MK43 0AL, UK
Cumberland Perry Area Vo-Tech School
110 Old Willow Mill Rd.
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Delta Technical College
113 Market Ridge Dr.
Ridgeland, MS 39157
Hampton Roads Skills Center
925 48th St., Newport News, VA 23607
Hollenstein Career and Technology Center
5501 Marine Creek Pkwy.
Ft. Worth, TX 76179
Iowa Valley C. C. District
3702 S. Center St.
Marshalltown, IA 50158
Northeast C. C.
801 E. Benjamin Ave.
Norfolk, NE 68701
Poplar Bluff Technical Career Center
3203 Oak Grove Rd.
Poplar Bluff, MO 63901
Zeppelin Industrial Services Co., Ltd.
PO Box 1495, Al Jubail 31961, Saudi Arabia
Sustaining Members
CENSOLSA
PO Box 025331, SJO 10294
Miami, FL 33102
Representative: Antonio Tous
www.censolsa.com
CENSOLSA is a full-service welding dis-
tributor that represents the top brands in
welding, soldering, equipment, and acces-
sories. With almost 40 years in the business,
the company services the entire country from
its main location in San Jos, Costa Rica.
Lapeer Industries, Inc.
290 McCormick Dr.
Lapeer, MI 48446
Representative: Ryan Lenarcic
www.lapeerind.com
Lapeer Industries is a leading provider
of services to the defense and aerospace
industries. It specializes in design, machin-
ing, and fabrication, to provide top-qual-
ity products with on-time delivery. It is ISO
9001:2008 certified, and its Pontiac loca-
tion is AS9100 B registered.
Polymet Corp.
10073 Commerce Park Dr.
Cincinnati, OH 45246
Representative: Bill Mosier
www.polymet.us
Polymet Corp. is a leading manufacturer
of high-performance wire for hardfacing,
welding, and thermal spraying. The com-
pany stocks a complete line of solid and
cored wires for immediate delivery. The
products have most all aerospace and com-
mercial approvals. It promises to provide
the highest level of quality, service, and
technical innovation.
71 WELDING JOURNAL
SECTIONNEWS SECTIONNEWS
District 1
Thomas Ferri, director
(508) 527-1884
thomas_ferri@thermadyne.com
Shown are some of the attendees having a good time at the welders night event hosted annually by the Central Mass./Rhode Island Section.
Chair Paul Mendez (right) receives his Mer-
itorious Service Award from Vice Chair
Brendon Pequita at the Central Mass./Rhode
Island Section program.
Jennifer Eastley and Jim Kein are shown at
the February 18 Green & White Mountains
Section event.
Shown at the Green & White Mountains Sec-
tion presentation to Thermadyne engineers
are (from left) Nakhleh Hussary, Darrin
MacKenzie, and Geoff Putnam.
CENTRAL MASS./R.I.
FEBRUARY 16
Activity: The Section held its annual
welders night event at the Greater New
Bedford Regional Technical High School
for more than 100 attendees. Representa-
tives from Miller Electric, Thermadyne,
ESAB, and Pferd Abrasives demonstrated
some of their latest products. Local dis-
tributers New Bedford Welding Supply
and Total Welding Supply offered hands-
on demonstrations. Chair Paul Mendez re-
ceived the Section Meritorious Service
Award.
GREEN & WHITE MTS.
FEBRUARY 5
Activity: The Section members presented
an appreciation plaque to the engineers
from Thermal Dynamics Corp. who sup-
plied, cut, and prepared much of the ma-
terials used for the welding contests lead-
ing up to the World Skills competitions
held in London, UK. The engineers in-
cluded Nakhleh Hussary, Darrin MacKen-
zie, Chris Conway, and Chris Polermo.
Geoff Putnam, an AWS Skills Competi-
tion Committee member and technical
specialist at Thermadyne, presented the
plaque. The event was held at Thermal Dy-
namics Corp. in West Lebanon, N.H.
FEBRUARY 18
Activity: The Green & White Mountains
Section hosted a lecture and hands-on
training program for 45 attendees repre-
senting five District 1 Sections. Jim Reid
of Reid Consulting discussed welding P91
high-strength chromium steel used for pip-
ing during the morning classroom session.
The welding exercises were held in the af-
ternoon. The event was held at Thermal
Dynamics in West Lebanon, N.H.
MARCH 8
Activity: The Green & White Mountains
Section members toured Mack Molding in
Arlington, Vt., to study a variety of ma-
chining and fabricating operations includ-
ing a 3200-W laser cutting system.
MAINE
MARCH 16
Activity: The Section members facilitated
the state SkillsUSA welding competition.
The event was held at United Technology
Center in Bangor, Maine. The judges in-
cluded Josh Richardson, Warren Swan,
Ron Guimond, Jesse Crosby, Tony Ayotte,
Ed Lepage, Joel Stanley, Pat Kien, and
Tom Ferri, District 1 director.
MAY 2012 72
The Maine Section members who judged the state SkillsUSA welding competition are (from left) Josh Richardson, Warren Swan, Ron Gui-
mond, Jesse Crosby, Tony Ayotte, Ed Lepage, and Joel Stanley. (Photo taken by Tom Ferri, District 1 director.)
Shown at the Long Island Section meeting are (from left) John Broderick, Jesse Provler, Chair Brian Cassady, Ray OLeary, District 2 Direc-
tor Harland Thompson, and welding instructor Paul Iannotta.
Don Smith (left) and speaker Bob Waite are
shown at the January New Jersey Section
event.
Awardee James Dolan (left) is shown with
Harland Thompson, District 2 director, at
the New Jersey Section program in January.
Paul Lenox greets speaker Nagesh Goel at
the February New Jersey Section program.
Shown at the Green & White Mountains Section tour March 8 are (from left) Ernie Plumb, Jennifer Eastley, Phil Witteman, Gary Buckley,
Rich Maddaloni, Ray Henderson, John Steel, Chris Glaski, John Shultz, David Hoffman, Mike Devens, District 1 Director Tom Ferri, and
Rich Fuller.
73 WELDING JOURNAL
District 5
Carl Matricardi, director
(770) 979-6344
cmatricardi@aol.com
District 4
Roy C. Lanier, director
(252) 321-4285
rlanier@email.pittcc.edu
LONG ISLAND
MARCH 16
Activity: The Section members attended a
meeting with the welding instructors and
administration personnel at J. M. Barry
Career & Technical Center in Westbury,
N.Y. The meeting, held annually, allows
the welding professionals to review and
comment on the welding curriculum pre-
sented by the Center and make adjust-
ments to better prepare students for jobs
following graduation.
NEW JERSEY
JANUARY 17
Speaker: Bob Waite
Topic: Welding in China
Activity: James Dolan received the Dis-
trict Directors Award from Harland
Thompson, District 2 director. The pro-
gram was held at Snuffys Pantagis Ren-
aissance Restaurant in Scotch Plains, N.J.
FEBRUARY 21
Speaker: Nagesh Goel
Affiliation: AEIS, LLC
Topic: Basic nondestructive evaluation
Activity: This New Jersey Section program
was held at Snuffys Pantagis Renaissance
Restaurant in Scotch Plains, N.J.
READING
FEBRUARY 22
Speakers: Chris Dolan, welding applica-
tion specialist; Ken Freed, business man-
ager
Affiliation: Arcos Industries
Topic: Welding applications today
ATLANTA
MARCH 8
Speaker: John Butler, night supervisor
Activity: The Section held its past chair-
mens recognition program at Reading-
Muhlenberg Career and Technology Cen-
ter in Reading, Pa. Past chairs attending
the event included Merilyn McLaughlin,
Paul Levengood, David Hibshman, and
Joe Young.
MARCH 17
Activity: The Reading Section hosted a
welding contest for five schools, each rep-
resented by three student welders. Each
participant received welding gloves, chip-
ping hammers, wire brushes, welding caps,
ear protection, and safety glasses.
District 2
Harland W. Thompson, director
(631) 546-2903
harland.w.thompson@us.ul.com
District 3
Michael Wiswesser, director
(610) 820-9551
mike@welderinstitute.com
Shown at the Reading Section program are (from left) Merilyn McLaughlin, Paul Levengood, speaker Chris Dolan, David Hibshman, Joe
Young, and speaker Ken Freed.
Welding students from five schools participated in the Reading Section contest.
Shown at the Atlanta Section event are (from left) Secretary Rene Engeron, District 5 Direc-
tor Carl Matricardi, Chair David Ennis, and presenter John Butler.
MAY 2012 74
The Atlanta Section members toured Steel Inc., LLC, in March.
The Pittsburgh Section attendees are shown at the February program.
Robert Brewington (left) is shown with
speaker Bill Myers at the Florida West Coast
Section meeting.
Pittsburgh Section Chair Brad King (right)
is shown with speaker Kyle Williams.
Participants at the Pittsburgh Section stu-
dents day program were (from left) Kelly
Scott, Kerry Sabo, and John Foley.
Clinton Cunningham (left) and David Sil-
verman earned top scores in the Pittsburgh
Section postsecondary welding contest.
Alan Shissler (center) presents scholarships
to Todd Holland (left) and Timothy Getting
at the Florida West Coast Section program.
Northern New York Secretary Dave Parker
(left) presents a speaker gift to Kenneth Phy,
District 6 director.
75 WELDING JOURNAL
District 7
Don Howard, director
(814) 269-2895
howard@ctc.com
District 6
Kenneth Phy, director
(315) 218-5297
kenneth.phy@gmail.com
Affiliation: Steel Inc., LLC
Topic: Steel Inc.s operations
Activity: The Atlanta Section members
toured the facility to study various jobs in
progress involving submerged arc welding
and air carbon arc gouging.
COLUMBIA
JANUARY 12
Speaker: Carl Matricardi, District 5 direc-
tor; president
Affiliation: Welding Solutions, Inc.
Topic: The 2002 billboard collapse
Activity: Students from the local high
schools and Aiken, S.C., Student Chapter
attended this program. The meeting was
held in Lexington, S.C.
FLORIDA WEST COAST
MARCH 3
Activity: The Section hosted its 20th an-
nual golf tournament to raise funds for its
scholarship program. The event was held
at Walden Lakes Golf and Country Club
in Plant City, Fla. Alan Shissler, educa-
tion and scholarship chairman, presented
three scholarships. Todd Holland, Timo-
thy Getting, and Maeve Garvin, welding
students at Pinellas Technical Education
Center, each received $500.
MARCH 14
Speaker: Bill Myers, welding engineer
Affiliation: Dresser Industries, ret.
Topic: Electron beam welding of industrial
compressor impellers
Activity: The program was held at Fron-
tier Steak House in Tampa, Fla.
Topic: Welding for storage of spent nuclear
fuel
Activity: The program was held at Shaker
Ridge Country Club in Latham, N.Y.
NORTHERN NEW YORK
MARCH 6
Speaker: Kenneth Phy, District 6 director,
project manager, spent fuel, Nine Mile
Point Nuclear Generating Station
COLUMBUS
JANUARY 25
Speaker: John Laurence Busch, historian
Topic: Steam engine technology
Activity: This was a joint meeting with
members of the local chapters of SWE,
ASME, ASM International, AIAA, and
NACE. This meeting was hosted by ASME
at La Scala Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.
FEBRUARY 23
Speaker: Michael Dunn, director
Affiliation: Gas Turbine Lab at OSU
Topic: Jet engines and erupting volcanoes
Activity: This was a joint meeting with
members of the local chapters of SWE,
ASME, ASM International, AIAA, and
NACE, held at La Scala Restaurant in
Columbus, Ohio.
PITTSBURGH
FEBRUARY 21
Speaker: Kyle Williams, welding technol-
ogist
Affiliation: Alcoa Technology Center
Topic: Aluminum discontinuities. Their
causes and cures
Activity: The meeting was held at Spring-
field Grille in Mars, Pa.
MARCH 2
Activity: The Pittsburgh Section held its
31st annual students day program at Com-
munity College of Allegheny County in
Pittsburgh, Pa. Recognized were the 12
students who became certified welders
during the weld-off competition held last
December. Kelly Scott from Manpower
and Kerry Sabo from Sky-Oxygen gave
talks on how to prepare for jobs in the oil
and gas industry. John Foley represented
Local 154 Boilermakers, a sponsor of the
event.
TRI-STATE
MARCH 5
Speaker: R. Carlisle Smith, professor
Affiliation: Bridgemont Community and
Technical College
Topic: Welding for Marcellus Shale proj-
ect
Activity: Braving a snowstorm, 27 mem-
bers and guests met at Bridgemont Com-
munity and Technical College in South
Charleston, W.Va.
Recognized at the Pittsburgh Section program in March were the students who earned welder
certifications during the December weld-offs.
Sequoyah High School Student Chapter contestants are shown during the Chattanooga Sections welding competition in February.
MAY 2012 76
District 8
Joe Livesay, director
(931) 484-7502, ext. 143
joe.livesay@ttcc.edu
District 9
George Fairbanks Jr., director
(225) 473-6362
ts@bellsouth.net
Sequoyah High School Student Chapter par-
ticipants in the welding contest are (from
left) Colton Jones, instructor Chris Renfro,
and Dustin Luthringer.
The NE Mississippi Section members are shown during their January tour.
Lawson State C. C. Student Chapter members are shown at the February seminar hosted by the Birmingham Section.
Jeff Lankford took first place, postsecondary
division, in the Chattanooga Section event.
Tavares Irions (right) receives the Section
Meritorious Award from Gary Gammill, NE
Mississippi Section treasurer.
CHATTANOOGA
Sequoyah High School
Student Chapter
FEBRUARY 18
Activity: The Section held its annual weld-
ing competition at Sequoyah High School
in Soddy Daisy, Tenn., for 50 students from
local high schools, Chattanooga State Uni-
versity, and Plumbers and Steamfitters
Local Union 43. Earning the highest scores
High School Division: Dustin Luthringer,
Dylan Wilson, and Colton Jones; Postsec-
District 9 Director Award
Announced
George Fairbanks, District 9 director,
has nominated John Tabony, Baton Rouge
Section, for this award.
The District Director Award provides
a means for District directors to recognize
individuals who have contributed their
time and effort to the affairs of their local
Section and/or District.
BIRMINGHAM
Lawson State C. C.
Student Chapter
FEBRUARY 22
Activity: The Section and Student Chap-
ter members attended a welding seminar
ondary Division: Jeff Lankford, Jerry
Thomas, and Kyle Gunther.
NE MISSISSIPPI
JANUARY 19
Activity: The Section members toured the
Holley Performance Products facility in
Aberdeen, Miss. Tavares Irions received
the Section Meritorious Award.
77 WELDING JOURNAL
with hands-on training on the latest weld-
ing technology. Participating were ESAB,
Lincoln Electric, Miller Electric, Airgas
Welding Supply, Profax/Lenco, Atlas
Welding Supply, Bosch Tools, and Harris
Equipment. The event was held at Local
372 Plumbers and Pipefitters in Dun-
canville, Ala. Bob Kimbrell made a pres-
entation at the program.
MOBILE
JANUARY 12
Speaker: Sam Gentry, executive director
Affiliation: AWS Foundation, Inc.
Topic: The AWS scholarship programs
Activity: The program was held at Saucy
Q Restaurant in Mobile, Ala.
FEBRUARY 9
Speaker: Branden Muehlbrandt
Affiliation: SkillsUSA
Topic: Update on SkillsUSA
Activity: Tony Hopper, representing Mar-
itime Training, and Tim Howard from
WESCO Gas & Welding Supply, received
appreciation plaques for their companys
support of the SkillsUSA program.
Affiliation: ESAB
Topic: Twenty basic welding questions
Activity: Students Mathew Blackwell and
Catherine Chifici made presentations fo-
cusing on urging students to reach out to
bring another student to a New Orleans
Section meeting. The evening was spon-
sored by ESAB in the Landmark Hotel
Grand Ballroom in Metairie, La.
MARCH 19
Activity: The Mobile Section members
participated in the SkillsUSA district weld-
ing competitions hosted by the T. L.
Faulkner Career and Technical Center.
Taking the top five top welding honors
were Austin Tolbert, Jonathan Ellison,
Matt Orr, John Rohm, and Taylor
Goudreault.
NEW ORLEANS
FEBRUARY 2
Activity: The Section held an executive
committee meeting. Attending were Chair
Aldo Duron, Travis Moore, Bruce Hallila,
Jimmy Goodson, Al Theriot, Chris Fer-
nandez, D. J. Berger, Mathew Blackwell,
Ricky Duet, and Catherine Chifici. The
meeting was held at New Orleans Pipe
Trades in Metairie, La.
FEBRUARY 28
Speaker: Jim Kovach, consultant
Shown at the Mobile Section program in January are (from left) Jackie Morris, Chair Brenda
Amos, Ron Pierce, and speaker Sam Gentry.
Shown at the New Orleans Section February 2 meeting are from left (standing) Matthew
Blackwell, Ricky Duet, Chair Aldo Duron, Travis Moore, Bruce Hallila, Jimmy Goodson,
and Al Theriot; (front) Chris Fernandez, Catherine Chifici, and D. J. Berger.
Mobile Section Chair Brenda Amos is shown
with speaker Branden Muehlbrandt.
Shown at the Mobile Section event are the
top three welders in the SkillsUSA competi-
tion (from left) Austin Tolbert, Jonathan El-
lison, and Matt Orr.
Tim Howard (left) and Tony Hopper re-
ceived plaques for their companies support
of Mobile Section SkillsUSA activities.
Attendees are shown at the ESAB-sponsored New Orleans Section event held Feb. 28.
MAY 2012 78
Topic: Automating welding operations
Activity: The program was held at The
Commons at Franklin, Pa.
MAHONING VALLEY
MARCH 13
Activity: The Section held its meeting at
Plumbers & Pipefitters Union #376 in
Boardman, Ohio. Marty Loney and Don
Jessop presented talks and demonstra-
tions of pipe welding then guided the at-
tendees on a tour of the facilities. District
Director 10 Richard Harris presented the
Section CWI of the Year Award to Mike
Gromada; Section Meritorious Award to
Mike Sampson, and the District Meritori-
ous Award to Kenny Jones. Jones also re-
ceived his Silver Member Certificate for
25 years of service to the Society. Attend-
ing were members of the Columbiana
County Career Center Student Chapter.
DETROIT
MARCH 8
Speaker: Pat Gilmore, business develop-
ment director
Affiliation: RoboVent
Topic: Air quality requirements for pro-
duction welding in Michigan
Activity: Following the talk, the group
toured the companys new facility for
demonstrations of its latest fume and oil-
mist extraction equipment. The Section
Appreciation Award was presented to Tim
Cesarz. John Bohr received the Section
Distinguished Service Award; Mike Palko
and Ray Roberts received District 11 Mer-
itorious Awards; and Glen Knight received
the Dalton E. Hamilton Memorial CWI of
the Year Award. Beth Dunkin accepted
the Section Industry Sponsor Award on
behalf of ATI Industrial Automation, Inc.
NORTHWEST OHIO
FEBRUARY 28
Activity: The Section members met at the
International Brotherhood of Boilermak-
ers Local 85 in Rossford, Ohio. Paul Mc-
Grew, apprenticeship training director,
discussed the training program and con-
ducted a tour of the training facilities.
DRAKE WELL
MARCH 13
Speaker: Joel Weber, technical sales
Affiliation: AMET, Intelligent Welding
Systems
Shown at the Drake Well Section program are (from left) Gary Riddle, Don Adams, Ward
Kiser, Dan Bubenheim, speaker Joel Weber, Travis Crate, Rolf Laemmer, Dave Cook, Joseph
Crate, and Skaler Shotts.
Shown at the Mahoning Valley program are (from left) District 10 Director Richard Harris,
Mike Sampson, Kenny Jones, and presenter Marty Loney.
Shown at the Detroit Section event are (from left) Beth Dunkin, Chair Don Maatz, Glen
Knight, Tim Cesarz, and Ray Roberts.
Welding instructor Don Jessop (right) dis-
cusses pipe welding for students during the
Mahoning Valley tour.
Pat Gilmore (right) receives a speaker gift
from Tom Sparschu at the Detroit Section
meeting.
District 12
Daniel J. Roland, director
(715) 735-9341, ext. 6421
daniel.roland@us.ncantieri.com
District 10
Richard A. Harris, director
(440) 338-5921
richaharris@windstream.net
District 11
Robert P. Wilcox, director
(734) 721-8272
rmwilcox@wowway.com
79 WELDING JOURNAL
District 13
W. Richard Polanin, director
(309) 694-5404
rpolanin@icc.edu
Life Member David Ramseur (right) is
shown with John Zielonka, Lakeshore Sec-
tion chair.
Theresa Wiles, outgoing Lakeshore Section
chair, and present Chair John Zielonka were
recognized at the March meeting.
Friction stir welding presenters at the Mil-
waukee Section event were (from left) Jerry
Opichka, John Hinrichs, and Scott Gillis.
Presenters John Hinrichs (left) and Dan
Rawson are shown at the Milwaukee Sec-
tion tour.
James Peot (right) receives his Silver Mem-
ber Award from Lakeshore Section Chair
John Zielonka.
Shown at the Chicago Section program are from left (front) Chair Craig Tichelar, AWS Vice President Nancy Cole, and Bob Zimny; (back)
George Novac, Eric Krauss, Jeff Stanczak, Eric Purkey, Marty Vondra, past AWS President Jim Greer, and Pete Host.
LAKESHORE
MARCH 8
Activity: For its ladies and past chairmens
night program, the Section members
toured the Von Stiehl Winery in Algoma,
Wis. The dinner and meeting were held at
Moxies in Casco, Wis. David Ramseur re-
ceived his Life Member Certificate for 35
years of membership in the Society. James
Peot received the Silver Member Certifi-
cate for 25 years of service to the Society.
Theresa Wiles was celebrated for her serv-
ices as chair for the past year.
MILWAUKEE
FEBRUARY 15
Activity: The Section hosted a hands-on
night at the Oak Creek Campus of Mil-
waukee Area Technical College for 75 par-
ticipants. The highlight of the evening was
demonstrations of friction stir welding pre-
sented by Jerry Opichka, John Hinrichs,
and Scott Gillis from Friction Stir Link,
Inc. Other attractions were the Lincoln
VRTEX virtual reality arc welding
trainer, and interactive displays from
ESAB and Miller Electric.
MARCH 15
Activity: The Section members visited
Friction Stir Link, Inc., for presentations
on the company and the welding process
by Vice President John Hinrichs and De-
sign Engineer Dan Rawson. Discussed
were welding of the all-aluminum deck
houses for the Navys Littoral combat ships
USS Freedom and USS Fort Worth, and
other projects. A tour of the facility fol-
lowed the talks.
CHICAGO
MARCH 14
Speaker: Nancy Cole, AWS vice president
Affiliation: NCC Engineering, owner
Topic: Brazing and soldering processes
Activity: The program was held at
Palermos Restaurant in Chicago, Ill.
J.A.K.
MARCH 8
Activity: The Section held its officer meet-
ing in Kankakee, Ill. Secretary Zach Awad,
welding program director at Kankakee
Community College, discussed its welding
program. Other topics were the Sections
MAY 2012 80
participation in other projects, including
an upcoming welding contest, increasing
student memberships and students in-
volvement with the J.A.K. Sections events.
District 14
Robert L. Richwine, director
(765) 378-5378
bobrichwine@aol.com
INDIANA
FEBRUARY 11
Activity: The Section judged and organ-
ized the regional SkillsUSA welding con-
tests in Indianapolis, Ind. The state quali-
fiers were Clynton Conley, Kyle Hutche-
son, Scott Mumms, Alex Pedico, and Brett
Roll. The judges were District 14 Director
Bob Richwine, Chair Gary Tucker, Bennie
Shown at the J.A.K. Section meeting are
(from left) Vice Chair Mike Spangler, Zach
Awad, and Chair Mark Stevenson.
Shown at the Indiana Section welding contest are (from left) Clynton Conley, Kyle Hutche-
son, Chair Gary Dugger, Scott Mumms, Tony Brosio, Alex Pedico, and Brett Roll.
The St. Louis Section members toured Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 in February.
St. Louis Section awardees are (from left) Rick Suria, John Woods, Keith Otten, Chad May-
den, Todd Studebaker, Cole Williamson, and Victor Shorkey.
Participants in the St. Louis Section seminar included (from left) Jerry Simpson, Don Mc-
Fall, David Beers, Bobbie Scholin, Ray Moore, Ed Kasper, and Billy Crow.
The Indiana Section members are shown during their tour of Andretti Motorsports February 22.
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Type of Business (Check ONE only)
A q Contract construction
B q Chemicals & allied products
C q Petroleum & coal industries
D q Primary metal industries
E q Fabricated metal products
F q Machinery except elect. (incl. gas welding)
G q Electrical equip., supplies, electrodes
H q Transportation equip. air, aerospace
I q Transportation equip. automotive
J q Transportation equip. boats, ships
K q Transportation equip. railroad
L q Utilities
M q Welding distributors & retail trade
N q Misc. repair services (incl. welding shops)
O q Educational Services (univ., libraries, schools)
P q Engineering & architectural services (incl.
assns.)
Q q Misc. business services (incl. commercial labs)
R q Government (federal, state, local)
S q Other
Job Classification (Check ONE only)
01 q President, owner, partner, officer
02 q Manager, director, superintendent (or
assistant)
03 q Sales
04 q Purchasing
05 q Engineer welding
20 q Engineer design
21 q Engineer manufacturing
06 q Engineer other
10 q Architect designer
12 q Metallurgist
13 q Research & development
22 q Quality control
07 q Inspector, tester
08 q Supervisor, foreman
14 q Technician
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11 q Consultant
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Technical Interests (Check all that apply)
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B q Aluminum
C q Nonferrous metals except aluminum
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T q Marine
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1 q Robotics
2 q Computerization of Welding
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83 WELDING JOURNAL
Flynn, Tony Brosio, Gary Dugger, Robert
Holland, and Beau McHaffey.
FEBRUARY 22
Activity: The Indiana Section members,
with the cooperation of The Lincoln Elec-
tric Co., enjoyed a tour of the Andretti Mo-
torsports garage in Indianapolis. The pre-
senter was Bennie Flynn, Section vice
chair.
ST. LOUIS
DECEMBER 2
Activity: The Section held its annual holi-
day awards-presentation event at Royal
Orleans Banquet Center in St. Louis, Mo.
Rick Suria and John Woods received Sec-
tion Meritorious Awards. Keith Otten re-
ceived the Section Educator Award. The
Section Private Sector Instructor Award
went to Chad Mayden. The Dalton E.
Hamilton District CWI of the Year Award
was presented to Todd Studebaker and the
Section CWI Award went to Cole
Williamson. The District 14 Director
award was presented to Victor Shorkey.
FEBRUARY 23
Activity: The St. Louis Section hosted a
safety and metal-preparation seminar at
Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 Training
Center in St. Louis, Mo. The presenters
included Ray Moore from Jackson Safety
Products; Bobbie Scholin from Kimberly-
Clark; and Don McFall from J. Walter
Abrasives. Local 36 representatives Ed
Kasper and Billy Crow conducted the
members and guests on a tour of the new
training facility.
KANSAS
MARCH 15
Speaker: Clint Eastwood, CWI, territory
manager
Affiliation: ESAB
Topic: The true cost of welding
Activity: The program was held at Lamp-
ton Welding Supply in Wichita, Kan.
KANSAS CITY
NOVEMBER 10
Speakers: Kyle Dunning and Isaac Somo-
gie
Affiliation: University of Missouri Bridge
Team
Topic: The history and challenges of the
bridge building competition
Activity: District 16 Director David Lan-
don presented the District Educator of the
Year Award to Grant Von Lunen, the Dis-
trict Meritorious Award to Richard Blais-
dell, and the District CWI of the Year
Award to Jason Miles. The program was
held at the University of Missouri in
Kansas City, Mo.
JANUARY 12
Activity: The Kansas City Section mem-
District 16
Dennis Wright, director
(913) 782-0635
awscwi1@att.net
District 15
David Lynnes, director
(701) 365-0606
dave@learntoweld.com
The Kansas Section members are shown at their March meeting.
Mike Williams (left) is shown with Isaac So-
mogie (center) and Kyle Dunning at the No-
vember Kansas City Section event.
Presenter Howard Rinne (left) is shown with
Mike Vincent, Kansas City Section chair, at
the January program.
Shown at the Kansas City November program are (from left) Grant Von Lunen, Richard
Blaisdell, District 16 Director David Landon, and Jason Miles.
The Kansas City Section members are shown at the November program.
Kansas City Section and ASQ members are shown during their tour of SPX Cooling Tech-
nologies in January.
MAY 2012 84
bers met with members of the local chap-
ter of ASQ to tour the SPX Cooling Tech-
nologies facility in Olathe, Kan. Howard
Rinne discussed the companys history
then conducted the tour for 55 attendees.
MARCH 8
Activity: The Kansas City Section mem-
bers met with members of the local SME
Chapter to visit Webco Mfg. Co. in Olathe,
Kan. Tom Breen, a CWI and CWE, gave a
presentation on weld defects and the qual-
ity levels expected on parts produced at
the company. Laroux Gillespie, SME
chair, discussed the future of manufactur-
ing in America. Following the talks, the
group toured the shop. District 16 Direc-
tor Dennis Wright presented Chair Mike
Vincent the District Director Certificate
Award.
NORTH TEXAS
FEBRUARY 28
Speaker: Bill Rice, AWS president, CEO
Affiliation: OKI Bering Supply
Topic: Update on AWS activities
Activity: District 17 Director J. Jones,
scout master and past AWS President
Ernest Levert, and Dwight Grayson, a
scout master, celebrated the establishment
of the Boy Scouts of America Welding
Merit Badge. Barry Breeden received his
AWS Silver Member Certificate for 25
years of service. Paul Stanglin received the
District Educator and the Section Merito-
rious Awards.
Attendees are shown at the Kansas City tour in March.
Celebrating the Boy Scouts Welding Badge release at the North Texas Section program are
(from left) Dwight Grayson, AWS President Bill Rice, past AWS President Ernest Levert,
and Jay Jones, District 17 director.
The Alaska Section members are shown at the February program.
Mike Vincent (left), Kansas City Section
chair, is shown with Dennis Wright, District
16 director, at the March program.
AWS President Bill Rice (left) presents the
Silver Member award to Barry Breeden at
the North Texas Section program.
The North Texas Section presented Paul
Stanglin with the District 17 Educator and
Section Meritorious Awards.
Awardees at the Oklahoma City Section pro-
gram included (from left) Kenneth Poarch,
Johnny Day, and speaker John Marx.
Keith Theesen (left) is shown with Cary
Reeves, Oklahoma City Section chair.
District 17
J. Jones, director
(940) 368-3130
jjones@thermadyne.com
85 WELDING JOURNAL
OKLAHOMA CITY
FEBRUARY 16
Speaker: John Marx, SCWI
Affiliation:The Inspection Group
Topic: Nondestructive examination
Activity: John Marx and Kenneth Poarch
received their Lifetime Member Certifi-
cates for 35 years of service to the Society.
Keith Theesen received the Section Edu-
cator Award and Johnny Day received the
Section Meritorious Award.
Activity: District 19 Director presented
Chair Steve Prost the District Director
Certificate Award. The program was held
at UA Piping Industry College of British
Columbia in Delta, B.C.
OLYMPIC
FEBRUARY 28
Speaker: John Knapp, welding inspector
Affiliation: International Inspection, Inc.
Topic: Nondestructive examination meth-
ods and certification
Activity: Rosy Jensen presented a Section
scholarship to Jason Williams.
PORTLAND
FEBRUARY 9
Activity: The Section members toured the
Gunderson Corp. facility in Portland, Ore.
Jeff Powell, welding training supervisor,
led the tour of the manufacturing areas
where the rail cars and marine barges are
built. Fifty members and guests attended.
PUGET SOUND
MARCH 1
Speaker: Phillip Formento, CWI, CWS
Affiliation: ESAB
Topic: Filler metals
Activity: Vice Chair Ken Johnson is organ-
izing a one-day seminar on D1.1, Structural
Welding Code Steel, and ASME Boiler
and Pressure Vessel Code, Section IX, Weld-
ing and Brazing Qualifications. Welding
students from Everett Community College
and Lake Washington Technical College
attended the program, held at Rock Salt
Steak House in Seattle, Wash.
ALASKA
FEBRUARY 22
Speaker: James St. George, president
Affiliation: STG, Inc., Anchorage
Topic: Erecting wind farms in rural Alaska
Activity: The event was held in Anchor-
age, Alaska, for 43 attendees.
BRITISH COLUMBIA
FEBRUARY 22
Speaker: Scott Stanley, technical sales rep-
resentative
Affiliation: The Lincoln Electric Co.
Topic: Welding productivity improvements
using hard automation
District 19
Neil Shannon, director
(503) 201-5142
neilshnn@msn.com
District 18
John Bray, director
(281) 997-7273
sales@afliatedmachinery.com
Speaker Scott Stanley (left) is shown with
Steve Prost, chair, British Columbia Section.
Steve Prost (left), British Columbia Section
chair, receives the District Director award
from Neil Shannon, District 19 director.
Speaker John Knapp (left) is shown with
Sjon Delmore, Olympic Section chair.
Rosy Jensen presented an Olympic Section
scholarship to Jason Williams in February.
Portland Section members got a safety briefing before touring Gunderson Corp. in February.
Welding students posed during the Puget Sound Section program in March.
MAY 2012 86
District 21
Nanette Samanich, director
(702) 429-5017
nan07@aol.com
District 20
William A. Komlos, director
(801) 560-2353
bkoz@arctechllc.com
Paul Stone (left) and Phillip Formento are
shown at the Puget Sound Section event.
Larry Zirker discussed metallurgy at the
Utah Section program in February.
Spokane Section members are shown during their tour of Ground Force Mfg. in Post Falls, Idaho, in March.
A scene at the Welding the Rockies Symposium cosponsored by the Colorado Section.
Utah Section members are shown at the February program.
SPOKANE
MARCH 20
Activity: The Section visited Ground Force
Mfg. in Post Falls, Idaho, to study the man-
ufacture of equipment used in under-
ground and open pit mines. The presen-
ters included John Chambers, vice presi-
dent; and Chad Wilson, plant manager.
Highlights included the fabrication of
large-scale fuel and lube trucks, rigid truck
frame chassis, and welding and hydraulics
operations. Attendees included 26 mem-
bers, students, and guests.
COLORADO
MARCH 9
Keynote speaker: Stephen Liu, professor
Affiliation: Colo. School of Mines (CSM)
Topic: Welding under oil
Activity: The Section cohosted the third
annual Welding the Rockies Symposium
with CSM and Lincoln College of Tech-
nology, Denver, Colo., where the event was
held. The topic was pipelines, wellhead
equipment, and oilfield maintenance serv-
ices. Speakers included John Steele
(CSM), Jesse Grantham(WJMG), Robert
Sauders (Bohler Welding Group), Steve
Weinhold (Anadarko Petroleum), Richard
Campbell (Bechtel), Gean Burr (Eaton
Metals), Steve Kalmbach (KASKO), Ted
Vidimos (TEAM Industrial Services), and
Steve Nelson (Colo. Pressure Vessel In-
spection Div.). AWS representatives Sam
Gentry and Joe Krall discussed plans for
the AWS-sponsored IIW Annual Assem-
bly to be held July 813 in Denver. Gen-
try is executive director, AWS Foundation,
Inc.; Krall is managing director, global ex-
position sales. About 130 people partici-
pated in the program.
UTAH
FEBRUARY 23
Speaker: Larry Zirker, senior engineer
Affiliation: Battelle Energy Alliance
Topic: Practical metallurgy
Activity: This program was held at Weber
State University Training Center in Ogden,
Utah, sponsored by the Miller Electric
Mfg. Co.
AWCIWT Student Chapter
NOVEMBER 29
Activity: The Arizona Western College In-
stitute of Welding Technology (AWCIWT)
Student Chapter, headed by Advisor
Samuel Colton, traveled to the Lincoln
Electric Co. Center for Excellence in Cal-
ifornia to participate in a welding automa-
tion and simulation workshop. Alex
Bautista, Lincoln district manager, con-
ducted the program. The event included
lectures and hands-on demonstrations
using power sources, welding automation,
fume-extraction technology, and welding
simulation.
DECEMBER 2
Activity: The AWCIWT Student Chapter
members celebrated the end of semester
87 WELDING JOURNAL
with a social at the Yuma Fun Factory in
Yuma, Ariz. Justin Skellett, Chapter pres-
ident, spoke on the achievements and ca-
maraderie enjoyed by the students and the
successes of the AWCIWT Chapter.
L.A./INLAND EMPIRE
FEBRUARY 22
Speaker: Chris Koelliker
Affiliation: Stud Welding Products
Topic: History of stud welding
Activity: The talk was followed by a hands-
on demonstration of attaching anchors to
a steel plate using stud welding. About 45
members attended the program, held at
Stud Welding Products in Downey, Calif.
SANTA CLARA VALLEY
MARCH 13
Speakers: Daniel Sanchez, welder; Alex
Gutierrez, manager welding and NDE
services
Affiliation: PG&E Applied Technology
Service
Topic: Creating mapping and 3D images
using laser scanner for Pacific Gas and
Electric industry
Activity: The program was held at Harrys
Hoffbrau in San Jose, Calif.
ISRAEL
Activity: The Section recently held its an-
nual conference with 200 participants. The
Section is hosting a CWI course for 15 stu-
dents. So far, its courses have certified 75
welding inspectors. Elections were held.
Jacky Ben-Dayan succeeds Shimon Ad-
dess as chair of the Certifying Committee;
and Adi Atsits succeeds Eliezer Belinco as
Section chairman.
Shown at the December AWCIWT Student Chapter event are (from left) Manuel Robles,
Adrian Castillo, President Justin Skellett, Omar Macias, John Stratz, Trisha Haswood,
George Padilla, and Prof. Kevin Knoll.
AWCIWT Student Chapter members are shown at the Lincoln workshop. From left are Nestor Alaniz; instructors Nate Bailey, Kevin Knoll,
Gonzalo Huerta Jr., and Chris Larson; Garrett Lakey; Manuel Robles; Omar Macias; Jesus Leyva; President Justin Skellett; John Stratz;
George Padilla; Adrian Castillo; Trisha Haswood; and presenter Alex Bautista accompanied by Lincoln engineers wearing red shirts.
L.A./Inland Empire Section Chair George
Rolla (left) is shown with Robert Armstrong.
Adi Atsits (right), recently elected Israel Sec-
tion chair, presents an appreciation award
to Eliezer Belinco for his services as Section
chairman.
Shown at the Santa Clara Valley Section pro-
gram are (from left) Alex Gutierrez, Chair
Tom Erichsen, and Daniel Sanchez.
Sam Gentry (left) and Joe Krall discussed
plans for the upcoming IIW Annual Assem-
bly at the Colorado Section symposium.
District 22
Dale Flood, director
(916) 288-6100, ext. 172
d.ood@tritool.com
International
Section
MAY 2012 88
Guide to AWS Services
550 NW LeJeune Rd., Miami, FL 33126; (800/305) 443-9353; FAX (305) 443-7559; www.aws.org
Staff extensions are shown in parentheses.
AWS PRESIDENT
William A. Rice
brice@oki-bering.com
1411 Connell Rd.
Charleston, WV 25314
ADMINISTRATION
Executive Director
Ray W. Shook.. rshook@aws.org . . . . . . . . . .(210)
Sr. Associate Executive Director
Cassie R. Burrell.. cburrell@aws.org . . . . . .(253)
Jeff Weber.. jweber@aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . . .(246)
Chief Financial Officer
Gesana Villegas.. gvillegas@aws.org . . . . . .(252)
Executive Assistant for Board Services
Gricelda Manalich.. gricelda@aws.org . . . . .(294)
Administrative Services
Managing Director
Jim Lankford.. jiml@aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . . .(214)
IT Network Director
Armando Campana..acampana@aws.org . .(296)
Director
Hidail Nuez..hidail@aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . .(287)
Director of IT Operations
Natalia Swain..nswain@aws.org . . . . . . . . . .(245)
Human Resources
Director, Compensation and Benefits
Luisa Hernandez.. luisa@aws.org . . . . . . . . .(266)
Director, Human Resources
Dora A. Shade.. dshade@aws.org . . . . . . . . .(235)
International Institute of Welding
Senior Coordinator
Sissibeth Lopez . . sissi@aws.org . . . . . . . . .(319)
Liaison services with other national and international
societies and standards organizations.
GOVERNMENT LIAISON SERVICES
Hugh K. Webster . . . . . . . . .hwebster@wc-b.com
Webster, Chamberlain & Bean, Washington, D.C.,
(202) 785-9500; FAX (202) 835-0243. Monitors fed-
eral issues of importance to the industry.
CONVENTION and EXPOSITIONS
Director, Convention and Meeting Services
Selvis Morales.....smorales@aws.org . . . . . .(239)
ITSA International Thermal
Spray Association
Senior Manager and Editor
Kathy Dusa.kathydusa@thermalspray.org . . .(232)
RWMA Resistance Welding
Manufacturing Alliance
Manager
WEMCO Association of
Welding Manufacturers
Manager
Brazing and Soldering
Manufacturers Committee
GAWDA Gases and Welding
Distributors Association
Executive Director
John Ospina.. jospina@aws.org . . . . . . . . . .(462)
Operations Manager
Natasha Alexis.. nalexis@aws.org . . . . . . . . .(401)
INTERNATIONAL SALES
Managing Director, Global Exposition Sales
Joe Krall..jkrall@aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(297)
Corporate Director, International Sales
Jeff P. Kamentz..jkamentz@aws.org . . . . . . .(233)
Oversees international business activities involving cer-
tification, publication, and membership.
PUBLICATION SERVICES
Department Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(275)
Managing Director
Andrew Cullison.. cullison@aws.org . . . . . .(249)
Welding Journal
Publisher
Andrew Cullison.. cullison@aws.org . . . . . .(249)
Editor
Mary Ruth Johnsen.. mjohnsen@aws.org . .(238)
National Sales Director
Rob Saltzstein.. salty@aws.org . . . . . . . . . . .(243)
Society and Section News Editor
Howard Woodward..woodward@aws.org . .(244)
Welding Handbook
Editor
Annette OBrien.. aobrien@aws.org . . . . . . .(303)
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Director
Ross Hancock.. rhancock@aws.org . . . . . . .(226)
Public Relations Manager
Cindy Weihl..cweihl@aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . .(416)
Webmaster
Jose Salgado..jsalgado@aws.org . . . . . . . . .(456)
Section Web Editor
Henry Chinea...hchinea@aws.org . . . . . . . . .(452)
MEMBER SERVICES
Cassie R. Burrell.. cburrell@aws.org . . . . . .(253)
Director
Rhenda A. Kenny... rhenda@aws.org . . . . . .(260)
Serves as a liaison between Section members and AWS
headquarters.
CERTIFICATION SERVICES
Managing Director
John L. Gayler.. gayler@aws.org . . . . . . . . . .(472)
Oversees all certification activities including all inter-
national certification programs.
Director, Certification Operations
Terry Perez..tperez@aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . . .(470)
Oversees application processing, renewals, and exam
scoring.
Director, Certification Programs
Linda Henderson..lindah@aws.org . . . . . . .(298)
Oversees the development of new certification pro-
grams, as well as AWS-Accredited Test Facilities, and
AWS Certified Welding Fabricators.
EDUCATION SERVICES
Director, Operations
Martica Ventura.. mventura@aws.org . . . . . .(224)
Director, Education Development
David Hernandez.. dhernandez@aws.org . . .(219)
AWS AWARDS, FELLOWS, COUNSELORS
Senior Manager
Wendy S. Reeve.. wreeve@aws.org . . . . . . . .(293)
Coordinates AWS awards, Fellow and Counselor
nominees.
TECHNICAL SERVICES
Managing Director
Andrew R. Davis.. adavis@aws.org . . . . . . .(466)
International Standards Activities, American Coun-
cil of the International Institute of Welding (IIW)
Director, National Standards Activities
Annette Alonso.. aalonso@aws.org . . . . . . .(299)
Manager, Safety and Health
Stephen P. Hedrick.. steveh@aws.org . . . . . .(305)
Metric Practice, Safety and Health, Joining of Plas-
tics and Composites, Welding Iron Castings, Welding
in Sanitary Applications, Personnel and Facilities
Qualification
Senior Manager, Technical Publications
Rosalinda ONeill.. roneill@aws.org . . . . . . .(451)
AWS publishes about 200 documents widely used
throughout the welding industry.
Senior Staff Engineer
Rakesh Gupta.. gupta@aws.org . . . . . . . . . .(301)
Filler Metals and Allied Materials, International Filler
Metals, UNS Numbers Assignment, Arc Welding and
Cutting Processes
Staff Engineers/Standards Program Managers
Efram Abrams.. eabrams@aws.org . . . . . . . .(307)
Thermal Spray, Automotive Resistance Welding, Oxy-
fuel Gas Welding and Cutting
Stephen Borrero... sborrero@aws.org . . . . .(334)
Brazing and Soldering, Brazing Filler Metals and
Fluxes, Brazing Handbook, Soldering Handbook,
Railroad Welding, Definitions and Symbols
Alex Diaz.... adiaz@aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(304)
Welding Qualification, Sheet Metal Welding, Aircraft
and Aerospace, Joining of Metals and Alloys
Brian McGrath .... bmcgrath@aws.org . . . . .(311)
Methods of Inspection, Mechanical Testing of Welds,
Welding in Marine Construction, Piping and Tubing,
Friction Welding, Robotics Welding, High-Energy
Beam Welding
Matthew Rubin.....mrubin@aws.org . . . . . . .(215)
Structural Welding, Machinery and Equipment
Notes: Official interpretations of AWS standards may
be obtained only by sending a request in writing to An-
drew R. Davis, managing director, Technical Services,
adavis@aws.org.
Oral opinions on AWS standards may be ren-
dered, however, oral opinions do not constitute offi-
cial or unofficial opinions or interpretations of AWS.
In addition, oral opinions are informal and should
not be used as a substitute for an official interpreta-
tion.
AWS FOUNDATION, INC.
www.aws.org/w/a/foundation
General Information
(800/305) 443-9353, ext. 212, vpinsky@aws.org
Chairman, Board of Trustees
Gerald D. Uttrachi
Executive Director, Foundation
Sam Gentry.. sgentry@aws.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (331)
Corporate Director, Workforce Development
Monica Pfarr.. mpfarr@aws.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (461)
The AWS Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation es-
tablished to provide support for the educational and scien-
tific endeavors of the American Welding Society.
Promote the Foundations work with your financial sup-
port. Call (800) 443-9353 for information.
Hosted by:
A distinguished panel of aluminum-industry experts will survey the state of the art
in aluminum welding technology and practice during this two-day conference.
September 18
th
- 19
th
/ Seattle, W
Early Bird Attendee
www.aws.org/conference or call 800-443-9353, ext. 264.
Earn PDHs toward your AWS recertification when you attend the conference.

September 18

/ Seattle, W
th
- 19
th
September 18

/ Seattle, W


aws org/confe wwww

or call 800-443-9353, ext. 264 .aws.org/conference

or call 800-443-9353, ext. 264



.aws.org/confe wwww.

or call 800-443-9353, ext. 264 .aws.org/conference

. or call 800-443-9353, ext. 264

PERSONNEL
Airgas Names VP
Airgas, Radnor, Pa., a distributor of in-
dustrial gases and welding equipment and
supplies, has named Doug Sherman vice
president communications. Previously,
Sherman served since 2002 as director
marketing communications.
ArcOne Appoints Sales VP
ArcOne, Taunton,
Mass., a provider of
autodarkening weld-
ing helmets, inverter
power sources, respi-
ratory protection,
and head and face
protection products,
has promoted Fred
Thomas to vice presi-
dent sales. Previ-
ously, Thomas was
senior regional sales manager. His new
position includes responsibility for
Canada and the western region of the
United States.
Hainbuch Appoints
SE Sales Rep
Hainbuch Amer-
ica, Mequon, Wis., a
supplier of precision
work-holding solu-
tions for the automo-
tive and other indus-
tries, has named Pete
Ferrara to direct ap-
plication and sales
support for cus-
tomers in the south-
east region, including
Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Ala-
bama, Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas,
and the southern half of Kentucky.
Ferrara has a wide range of experience in
automotive component production,
light-metal processing, and project
management.
CoroWare Adds Board
Member
CoroWare, Kirkland, Wash., a devel-
oper and marketer of computer and ro-
botics software and hardware solutions,
has named William Robert Norris to its
board of advisors. Norris previously
served 15 years at Deere & Co., the Na-
tional Center for Supercomputer Applica-
tions, and the U.S. Army Construction
Engineering Research Lab where he in-
troduced robotics products for military
and other market segments.
CGW Fills Key Post
CGW-Camel Grinding Wheels, Niles,
Ill., has appointed Daniel Granthamwest-
ern sales manager and director of welding
distribution, responsible for western U.S.
states and western Canadian provinces.
With more than 15 years of experience in
the industry, Grantham was previously di-
rector of U.S. sales at Walter Surface
Technologies.
Integrated Global Services
Names Sales Manager
Integrated Global Services, Rich-
mond,Va., a provider of metal surface pro-
tection services for the power-generation,
paper, petrochemical, and other mission-
critical industries, has named Michael R.
Place regional sales manager responsible
for several key North American markets.
Place brings 25 years of experience cor-
recting erosion and corrosion problems in
mission-critical equipment. Most recently,
he served as director of sales for the
NanoSteel Co. where he led the power
plant material solutions sales efforts.
Aluminum Association
Appoints Vice Chair
The Aluminum Association, Arling-
ton, Va., has appointed Layle K. (Kip)
Smith vice chairman. Smith has served as
president and CEO of Noranda Alu-
minum Holding Co. since 2008. Previ-
ously, he held various international and
business leadership positions at The Dow
Chemical Co., most recently as COO of
resolution performance products and
CEO of covalence specialty materials.
Adept Technology Names
Global VP
Adept Technology, Pleasanton, Calif.,
a supplier of vision-guided robots and au-
tonomous mobile solutions, has appointed
Robert J. Malley Jr. vice president of
global operations. Malley most recently
served as chief operating officer for MDC
Vacuum Products and earlier was vice
president of global materials and manu-
facturing at Intervac.
Induction Heating Sales
Force Expanded
GH Induction Atmospheres, Rochester,
N.Y., has hired Lance Dumigan and Scott
Berry as regional sales managers. Dumigan,
previously business development manager
for Hover-Davis, will service the southeast
region from Pennsylvania to Florida. Berry,
with 30 years of experience in the heat-
treating business, will service customers in
Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
Obituary
Kenneth E. Richter Sr.
Kenneth Edwin Richter Sr., 87, died
Feb. 23 in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was an
AWS Counselor and Life Member, and
was a past chair of the AWS San Francisco
Section and the AWS Educational Activi-
ties Committee. Rotary International
MAY 2012 90
DO YOUR OWN TESTING
www.fischerengr.com ! (937)754-1750
Bend Testers - Bend Specimen Cutting
Fixtures - Coupons -Tensile Testers
BT1C
BT1B
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Fred Thomas
Pete Ferrara
continued on page 92
named him a Paul Harris Fellow. Richter
joined the Army Airforce during World
War II where he served in the invasion at
Omaha Beach and the Battle of the Bulge
followed by two years in Europe with the
8th and 9th Air Force. Following dis-
charge, he earned his master of science de-
gree at Wayne State University. He began
his career teaching at Hamtramck High
School. In 1952, he joined Union Carbide,
Linde Div., as a
product and process
development engi-
neer where he
worked for 29 years.
There he made sig-
nificant contribu-
tions to the commer-
cial development of
the Heliarc (GTAW)
and Sigma (GMAW)
welding processes,
ST-1 curved-nozzle GMAW torch, Short
Arc GMA welding process, argon-carbon
dioxide gas mixtures for GMA welding,
and electron beam welding systems. In
1980, Richter became president of the
NuWeld and MCI divisions of Dimetrics
where he made major contributions to the
development of welding automation. In
1985, he became president of the U.S. sub-
sidiary of Kemppi, Inc., where he intro-
duced inverter power supplies to the
American marketplace. Richter enjoyed
flying, fishing, sailing, and football.
He is survived by his wife Jane, a son,
two daughters, four grandchildren, and
two great-grandchildren.
MAY 2012 92
Kenneth Richter Sr.
PERSONNEL
continued from page 90
AWS Distinguished Welder Award
During the Board of Directors meetings held in conjunction with FABTECH 2011 in Chicago, Ill.,
the AWS Districts Council approved a new AWS award. This award will recognize an individual
whose welding skills and experience would earn her or him the recognition of being an AWS Dis-
tinguished Welder. A nomination packet should include information addressing the Definition and
Candidates Application Criteria as outlined in the AWS Distinguished Welder Award Nomination
Form (see pages 93 and 94). The focus of the nomination packet should include specifics of the in-
dividuals skills. August 1 is the deadline for submitting the nomination to the address listed on the
form. For details, contact Wendy Sue Reeve at wreeve@aws.org.
AWS Distinguished Welder Award Nomination Form
DATE_________________NAME OF CANDIDATE________________________________________________________
AWS MEMBER NUMBER____________YEARS OF AWS MEMBERSHIP____________PHONE___________________
HOME ADDRESS______________________________CITY_______________STATE__________ZIP CODE________
PRESENT COMPANY/INSTITUTION AFFILIATION_______________________________________________________
TITLE/POSITION___________________________________BUSINESS ADDRESS_____________________________
CITY_________________________STATE___________ZIP CODE_________BUSINESS PHONE NO______________
NUMBER OF YEARS EXPERIENCE AS A WELDER AND/OR SUPERVISOR__________________________________
Through supporting records, testimonies, and documentation a nomination packet for a nominee
must be submitted by August 1 of the selection year for consideration. The amount of information
submitted is not as significant as the specifics provided for the individual being nominated.
Information submitted should address all the Definition and Selection criteria listed below:
Definition:
A Distinguished Welder consistently makes welds free of rejectable discontinuities and exhibiting uniformity,
smooth bead appearance, and other visual attributes that identify excellent workmanship and welding aesthetics
that come with practice and developed over many years of quality welding
Must be able to pass multiple tests in multiple or single processes through mechanical and non-destructive testing
Must be able to mentor other welders under him or her and promote their efforts to produce acceptable welds that
exhibit superior workmanship
Must be able to produce welds in a timely manner while safely following the company procedures
Must be able to read blue prints and welding procedures with no supervision
The Distinguished Welder is an all-around hand with skills in material preparation, lay-out and fit-up, and visual
quality assessment

Candidate Application Criteria:
Shall have a minimum of 15 years experience as a welder and/or supervisor
Shown to have passed multiple tests in multiple or single processes free of rejectable discontinuities and exhibit
uniformity, smooth bead appearance, and other visual attributes that identify excellent workmanship and welding
aesthetics learned over many years of quality welding
Must have good teamwork skills
Must be able to interpret and utilize various welding codes and standards, including but not limited to AWS,
ASME, and API
Must be able to interpret welding and nondestructive examination symbols on drawings
Must be able to repair base materials and welding metal discontinuities
Maintains a safe work environment and is proficient in recognizing safety hazards
Must be able to perform proper use of Hazardous Materials and understand the use of Material Safety Data
Sheets (MSDS)
Must be able to explain safety for specific welding processes
Must be familiar with AWS Standards and Safety Fact Sheets and OSHA 1910 Subpart Q or other applicable
regulations
Troubleshoot and maintain equipment
Weld components in flat, vertical, horizontal, or overhead as appropriate for the given welding process
Recognize, set up, operate and maintain hand and power tools common to welding
Perform joint preparation and assure cleanliness, perform weld fit-up, maintain fabrication tolerance
Perform and maintain preheat and interpass temperatures
Recognize procedures to incorporate Post Weld Heat Treatment
Employ fabrication techniques to reduce welding stress and distortion
Understands basic welding metallurgy
Understand and follow Welding Procedure Specifications
Demonstrate experience in examination or measurements to verify that an item or activity conforms to specified
requirements
Understand material inspection
Understand QA/QC
Perform visual inspection and understand various criteria.
A maximum of 10 individuals may be selected as a Distinguished Welder per year as determined by the selection
Committee. Nominations shall remain valid for three years.
If the maximum number of Distinguished Welders allowed under the rules is reached, the additional candidates are
deferred until the next year, consistent with their time eligibility. If less than the maximum number is identified, the
remaining candidates are deferred until the next year, consistent with their time eligibility.
Supporting Letters:
Letters of support from those knowledgeable of the candidates skills and contributions are encouraged. These letters
should address the metrics listed above and provide personal insight into the stature and contributions of the candidate.
Letters of support that simply endorse the candidate will have little impact on the selection process.
Return the completed Distinguished Welder Award nomination package to:
Wendy Sue Reeve
Senior Manager, Award Programs
and Administrative Support
Miami, FL 33126

Email: wreeve@aws.org
Telephone: 305-443-9353 Ext. 293
800-443-9353 Ext. 293
Fax: 305-443-7559 Final - wsr-3.22.12

Welding Fundamentals
AWSs American Welding Online is introducing a self-paced online seminar designed to
provide technical knowledge and insight to non-welders who work in the welding and
fabricating industry.
Welding Fundamentals is an approximately 15-hour course that can be taken at your own
speed and convenience. The course provides a fundamental overview of welding, focusing
on the most widely used welding processes. Fundamental instruction is presented on
welding theory, equipment, safety, weld design, metallurgy, welding inspection, and quality
control.
Professional Development Hours and a certificate of completion will be provided upon
completion.
For more information, visit American Welding Online at
awo.aws.org
New online course

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FOR DETAILS CALL OR E-MAIL:
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Also offering: 9Year CWI Recertification,
RT Film Interpretation, MT/PT/UT Thickness,
Welding Procedure Fundamentals,
CWS, SCWI, Advanced Inspection Courses
The world's first and only completely
online NDT & CWI training program!
NDT Training to meet global standards
including SNT-TC-1A, ISO 9712, etc.
Visit www.worldspec.org today and save
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code: aws59c2
Call toll free: 1-877-506-7773
CERTIFICATION
& TRAINING
2012
MAY 2012 98
SERVICES
Oxygen Analyzers,
Purge Dams, Flow Meters

www.OrbitalWelding.com
for Pipe Welding
408-567-0232
CAREER OPPORTUNITIES
To support its significant growth globally and domestically, AWS is seeking a highly qualified
individual to supervise marketing and PR activities related to all its products, services, and
programs, worldwide. Reporting to the AWS Executive Director, this individual will also have
oversight of AWS education programs (live and online) and trade show activities, and will be
involved in developing partnerships and possible acquisitions, especially in the areas of
exhibitions and publications. Specific duties include:
Managing and administrating marketing and public relations activities, including
development and promotion of new products.
Acting as liaison with AWS trade show partners.
Planning and implementation of AWS exhibit activities domestically and abroad.
Supervising activities related to Convention and Meeting Services.
Supporting the AWS Publications, Exposition and Marketing Committee (PEMCO), as
well as Presidential Task Groups and other committees.
Working with the AWS Foundation to maximize effectiveness of Careers-in-Welding
and Image-of-Welding programs and activities.
Solid writing and editing skills are required, as well as negotiating skills, computer
capability, and the overall ability to represent AWS to government entities, the press, and
other professional organizations. Professional experience within the welding industry
strongly desired. Interested parties should email rsum, a cover letter, and salary require-
ments to:
Dora Shade
AWS Human Resources Director
dshade@aws.org
AWS VP OF MARKETING
Place Your
Classified Ad Here!
Contact Frank Wilson,
Senior Advertising
Production Manager
(800) 443-9353,
ext. 465
fwilson@aws.org
JOE FULLER LLC
We manufacture tank turning rolls
3ton through 120ton rolls
www.joefuller.com
email: joe@joefuller.com
Phone: (979) 277-8343
Fax: (281) 290-6184
Our products are made in the U.S.A.
EQUIPMENT FOR SALE OR RENT
MITROWSKI RENTS
Made in U.S.A.
Welding Positioners
1-Ton thru 60-Ton
Tank Turning Rolls
Used Equipment for Sale
www.mitrowskiwelding.com
sales@mitrowskiwelding.com
(800) 218-9620
(713) 943-8032
For sale or rent
The worlds very
best portable end
prep tools and
abrasive saws
800-343-6926
www.escotool.com
99 WELDING JOURNAL
Put Your Products and
Services to Work in
July 2012
Generate new sales leads by show-
casing your full-color product photo
with a product description, website, or
other sales literature. The Welding
Marketplace reaches 80,000 qualified
buyers. Its great exposure for just
pennies per contact.
Closing date is
May 15, 2012
Call the AWS sales team at:
(800) 443-9353
Rob Saltzstein at ext. 243
salty@aws.org
Lea Paneca at ext. 220
lea@aws.org
SS WELDING STRIP
AND FLUX FOR SALE
Sandvik EQ309L, 60 mm x .5 mm
packaged on 700 lb coils, 30,700 lbs,
$6.95/lb. Sandvik 47S Flux, 27,000 lbs,
$1.45/lb. Prices are FOB destination in
North America. All materials new condi-
tion. Will sell partial quantities.
Contact Ray Secrest at Voith Hydro, Inc.,
York, Pa. (717) 578-2726
Arc One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17
www.Arc1Weldsafe.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 223-4685
Arcos Industries, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IBC
www.arcos.us . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 233-8460
Atlas Welding Accessories, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
www.atlaswelding.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 962-9353
AWS Education Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61, 64, 89, 95
www.aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 443-9353
AWS Membership Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63, 91, 96
www.aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 443-9353
AWS Publication Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
www.aws.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 443-9353
Beijing Essen Welding and Cutting Fair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
www.beijing-essen-welding.com . . . . . . . . . . . . .+86-10-63983928
Camfil Farr Air Polution Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
www.camfilfarrapc.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 479-6801
Champion Welding Alloys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
www.ChampionWelding.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 321-9353
Commercial Diving Academy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
www.commercialdivingacademy.com . . . . . . . . . . .(888) 974-2232
Cor-Met . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
www.cor-met.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 848-2719
Diamond Ground Products, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
www.diamondground.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(805) 498-3837
Divers Academy International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
www.diversacademy.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 238-3483
ESAB Welding & Cutting Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
www.esabna.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 372-2123
FABTECH 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
www.fabtechexpo.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 443-9353, ext. 297
Fischer Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90
www.fischerengr.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(937) 754-1750
Fronius Perfect Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
www.fronius-usa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(810) 220-4414
Gedik Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
www.gedikwelding.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .+90 216 378 50 00
Genstar Technologies Co., Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
www.genstartech.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(909) 606-2726
Greiner Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13
www.greinerindustries.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 782-2110
Gullco International, Inc. - U.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
www.gullco.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(440) 439-8333
Harris Products Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
www.harrisproductsgroup.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 733-4043
Hobart Inst. of Welding Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
www.welding.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 332-9448
Image of Welding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
www.aws.org/awards/image.html . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 443-9353
KMT Saw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
www.kmtsaw.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(269) 321-8860
Lincoln Electric Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .OBC
www.lincolnelectric.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(216) 481-8100
Midalloy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
www.midalloy.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 776-3300
National Bronze & Metals, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20
www.nbmmetals.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(713) 869-9600
OTC Daihen, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
www.daihen-usa.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(888) 682-7626
PacMont, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
www.pacmont.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(888) 990-7888
Red-D-Arc Weldrentals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
www.reddarc.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(866) 733-3272
Revco Industries, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
www.bsxgear.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(800) 527-3826
Select Arc, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .IFC
www.select-arc.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(937) 295-5215
Sumner Manufacturing Co., Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
www.sumner.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(888) 999-6910
Superflash Compressed Gas Equipment/Ibeda, Inc. . . . . . . . .23
www.oxyfuelsafety.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(888) 327-7306
Thermal Arc/Thermadyne Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
www.thermalarc.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(866) 279-2628
Triangle Engineering, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
www.trieng.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(781) 878-1500
Weld Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
www.WeldEngineering.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(508) 842-2224
Weld Hugger, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
www.weldhugger.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(877) 935-3447
IFC = Inside Front Cover
IBC = Inside Back Cover
OBC = Outside Back Cover
Visit the AWS Interactive Ad Index: www.aws.org/ad-index
MAY 2012 100
ADVERTISER
INDEX
Introduction
In studying austenitic stainless steels,
the microstructural characterization of the
solidification modes (austenitic [A],
austenitic-ferritic [AF], ferritic-austenitic
[FA], and ferritic [F]) (Refs. 13) is of ut-
most importance. It is well known that the
hot cracking phenomenon can be experi-
enced by austenitic stainless steels while
they are subject to certain heating/cooling
processes and the temperature is around
their melting point. This could happen
during welding, casting, or hot forming.
During the primary austenitic solidifica-
tion modes (A, AF), the presence of im-
purities such as sulfur, phosphorus, and
boron tend to segregate to the liquid phase
and form low-melting point eutectics,
which are distributed along the boundaries
of dendrite grains at the last stages of so-
lidification, causing cracking under the
force of cooling contraction. However, if
the material solidifies primarily as -fer-
rite (FA, F), the solid-state transformation
experienced ( ) will make the material
less susceptible to hot cracking due to the
higher solubility of the impurities in the
phase as well as the better cracking resist-
ance of / interfaces than / or / in-
terfaces where the eutectic liquid enriched
with impurities has better grain boundary
wettability. Therefore, the microstructural
characterization of the transition between
AF and FA solidification modes in
austenitic stainless steels is essential in
order to establish the material susceptibil-
ity to hot cracking. Microscopy is also use-
ful to detect brittle phases in those
austenitic stainless steels subject to high
temperature cycles and containing high
levels of -ferrite, due to possible spinodal
decomposition ( +) or -phase for-
mation.
Recently, the author (Refs. 4, 5) es-
tablished the influence of the alloying
level, in terms of total value of chromium
equivalent plus nickel equivalent
(C
req
+Nieq), on the transition between
AF and FA solidification modes in
austenitic stainless steel weld metals. Tra-
ditionally, the transition between solidifi-
cation modes was related to a critical
Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
ratio. However, the new results
obtained by the author demonstrated that
the total alloying level was a key factor in
the transition between AF and FA solidi-
fication modes. In order to work on the
microstructural characterization of the
austenitic steel samples effectively, and
considering the wide composition range
and number of reagents proposed in the
literature (Refs. 69), it was necessary to
select a reagent that was capable to pro-
vide the best etching results with the sam-
ples involved in the study. Consequently,
the reagents selection was carried out
prior to the main microstructural assess-
ment. This paper presents the results ob-
tained from the reagent selection process.
The advantages and drawbacks of eight
different reagents were illustrated when
they were employed to etch austenitic
stainless steel weld metal in order to es-
tablish the microstructural characteriza-
tion of their solidification modes.
A common feature of suitable metallo-
graphic reagents is the formation of a se-
lective film on the surface according to the
phases that are found in the sample. In
this research, the reagent was requested to
be selective in front of -ferrite and -
austenite phases so that these two differ-
ent phases could be identified by
microscopy. The necessity to evaluate
eight different reagents to find the most
suitable ones comes from the well-known
resistance that stainless steels show to
acids. The selectivity of the reagent could
be achieved by different mechanisms, such
as chemical or electrolytic etching, as well
as magnetic fundamentals. Therefore,
from the eight reagents considered here,
five are based on chemical etching: Frys
reagent, Kallings N2 reagent, Lichteneg-
ger-Blchs reagent, Berahas reagent, and
Murakamis reagent. The last three are
considered color etchants (Ref. 9). The
colors observed by optical microscopy de-
133-s WELDING JOURNAL
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Reagent Selection in Austenitic Stainless
Steel Solidification Modes Characterization
Out of eight different reagents tested to etch austenitic stainless steel weld metal,
two showed the best results for microstructural characterization of
solidification modes
BY M. ASUNCIN VALIENTE BERMEJO
KEYWORDS
Metallographic Reagents
Ferrofluid
Austenitic Stainless Steels
Arc Welding
M. ASUNCIN VALIENTE BERMEJO (va-
liente.asun@gmail.com) is an independent re-
searcher and consultant, Barcelona, Spain.
ABSTRACT
Although a wide range of reagents is recommended for the microstructural char-
acterization of stainless steels in the literature, the current research compares eight
different reagents according to the following criteria: clear contrast between austen-
ite and ferrite phases and morphologies, etching temperature, ease and simplicity of
reagents preparation and application, and absence or presence of artifacts. Experi-
mental results obtained when using Fry, oxalic acid, Lichtenegger-Blch, Murakami,
modified Beraha, Kallings N2, Ferrofluid 230300-135-3, and Ferrofluid EMG 911
reagents are presented in this paper. The advantages and drawbacks of these reagents
in the study of the solidification modes in austenitic stainless steels under arc welding
conditions are compared. As the conclusion of the current work, only Ferrofluid EMG
911 and Kallings N2 reagents were found suitable based on the outlined criteria.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE WELDING JOURNAL, MAY 2012
Sponsored by the American Welding Society and the Welding Research Council
pend on the thickness of the nonmetallic
film formed as a result of the chemical re-
action between the steel specimen and the
reagent. These also depend on the etching
conditions and crystallographic orienta-
tion of the particular phase. Other
reagents used in this research are the ox-
alic acid, which acts through the elec-
trolytic mechanism, and the ferrofluids,
which achieve etching results based on the
magnetic nature of the ferritic phase.
The magnetic response of -ferrite and
the paramagnetism of -austenite is the
basis for the magnetic etching technique.
Initially, the technique was developed by
Bitter in 1931 and consisted of sprinkling
magnetic powder on the surface of a mate-
rial under the effect of a magnetic field.
Since then, the technique has advanced in
order to improve the practical application
(Ref. 10). Nowadays, the ferrofluids are col-
loids of iron (II, III) oxide nanoparticles (10
nm approximately) in a liquid solvent cov-
ered by a surfactant, which avoids particle
agglomeration and stabilizes the suspen-
sion. The size and concentration of parti-
cles, type of surfactant, and solvent or liquid
carrier are variables that promote a wide
range of commercial ferrofluids of which
the main industrial applications are related
to audio speakers manufacturing and bio-
medical (Refs. 11, 12). Practically, ferroflu-
ids are currently not commercially used as
magnetic reagents, although some re-
searchers (Refs. 10, 13, 14) have successfully
used them to identify -austenite and -fer-
rite phases in duplex stainless steels since
1985. Ferrofluids have also been used as
reagents in different applications such as re-
vealing the magnetic domain structures of
Fe
78
B
13
Si
9
metallic glass ribbons (Ref. 15),
or contrasting austenite from martensite in
dissimilar weld joints
(Ref. 16).
Experimental
Procedure
Two series of
austenitic steel speci-
mens were designed
and prepared; the first
one consisted of 45 samples with a con-
stant alloying level of Cr
eq
+Ni
eq
= 40 wt-
% and the second one consisted of 42
samples with a constant alloying level of
Cr
eq
+Ni
eq
= 30 wt-%. While the alloying
level was kept constant, the Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
ratio
was gradually increased from 1.22 up to
2.00. Chromium and nickel equivalents
(Cr
eq
, Ni
eq
) were calculated using the ex-
pressions established by Hammar and
Svensson (Ref. 17). The base materials
used for sample preparation were three
grades of solid wires for gas tungsten arc
welding (GTAW), including one mild steel
grade (AWS A5.18 ER70S-6) and two
austenitic grades (AWS A5.9 ER310 and
ER312). The intended different alloying
compositions were prepared using differ-
ent weight combinations of these wires.
The precleaned wires were cut into seg-
ments between 1018 mm in length and
mixed in required proportions so that the
designed different levels of Cr
eq
+Ni
eq
and
Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
ratios were achieved. The total
weight of each batch of the samples was 50
g, which were melted in a pure argon at-
mosphere using the electric arc remelt fur-
nace based on GTAW process
recommended by the ASTM E1306-07
(Ref. 18).
The solid and homogeneous sample ob-
tained was then cut into two halves by a
cooled and lubricated alumina sawblade
(Abrasive Cutter Buehler Metaserv). The
transversal cross section of the cut surface
(Fig. 1) was ground and polished according
to standard metallographic preparation pro-
cedures. These included silicon carbide
grinding papers P400, P600, and P1200
(Buehler-Met) being sequentially used on
a sloped wet manual device, and polishing
was carried out on semiautomatic turntables
(500 rev/min fixed rotational speed) using
polishing cloths and diamond suspensions
(Buehler MetaDi) of 6 and 1 m sizes.
Polishing up to 0.25 m diamond size was
initially considered, and some samples were
prepared. But it was dismissed as soon as it
was proved that a too long polishing process
was not further improving the surface, in-
stead it introduced new undesired thinner
scratches. It is well known how sensitive
stainless steels are to surface deformation
in metallographic preparation; therefore, it
was necessary to find a compromised bal-
ance between doing the best possible final
polish with the lowest diamond size and get-
ting a totally deformation-free surface for
microstructural characterization. It was also
recognized that surface deformation could
have been avoided in some events if the
available semiautomatic turntables had
worked at lower and variable rotating
speeds, and also if the grinding process
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Fig. 1 Transversal cross section.
40 m
Fig. 2 Faint contrast between austenite and ferrite. Frys reagent.
Table 1 Reagents and Their Chemical Compositions
Reagent Chemical composition Ref.
Frys Reagent 5g CuCl
2
+ 40 mL HCl (37%)+ 30 mL distilled H
2
O + 25 mL absolute ethanol 6
Oxalic acid 10% 10 g oxalic acid + 90 mL distilled H
2
O 6
Lichtenegger-Blch 20 g NH
4
HF
2
+ 0.5 g K
2
S
2
O
5
+100 mL distilled H
2
O 7, 20
Murakamis Reagent 10 g K
3
Fe(CN)
6
+ 10 g NaOH + 100 mL distilled H
2
O 6, 8
Modified Beraha 2 g NH
4
HF
2
+ 1 g K
2
S
2
O
5
+ 20 mL HCl (37%) + 80 mL distilled H
2
O 9, 20
Kallings N2 5 g CuCl
2
+ 100 mL HCl (37%) + 100 mL absolute ethanol 6, 8
Ferrofluid 230300-135-3 CoFe
2
O
4
colloid in water solvent
Ferrofluid EMG 911 Fe
3
O
4
colloid in organic solvent
could have been done semiautomatically.
The maximum time between the final polish
and the etching was three days; meanwhile,
samples were stored in a desiccator under
vacuum condition.
The application of reagents was also
conventional applying the reagent on
the surface of the specimen, leaving the
reagent to etch for an established time,
rinsing with distilled water, and drying the
surface using ethanol and air. When using
ferrofluids, there was a variation on the
cleaning step, as it needed to be done with
petroleum ether.
The chemical compositions of the eight
reagents evaluated in this research are
shown in Table 1. The reason for selecting
these and not others was the availability in
the laboratory of the primary components,
together with the authors interest in ex-
ploring the effect of ferrofluids. Except for
the ferrofluids, all reagents were prepared
in situ by dissolving the primary compo-
nents and were used immediately after
preparation.
Optical microscopy (Axiovert 100A +
Delta Pix Viewer LE Software) and scan-
ning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped
with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
(EDS) (Leica-Stereoscan 360) were used-
for microstructural characterization. Oc-
casionally, for higher resolution, a field
emission (FEG-SEM) equipment (Hitachi
S-4100) was also used.
Results and Discussion
The transversal cross section of the de-
signed stainless steel samples was etched
using the eight proposed reagents listed in
Table 1. In order to evaluate the suitability
of each reagent, the following criteria were
adopted: 1) absence of corrosion on the
sample due to the reagent; 2) possibility of
using conventional analysis equipment; 3)
etching at room temperature; 4) good con-
trast between austenite and ferrite phases;
5) absence of artifacts or false visual ef-
fects; and 6) ease and simplicity to prepare
and apply.
Details of the test conditions, advan-
tages, and drawbacks found for each
reagent are presented here. Based on the
test results, those reagents considered as
the optimum ones are introduced, and
some micrographs of austenitic stainless
steel solidification modes are also de-
picted together with the different -ferrite
morphologies observed.
Frys Reagent
The immersion time recommended by
the bibliography (Ref. 6) ranged from a
few seconds up to one minute. Initially the
immersion time established was 10s, but
an immediate pitting corrosion effect was
observed. Therefore, in order to slow
down the etching speed, some trials were
carried out decreasing the immersion time
and adding some extra ethanol from the
initial quantity established in the literature
(Table 1). Finally, the optimum etching
condition was determined as 2 s with 20
mL of extra ethanol added, which made
the final reagent composition to be 5 g
CuCl
2
, 40 mL HCl (37%), 30 mL distilled
H
2
O, and 45 mL absolute ethanol.
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Fig. 3 Oxalic acid etching on sample A31. A SEM equipment; B FEG-SEM equipment.
Fig. 4 Lichtenegger-Blch etching on sample A31. A 30 s, hot (500x) ; B 45 s at boiling (200x).
10 m
A
A
B
B
Using the optimized etching condition, 6
samples with different solidification modes
were prepared for SEM microscopy assess-
ment. However, observation showed that
this reagent did not reveal the different mi-
crostructures properly, as it was not possi-
ble to distinguish austenite from ferrite
clearly Fig. 2. All attempts in varying the
immersion time to increase the contrast be-
tween the phases resulted in the occurrence
of pitting corrosion.
Based on the above results, Frys reagent
was rejected.
Electrolytic Etching Using Oxalic
Acid (10%)
For electrolytic etching using oxalic acid
(10%), the parameters recommended by
the bibliography (Ref. 6) were 6 V from a
few seconds up to one minute. In the cur-
rent study, the equipment available only
worked at a preset value of around 5 V, and
it was not possible to determine the accu-
rate value of the voltage or to change it. In
order to find the optimal etching time, some
trials were carried out at 15, 30, 40, and 60 s
with two samples of different solidification
modes but with a simi-
lar Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
ratio,
samples A49 and A31.
In the case of sample
A49, Cr
eq
+Ni
eq
was 30
wt-%, Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
ratio
was 1.45 with a ferrite
content of 0.89 FN,
and its solidification
mode was AF/FA. For
sample A31, the solidi-
fication mode was FA,
Cr
eq
+Ni
eq
was 40 wt-
%, Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
ratio was
1.44 and ferrite content
7.18 FN.
Results showed that
30 s of etching were
sufficient for samples
with FA solidification
mode (Sample A31). However, neither
optical microscopy nor the Leica SEM mi-
croscopy were able to provide acceptable
images (Fig. 3A), and it was necessary to
employ the Hitachi SEM equipment fitted
with field emission Fig. 3B. The advan-
tage of this equipment was that the elec-
tron beam was thinner and this
guaranteed a resolution up to 1.5 nm. But
the downsides were that the equipment
did not provide EDS microanalysis, and it
also had limitations in accommodating the
dimensions of the samples used in the cur-
rent work.
On the other hand, the sample with
mainly AF solidification mode (sample
A49) remained unaffected after 60 s of
etching, and it was not possible to observe
any signs of etching on the ferrite phase by
SEM microscopy.
Therefore, electrolytic etching using
oxalic acid (10%) was rejected due to the
low sensitivity shown for the samples with
low ferrite contents (AF solidification
mode), and the necessity of using a field
emission equipment in order to have an
acceptable image resolution for samples
with higher ferrite contents (FA solidifica-
tion mode). The impossibility to accurately
control the voltage in the electrolytic cell
was also taken into consideration.
Lichtenegger-Blch Reagent
For some authors (Refs. 7, 19), the most
interesting feature of this reagent was the
fact that it could reveal the primary solidifi-
cation microstructure experienced by the
samples. The ferrite phase is usually dis-
solved by chemical etchants, and that is the
reason why primary microstructure is not
commonly revealed. However, despite hav-
ing experienced the solid-state transforma-
tion , if the sample is etched using
Lichtenegger-Blchs reagent at room tem-
perature (Ref. 20), samples with FA solidi-
fication mode should show the primary
ferrite dendrite core in white, the primary
solidification microstructure in blue
(austenite in case of AF or ferrite in case of
FA), and the former interdendritic liquid in
brown yellow.
After several trials using Beraha
reagents, which are known by etching the
ferrite phase based on the breakdown of
the K
2
S
2
O
5
in a HCl medium, the re-
searchers P. Lichtenegger and R. Blch
(Ref. 7) concluded that the replacement of
the HCl used by Beraha for NH
4
HF
2
used
in the Lichtenegger-Blchs reagent had
the advantage to prevent the chromium-
enriched ferrite (primary dendrite core)
from being etched.
In the current work, sample A31
(Cr
eq
+Ni
eq
= 40 wt-%, Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
= 1.44,
FA, 7.18 FN) was subject to the reagent for
30 s both at room temperature and in hot
conditions. Results showed that the sam-
ple was not etched at either conditions and
the effect was faint Fig. 4A. Etching
time and temperature were then increased
up to 45 s in boiling condition. Under this
extreme condition, the reagent revealed
the primary solidification mode (Fig. 4B),
giving primary ferrite dendrite core in
white, ferrite dendrite in blue, and inter-
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Fig. 5 Berahas etching on sample A31. A Micrograph; B spot mi-
croanalysis inside the -ferrite dendrite; C linear microanalysis.
20 m
A
C
B
dendritic austenite in brown.
Although according to the literature
(Ref. 20), the primary solidification mode
should have been revealed at room tem-
perature, but in the current work, it was
necessary to bring the reagent up to its
boiling point in order to etch the sample.
Considering that temperature was a key
etching parameter, it was necessary to use
the reagent at boiling temperature, and
phases presented variability in colors de-
pending on the solidification mode, this
reagent was also ruled out.
Murakamis Reagent
This reagent can be used under differ-
ent etching conditions (Refs. 6, 8) accord-
ing to the type of stainless steel to be
analyzed. In the current study, it was used
at room temperature for 5 and 10 s of im-
mersion, although the literature suggested
an interval of between 5 and 60 s.
According to Refs. 6 and 8, colors to be
observed should be dark yellow for ferrite
and white for unaffected austenite, or
brown in case the etching time was too long.
However, keeping the sample im-
mersed for the minimum etching time, a
wide range of color shades was observed
from the yellow, cinnamon, and brown
under optical microscope. It was, there-
fore, not possible to clearly distinguish the
phases due to the similarity in colors.
Possibly the main utility of this reagent
would be with those samples of which the
detection of sigma phase is crucial, as sigma
phase in front of Murakamis reagent would
show a bright blue color in contrast with the
rest of yellow-brown phases.
Modified Berahas Reagent
Berahas reagents include a large
number of different types (Refs. 7, 9, 20).
In the case of the specific reagent for
stainless steels, the etching mechanism is
based on the production of sulfides from
the aqueous solution of potassium
metabisulfite (K
2
S
2
O
5
)
in a hydrochloric acid
(HCl) medium.
Initially, 90 s of im-
mersion at room temper-
ature were applied. SEM
microscopy clearly
showed darkened ferrite
dendrites on a bright
austenite background,
but a granular-like tex-
ture image appeared in-
side of the dendrites, as
shown in Fig. 5A. To
check if the visual effect
was due to an excess of
etching time, the immer-
sion time was reduced up
to 10 s. However, SEM
microscopy continued
showing the granular-like
texture inside the ferrite
dendrites. Therefore, the
possibility of an excessive
etching was ruled out.
An EDS spot microanalysis inside the
dendrite (Fig. 5B) and a linear microanaly-
sis (Fig. 5C) were carried out. Both results
showed the presence of sulfur inside the fer-
ritic dendrite, which was completely unusual
according to the results obtained when the
same sample was etched with other
reagents. On the other hand, as it was al-
ready expected and explained by microseg-
regations during the solidification, the linear
microanalysis confirmed the enrichment in
chromium and depletion in nickel of the fer-
ritic dendrite and the opposite trend in the
austenitic matrix.
The origin and source of sulfur inside
the ferritic dendrites could only be ex-
plained by the metabisulfite of the
reagent. Therefore, considering that the
granular morphology showed inside the
dendrites was not observed with any of the
other reagents, it was concluded that the
modified Berahas reagent very likely pro-
voked a false visual effect or artefact. Con-
sequently it was rejected.
Kallings No. 2 Reagent
References 6 and 8 recommend immer-
sion time of samples in Kallings N2
reagent from a few seconds up a few min-
utes at room temperature. Different trials
were conducted, and it was found that for
samples with primary austenitic solidifica-
tion mode, 2 s were suitable, but for primary
ferritic samples between 8 to 10 s were nec-
essary. Once the sample was etched, the fer-
rite phase was shown brighter and austenite
matrix darker. It was proved that this
reagent was able to resolve the inside of the
ferritic dendrite and gave a good contrast
between both phases without giving false ar-
tifacts. Therefore, it was considered as the
main reagent for the microscopical study of
the samples.
Good contrast between ferrite and
austenite matrix is illustrated in Fig. 6AC
where the three main ferrite morphologies
for austenitic stainless steels are depicted:
eutectic (A), skeletal (B), and lathy (C).
This reagent was successfully used (Refs.
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Fig. 6 Kallings No. 2 reagent. A Eutectic ferrite in AF solidifica-
tion mode; B skeletal ferrite morphology in FA solidification mode; C
lathy ferrite morphology in FA solidification mode.
A B
C
4, 5) in order to establish the influence of
the alloy level on the transition between AF
and FA solidification modes in weld metals
of austenitic stainless steels. Within a range
of samples, it was possible to confirm the co-
existence of eutectic ferrite at the interden-
dritic boundary of primary austenite
dendrites with skeletal ferrite confirming
primary ferritic solidification.
Ferrofluid 230300-135-3
Ferrofluid 230300-135-3 is a CoFe
2
O
4
colloid in water solvent. In order to evalu-
ate this reagents behavior, it was applied
to the transversal cross section of a com-
pletely austenitic sample, A36
(Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
= 1.22, [Cr
eq
+Ni
eq
] = 30 wt-
%), and to a completely ferritic sample,
A02 (Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
> 3).
According to the fundamentals of the
technique, it would have been expected
that the residual magnetism of the
CoFe
2
O
4
acted on the ferritic phase and
would have not affected the austenite.
However, as it is shown in Figs. 7 and 8,
both phases, ferrite and austenite, experi-
enced a chemical etch. It was thought that
the chemical etch was due to the fact that
a cation exchange resin with SO
3
2
groups
was used during the ferrofluids produc-
tion, and its subsequent processing with
water caused the final ferrofluid to contain
protonated sulfites, which were responsi-
ble for the chemical etching on the sam-
ples, independently from the level of
magnetism. Therefore, despite it could
seem from the pictures that the reagent is
able to contrast austenite phase from fer-
rite phase, the fact is that this ferrofluid is
not able to contrast both phases by the ex-
pected residual magnetism mechanism.
Ferrofluid EMG 911
Ferrofluid reference EMG 911 is a col-
loidal suspension which contains 2 vol-%
of Fe
3
O
4
particles of 10 nm nominal size
in a light hydrocarbon medium.
Walker and Ginn (Ref. 14) obtained
good results in 1987 using a commercial fer-
rofluid, which is not currently in the market,
with a 3.3 vol-% concentration that they di-
luted up to 1 vol-% using petroleum ether.
For the present research, ferrofluid EMG
911 was diluted up to 1 vol-% Fe
3
O
4
solu-
tion using the solvent EMG 900, which is an
isoparaffinic hydrocarbon.
Samples with different solidification
modes were selected: A01
(Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
<1.22) for A mode, A32
(Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
= 1.46) and A57R (Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
= 1.59) for FA mode, and A02
(Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
>3) and A731 (Cr
eq
/Ni
eq
=
2.00) for F mode.
Very satisfactory results were obtained,
as none of the samples was chemically
etched, and the austenite and ferrite
phases were extremely contrasted color-
fully using optical microscopy.
Once the ferrofluid is applied and the
sample is then rinsed with petroleum
ether, the austenite phase is free from the
nanoparticles of iron oxide, and the
strength of the residual magnetism be-
tween the nanoparticles and the ferritic
phase makes the nanoparticles be de-
posited on the ferrite phase with different
thickness layers. The higher chromium en-
riched ferrite provokes higher residual
magnetism and, consequently, the higher
thickness of Fe
3
O
4
nanoparticles layers,
and a darker color is observed using opti-
cal microscopy.
Figures 9 and 10 illustrate the colorful
contrast between austenite phase in white
and ferrite phase in blue or dark brown. Fig-
ure 9 depicts FA solidification mode with
Fig. 9A showing the skeletal ferrite mor-
phology, while Fig. 9B presents the lathy
ferrite morphology. Figure 10 shows F
solidification mode with characteristic Wid-
mansttten austenite plates.
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Fig. 9 Ferrofluid EMG 911 on FA. A Sample A32, skeletal ferrite morphology; B Sample
A57R, lathy ferrite morphology.
Fig. 10 Ferrofluid EMG 911 on F, Sample A02.
A
B
Fig. 7 Ferrofluid 230300-135-3 on A, Sample A36. (500). Fig. 8 Ferrofluid 230300-135-3 on F, Sample A02. (500).
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Conclusions
Although the literature has intro-
duced many reagents for metallographic
etching of stainless steel welds, it has
been found that a previous selection
among reagents is necessary in order to
ensure first, a good contrast between
austenite and ferrite phases, and second,
to confirm the absence of artifacts or cor-
rosion due to the undesirable effect of
reagent. It is also important that reagent
preparation and application are simple
and easy (better if etching can take place
at room temperature), and that conven-
tional microscopy equipment is able to
provide good results.
Frys reagent has not been selected be-
cause of the difficulties in setting a proper
immersion time in order to get an accept-
able contrast between the phases but with-
out provoking pitting corrosion in the
samples.
Oxalic acid was rejected due to the low
sensitivity shown for ferrite phase, and the
requirement for a field emission equip-
ment in order to have an acceptable image
resolution.
In the case of Lichtenegger-Blchs
reagent, in order to have the samples
etched adequately, it was necessary to use
it at boiling temperature. This fact, to-
gether with the variability in colors of the
phases depending on the solidification
mode, made the reagent to be ruled out.
Murakamis reagent presented a wide
range of color shades from yellow, cinna-
mon, and brown under optical micro-
scope. Therefore, it was not possible to
clearly distinguish the phases due to the
similarity in colors.
Modified Berahas reagent showed a
granular-like morphology coupled with
traces of sulfur inside the ferritic den-
drites, which can be explained by the
metabisulfite of the reagent. Conse-
quently, it was rejected.
From the eight reagents evaluated,
only Kallings N2 and ferrofluid EMG
911 accomplished the established crite-
ria. For microanalysis and SEM mi-
croscopy, Kallings N2 would be the
most suitable reagent, while for optical
microscopy, Ferrofluid EMG 911 would
be the most convenient one due to the
excellent contrast between phases and
the ease of application.
It is necessary to emphasise that al-
though the physical background of ferroflu-
ids is the same, not all the ferrofluids are
able to contrast austenite from ferrite
phases. It is necessary to check that the sur-
factant and solvents used during the manu-
facture of the ferrofluid are not provoking a
chemical etch on the sample, as Ferrofluid
230300-135-3 does.
Acknowledgments
The author gratefully acknowledges
the support of Metrode Products Ltd., and
is specially indebted to Zhuyao Zhang and
Adam W. Marshall for providing the weld-
ing consumables and facilities to carry out
this research. The author also acknowl-
edges Anna Juli from the University of
Barcelona and Vanessa Rene from Fer-
rotec for the supply of ferrofluid reagents.
The current research is part of the doc-
toral degree thesis entitled Modelitzaci
del nivell de ferrita als acers inoxidables
austentics sotmesos a fusi per arc elec-
tric, which was submitted for the degree
of doctor in chemistry by the author at the
University of Barcelona the 29th of June,
2010. It is also gratefully acknowledged
the supervision of Pere Molera and Nria
Llorca from the Department of Materials
Science and Metallurgical Engineering at
the University of Barcelona.
References
1. Kujanp, V. P., Suutala, N., Takalo, T.,
and Moisio, T. 1979. Correlation between solid-
ification cracking and microstructure in
austenitic and austenitic-ferritic stainless steel
welds. Welding Research International 9(2):
5575.
2. Kujanp, V. P., Suutala, N., Takalo, T.,
and Moisio, T. 1980. Solidification cracking
estimation of the susceptibility of austenitic and
austenitic-ferritic stainless steel welds. Metal
Construction 12(6): 282285.
3. Suutala, N. 1983. Effect of solidification
conditions on the solidification mode in
austenitic stainless steels. Metallurgical Transac-
tions A. 14A(2): 191197.
4. Valiente Bermejo, M. A. 2010. Mod-
elitzaci del nivell de ferrita (FN) als acers in-
oxidables austentics sotmesos a fusi per arc
electric. PhD dissertation. University of
Barcelona. ISBN 978-84-693-5713-2.
5. Valiente Bermejo, M. A. 2011. IIW Docu-
ment IX-2359-11 Influence of the alloy level
[Cr
eq
+Ni
eq
] on the transition between AF and
FA solidification modes in austenitic stainless
steel weld metals. 64th Annual Assembly of the In-
ternational Institute of Welding. July, Chennai,
India.
6. ASM Metals Handbook. 1973. Metallog-
raphy, structures and phase diagrams. Vol. 8.
8th edition, pp. 9799. ASM International.
Ohio. ISBN 27-12046.
7. Lichtenegger, P., and Blch, R. 1975.
Colour Etching of High Alloy Steels. Praktische
Metallographie 12: 567573.
8. Lippold, J. C., and Kotecki, D. J. 2005.
Welding Metallurgy and Weldability of Stainless
Steels. New Jersey: Wiley-Interscience. ISBN 0-
471-47379-0.
9. Vander Voort, G. F. 2005. Color metal-
lography. Microscopy Today 13(6): 2227. The
Microscopy Society of America. ISSN 1551-
9295.
10. Gray, R. J. 1986. Magnetic Etching. In
Vander Voort, G. F. Applied Metallography. New
York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., Chapter 4,
pp. 5361.
11. Raj, K., and Moskowitz, R. 1990. Com-
mercial applications of ferrofluids. Journal of
Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 85: 233245.
12. Raj, K., Moskowitz, B., and Tsuda, S.
2004. New commercial trends of nanostruc-
tured ferrofluids. Indian Journal of Engineering
& Materials Sciences 11: 241252.
13. Ginn, B. J. 1985. A technique for deter-
mining austenite to ferrite ratios in welded du-
plex stainless steels. The Welding Institute
Research Bulletin. November, pp. 365367.
14. Walker, R. A., and Ginn, B. J. 1987. A
magnetic etching technique for phase identi-
fication in duplex ferritic-austenitic and other
stainless steels. ASM Int. 19th Annual Technical
Meeting. Field Metallography, Failure Analysis
and Metallography. Ohio: M. E. Blume, ed., vol.
15, pp. 519528.
15. Birol, Y. 1998. Magnetic domain struc-
tures in as-quenched and annealed Fe
78
B
13
Si
9
metallic glass ribbons. Turkish Journal of Physics
22: 481488.
16. Rowe, M. D., Nelson, T. W., and Lippold,
J. C. 1999. Hydrogen-induced cracking along
the fusion boundary of dissimilar metal welds.
Welding Journal 78(2): 31-s to 37-s.
17. Hammar, ., and Svensson, U. 1979. In-
fluence of steel composition on segregation and
microstructure during solidification of
austenitic stainless steels. The Metals Society. In-
ternational Conference on Solidification and
Casting of Metals. Sheffield (UK), pp. 401410.
18. ASTM E1306-07. 2007. Standard Prac-
tice for Preparation of Metal and Alloy Samples
by Electric Arc Remelting for the Determination
of Chemical Composition. Philadelphia: ASTM
International.
19. Folkhard, E. 1988. Welding Metallurgy of
Stainless Steels. Vienna: Springer-Verlag. ISBN
3-211-82043-4.
20. Weck, E., and Leistner, E. 1983. Metal-
lographic Instructions for Colour Etching by Im-
mersion. Part II: Beraha Colour Echants and
their Different Variants. Vol. 77/II. Dsseldorf:
D.V.S. Verlag GmbH.
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Introduction
Laser-enhanced gas metal arc welding
(GMAW) is an innovative process re-
cently proposed and developed at the Uni-
versity of Kentucky (Refs. 13), shown in
Fig. 1. It adds a relatively low-power laser
to conventional GMAW, and the objective
is to provide an auxiliary force to help de-
tach the droplet at a desired diameter with
a desired welding current. In laser-
enhanced GMAW, the droplet size is a
critical parameter that determines the
process stability and produces a desired
appearance and quality of welds. Rela-
tively large droplet sizes will lead to rip-
ples in the welds and decrease the direc-
tionality of the welds. In laser-enhanced
GMAW, laser recoil pressure force is the
additional detaching force compared to
conventional GMAW. However, it is hard
to directly calculating this force value pre-
cisely as many physical coefficients are un-
known.
For the recoil pressure acting on a sub-
strate during intense laser evaporation,
Ref. 4 gave the following:1/2
P
r
= AB
0
T
s
exp
-1
2 (U/T
s
) (1)
where A is a numerical coefficient, B
0
is a
vaporization constant, T
s
is the surface
temperature, and U = M
a
L
v
/(N
a
k
b
). Here,
M
a
is the atomic mass, L
y
is the latent heat
of evaporation, N
a
is Avogadros number,
and k
b
is the Boltzmanns constant. This
equation is relatively complicated, and
Ref. 5 gave a simpler expression as fol-
lows:
P
r
= (P/A)
2
/E (2)
where P/A is the power density of the
laser, is density of the vapor, and E is the
energy needed to evaporate 1 kg metal.
However, all these equations give approx-
imate estimation, and the estimating result
may not be accurate enough. In some
cases, they may not be suitable to be used,
such as molten metal in the arc zone.
To fully control the GMAW process,
many models were proposed and devel-
oped for the GMAW process. PI control
strategy could be developed for maintain-
ing the desired heat and mass by regulat-
ing the current (Ref. 6). A steady-state
model for heat and mass transferred from
the electrode to the workpiece was estab-
lished (Ref. 7). In the later research, ro-
bustness is also taken into account (Ref.
8). An adaptive multi-input, multi-output
(MIMO) scheme was developed to con-
trol both geometrical and thermal charac-
teristics of a weld based on lumped pa-
rameter and distributed parameter
modeling and identification (Refs. 810).
However, GMAW is a complex process,
and it has many parameters to be moni-
tored and controlled. The relationship be-
tween them cannot be considered linearly.
The nonlinearities of GMAW should be
considered when establishing a model for
this process.
The laser recoil pressure force was esti-
mated in Ref. 1. However, it was estimated
approximately, and it could only be used to
illustrate the droplet detaching phenome-
non in laser-enhanced GMAW. To further
control laser-enhanced GMAW, an estima-
tion of laser recoil pressure force with rela-
tively less error is proposed and developed
in this paper. Considering the nonlineari-
ties of laser-enhanced GMAW, a nonlinear
model should be established for future con-
trol. Based on the nonlinear model devel-
oped by Refs. 10 and 11, a modified non-
linear model for laser-enhanced GMAW is
developed in this paper. The simulating re-
sults are compared to the experimental one
to test the model validation.
Experimental System and
Conditions
Experimental System Setup
The principle of the laser-enhanced
GMAW proposed is shown in Fig. 1. A
laser beam aims to the droplet. The inten-
tion is to detach the droplet using the laser
recoil pressure as an auxiliary detaching
force to compensate for the lack of the
electromagnetic or gravitational force as-
sociated with a relatively small amperage
Nonlinear Modeling of Dynamic Metal
Transfer in Laser-Enhanced GMAW
By estimating an improved laser recoil pressure force, along with other factors,
a modified nonlinear model was developed for this welding process
BY Y. HUANG, Y. SHAO, AND Y. M. ZHANG
KEYWORDS
Gas Metal Arc Welding
(GMAW)
Laser Recoil Pressure Force
Nonlinear Model
Metal Transfer
Y. HUANG, Y. SHAO, and Y. M. ZHANG
(ymzhang@engr.uky.edu) are with the Depart-
ment of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.
ABSTRACT
In laser-enhanced gas metal arc welding (GMAW), which projects a lower-power
laser onto the droplet, free flight metal transfer was obtained. Laser recoil pressure
force is identified as the main reason to change the metal transfer process. For fur-
ther control of laser-enhanced GMAW, this additional detaching force is estimated
at a reasonable level. A nonlinear model of dynamic metal transfer is established
based on the physics fundamental of this process. Laser recoil pressure force is com-
bined into dynamic force balance theory to be as the reset criterion to detect the
droplet detachment. It is found that the simulation results agree with the experi-
ment results, which indicate that the model could be used for the further closed-
loop control.
that is needed for a particular application,
rather than to provide an additional heat
to speed the melting of the wire. The as-
sociated additional heat from the laser
should be negligible in comparison with
that of the arc used.
Figure 2 shows important parameters
that specify a realization of the laser-
enhanced GMAW system used in this
paper. In this research, the GMAW gun
and the laser head did not move. The
workpiece moved at a constant speed. The
direction of this movement was perpendi-
cular to the plane as shown in Fig. 2. A
high-speed camera was placed in this di-
rection with a distance about 1.2 m from
the gun to record the metal transfer
process for later analysis. To conduct the
laser-enhanced GMAW process in an ex-
pected way, parameters need to be set ap-
propriately. As shown in Fig. 2, the three
parameters used should be determined,
and they are the contact tube to workpiece
distance d
1
, angle between laser beam to
GMAW gun , and the distance from the
point where the laser interests the wire
axis (d
2
). In Ref. 1, standards have been
found to set these parameters. Experi-
mental results suggest that d
1
be set
around 20 mm, be selected to be around
60 deg for easy installation at the expense
of reducing system compactness, and d
2
be
set at the range from 3 to 7 mm.
Figure 3 shows the arrangement of the
laser in relation to the gun. In this experi-
mental setup, the laser beam is aligned
with the wire. In order to protect the end
of the laser from contamination from pos-
sible fumes, a shielding board (not shown
in Fig. 3) is added between the laser and
gun, and the laser is projected through a
hole on the shielding board to the wire.
Experimental Conditions
A constant voltage (CV) continuous
waveform power supply was used to con-
duct experiments. Pure
argon was used as the
shielding gas, and the flow
rate was 12 L/min (25.4
ft
3
/h). The workpiece was
mild steel, and experiments
were done as bead on plate
at a travel speed of 6.6 mm/s
(15.6 in./min). The wire
used was ER70S-6 of 0.8
mm (0.03 in.) diameter. The
distance from the contact
tube to the workpiece was
20 mm as aforementioned.
The welding voltage was set
30 V, and the laser power intensity was 62
W/mm
2
. Four different wire feed speeds
250, 300, 350, and 400 in./min were used
to produce different welding current levels.
For convenience, the parameters are pre-
sented as a set (wire feed speed, voltage,
laser intensity).
Figure 4 shows the mean current meas-
ured in all experiments. It can be seen that
all the currents were lower than the tran-
sition current that is approximately 150 A
(Ref. 12) for the wire material and diame-
ter. The effect of the laser on the current
is insignificant, no more than 5 A.
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Fig. 1 Principle of laser-enhanced GMAW (Ref. 1).
Fig. 2 System parameters. A Installation parameters; B cam-
era installation.
Table 1 Constants Used for Laser Recoil Pressure Estimation and Nonlinear Model
Symbol Value Unit Description
U
0
15 V Arc voltage constant
L
s
2.5e5 H Source inductance
B
d
0.0008 kg/s Drop damping coefficient
C
1
2.885e10 m
3
/(A s) Melting rate constant
C
2
5.22e10 m
3
/(A s) Melting rate constant
E
a
636 V/m Arc length coefficient
K
d
3.5 N/m Drop spring constant
r
w
0.0004 m Wire radius
R
a
0.022 Arc resistance
R
s
0.004 Source resistance
v
p
10 m/s Relative fluid to drop velocity
C
d
0.44 Drag coefficient
p
1.6 kg/m
3
Plasma density
r
0.7836 /m Resistivity of the electrode
w
7860 kg/m
3
Electrode density
0
1.25664e6 (kg m)/(A
2
s
2
) Permeability of free space
1 N/m
2
Surface tension coefficient
A
B
Metal Transfer in Laser-
Enhanced GMAW
The diameter of the detached droplet
was obtained from a series of high-speed
images in this study. All images presented
as a series have the same dimension scale
except for those presented individually.
The time interval of consecutive images in
the same series is constant. Figure 5 illus-
trates the scene in a typical metal transfer
image.
Metal Transfer
A typical metal transfer cycle is shown
in Fig. 6A with wire feed speed at 300
in./min and welding voltage at 30 V in con-
ventional GMAW. From the images, it is
found that this is a short-circuiting metal
transfer process. Figure 6B is a typical
metal transfer cycle from the comparative
experiment with an application of the
laser at an intensity of 62 W/mm
2
. As can
be seen, the large
droplet did not touch
the base metal be-
fore it detached, and
there were no spat-
ters produced. The
reason to cause the
difference is that
laser recoil pressure
force is added into
laser-enhanced
GMAW to be an ad-
ditional detaching
force. In this case,
the lack of electro-
magnetic force to de-
tach the droplet is
compensated by the
laser.
For these two com-
parative experi-
ments, the laser did
not change the mean
welding current significantly as can be
seen from Fig. 4. However, as the droplet
did not touch the weld pool, the fluctua-
tion of the welding current was reduced as
can be seen in Fig. 7. The laser reduced the
needed diameter (weight) of the droplet
for detachment and changed the metal
transfer type.
When the wire feed speed is 250, 350,
and 400 in./min, similar experiment results
will be achieved. The metal transfer type
will be changed due to adding the laser. If
it is short-circuiting transfer in conven-
tional GMAW, laser-enhanced GMAW
may change it to drop globular transfer. If
conventional and laser-enhanced GMAW
both produce drop globular, the latter re-
duces the diameter of the droplet. If it is
short-circuit or drop globular transfer in
conventional GMAW, laser-enhanced
GMAW may become the drop spray. The
established physics of metal transfer can
explain all these changes by counting the
additional detach force caused by the
laser. All these experimental results and
related physical fundamentals are detailed
in Refs. 2 and 3.
As was observed previously, the appli-
cation of the laser changed the metal
transfer. In all cases, the diameter of the
detached droplets was decreased as fur-
ther shown in Fig. 8. The laser recoil pres-
sure was identified as the major cause of
these observed changes. The detailed dis-
cussion is shown in Refs. 2 and 3. The di-
ameter change of droplet will be utilized
to analyze the laser recoil pressure force in
the later section.
Pulsed Laser-Enhanced GMAW
Adding a lower-power laser could
change the metal transfer mode in laser-
enhanced GMAW. In this case, spatters
could be reduced or eliminated, and it will
reduce the clean-up cost after welding and
save much metal. In the aforementioned
experimental results, a continuous laser
was used to prove this proposal. A contin-
uous power laser was not necessary for
laser-enhanced GMAW. From the former
analysis, the laser was only used to gener-
ate the recoil pressure as an additional de-
taching force, which was actually not
needed before the detaching instant. To
this end, the laser radiation could be acti-
vated onto the droplet only at the moment
when the droplet grew to the desired size.
The continuous laser will be replaced with
a pulsed laser. Further smaller laser power
energy will be adopted in laser-enhanced
GMAW.
Figure 9 shows the experimental re-
sults with the welding voltage at 30 V and
wire feed speed at 350 in./min. Different
from the results shown in Ref. 2, the laser
power was not continuous but pulsed in-
stead. The frequency was 16 Hz with a
duty cycle of 30%, and the peak laser
power intensity was set as 62 W/mm
2
with
MAY 2012, VOL. 91 142-s
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Fig. 3 Installation of GMAW and laser (the shield board is not shown in
the picture).
Fig. 5 Illustration of metal transfer image.
Fig. 4 Welding current under different wire feed speeds and different laser
powers with welding voltage at 30 V.
a base intensity of 0. In this case, when the
droplet did not grow to the desired size, no
laser was projected onto the droplet. The
wire melts mainly due to resistance and
arc heat. Because the detaching forces,
mainly electromagnetic and gravitational,
could not balance the retaining force, sur-
face tension, the droplet would not de-
tach. When it grew to a desired size, the
laser pulse was introduced to generate an
additional detaching force exerting onto
the droplet to compensate the lack of de-
taching force. The droplet would be de-
tached to realize a free flight transfer in-
stead of short-circuiting transfer. No
spatters were generated in this process.
Less electric energy was used, and it also
reduced the clean-up cost after welding.
All these properties of laser-enhanced
GMAW made it a sustainable future in-
dustrial process.
Laser Recoil Pressure Force
Estimation
In laser-enhanced GMAW, estimating
the laser recoil pressure is a key issue for
the further feedback control of this
process. To better understand the physics
fundamentals of the method, the forces af-
fecting metal transfer are analyzed first. It
is well known that in conventional
GMAW, the major forces acting on the
droplet include the gravitational, electro-
magnetic (Lorentz), aerodynamic drag,
and momentum forces, plus surface ten-
sion (Refs. 1315). In laser-enhanced
GMAW, a laser is applied and an addi-
tional force is introduced as shown in Fig.
10. To be simple, the dynamic-force bal-
ance theory (DFBM) (Ref. 16) is used in
this paper to conduct preliminary analysis
of the forces for the laser-enhanced
GMAW.
The force due to gravity can be ex-
pressed as
F
g
= m
d
g =
4
3 r
d
3
g (3)
where m
d
is the mass of the droplet, r
d
is
the droplet radius, is the droplet density,
and g is the acceleration of the gravity.
The surface tension is given as
F
= 2 r
w
(4)
where r
w
is the electrode radius, while is
the surface tension coefficient.
The aerodynamic drag force can be ex-
pressed as
where C
d
is the aerodynamic drag coeffi-
cient, A
d
is the area of the drop seen from
above, and
p
and v
p
are the density and
fluid velocity of the plasma.
The momentum force can be expressed
as
where v
e
is the wire feed speed, and m
d
is
the change of the droplet mass.
The electromagnetic force, F
em
, is
given by
where
0
is the magnetic permittivity, I is
the welding current, and is the half-angle
subtended by the arc root at the center of
the droplet. In the conventional GMAW
process, the droplet is not detached when
the retaining force F
is still sufficient to
balance the detaching force F
t
F
t
= F
g
+ F
d
+ F
m
+ F
em
(8)
In laser-enhanced GMAW, the total de-
taching force F
T
will be expressed by
F
t
= F
g
+ F
d
+ F
m
+ F
em
+ F
laser recoil force
(9)
When the total detaching force F
T
could balance the surface tension, the
droplet will be detached. However, the
laser recoil pressure force F
laser recoil force
is
unknown because there is less accurate
calculating theory to achieve this value. In
this case, the author proposes a calculat-
ing method to estimate this force.
As the radius of welding wire and sur-
face tension coefficient are constant, the
surface tension is fixed, and it indicates
that the retaining force keeps constant. To
calculate aerodynamic drag force, the area
of the drop seen from above A
d
should be
calculated first. A
d
can be given by
Take the case of wire feed speed at 300
in./min, laser power intensity at 62
W/mm
2
, and welding voltage at 30 V as an
example to analyze this force. The experi-
ment results (shown in Fig. 8) show that
the largest radius of droplet with these
welding parameters is about 0.95 mm. In
this case, the largest aerodynamic drag
force is about 8 10
5
N. It could be neg-
lected when estimating the laser recoil
pressure. The calculating constants used
are shown in Table 1 (Refs. 11, 17, 18).
To estimate the momentum force, as
the wire feed speed is a constant, the
change of the droplet mass m
d
should be
estimated first. m
d
can be expressed by
By calculating, it is found that the max-
imum momentum force is around 5 10
5
N. It could also be neglected when esti-
mating the laser recoil pressure force.
To estimate the electromagnetic force,
similar to the definition in Ref. 14, f
2
is de-
fined as
In this case, the electromagnetic force
F C A v
d d d p p
= (5)
2
1
2
F v m
m e d
=
(6)
F
I
r
r
em
d
w
=

0
2
2
4
sin
1
4
1
1 cos
2
(1cos )
ln
lnn
2
1+cos
(7)
A r r
d d
= ( ) (10)
2
w
2
m C I C l I
d w r s
= + ( ) (11)
1 2
2
f
2
2
sin
1
1cos
2
(1 cos )
=
+
ln
ln
1
4
22
1+cos
(12)

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Fig. 6 Typical metal transfer in comparative experiments with and without laser under 300 in./min, 30
V, 0 and 300 in./min, 30 V, 62 W/mm
2
. A Without laser; B laser intensity of 62 W/mm
2
.
.
.
.
A
B
could be expressed as
In laser-enhanced GMAW, the half-
angle subtended by the arc root at the cen-
ter of the droplet is in the range from 90
to 150 deg (Refs. 2, 3, 14). As shown in Fig.
11, the value of f
2
does not change signifi-
cantly when the half-angle varies from 90 to
150 deg. The selection of the half-angle will
not influence the estimating results. Lets
recall the example case to analyze. As the
mean welding current is a constant, the elec-
tromagnetic force will not change signifi-
cantly in a certain time interval between the
moments with and without a laser.
As Fig. 8 shows, the radius of the droplet
reduces when the laser is adopted in
GMAW. As the other main detaching
force almost keeps the same, the change
should be mainly
due to the exis-
tence of the laser
pulse. In this case,
the gravitational
force value differ-
ence could be con-
sidered as the esti-
mating laser recoil
pressure force. The
gravitational forces
in conventional
and laser-en-
hanced GMAW
are shown in Fig.
12. When the wire
feed speed is at 300
in./min, laser
power intensity is
at 62 W/mm
2
, and
welding voltage is
at 30 V, the value
difference in the
gravitational force
is about 1.75 10
4
N. Considering the estimating errors and
other force value changes, the maximum
laser recoil pressure force could be about
2.5 10
4
N.
For further control consideration, the
laser recoil pressure force estimating
equation could be expressed as
F
laser recoil force
= r
d
(14)
where is the laser recoil pressure force
coefficient, and it is about 0.15 to 0.30
N/m.
Nonlinear Model of Laser-
Enhanced GMAW
Nonlinear Model Setup
Modeling of the GMAW process is im-
portant for process control. Based on the
physical fundamental analysis of the
GMAW process, a nonlinear model has
been set up (Refs. 10, 11, 17) for tradi-
tional GMAW. In laser-enhanced GMAW,
all the properties are the same as the ones
in conventional GMAW except laser
pulse, which will be taken into account for
the referred modified nonlinear model for
the laser-enhanced GMAW.
First, a numbers of inputs, outputs, and
states for the model should be defined.
These are given as below.
States:
x
1
= I, welding current
x
2
= l
s
, wire extension
x
3
= x
d
, droplet displacement
x
4
= v
d
, droplet velocity
x
5
= m
d
, droplet mass
Outputs:
y
1
= I, welding current
y
2
= r
d
, droplet radius
Inputs:
u
1
= U
c
, welding voltage
u
2
= WFS, wire feed speed
u
3
= r
d desired
, desired droplet radius
Now, laser-enhanced GMAW can be
described by the following nonlinear sys-
tem.
y = h(x) (16)
x = t(x), if L(x, u) 0 (17)
Now, lets examine the electric circuit
of the GMAW, as shown in Fig. 13. The
electric relationship of the welding cur-
rent with other parameters could be ex-
F
I r
r
f
em
d
w
= +
0
2
2
4
(13) ln
x f x g x u = + ( ) ( ) (15)
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Fig. 7 Current waveforms for 300 in./min, 30 V, 0 W/mm
2
and 300 in./min, 30 V, 62 W/mm
2
. A No laser; B laser intensity of 62 W/mm
2
.
Fig. 8 Droplet sizes with welding voltage at 30 V under different wire feed
speeds.
A
B
pressed by
Where U
arc
= U
0
+ R
a
I + E
a
(L l
s
)
and R
L
=
r
(l
s
+
1
2 (r
d
+ x)). L is the dis-
tance from the contact tube to workpiece.
As discussed in the former section, it is se-
lected as 20 mm in this paper.
In this nonlinear system, the nonlinear
state equations are listed below.
Based on the physics fundamentals of
laser-enhanced GMAW, a few equations
used are stated below.
F
laser recoil force
= r
d
(26)
F
g
= gx
5
(28)
Combined with Equations 4 and 9,
these equations could be used to calculate
the states equations.
In laser-enhanced GMAW, laser recoil
pressure force plays a significant role in
determining the detachment of the
droplet. In this case, modified dynamic
force balance theory was used to decide
whether the droplet is detached. The reset
condition can be expressed by
F
t
= F
g
+ F
d
+ F
m
+ F
em
+ F
laser recoil force
> F
(31)
If the detachment criterion is fulfilled,
Then
x
1
= x
1
(32)
x
2
= x
2 (33)
x
3
= (3x
5
/4
w
)
1
3 (34)
x
4
= 0 (35)
x
5
= x
5
/2 (1/(1 + exp (100x
4
))+ 1) (36)
Otherwise,
x
1
= x
1
(37)
x
2
= x
2
(38)
x
3
= x
3
(39)
x
4
= x
4
(40)
x
5
= x
5
(41)
Simulation Results
A simulation program for laser-
enhanced GMAW was developed in
Simulink. It was based on the model de-
scribed in the former section. To validate
the proposed model, the simulating re-
sults should be compared to the experi-
mental results.
Lets recall the example case again.
Wire feed speed u
2
will be set at 300
in./min (0.127 m/s), laser power intensity
at 62 W/mm
2
, and welding voltage u
1
at 30
V. To simulate the practical experiment
environment, a Gaussian noise will be
added to the welding voltage. The noise is
with noise power at 0.00001, and the sam-
pling time was selected at 0.0001. Other
constants used in this model were listed in
Table 1.
Choose 1 s as the time interval to ana-
lyze. Continuous laser power was adopted.
The welding current and wire extension
were shown in Figs. 14 and 15. From Fig.
14, it was found that the mean welding cur-
rent was about 110 A. This result agreed
with the results shown in Figs. 4 and 7. The
wire extension was about 8 mm. The arc
length will be about 8 mm. By carefully an-
alyzing the images shown in Fig. 6B, it was
found that the arc length was about 6 mm,
and the wire extension was about 10 mm
in the experiments. There are several rea-
sons that could cause this simulation
I
U R I U R I
L
c L arc s
s
=

(18)
x
L
u R R x U E L x
x
s
a s a
r
1
1
[ ( ) ( )
(
1
2
(
1 1 2
2
= +
+
0
rr x x
d
+
3 1
)) ] (19)
x u MR r
w
2
2
2
/( ) (20) =
x x
3 4
(21)
i
=
x
x
K x B x F
d d t
i
4
4
1
( ) (22)
5
3
= +
x C x C x x
r w
i
5
( ) (23)
1 1 2 2 1
2
= +
r
x
d
w
=
3
4
(24)
5
1/3
MR C x C x x
r
= +
1 1 2 2 1
2
(25)
F MR WFS u
C x C p x x
m w w
r
( )
2
1 1 2 2 1
2
= =
+
* *
((27)
F C r r v
d d d w p p
=
1
2
( )
2 2 2
(29)
F
x r
r
f
em
d
w
= +
0 1
2
2
4
(30) ln
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Fig. 9 Typical metal transfer in pulsed laser-enhanced GMAW.
Fig. 10 Major forces acting on the droplet in
laser-enhanced GMAW.
Fig. 11 Variation of f
2
as the function of half-
angle .
error. In this nonlinear model, some con-
ditions that restricted the laser-enhanced
GMAW were neglected. The weld pool
height above the workpiece was also not
considered.
The most important simulation result
is the droplet mass and size. Figures 16
and 17 show the simulating droplet radius
and droplet mass. In conventional
GMAW, as the welding current is lower
than the transition current, the droplet
needs to grow to a relatively large size to
achieve enough gravitational force to
compensate for the lack of detaching
force. Short-circuiting metal transfer al-
ways occurs.
When the laser was adopted, the
droplet does not need to grow to such a
large size. As shown in Fig. 16, the radius
of the droplet is about 0.95 mm. Although
it is slightly larger than the radius of the
welding wire, free flight transfer was ob-
tained. From Fig. 8, it was found that the
radius of the droplet in the experiment
was about 0.97 mm. The simulation result
agrees well with the experimental results.
To better understand the metal trans-
fer process, the forces acting on the
droplet will be analyzed. Figures 1822
show the simulation results of detaching
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Fig. 12 Gravitational forces in conventional GMAW and laser-en-
hanced GMAW.
Fig. 14 Welding current waveform simulation result.
Fig. 16 Droplet radius simulation result.
Fig. 13 Schematic image of the GMAW process.
Fig. 18 Aerodynamic drag force simulation result. Fig. 19 Momentum force simulation result.
Fig. 15 Wire extension simulation result.
Fig. 17 Droplet mass simulation result.
forces. As shown in Figs. 18 and 19, the
aerodynamic drag and momentum forces
acting on the droplet were small. For the
momentum force, it was almost a constant
during the welding process. The electro-
magnetic force was still the main detach-
ing force in the laser-enhanced GMAW,
and it will compensate for most of the sur-
face tension. The gravitational force in-
creases with the increase of droplet mass,
and the simulating result shows that it is an
important detaching force.
Laser recoil pressure force was an ad-
ditional detaching force in laser-enhanced
GMAW compared to conventional
GMAW. Compared to the results shown in
Figs. 21 and 22, it was found that the mag-
nitude of laser recoil pressure force is
closed to the gravitational force. It indi-
cates that the laser recoil pressure force
was another main detaching force to de-
termine the droplet detaching process.
Figure 23 shows the total detaching force.
As discussed in the former section, to
better utilize the laser power, a pulsed
laser will be used. In this nonlinear model,
the pulsed laser recoil pressure force was
controlled by the droplet radius. When the
desired droplet radius was fulfilled, the
laser will exert an additional detaching
force on the droplet. The laser recoil pres-
sure force did not affect the welding cur-
rent (Refs. 13), so the welding current
will be kept the same with and without
laser pulse. As shown in Fig. 24, the
droplet radius was also the same as the one
with a constant laser shown in Fig. 16. Ex-
amining the wire extension (seen in Figs.
25 and 15), the same result was obtained.
It indicated that the laser did not influence
the wire melting, but only exerted an aux-
iliary detaching force onto the droplet.
As the welding current and droplet ra-
dius were not changed, and all the other
welding parameters were also not altered,
the aerodynamic drag, momentum, elec-
tromagnetic, and gravitational forces were
not changed. Before the droplet grew to
the desired size, there was not a laser re-
coil pressure force on the droplet. When
the criterion was fulfilled, the laser pulse
would be exerted on the droplet. Figure 26
shows the laser recoil pressure force when
a pulsed laser was adopted in the laser-
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Fig. 20 Electromagnetic force simulation result.
Fig. 22 Laser recoil pressure force simulation result.
Fig. 24 Droplet radius simulation result with a pulsed laser.
Fig. 21 Gravitational force simulation result.
Fig. 23 The total detaching force simulation result.
Fig. 25 Wire extension simulation result with a pulsed laser.
Fig. 26 Laser recoil pressure force simulation result with a pulsed laser. Fig. 27 The total detaching force simulation result.
enhanced GMAW.
As shown in Fig. 27, the sudden in-
crease in the total detaching force F
t
was
caused by adding the laser recoil pressure
detaching force.
From the analysis above, it is found
that this nonlinear model is suitable for
forecasting the droplet growing process,
and for further process control. For the fu-
ture closed-loop control, the input weld-
ing voltage will be replaced by the real
welding voltage, which will be obtained
from the voltage sensor. In this case, all
the states calculating will be based on the
practical values. The results will be much
more accurate. If this model can be com-
bined with sensing technology, such as
image processing or spectrum sensing, the
droplet in laser-enhanced GMAW will be
controlled at any desired size under any
desired welding current.
Conclusions
The experimental system was set up,
and a series of experiments was con-
ducted. Free flight metal transfer was ob-
tained with a welding current under a tran-
sition current.
The dynamic balance force theory
could be used to explain the detaching
phenomenon in laser-enhanced GMAW.
The gravitational force difference due to
the mass change when the laser was
adopted could be used to estimate the
laser recoil pressure force, and the result
had a reasonable accuracy.
A nonlinear model was set up for
laser-enhanced GMAW. Laser recoil pres-
sure force was combined into the detach-
ment criterion to determine the droplet
detaching.
The simulation results have enough
accuracy, and they agree with the experi-
ment results. It indicates that this nonlinear
model could be used for process control.
Acknowledgment
This work is funded by the National
Science Foundation under grant CMMI-
0825956 titled Control of Metal Transfer
at Given Arc Variables.
References
1. Huang, Y., and Zhang, Y. M. 2010. Laser-
enhanced GMAW. Welding Journal 89(9): 181-s
to 188-s.
2. Huang, Y., and Zhang, Y. M. 2011. Laser
enhanced metal transfer Part 1: System and
observations. Welding Journal 90(10): 183-s to
190-s.
3. Huang, Y., and Zhang, Y. M. 2011. Laser-
enhanced metal transfer Part II: Analysis
and influence factors. Welding Journal 90(11):
205-s to 210-s.
4. Semak, V., and Matsunawa, A. 1997. The
role of recoil pressure in energy balance during
laser materials processing. Journal of Physics D:
Applied Physics 30(18): 25412552.
5. Liu, J. H., and Hu, W. Q. 1999. Analysis
of forces on the weld pool and weld appearance
during CO
2
laser welding of A3 steels. Progress
in Lasers and Optoelectronics 9: 141144.
6. Smartt, H. B., and Einerson, C. J. 1993. A
model for heat and mass input control in gas
metal arc welding. Welding Journal 72(5):
217229.
7. Henderson, D. E., Kokotovic, P. V., Schi-
ano, J. L., and Rhode, D. S. 1993. Adaptive con-
trol of an arc welding process. IEEE Control
Systems Magazine: 4953.
8. Walcott, B. L., Zhang, Y. M., and Liguo,
E. 2002. Robust control of pulsed gas metal arc
welding. Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measure-
ment and Control 124(2): 281289.
9. Ebrahimirad, H., Ashari, A. E., Jalili-
Kharaajoo, H., and Gholampour, V. 2003. Ro-
bust nonlinear control of current and arc length
in GMAW systems. Proc. Conference on Control
Applications 2: 13131316.
10. Naidu, D. S., Moore, K. L., and Abdel-
rahman, M. A. 1999. Gas metal arc welding con-
trol: Part 2 Control strategy. Nonlinear
Analysis 35: 8593.
11. Naidu, D. S., Moore, K. L., Yender, R.,
and Tyler, J. 1997. Gas metal arc welding control:
Part 1 Modeling and analysis. Nonlinear Analy-
sis, Methods and Applications 30(5): 31013111.
12. OBrien, R. L., ed. 1991. Welding
processes. Welding Handbook, Vol. 2, 8th edi-
tion. Miami, Fla.: American Welding Society.
13. Watkins, A. D., Smartt, H. B., and John-
son, J. A. 1992. A dynamic model of droplet
growth and detachment in GMAW. Interna-
tional Trends in Welding Science and Technology.
Gatlinburg, Tenn. pp. 993997.
14. Kim, Y-S., and Eagar, T. W. 1993. Analy-
sis of metal transfer in gas metal arc welding.
15. Lancaster, J. F. 1984. The Physics of
Welding. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
16. Choi, J. H., Lee, J., and Yoo, C. D. 2001.
Dynamic force balance model for metal trans-
fer analysis in arc welding. Journal of Physics D:
Applied Physics 34: 26582664.
17. Thomsen, J. S. 2005. Advanced control
methods for optimization of arc welding. PhD
dissertation, Aalborg University.
18. Thomsen, J. S. 2006. Control of pulsed
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Modelling, Identification, and Control 1(2):
115125.
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Call for Papers
You are invited to submit papers for the 17th JOM International Conference on the Joining of Ma-
terials to be held May 58, 2013, at Konventum Lo Skolen, Helsingr, Denmark.
The conference program will cover all aspects of developments in joining and material technol-
ogy but papers are especially invited on the following topics:
Recent developments in joining technology: welding, soldering, brazing,
Advances in materials, metallurgy, and weldability
Mathematical modeling and simulation
Process monitoring, sensors, control.
Structural integrity and inspection
Applications with relevance to industry needs, automotive, oil & gas, power generation,
New developments in conservation, energy efficiency, and alternative energy resources
Weld quality, structural properties, and environmental considerations
Education, training, Qualification and Certification of welding personnel
Submit your name, address, and title of your presentation, along with a short abstract by Novem-
ber 2, 2012, to Osama Al-Erhayem, JOM, Gilleleje Strandvej 28, DK-3250 Gilleleje, Denmark, or
e-mail to jom_aws@post10.tele.dk.
Introduction
A durability assessment of a weld joint
needs the knowledge of residual stresses
and distortion (Ref. 1). Thermal cycle his-
tory during welding is a necessary input for
simulation of residual stresses. Many in-
vestigators have studied heat flow during
arc welding analytically, numerically, and
experimentally (Refs. 26). Analytical
methods developed are capable of com-
puting temperature distribution with rea-
sonable accuracy. An approximate
analytical solution for plate with finite
thickness using Greens function and ef-
fective heat source to compensate for
Neumann boundary condition (Ref. 2) has
provided a very efficient tool to quickly
simulate the transient thermal cycle dur-
ing welding. This closed form solution has
a distinct advantage over a finite element
procedure and doesnt need a tedious pro-
cedure of modeling and discretization to
be followed. This solution can be extended
to multipass welding using the principle of
superposition; however, a closed form so-
lution considering convection and radia-
tion heat losses is very difficult to achieve.
Neglecting convection and radiation heat
loss for the weld pool gives relatively high
peak temperature values.
Numerical techniques such as the finite
element method are used increasingly by
researchers particularly for complex weld
geometries but this requires tuning or
calibration of the heat source to get a so-
lution with acceptable accuracy. In the
present research work, a method to extend
an approximate analytical solution for
multipass welding is proposed and a tem-
perature correction term is derived to ac-
count for convection and radiation heat
loss from the weld. The authors have ver-
ified the proposed analytical solution ex-
perimentally and also with finite element
simulation results obtained from
ABAQUS to an acceptable accuracy of
90% for the problem being investigated.
Temperature Rise for Volume Heat Source
in Finite Body
The temperature rise during period t-
t for volume heat source in a finite body is
given by
G
fin
in Equation 1 is Greens function for
a point heat source in the finite body that
satisfies the Neumann boundary condition
of zero heat density (T/n = 0, where n is
the normal direction) across its boundary
surfaces (Ref. 7). Finding an analytical so-
lution for G
fin
would be almost an impos-
sible task. An alternate approximate
approach to compensate for the Neumann
boundary condition when dealing with a fi-
nite body has been proposed by re-
searchers (Ref. 2). In this approach, the
same Greens function for the point
source in an infinite body is used, but the
heat source in an infinite body is replaced
by the effective heat source Q
eff
(x', y', x', t')
in the finite body. The effective heat
source produces the same amount of heat
input into the finite body as the original
heat source would in an infinite body.
Using this approach, an approximate tem-
perature field in a finite body subjected to
volume heat is estimated by Equation 2.
The effective heat source Q
eff
(x', y', x',
t') in the finite body approximately com-
pensates for the Neumann boundary con-
dition when dealing with a finite body,
which enables the use of the same Greens
function for the point source in an infinite
body.
Modeling Multipass Welding
The modeling of multipass welding is
more complex and difficult than single-
pass welding due to repeated phase
T x y z t T
Q x y z t
G
t
t
v
fi
c
, , ,
', ', ', '
'
( )
=

0
( )
nn
x y z t x y z t dxdydz dt , , , ; , , ,
( )
(1)
T x y z t T
Q x y z t
G
t
t
V
c
, , ,
', ', ', '
'
inf
( )
=

0
( )
xx y z t x y z t dxdydz dt , , , ; , , ,
( )
(2)
Analysis of Thermal Cycle during
Multipass Arc Welding
A new method is proposed to account for convection and radiation heat losses
from the surface during simulation of multipass welding thermal cycle
BY C. S. PATHAK, L. G. NAVALE, A. D. SAHASRABUDHE, AND M. J. RATHOD
KEYWORDS
Gas Tungsten Arc Welding
Weld Process Simulation
Approximate Analytical
Solution
Finite Element Method
C. S. PATHAK, (cspathak.scoe@sinhgad.edu) is
with Sinhgad College of Engineering, Pune, India.
L. G. NAVALE is associated with MES COE,
Pune, India. A. D. SHASRABUDHE and M. J.
RATHOD are associated with CoE, Pune, India.
ABSTRACT
Convection and radiation heat loss from the plate surface during multipass gas tung-
sten arc welding (GTAW) plays a very important role in deciding peak temperature.
The heat losses from the surface can be efficiently incorporated in finite element for-
mulation, but it is very difficult to derive an analytical expression for the same. A new
method is proposed to account for convection and radiation heat losses from the sur-
face during simulation of a multipass welding thermal cycle. The proposed method finds
the temperature correction term for temperature distribution estimated using conduc-
tion solution. Simulation results of an approximate analytical solution are compared
with experimental and finite element simulation results. Heat loss at thermocouple-
plate junction due to contact conductance resistance induces error in temperature meas-
urement. The temperature drop due to this effect at the thermocouple junction is
compensated by considering this loss.
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changes and annealing. Approximate an-
alytical solution for multipass welding is
not yet reported. It is proposed in the pres-
ent research work to use a method of su-
perposition in time domain and changing
absolute time with differential time in
Equation 2. Thus, the time corresponds to
the sum of welding and waiting time prior
to beginning of the succeeding pass. Vari-
ation in the amount of heat input in each
pass is taken into account. Dwell time is
accounted by converting real heat source
at the end of the weld run, to fictitious
zero value heat source traveling beyond
the plate length.
To include the effect of variable ther-
mal properties in an analytical expression
is a very complex and difficult task. There-
fore for better accuracy, temperature-
dependent thermal properties of the work-
piece were updated while solving the inte-
gral part of Equation 2 using the
numerical method.
Engineering Approach to Account for Heat
Loss to Surrounding Surface
Heat loss occurs from the material sur-
face during welding by both convection
and radiation. It is proposed to find a com-
bined heat transfer coefficient to take into
account the convection and radiation heat
loss. The surface heat flux due to this is
then found using the combined heat trans-
fer coefficient. As an inverse problem, it is
assumed that an instantaneous plane heat
source equal to heat loss is acting, and
temperature distribution due to this is cal-
culated and then subtracted from the ear-
lier calculated temperature field.
Temperature correction done using this
approach effectively compensates for con-
vection and radiation heat loss from the
boundary. An empirical relationship pro-
posed by Vinokurov, h
eff
= 24.1 10
4
T
1.61
, is used quite frequently by many re-
searchers (Refs. 6, 8, 9) to account for the
combined effects of radiation and convec-
tion. Researchers (Ref. 10) have used sim-
plified equations and terms for convection
and radiation loss for infinitely thin plate.
However, estimation of quantum of heat
loss due to convection and radiation from
the weld plate surface has not been re-
ported. In the present research work, the
following procedure is adopted to find a
combined temperature-dependent con-
vective and radiation heat transfer coeffi-
cient. Convective heat transfer coefficient
is estimated using Equation 3 (Ref. 11).
(3)
Where, Nu is Nusselt number, k
air
is ther-
mal conductivity of air, and L
c
is charac-
teristic length. Heat loss due to radiation is
accounted for by calculating the equiva-
lent heat transfer coefficient h
rad
using
Equation 4.
(4)
Where is emissivity of body surface, is
Stefan Boltzmann constant, T
s
is plate sur-
face temperature, and T
a
is atmospheric
temperature. This definition of the radia-
tion heat transfer coefficient is analogous
to convection in terms of a temperature
difference (Ref. 11). Effective heat trans-
fer coefficient considering combined con-
vection and radiation is calculated using
Equation 5.
(5)
Figure 1 shows the comparison be-
h
Nu k
L
air
c
=
h T T T T
rad s a s a
= +
+
( )
2 2
h h h
eff rad
= +
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Fig. 1 Variation of combined heat loss coefficient with surface tempera-
ture.
Fig. 2 Weldment specimen drawing.
Fig. 3 Simulated transient temperature time plot from code SANARC. Fig. 4 Finite element model of plate for thermal analysis.
tween Vinokurovs solution and the pro-
posed approach. The proposed method
gives higher values of h
eff
than calculated
from Vinokurovs solution, the difference
being 1020 up to 400C.
For heat liberated to the surrounding
area from the surface, Q
a
is calculated
using Equation 6.
(6)
where A = area from which heat is being
liberated to the surrounding area (as-
sumed to be 5% of the total area). The re-
quired temperature correction, T
c
, to
compensate for convection and radiation
heat losses is calculated using Equation 7
(Ref. 7).
(7)
Where is thermal diffusivity, x' = x vt is
dimension in moving coordinate system,
and t is time. It should be noted that one-
dimensional heat flow is assumed in the
above expression, which is quite realistic
for instantaneous plane heat source. Fi-
nally, the corrected temperature field is
calculated as
T(x,y,z,t) = T(x,y,z,t) T
c
(z,t) (8)
The computer program SANARC was
developed to calculate the integral expres-
sion in Equation 2 using Gauss quadrature
numerical technique for the double semi-
ellipsoidal distributed heat source during
multipass welding. For the same discretized
time interval, temperature correction term
for convective and radiation heat losses was
calculated using Equation 7, and the tem-
perature field was accordingly updated. The
result of program SANARC developed to
account for convection and radiation losses
using an engineering ap-
proach was later compared
with finite element simulation
results obtained from the pro-
gram ABAQUS and with an
experimentally measured
thermal cycle.
Case Study Welding of Du-
plex Stainless Steel Plates
Duplex stainless steel has good weld-
ability, and it can be easily welded by both
manual and automatic gas tunsten arc weld-
ing (GTAW), gas metal arc welding
(GMAW), plasma arc welding (PAW),
shielded metal arc welding (SMAW) with
covered electrodes, flux cored arc welding
(FCAW), and submerged arc welding
(SAW). Although weldability of duplex
stainless steel is good, an important precau-
tion is to limit as much as possible the hold-
ing time at an intermediate temperature
between 300 and 980C. Low thermal ex-
pansion in duplex grades reduces distortion
and residual stresses after welding. The so-
lidification of the duplex alloy is not prone
to hot cracking due to low impurity levels;
however, it may occur under high-restraint
conditions (Ref. 12). The weldment speci-
men was prepared as per the drawing shown
in Fig. 2.
Modeling Considerations
1) A combined convection and radia-
tion boundary condition as calculated
from Equation 5 is used on the top surface
and = 0.9 was assumed.
2) No forced convection was assumed,
and the effect of gas diffusion in the weld
pool was not considered.
3) Neumann boundary condition was as-
sumed during calculation of initial (uncor-
rected) temperature field.
4)Welding speed was assumed con-
stant.
Welding Parameters
The geometric parameters for a double
ellipsoidal heat source used in simulation
are listed in Table 1. The parameters men-
tioned in Table 1 are in meters and based
on the specimen geometry and a weaving
Q h A Ts Ta
a
eff
=
( ) .
T
Q
t
e
c
a
x x
t
=

( )
2
2
4

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Table 1 Double Ellipsoidal Geometry
Parameters
Pass a
h
b
h
c
hf
c
hb
1 0.001 0.002 0.012 0.02
2 0.002 0.002 0.012 0.02
3 0.003 0.002 0.01 0.02
4 0.0045 0.003 0.01 0.02
5 0.006 0.003 0.01 0.02
Table 2 Welding Parameters
Pass Interpass Heat Input per
Dwell Unit Length
s (HI)
(a)
kJ/mm
1 6.322
2 13 6.438
3 646 7.835
4 97 8.932
5 72 7.145
Total 36.672
Avg. 7.335
(a) efficiency is not considered.
Fig. 5 Simulated transient temperature-time plot from FE code ABAQUS.
Fig. 6 Foam block support to thermocouple.
pattern adopted while welding.
Interpass dwell time and heat input
used during experimental investigations
(Table 2) were used as an input for simu-
lation. Higher interpass dwell time after
the second pass was used to minimize the
effect of repeated heat exposures during
multipass welding.
Material Properties
Material data, which change during a weld
thermal cycle and during phase transforma-
tions, are usually missing (Ref. 13) and are
one of the major fac-
tors for inaccuracies in
simulation (Ref. 14).
Researchers (Refs.
1517) have studied the
effect of variable mate-
rial properties on weld-
ing simulation. The
temperature-depen-
dent physical proper-
ties of duplex stainless
steel, as stated in Table
3, were used for the
simulation.
Sensor Location
The thermal cycle
was simulated for the
thermocouple loca-
tions mentioned in
Table 4. In this table, x is the distance from
the weld start position, and y is the dis-
tance from the weld center. These results
are from the simulation program SAN-
ARC as shown in Fig. 3.
The use and application of the pro-
posed analytical solution SANARC are
mentioned below.
1) Using simulated transient tempera-
ture data and cooling rates, the austenite-
ferrite phase balance can be estimated,
which is very useful information for the
dual-phase alloy.
2) Heat-affected zone width can be es-
timated from temperature data for various
combinations of net heat input and weld
torch travel speed, which will be useful in
deciding these parameters.
3) The temperature distribution ob-
tained will be useful to estimate the resid-
ual stresses and any consequent
degradation in the mechanical properties
of the welded joint.
Simulation of Welding Thermal
Cycle Using Finite Element
Method
The finite element method is the most
widely used simulation technique due to its
flexibility to adopt complex geometry and
boundary conditions. Finite element code
ABAQUS is used to simulate transient ther-
mal cycle during multipass welding.
ABAQUS has the capability to model solid
body heat conduction with general, temper-
ature-dependent conductivity; internal en-
ergy (including latent heat effects); and
quite general convection and radiation
boundary conditions. Energy is related to
temperature in terms of a specific heat, ne-
glecting coupling between mechanical and
thermal behavior. Latent heat effects at
phase changes are given separately in terms
of solidus and liquidus temperatures. When
latent heat is given, it is assumed to be in ad-
dition to the specific heat effect, and heat
conduction is assumed to be governed by
the Fourier law.
MAY 2012, VOL. 91 152-s
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Fig. 7 Temperature drop due to thermal contact resistance.
Fig. 8 Measured thermal cycle.
Table 3 Physical Properties of Duplex Stainless Steel
Temperature C 20 50 100 200 300
Density (kg/m
3
) 7805
Thermal conductivity 17 17 18 19 20
(W/m.K)
Specific heat J/kg C 450 450 500 530
Table 4 Thermocouple Location
Thermocouple x, mm y, mm
(channel)
1 35 9
2 70 13
3 85 30
4 20 25
5 50 23
6 30 20
Fig. 9 Comparison of simulated and measured thermal cycles.
The data acquisition system was started
before welding and a small time lag was
observed while recording temperature
data as a result of inherent limitations of
hardware, hence for comparing the re-
sults, simulated profiles were shifted ac-
cordingly to accommodate these effects. A
close match between simulated and exper-
imental transient welding thermal cycle
profile can be observed in Fig. 9 with a
peak temperature accuracy of over 90%.
The accuracy achieved can be considered
satisfactory given the complexity of the
problem and range of temperature.
Conclusions
An approximate analytical solution
as proposed by Nguyen et al. was extended
to simulate multipass welding using prin-
ciples of superposition and fictitious
source method. A procedure based on an
engineering approach was developed to
find temperature correction terms to ac-
count for convective and radiation heat
losses. The heat losses were accounted for
while solving the integral expression in
time domain. The proposed solution was
implemented by developing the computer
program SANARC, and marginal reduc-
tion in peak temperature was achieved.
The finite element code ABAQUS
was used to simulate a transient thermal
cycle with complex boundary conditions of
moving heat source and temperature-de-
pendent combined convective and radia-
tive heat transfer. Addition of filler metal
and latent heat effects were also consid-
ered in the program. Results obtained
from the finite element solution show
higher peak temperature than the approx-
imate analytical solution.
Transient temperatures were recorded
at the locations mentioned in Table 4 dur-
ing welding using modern and rugged in-
strumentation. The lower peak temperature
for the spring-loaded thermocouple was due
to an insufficient contact between the ther-
mocouple and the plate, which resulted in
some loss of heat due to contact resistance.
Preflow and postflow of argon gas be-
fore start of the weld pass and after com-
pletion of the weld pass significantly
reduced the interpass temperature and in-
terpass dwell time in the first two passes;
however, both dwell time and interpass
temperature increased marginally in the
last two or three passes.
The proposed solution SANARC is
computationally more efficient than the fi-
nite element method and does not require
the time-consuming process of discretiza-
tion of domain. It is also useful in more ac-
curate simulation of residual stresses and
microstructure at less computational cost.
Acknowledgments
The authors express their sincere
thanks to authorities of University of Pune
for research grant BCUD/578. The au-
thors are indebted to Mr. C. S. Kale of M/s
SHOEI Finishing Pvt. Ltd. for providing
facility and instrumentation to carry out
experimental work.
References
1. Dong, P., and Hong, J. K. 2001. Residual
stresses, notch stresses, and stress intensities at
welds: A unified assessment procedure with
self-consistency. Transactions SMiRT 16: 1773.
2. Nguyen, N. T., Ohta, A., Matsuoka, K.,
Suzuki, N., and Maeda, Y. 1999. Analytical so-
lution for transient temperature in semi-infinite
body subjected to 3D moving heat sources.
3. Murakawa, H., Minami, H., and Kato, T.
2001. Finite element simulation of seam weld-
ing process. Trans. JWRI 30 (1): 111117.
4. Murthy, Y. V. L. N., Venkata Rao, G., and
Krishna Iyer, P. 1996. Numerical simulation of
welding and quenching processes using tran-
sient thermal and thermo-elasto-plastic formu-
lations. Computers and Structures 60(1):
131154.
5. Lindgren, L. E. 2006. Numerical model-
ing of welding. Computer Methods in Applied
Mechanics and Engineering 195: 67106736.
6. Bonifaz, E. A. 2000. Finite element analy-
sis of heat flow in single-pass arc welds. Welding
Journal 78(8): 121-s to 125-s.
7. Carslaw, H. S., and Jaeger, J. C. 1959.
Conduction of Heat in Solids, Oxford University
Press, Cambridge, UK, pp. 374.
8. Frewin, M. R., and Scott, D. A. 1999. Fi-
nite element model of pulsed laser welding.
Welding Journal 78: 1522.
9. Fan, H. G., Tsai, H. L., and Na, S. J. 2001.
Heat transfer and fluid flow in a partially or
fully penetrated weld pool in gas tungsten arc
welding. International Journal of Heat and Mass
Transfer 44: pp. 417 428.
10. Wang, S., Goldak, J., Zhou, J., Tcher-
nov, S., and Downey, D. 2009. Simulation on
the thermal cycle of a welding process by
spacetime convectiondiffusion finite ele-
ment analysis. International Journal of Thermal
Sciences 48: 936947.
11. Cengel, Y. A. 2002. Heat Transfer: A
Practical Approach. McGraw-Hill Companies.
pp. 149.
12. Lippold, J. C., and Kotecki, D. J. 2005.
Welding Metallurgy and Weldability of Stainless
Steels. Wiley-Interscience.
13. Onsoien, M. I., Mhamdi, M., and Ak-
selsen, O. M. 2010. Residual stresses in weld
thermal cycle simulated specimens of X70
pipeline steel. Welding Journal 89: 127-s to 132-s.
14. Masubuchi, K. 1996. Prediction and con-
trol of residual stresses and distortion on
welded structures. Trans. JWRI 25(2): 5367.
15. Satonaka, S., Hari, K., and Matsumoto,
Y. 1993. Effects of material properties on tran-
sient response in GTA welding. Transactions of
Japan Welding Society 24(2): 6369.
16. Zhu, X. K., and Chao, Y. J. 2002. Effects
of temperature-dependent material properties
on welding simulation. Computers and Struc-
tures 80: 967976.
17. Little, G. H., and Kamtekar, A. G.
1998. The effect of thermal properties and
weld efficiency on transient temperatures dur-
ing welding. Computers and Structures 68:
157165.
18. Moran, M. J., Shapiro, H. N., Munson,
B. R., and DeWitt, D. P. 2003. Introduction to
Thermal Systems Engineering. John Wiley and
Sons, Inc., pp. 366.
MAY 2012, VOL. 91 154-s
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Introduction
Laser beam welding (LBW) is becoming
an important industrial technology, being
used in a great variety of processes due to its
low heat input, high welding speed, high
flexibility, high weld quality, and high pro-
duction rate (Refs. 15). LBW is also re-
ported elsewhere (Refs. 1, 58) to be diffi-
cult to implement to aluminum alloys
because of their high reflectivity (leading to
absorption of a small fraction of the incident
radiation), high thermal conductivity (pro-
voking a fast heat transfer in the welding
piece that limits the concentration of energy
in the weld pool), and low viscosity (re-
stricting the growth of the weld pool before
solidification).
Two laser welding regimes are reported
in the literature (Refs. 2, 9, 10), so-called
keyhole (or deep penetration) and conduc-
tion (limited to conduction). The former
mode requires the application of higher
power densities (typically above 10
6
W/cm
2
)
than the latter (below 10
6
W/cm
2
). Under
the keyhole regime, the high input energy
allows the obtaining of deep-penetration
joints, although it provokes high metal
evaporation. In contrast, the conduction
regime is a more stable process, as metal va-
porization is diminished due to the lower
input laser energy (Refs. 2, 10). Although
the conduction regime usually generates
limited penetration welds, its stability im-
proves the weld quality, offering an alterna-
tive joining mode for difficult-to-weld ma-
terials such as aluminum alloys.
Numerous studies dealing with laser
welding of aluminum alloys are presently
available (Refs. 4, 1118), though few of
them were performed under the conduction
regime (Refs. 1, 2, 8, 11, 19). High-power
CO
2
(Refs. 1316) and Nd:YAG (Refs. 4,
11, 12, 18) lasers were the most used equip-
ment for these applications. High-power
laser diode (HPDL) was employed in rela-
tively few works (Refs. 1, 2, 19), although it
offers a clear advantage: The absorption of
the HPDL wavelength by aluminum alloys
is higher than the CO
2
and Nd:YAG wave-
lengths (Ref. 20). Thus, the emission wave-
length of the HPDL (808 nm) provokes a
higher absorptivity in aluminum than the
longer wavelengths of Nd:YAG (1064 nm)
and CO
2
(10640 nm) lasers.
In the literature, rather low values of
weld penetration have been obtained in
aluminum alloys under the conduction
regime. Thus, complete penetration (1
mm) bead-on-plate and butt-joint welds of
5XXX and 6XXX aluminum alloys are
obtained with a HPDL (Ref. 19). Bead-
on-plate conduction welds of 5182 alu-
minum alloy of 1 mm thickness were also
obtained in Ref. 11 using a Nd:YAG laser.
More recently, higher penetration con-
duction butt joints have been reported by
the authors (Ref. 1), reaching penetration
values up to 3.0 mm in Alloy 5083 and 2.3
mm in Alloy 6082.
The great majority of the studies deal-
ing with laser welding of aluminum alloys
under the conduction regime are devoted
to investigating the influence of laser
process conditions on the weld properties.
However, much less numerous are papers
focused on the study of the weld geometry
(Refs. 1, 8, 11). Thus, a model has been de-
veloped to study the evaporation rate, fu-
sion zone geometry, and the composi-
tional changes in 5182 aluminum alloy,
showing a reasonable agreement with the
experimental results (Ref. 11). Addition-
ally, a three-dimensional numerical model
has been developed in Ref. 8 to analyze
laser welding of 5083 aluminum alloy, al-
lowing the authors to obtain the morphol-
ogy, velocity field, and temperature field
of the melted zone in steady state. The
predicted dimensions of the weld pool
agreed well with experimental results
(Ref. 8). A morphological study of 5083
and 6082 butt joints was performed in Ref.
1. The obtained depth values were fitted to
an equation that allows the estimation of
weld penetration from the input values of
laser power and welding speed.
The first objective of the present work
has been to study the possibility of obtain-
ing high-penetration welds of six alu-
minum alloys (1050, 2017, 2024, 5083,
6082, and 7075) with a HPDL under the
conduction regime. Although high weld-
ing depths have been previously reported
in 5083 and 6082 samples (Ref. 1), the ap-
plicability of HPDL to obtain high-pene-
tration welds in other aluminum alloys has
Weldability of Aluminum Alloys with
High-Power Diode Laser
Higher penetration than previously reported under the conduction regime
were obtained in welds of six aluminum alloys
BY J. M. SNCHEZ-AMAYA, Z. BOUKHA, M. R. AMAYA-VZQUEZ, AND F. J. BOTANA.
J. M. SNCHEZ-AMAYA (josemaria.sanchez
@titania.aero) is with Titania, Tests and Indus-
trial Projects, S.L. (Titania, Ensayos y Proyectos
Industriales S.L.), Cdiz, Spain. Z. BOUKHA,
M. R. AMAYA-VZQUEZ, and F. J. BOTANA
are with LABCYP, Department of Materials Sci-
ence, Metallurgy, and Inorganic Chemistry (De-
partamento de Ciencia de los Materiales e Inge-
niera Metalrgica y Qumica Inorgnica),
University of Cdiz, Cdiz, Spain.
ABSTRACT
In the present work, a high-
power diode laser has been em-
ployed to weld six aluminum alloys
(1050, 2017, 2024, 5083, 6082, and
7075) under conduction regime.
Controlling the experimental vari-
ables, butt joints with higher pene-
tration than those previously re-
ported in the literature for this
regime could be obtained, demon-
strating the weldability of all these
alloys with the employed methodol-
ogy. Afterward, the depths and
widths of the beads were fitted to a
simple mathematical equation pro-
posed by the authors. Taking into ac-
count the weld penetration values
and the susceptibility to solidifica-
tion cracking, the weldability order
was seen to be: 5083 > 7075 > 2017
= 2024 = 6082 > 1050. The magne-
sium content and, to a lower extent,
the zinc and silicon amount were ob-
served to improve the weldability of
the aluminum alloys.
KEYWORDS
Laser Beam Welding
Conduction Regime
Aluminum Alloys 1050, 2017,
2024, 5083, 6082, 7075
Experimental Fitting
High-Power Diode Laser
not yet been studied. The second objective
has been to analyze the fitting degree of a
simple mathematical expression proposed
by the authors to the experimental weld
depths obtained for the six aluminum al-
loys. The last aim has been to compare the
weldability of the six aluminum alloys, tak-
ing into account the alloying elements.
Material and Methods
Six aluminum alloys (1050, 2017, 2024,
5083, 6082, and 7075) were welded under
the conduction regime by means of a high-
power diode laser. The size of the
processed samples was 70 mm long and 14
mm wide. In a first part of the study in
which the influence of the experimental
variables were analyzed, butt joints were
generated on samples with the thickness in
which the sheet alloys were provided: 2
mm (1050, 2024, and 7075), 3 mm (5083),
and 4 mm (2017 and 6082). In a second
analysis in which the weldability of the dif-
ferent alloys was compared, bead-on-plate
welds were generated on samples of 70
14 2 mm
3
, the thickness of 5083, 2017,
and 6082 plates having been reduced to 2
mm. The compositions of these alloys are
included in Table 1. All samples were
sandblasted with corindon particles to
promote laser absorption (Refs. 1, 2). Ac-
cording to recent measurements per-
formed in our laboratory, this superficial
treatment lead to absorptivity values
around 50% in 5083 samples. In addition
to improving the laser absorption, the ap-
plication of sandblasting as previous su-
perficial treatments leads to low magne-
sium evaporation in the welds obtained
under the conduction regime (Ref. 2).
Thus, while other superficial treatments,
such as the application of dark coatings,
generate weld beads with magnesium lost
up to 4%, sandblasting limits this evapo-
ration up to 1%, leading consequently to
improvements on the corrosion behavior
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Fig. 1 Laser equipment and mobile X-Y table.
Table 1 Chemical Compositions of Aluminum Alloys (wt-%)
Element
Si Fe Cu Mn Mg Zn Cr Ti Ga V Al
1050-T0 0.13 0.32 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.02 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 99.50
2017-T3 0.62 0.51 3.83 0.59 0.53 0.10 0.01 0.03 <0.01 <0.01 93.70
2024-T3 0.10 0.22 4.11 0.56 1.34 0.13 0.01 0.01 0.01 <0.01 93.49
5083-T0 0.10 0.30 0.02 0.50 4.22 <0.01 0.08 0.02 0.01 0.01 94.73
6082-T6 1.03 0.34 0.06 0.57 0.87 0.01 0.01 0.03 0.01 <0.01 97.04
7075-T6 0.06 0.16 1.25 0.08 2.32 5.47 0.20 0.01 0.01 0.01 90.41
Fig. 2 Examples of metallographic images (30) of butt-joint weld beads in aluminum alloys, ob-
tained with the indicated laser power and welding rate conditions.
Table 2 Laser Power (P) and Welding Speed (v) Conditions to Obtain Butt Joints
on Aluminum Alloy Samples
Aluminum Alloys P/kW v/mms
-1
1050 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 2.75 (5), 8.3, 13.3, 16.6, 25
2017 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 2.75 5, 8.3, 16.6, 25
2024 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 2.75 (5), (8.3), 13.3, 16.6, 25
5083 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 2.75 5, 8.3, 16.6, 25, 50, 75, 100
6082 2, 2.5, and 2.75 3.3, 5, 8.3, 16.6, (50), (83)
7075 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 2.75 (8.3), 16.6, 25, 33.3
MAY 2012, VOL. 91
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of the melted zone (Ref. 2).
A high-power diode laser, Rofin Model
DL028S, with a maximum power of 2.8 kW,
was employed to weld the aluminum alloy
samples. Figure 1 includes an image of the
laser equipment and the mobile X-Y table,
whose movement was controlled by Visual
Setup software. The laser beam conditions
were the same as reported in Ref. 1. Thus,
the surface samples were kept at the focal
position (spot size on surface is 2.2 1.7
mm), working the laser source in continu-
ous mode. The laser treatment always con-
sisted of one single linear scan of 60 mm,
performed at the interface between the pair
of samples to be welded (in butt joining) or
at the center of a single sample (in bead-on-
plate welding). In order to concentrate the
laser energy, the welding direction was the
X axis, the configuration providing a lower
width (1.7 mm) of the linear laser source.
Nitrogen was always employed as the
shielding gas, at a flow rate of 15 NL/min,
avoiding the oxide formation in aluminum
alloy welds (Refs. 5, 7). Although argon is
more commonly used as the shielding gas
for LBW of aluminum alloys (because it
minimizes the formation of gas porosity),
nitrogen has been employed in this research
because it was considered interesting to test
a cheaper shielding gas, taking into account
that LBW was performed under conduction
mode. This regime leads to highly stable
weld pools, and therefore produces welds
with lower porosity than those generated
under keyhole regime (Ref. 1).
The laser power (P) and welding speed
(v) employed to obtain the butt joints of
each alloy are detailed in Table 2. As can be
seen, Pranged between 1.5 and 2.75 kW and
v between 0.2 and 6 m/min (3.3 and 100
mm/s), the low and upper limits of both vari-
ables having been determined experimen-
tally. Thus, the fluences of these laser treat-
ments ranged between 0.9 kJcm
2
(for P =
2 kW and v = 100 mm/s) and 37.5 kJcm
2
(for P= 2.75 kW and v = 3.3 mm/s). The in-
ferior limits (the less energetic condition,
with low P and high v) of each alloy were
those leading to weak welds. Lower aggres-
sive conditions than this lower limit were
discarded, as the input energy was not high
enough to generate and stabilize a weld
pool leading to the joint. On the other hand,
the upper limits (high P and low v) were
those provoking complete-joint-penetra-
tion welds. The welding speed values lead-
ing to both lowest and highest energetic
conditions have been marked between
brackets in Table 2.
The bead-on-plate laser treatments
were performed at two rates: 16.6 and 33.3
mm/s, keeping invariable the rest of the ex-
perimental conditions (sandblasted sam-
ples, P = 2 kW, 15 L/min N
2
, etc.). These
treatments correspond to laser fluences of
5.5 and 2.7 kJcm
2
, respectively.
The depth and width of butt-joint and
AA1050
P (kW) v (mm/s) d/w
1.5 5.00 2.00/4.98
1.5 8.33 1.36/3.19
1.5 13.33 0.99/2.83
1.5 16.67 0.73/2.52
2 8.33 1.71/3.65
2 13.33 1.02/2.84
2 16.67 0.99/2.90
2 25.00 0.99/2.86
2.5 8.33 2.00/3.69
2.5 13.33 1.30/3.26
2.5 16.67 1.20/3.12
2.5 25.00 1.05/2.86
2.75 13.33 1.31/3.52
2.75 16.67 1.23/3.21
2.75 25.00 1.12/2.90
AA2017
P (kW) v (mm/s) d/w
1.5 5.00 1.33/3.69
1.5 8.33 1.13/3.14
1.5 16.67 0.82/2.66
2 5.00 1.49/4.18
2 8.33 1.22/3.47
2 16.67 0.95/2.97
2.5 5.00 1.70/4.50
2.5 8.33 1.32/3.84
2.5 16.67 1.05/3.07
2.5 25.00 0.87/2.98
2.75 5.00 1.72/4.70
2.75 8.33 1.30/3.85
2.75 16.67 1.11/3.33
2.75 25.00 0.97/3.11
AA2024
P (kW) v (mm/s) d/w
1.5 5.00 2.00/4.76
1.5 8.33 1.99/3.62
1.5 13.33 1.31/3.01
1.5 16.67 1.25/2.93
2.0 5.00 2.00/5.70
2.0 8.33 2.00/4.11
2.0 13.33 1.68/3.46
2.0 16.67 1.40/3.23
2.0 25.00 1.32/2.89
2.5 5.00 2.00/6.46
2.5 8.33 2.00/4.42
2.5 13.33 2.00/3.75
2.5 16.67 1.53/3.50
2.5 25.00 1.46/3.11
2.75 5.00 2.00/6.52
2.75 8.33 2.00/4.63
2.75 13.33 2.00/3.95
2.75 16.67 1.59/3.58
2.75 25.00 1.34/3.13
AA5083
P (kW) v (mm/s) d/w
1.5 5.00 1.93/4.09
1.5 8.33 1.36/3.66
1.5 16.67 1.10/2.94
1.5 25.00 0.91/2.65
1.5 50.00 0.71/2.31
2 5.00 2.38/4.67
2 8.33 1.62/3.92
2 16.67 1.16/3.18
2 25.00 1.00/2.88
2 50 0.73/2.52
2 75 0.72/2.34
2 100 0.80/2.34
2.5 5 2.72/5.34
2.5 8.33 1.85/4.41
2.5 16.67 1.20/3.42
2.5 25 1.09/3.11
2.5 50 0.79/2.67
2.5 75 0.70/2.49
2.5 100 0.84/2.48
2.75 5 3.00/5.90
2.75 8.33 2.08/4.70
2.75 16.67 1.29/3.60
2.75 25 1.13/3.25
2.75 50 0.84/2.76
2.75 75 0.87/2.60
2.75 100 0.94/2.58
AA6082
P (kW) v (mm/s) d/w
2 3.33 1.85/4.09
2 5 1.20/3.21
2 8.33 1.11/2.99
2 16.67 0.83/2.52
2 50 0.70/2.26
2 83.35 0.54/1.94
2.5 3.33 2.11/4.67
2.5 5 1.45/3.82
2.5 8.33 1.20/3.31
2.5 16.67 0.91/2.88
2.5 50 0.72/2.39
2.5 83.35 0.56/2.11
2.75 3.33 2.29/5.07
2.75 5 1.54/3.89
2.75 8.33 1.20/3.39
2.75 16.67 0.96/2.92
2.75 50 0.83/2.56
2.75 83.35 0.70/2.12
AA7075
P (kW) v (mm/s) d/w
1.5 8.33 2/4.41
1.5 16.67 1.45/3.32
1.5 25 1.15/2.90
2 8.33 2.00/5.00
2 16.67 1.66/3.65
2 25 1.21/3.13
2 33.33 1.09/2.94
2.5 8.33 2.00/5.35
2.5 16.67 2.00/4.18
2.5 25 1.43/3.38
2.5 33.33 1.21/3.1
2.75 8.33 2.00/5.40
2.75 16.67 2.00/4.27
2.75 25 1.46/3.52
2.75 33.33 1.18/3.19
Table 3 Width (w) and Depth (d) Values of Butt Joints of the Six Aluminum Alloys, in Function
of the Laser Power (P) and the Welding Speed (v)
WELDING JOURNAL
bead-on-plate welds were measured from
metallographic images of the bead cross-
sections, after cutting, mounting, polishing,
and etching (with Keller) the welds. Each
weld condition (alloy-P-v) was performed at
least in triplicate to ensure accuracy of the
results. Thus, the depth-width pairs of data
reported here are the mean of at least three
values.
Results and Discussion
Influence of Laser Power and Processing
Rate on Weld Morphology
Metallographic images at 30 of cross
sections of some butt joints in aluminum
alloys have been included in Fig. 2. As can
be easily observed, the morphology of the
welds follows a semicircle shape, with a
depth/width ratio of up to 0.5, confirming
that the laser welding was performed
under a conduction regime.
The so-called welding percentage pa-
rameter was measured macroscopically in
each weld. This parameter depicts the ratio
between the length of the welded interface
and the length of the interface exposed to
the laser beam (Ref. 1). Thus, the welding
percentage can range between 0%, when
no joint is achieved, and 100%, when the
specimens are totally welded. The welding
percentage measurements are shown in
Fig. 3. Generally, in the six studied alloys,
the welding percentage decreases as the
input energy diminishes (lower P and
higher v). However, very high energies can
also lead to a decrease of this parameter, as
can be observed in the AA2024 welds ob-
tained at 5 mms
1
. These results show that
P and v conditions should be carefully opti-
mized for each alloy to obtain appropriate
welds. Note that the 5083 alloy could be
welded at higher welding speeds than the
others, although with low welding percent-
age values Fig. 3. According to the ob-
tained results, it can be stated that the six
aluminum alloys can be generally welded
with values of P between 1.5 and 2.75 kV
and v between 5 and 25 mms
1
. Under
these conditions, the welding percentages
are usually higher than 50%.
The width (w) and depth (d) values of
all welds obtained under the conditions in-
dicated in Table 2 have been included in
Table 3. From the overall data obtained, it
can be emphasised that high penetration
welds could be achieved under the con-
duction regime for the six aluminum al-
loys. Complete penetration was reached in
four alloys, 1050 (2 mm), 2024 (2 mm),
5083 (3 mm) and 7075 (2 mm). The higher
thickness of the other two alloys, 2017 and
6082 (4 mm), makes complete-joint-pene-
tration welding more difficult to achieve
under the conduction regime. A compari-
son of welds generated on samples with
the same thickness is carried out in the
next section.
Subsequently, the measured w and d
values were fitted to Equation 1, allowing
the estimation of a and b, constants for
each alloy. The results are shown in Table
4. The experimental conditions leading to
complete penetration (high energy) were
not taken into account to the data fitting
of Equation 1, as in these cases, the d/wre-
lationship deviates from its normal ten-
dency. Neither the low energetic condi-
tions giving to welding percentage values
lower than 60% were considered to the fit-
ting. Our studies have shown that d/w val-
ues are practically independent of P, being
mostly modulated by v. Thus, taking into
account the experimental relationship be-
tween the d/w values and v (Equation 2),
a and b constants were estimated. The
obtained a and b values are included in
Table 5. Finally, d values (in mm) were es-
timated taking into account the experi-
mental variables (P and v) and the calcu-
lated fitting constants (a, b, a, and b), as
indicated in Equation 3. Taking into ac-
count that the fittings provide positive a
values and negative b values in all cases, it
can be deducted that the lower are the ab-
solute values of both coefficients, the
deeper are the welds obtained. Similarly,
a and b are related to the weld shape, the
dependency of the d/w ratio on the weld-
ing speed (v) being modulated by b. Thus,
the higher are a and b for an alloy, the
narrower will be the welds generated.
The obtained penetration values of
welds obtained for the six aluminum alloys
under different P and v have been com-
pared with those values estimated from
Equation 3. These data have been jointly
plotted in Figs. 49. It can be confirmed
that, keeping invariable the experimental
conditions, the estimated values are very
similar to the experimental ones, proving
the validity of the proposed analytical
expression.
Weldability Order of Aluminum Alloys
From the obtained results in the previ-
P
v d
a
b
w
= + (1)
d w a
b
v
/ = +

(2)
d
P b b
a v
b a
a
=

(3)
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ous section, it can be easily appreciated that
under the same experimental conditions (P
and v), the weld depth values are different
for each alloy studied. As the thickness of
the samples is important in the conduction
regime, in order to compare the weldability
of the six alloys, different bead-on-plate
welds were generated on samples with the
same thickness (2 mm). The penetration
(d), d/w ratio, and the volume of fused ma-
terial (V
F
) were the parameters measured
to characterize the welds. It has been con-
sidered that the higher the values of d and
V
F
for a certain alloy, the higher its (laser)
weldability. Table 6 summarizes the ob-
tained results. It is clear that 5083 is the alloy
with the highest weldability (highest d and
V
F
values), followed by 7075. Thirdly, 2017,
2024, and 6083 show a lower weldability
than 5083 and 7075; these three alloys pre-
senting comparable values of the analyzed
parameters. Lastly, 1050 is the alloy pre-
senting the lowest weldability, showing the
welds with lowest values of d and V
F
. This
weldability order of aluminum alloys is in
good agreement with earlier results ob-
tained by Martukanitz et al. (Refs. 2123),
in which CO
2
and Nd:YAG lasers were em-
ployed to weld different aluminum alloys
under the keyhole regime.
Weld cracking of aluminum alloys has to
be taken into account in LBW because of
their relatively high thermal expansion,
large change in volume upon solidification,
and wide solidification temperature range
(Ref. 22). The susceptibility to cracking so-
lidification was seen to be different for the
studied aluminum alloys: 5083 is the alloy
presenting the lowest cracking susceptibil-
ity, followed by 7075. Aluminum Alloys
Fig. 4 Measured and estimated penetration values (d) of 1050 butt joints,
in function of the processing rate (v) and the laser power (P).
Table 4 a and b Values Estimated from Equation 1
Alloy a (kJmm
-2
) b (kJmm
-1
) R
2
1050 0.2535 -0.391 0.3767
2017 0.6106 -1.4377 0.9312
2024 0.238 -0.4944 0.7641
5083 0.3043 -0.647 0.9694
6082 0.4900 -0.716 0.9002
7075 0.1547 -0.2889 0.7792
Table 5 a and b Values Estimated from Equation 2
Alloy a b (mm
-
sec
-1
) R
2
1050 0.3133 0.8910 0.5464
2017 0.3010 0.3398 0.7578
2024 0.4413 0.0947 0.0044
5083 0.3030 0.9636 0.8910
6082 0.2934 0.5123 0.9218
7075 0.3131 2.2323 0.7986
WELDING JOURNAL
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2017, 2024, 6082, and 1050 presented higher
cracking susceptibility, their weld beads
showing similar levels of solidification
cracks. This different susceptibility to solid-
ification cracking can also be quantified tak-
ing into account the lower limit of the laser
fluence above which welds free of cracks are
generated for each alloy. It has been exper-
imentally observed that under low fluence
LBW treatments, the low-penetration
welds generated suffered from cracking, the
low energy applied not being able to stabi-
lize the weld pool and generate the joint. In-
terestingly, the lower limit of the laser flu-
ence above which the welds (without
cracks) become stable was different for
each alloy, basically depending on the dif-
ferent susceptibility to the solidification
cracking of the alloys. According to Table 3,
the minimum laser fluence to obtain welds
with welding percentages higher than 80%
is 5.5 kJcm
2
for AA1050 (2 kW and 16
mm/s), 5.5 kJcm
2
for AA2017 (2 kW and
16 mm/s), 5.5 kJcm
2
for AA2024 (2 kW
and 16 mm/s), 1.1 kJcm
2
for AA5083 (2.5
kW and 100 mm/s), 5.5 kJcm
2
for AA6082
(2 kW and 16 mm/s), and 2.7 kJcm
2
for
AA7075 (2 kW and 33 mm/s). These mini-
mum laser fluence values are observed to
reveal the relative susceptibility to solidifi-
cation cracking of the different alloys (from
lowest to highest susceptibility: 5083 > 7075
> 2017 = 2024 = 6082 = 1050). These re-
sults are in good agreement with the ob-
tained data regarding the weld penetration
ability, allowing the authors to establish the
following weldability order: 5083 > 7075 >
2017 = 2024 = 6082 > 1050.
The data included in Tables 1 and 6 allow
the authors to analyze the relative influence
of alloying elements on the weldability of
aluminum alloys under the conduction
regime. Thus, according to these results, the
magnesium content is seen to be the most
influencing element, being the main com-
positional factor controlling the different
bead weld penetration of aluminum alloys.
Thus, the alloy with highest content of this
element (5083) is the one with highest weld-
ability. The following alloy in weldability is
the 7075, the one presenting the second-
highest magnesium content. These argu-
ments agree with those reported in the re-
cent literature, in which the magnesium
content is also indicated to improve the
laser weldability, as it stabilizes the weld
pool and improves the absorption of laser
energy (Refs. 1, 5). This element is also
claimed to decrease the thermal diffusivity
and conductivity of the aluminum alloys
limiting the heat conduction, and conse-
quently, allowing the concentration of en-
ergy in the weld pool (Refs. 5, 24, 25). In this
context, the thermal conductivity has been
previously reported (Refs. 2, 2628) to be a
key physical property affecting the weld-
ability of aluminum alloys under the con-
duction regime, providing their relatively
high values in comparison with other alloys.
It is also indicated in Ref. 5 that Mg in
5XXX series alloys increases the bead pen-
etration under keyhole welding, as a conse-
quence of the keyhole stabilization and the
decrease of the threshold power density, as
a consequence of their high vapor pres-
sures. It is, therefore, clear that magnesium
is a very active element, decreasing the sur-
face tension of the molten metal and en-
hancing the melting efficiency (Ref. 5).
Other volatile elements, such as zinc in
7XXX series alloys, have been claimed in
the literature to increase the bead pene-
tration in laser welding (Ref. 29). Thus,
this alloying element is indicated to im-
prove the weldability of aluminum alloys
under keyhole regime (Ref. 25). Zinc con-
tent generally decreases both the thermal
conductivity and the melting temperature
of aluminum. The results obtained in the
present work (Tables 1 and 6) indicate that
the weldability of aluminum alloys is less
influenced by this alloying element than by
magnesium. Thus, although Alloy 7075
has higher volatile compounds (7.79% of
Mg + Zn content) than Alloy 5083 (4.22%
of Mg + Zn content), it is Alloy 5083 that
has better weldability. This fact suggests
that the relatively high weldability of 7075
may be mainly attributed to the 2.32% Mg,
although the 5.47% of Zn can also con-
tribute at a lower extent.
The addition of silicon to aluminum is
also known to improve its weldability (Ref.
25), as it decreases the thermal conductiv-
ity, decreases the melting temperature, and
improves the fluidity (Ref. 30). The Si con-
tent is also claimed to decrease the thermal
conductivity of Al-Si diamond composites
and Al-Si matrix (Ref. 31). From the results
obtained in the present work, it is difficult
to state clear conclusions regarding the ef-
fect of silicon on the weldability of alu-
minum alloys. Even though taking into ac-
count the composition of the alloys with
similar weldability (2017, 2024, and 6082) in
Table 6 Depth/Width (d/w) and Fused Volume (V
F
) of Bead-on-Plate Welds Performed at Two
Processing Rates on the Six Aluminum Alloys
v (mm/s) v (mm/s)
16.6 33.3
Alloy d/w (mm/mm) V
F
(mm
3
) d/w (mm/mm) V
F
(mm
3
)
1050 1.10/2.61 135 0.52/2.00 49
2017 1.48/3.32 231 0.82/2.42 93
2024 1.45/3.07 210 0.96/2.62 118
5083 > 2/4.01 379 1.16/2.87 157
6082 1.48/3.14 219 0.79/2.42 90
7075 > 2/3.84 340 0.96/2.70 122
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Table 1, it is possible to establish that silicon
content moderately contributes to enhanc-
ing the weld penetration. Thus, 6082 and
2017 alloys have lower magnesium content
and higher silicon content than 2024. Pro-
viding that Alloys 6082, 2017, and 2024 pres-
ent similar weldability, it is deducted that
the lower magnesium content is compen-
sated with the higher silicon content. How-
ever, similar to the influence of the Zn con-
tent, Si seems to have a much lower effect
than magnesium on the weldability of alu-
minum alloys.
To sum up, the weldability order ob-
served in the six aluminum alloys has been
as follows: 5083 > 7075 > 2017 = 2024 =
6082 > 1050. The magnesium has been
seen to be the most influencing alloying el-
ement on improving the weldability of alu-
minum alloys. Zinc and silicon are also
seen to improve the weldability, although
the influence of these latter alloying ele-
ments seems to be lower than magnesium.
These elements are generally reported to
decrease the thermal conductivity and the
melting temperature, both effects being
beneficial for increasing the weldability.
Conclusions
In this work, six aluminum alloys (1050,
2017, 2024, 5083, 6082, and 7075) were
welded under the conduction regime
using a high-power laser diode. High-
penetration butt joints could be achieved
in each alloy when optimizing the experi-
mental conditions. In fact, welds of the six
alloys with higher penetration than those
previously reported under the conduction
regime have been obtained.
The depths and widths of the obtained
welds were fitted to a simple mathemati-
cal equation proposed by the authors. The
expression allowed the estimation of the
weld depth for each alloy under different
laser welding conditions, taking into ac-
count only the input values of laser power
and welding speed, providing a reasonable
fitting to the measured experimental pen-
etration values.
Finally, the weldability of the six alu-
minum alloys were compared, taking into
account the depth, shape, and fused volume
measured on bead-on-plate welds. The
weldability order, taking into account both
the weld penetration ability and the suscep-
tibility to solidification cracking, was seen to
be 5083 > 7075 > 2017 = 2024 = 6082 >
1050. The magnesium content is observed
to be the most influencing alloying element
on the weldability of aluminum alloys. Zinc
and silicon are also seen to improve the
weldability, although at a lower extent than
magnesium. These elements decrease the
thermal conductivity and the melting tem-
perature, increasing, therefore, the weld-
ability of aluminum alloys.
Acknowledgments
The present work has been financially sup-
ported by the Ministerio de Educacin y Ciencia
(project DELATIAL, Reference MAT2008-
06882-C04-02 and project LENTEC, Ref. PTQ-
09-01-00629) and by the Junta de Andaluca (pro-
ject SOLDATIA, Ref. TEP-6180). The authors
would like to thank students Xavier Bouchon and
Malys Le Coz, from cole polytechnique de
l'universit de Nantes for their active collabora-
tion on these projects.
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1999. Current issues and problems in laser
welding of automotive aluminum alloys. Int.
Mater. Rev. 44(6): 238266.
30. www.esabna.com/us/en/education/knowl-
edge/qa/. How and why alloying elements are
added to aluminum. By T. Anderson, ESAB,
2010.
31. Zhang, Y., Wang, X., and Wu, J. 2009.
International Conference on Electronic Packag-
ing Technology & High Density Packaging
(ICEPT-HDP), pp. 708712.
Friends and Colleagues:
I want to encourage you to submit nomination packages for those individuals whom you feel
have a history of accomplishments and contributions to our profession consistent with the standards
set by the existing Fellows. In particular, I would make a special request that you look to the most
senior members of your Section or District in considering members for nomination. In many cases,
the colleagues and peers of these individuals who are the most familiar with their contributions, and
who would normally nominate the candidate, are no longer with us. I want to be sure that we take
the extra effort required to make sure that those truly worthy are not overlooked because no obvious
individual was available to start the nomination process.
For specifics on the nomination requirements, please contact Wendy Sue Reeve at AWS
headquarters in Miami, or simply follow the instructions on the Fellow nomination form in this issue
of the Welding Journal. Please remember, we all benefit in the honoring of those who have made
major contributions to our chosen profession and livelihood. The deadline for submission is July 1,
2012. The Committee looks forward to receiving numerous Fellow nominations for 2013
consideration.
Sincerely,
Thomas M. Mustaleski
Chair, AWS Fellows Selection Committee
Fellow Description
DEFINITION AND HISTORY
The American Welding Society, in 1990, established the honor of Fellow of the Society to recognize members for
distinguished contributions to the field of welding science and technology, and for promoting and sustaining the professional
stature of the field. Election as a Fellow of the Society is based on the outstanding accomplishments and technical impact of the
individual. Such accomplishments will have advanced the science, technology and application of welding, as evidenced by:
Sustained service and performance in the advancement of welding science and technology
Publication of papers, articles and books which enhance knowledge of welding
Innovative development of welding technology
Society and chapter contributions
Professional recognition
RULES
1. Candidates shall have 10 years of membership in AWS
2. Candidates shall be nominated by any five members of the Society
3. Nominations shall be submitted on the official form available from AWS Headquarters
4. Nominations must be submitted to AWS Headquarters no later than July 1 of the year prior to that in
which the award is to be presented
5. Nominations will remain valid for three years
6. All information on nominees will be held in strict confidence
7. No more than two posthumous Fellows may be elected each year
NUMBER OF FELLOWS
Maximum of 10 Fellows selected each year.
AWS Fellow Application Guidelines
Nomination packages for AWS Fellow should clearly demonstrate the candidates outstanding contributions to the advance-
ment of welding science and technology. In order for the Fellows Selection Committee to fairly assess the candidates qualifica-
tions, the nomination package must list and clearly describe the candidates specific technical accomplishments, how they con-
tributed to the advancement of welding technology, and that these contributions were sustained. Essential in demonstrating the
candidates impact are the following (in approximate order of importance).
1. Description of significant technical advancements. This should be a brief summary of the candidates most
significant contributions to the advancement of welding science and technology.
2. Publications of books, papers, articles or other significant scholarly works that demonstrate the contributions cited
in (1). Where possible, papers and articles should be designated as to whether they were published in
peer-reviewed journals.
3. Inventions and patents.
4. Professional recognition including awards and honors from AWS and other professional societies.
5. Meaningful participation in technical committees. Indicate the number of years served on these committees and
any leadership roles (chair, vice-chair, subcommittee responsibilities, etc.).
6. Contributions to handbooks and standards.
7. Presentations made at technical conferences and section meetings.
8. Consultancy particularly as it impacts technology advancement.
9. Leadership at the technical society or corporate level, particularly as it impacts advancement of welding technology.
10. Participation on organizing committees for technical programming.
11. Advocacy support of the society and its technical advancement through institutional, political or other means.
Note: Application packages that do not support the candidate using the metrics listed above
will have a very low probability of success.
Supporting Letters
Letters of support from individuals knowledgeable of the candidate and his/her contributions are encouraged. These
letters should address the metrics listed above and provide personal insight into the contributions and stature of the
candidate. Letters of support that simply endorse the candidate will have little impact on the selection process.
Return completed Fellow nomination package to:
Wendy S. Reeve
Senior Manager
Award Programs and Administrative Support
Miami, FL 33126
Telephone: 800-443-9353, extension 293
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: July 1, 2012
(please type or print in black ink)
FELLOW NOMINATION FORM
DATE_________________NAME OF CANDIDATE________________________________________________________________________
AWS MEMBER NO.___________________________YEARS OF AWS MEMBERSHIP____________________________________________
HOME ADDRESS____________________________________________________________________________________________________
CITY_______________________________________________STATE________ZIP CODE__________PHONE________________________
PRESENT COMPANY/INSTITUTION AFFILIATION_______________________________________________________________________
TITLE/POSITION____________________________________________________________________________________________________
BUSINESS ADDRESS________________________________________________________________________________________________
CITY______________________________________________STATE________ZIP CODE__________PHONE_________________________
ACADEMIC BACKGROUND, AS APPLICABLE:
INSTITUTION______________________________________________________________________________________________________
MAJOR & MINOR__________________________________________________________________________________________________
DEGREES OR CERTIFICATES/YEAR____________________________________________________________________________________
LICENSED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER: YES_________NO__________ STATE______________________________________________
SIGNIFICANT WORK EXPERIENCE:
POSITION____________________________________________________________________________YEARS_______________________
POSITION____________________________________________________________________________YEARS_______________________
SUMMARIZE MAJOR CONTRIBUTIONS IN THESE POSITIONS:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
IT IS MANDATORY THAT A CITATION (50 TO 100 WORDS, USE SEPARATE SHEET) INDICATING WHY THE NOMINEE SHOULD BE
SELECTED AS AN AWS FELLOW ACCOMPANY NOMINATION PACKET. IF NOMINEE IS SELECTED, THIS STATEMENT MAY BE IN-
CORPORATED WITHIN THE CITATION CERTIFICATE.
SEE GUIDELINES ON REVERSE SIDE
SUBMITTED BY: PROPOSER_______________________________________________AWS Member No.___________________
Print Name___________________________________
The Proposer will serve as the contact if the Selection Committee requires further information. Signatures on this nominating form, or
supporting letters from each nominator, are required from four AWS members in addition to the Proposer. Signatures may be acquired
by photocopying the original and transmitting to each nominating member. Once the signatures are secured, the total package should
be submitted.
NOMINATING MEMBER:___________________________________NOMINATING MEMBER:___________________________________
Print Name___________________________________ Print Name___________________________________
AWS Member No.______________ AWS Member No.______________
NOMINATING MEMBER:___________________________________NOMINATING MEMBER:___________________________________
Print Name___________________________________ Print Name___________________________________
AWS Member No.______________ AWS Member No.______________
CLASS OF 201
SUBMISSION DEADLINE July 1, 2012
3

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