Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
I.
Introduction
I I.
Experimental
Bead on p l a t e welds were made on 19 mm thick Ti-6A1-4V extra low i n t e r s t i t i a l grade material. Electrodes of s i m i l a r composition of diameters
1.6 mm, 2.4 mm and 3.2 mm were used; however, i t was found t h a t the l a r g e s t
diameter electrode produced the most consistent r e s u l t s . The oxygen and
nitrogen contents of the base p l a t e were 0.12% and 0.012% respectively. In
the e l e c t r o d e s , t h e values were 0.08% oxygen and 0.008% nitrogen.
Although a number of d i f f e r e n t welding conditions were t e s t e d , the
majority of the welds were produced with DC electrode p o s i t i v e , 36 v o l t s ,
300 amperes, 15 mm electrode extension a t 30 cm/min travel speed. Several
welds were made with external argon shieldinq in order t o reduce atmospheric
contamination and hence t o measure the contamination produced by the f l u x
alone; however, most welds were made without external shielding.
Reagent grade chemicals were used t o produce the f l u x e s , most of which
were melted under vacuum o r i n e r t gas. llonetheless, several fused fluxes
were found t o be contaminated with several percent oxygen due t o adsorption
of water vapor on the s t a r t i n g material. I t was found t h a t high purity flux
could only be obtained from optical q u a l i t y c r y s t a l s which had been fused in
an atmosphere of HF o r HC1. The oxygen content of such flux i s believed t o
be l e s s than 50 ppm.
After melting, a l l fluxes were crushed and screened t o 60 t o 160pm
powder. Care was taken t o avoid contamination of the crushed powder with the
moisture in the atmosphere.
After welding, cores were machined from the center of the weld bead.
These samples were analyzed by i n e r t qas fusion f o r oxygen and by the Kjeldahl
method f o r nitrogen. The oxygen content of the fused fluxes was determined
from x-ray powder d i f f r a c t i o n i n t e n s i t i e s .
III., Results and Discussion
Over one hundred weld beads were produced f o r t h i s study; only a few of
which a r e presented in the following tables. Inspection of Table I reveals
much useful information concerning t h e chemical properties of several titanium
fluxes. Weld 1 , produced with optical q u a l i t y c r y s t a l s has an oxygen content
of 1000 ppm which does not d i f f e r from the base metal/electrode analysis;
however, t h i s weld i s contaminated with 500 ppm nitrogen. I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g
t o note t h a t although-atmospheric contamination i s present, as evidenced by
the elevated nitrogen in the weld deposit, the oxygen content of the weld bead
i s not increased. This r e s u l t has been reproduced with optical qua1 i t y CaF2
fluxes more than a dozen times. If the oxygen content of the flux i s raised
t o 1.2% CaO as in Weld 2 , the oxygen content of the weld metal i s increased
t o approximately 2800 ppm even i n t h e presence of atmospheric shielding, cf.
Weld 3. I t has been found in a l l welds t h a t the oxygen content of the deposit
made with CaF2-CaO fluxes i s d i r e c t l y proportional t o the amount of CaO
impurity in the flux. For example, x-ray analysis of the slag from Weld 6
revealed t h a t 1.6% CaO was present. Use of argon shieldinu reduces the oxidation of the f r e e calcium i n the f l u x , as seen by comparing Helds 7 and 8 ;
thereby reducing the oxygen content of the metal deposit. The oxygen level
of the deposits made with pure CaF2 appears t o be independent of the amount of
atmospheric contamination. The atmospheric contamination may be estimated
from the nitrogen content of the weld deposits.
meters provided no s i g n i f i c a n t improvement in t h i s a r e a ; however, the improvements in bead shape with a d d i t i o n of chlorides t o t h e f l u x or with f l u x reuse
suggest t h a t f u r t h e r improvements a r e possible. There i s l i t t l e doubt t h a t
Soviet i n v e s t i g a t o r s may be capable of producing t e c h n i c a l l y useful submerged
a r c welds in titanium, but i t i s not c l e a r t h a t t h e process i s economical
compared t o t h e a1 t e r n a t i v e s .
In conclusion, t h e use of h a l i d e f l u x e s when welding titanium shows
promise of providing means of improving the a r c behavior, of c o n t r o l l i n g the
weld bead shape and penetration and of c o n t r o l l i n g t h e oxygen content of the
deposit. On the negative s i d e , t h e f l u x e s a r e required t o be of high p u r i t y ,
which makes them expensive; they are often hygroscopic and in many cases they
produce noxious fumes. The advantages of f l u x shielded welding of titanium
w i l l only be r e a l i z e d i f these disadvantages can be overcome.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes t o express appreciation t o t h e many people who have
contributed t o t h i s work. These include C. S. Chai, J . J s G u l l o t t i , G. Hunter, Dr. G . B. Kenney, M. Ring, B o A. Russell and Professor D. R.
Sadoway. The support of t h e Office of Navel Research i s a l s o appreciated.
REFERENCES
( 1 ) S. M. Gurevich and S. V. Mischenki , A v t , Svarka, No. 5 , 1956, p.1.
( 2 ) B. Cliche, Report No. RAM-00-107, Canadair L t d . Montreal, Canada, 1964.
( 3 ) H a F. Petsch, Final Report, Contract No. N00140-68-C-0148, General
Dynamics Corporation, Groton, CT, 1968.
( 4 ) D. C. Hill and C. L. Choi, Neld J . , 55 No. 6 , 1976, p. 152-s.
( 5 ) S. Marya and F. LeMaitre, 5emes ~ o u r % e s d'Etude d u t i t a n e e t de s e s
A1 l i a g e s , Nantes, France, November, 1978.
( 6 ) S. M, Gurevich e t a l . , A v t . Svarka, No. 4 , 1964, pp..93-94.
( 7 ) C. S. Chai , J . J . G u l l o t t i and T. W. Eagar, Technical Report No. 2 ,
Contract N00014-77-C-0569, Mass. I n s t . of Technology, Cambridge, MA,
30 Sept. 1978.
( 8 ) 5. M. Gurevich and L. K. Bosak, A v t . Svarka, No. 11, 1964, pp. 47-50.
( 9 ) F. D. Richardson, Physo Chem. of Me1 t s in Metal1 urgy, Academic Press,
New York, 1974, ~ o l 1 .
(10) S. M. Gurevich e t a l . , A v t . Svarka, No. 4 , 1964, pp. 93-94.
Technical Report No. 3, Contract N00014-77-C-0569,
(11 ) G. Hunter e t a1
Mass. I n s t . of Technology, Cambridge, MA, 30 Sept. 1979.
.,
Tab1 e I .
Weld
No.
Flux
Composition
Oxygen
Percent
Nitrogen
Percent
Weld Bead
Appearance
Remarks
Fused Fluxes
1
2
3.
4
Optical CaF2
CaF2-1.2% CaO
CaF2-1.2% CaO
CaF2-1.2% CaO
CaF2-1.2% CaO
CaF2-20% Ca
7 CaF2-2% Ca
8
CaF2-2% Ca
Blended Fluxes*
6
good
poor
fair
poor
fair
Anodized
e l e c t r o d e and
basepl a t e
cracked
poor
poor
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
CaF2-1% NaF
very poor
CaFz-5% NaCl
CaF2-10% NaCl
CaF2-20% NaCI
CaF2-5% KC1
CaF2-10% KC1
CaF2-20% KC1
poor
poor
very poor
poor
poor
16
CaF2-10% CaCl2
17
Argon shielded
19 mm e l e c t r o d e
extensi on
-Argon shielded
poor
poor
very poor
Suggested by
reference ( 5 )
Table 11.
No. of f l u x
Oxygen
Percent
Nitrogen
Reuses
Percent
Remarks
New
0.10
0.06
--
0.09