(Autumn Semester 2022) Solidification Processing Term Paper on

ELECTRON BEAM WELDING

Submitted by

K. SURESH KUMAR (22MT61R17)

M. SIVA GANESH (22MT61R23)
B. JITHENDRA KUMAR (22MT61R28)
SOUMYA SUMAN (22MT61R26)
Y. VIVEK VIKRAM (22MT61R39)

M.Tech 1st Year

Department Of Metallurgical aand Materials Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Abstract
Electron beam welding is a type of fusion welding process where electrons which are
generated by an electron gun are accelerated to high speeds by using electrical fields. This high-
speed stream of electrons is tightly focused on the weld spot by using magnetic fields and
applied to the materials need to be joined. During the impact with the workpieces, this beam
of electrons creates kinetic heat, causing them to melt and bond together. This process is widely
used in the Aerospace and Defence Industries mainly due to narrow fusion zone generated as
less amount of metal is melted during their joining which leads to less distortion and less
amount of heat. The Electron Beam welding process is complex in nature and is controlled by
many parameters. Welding Input Parameters plays a vital role in determining the quality of
weld and parameters such as Accelerating Voltage, Beam Current, Depth of Penetration, Beam
Focal Diameter and Welding Speed are part of the Electron Beam Parameters.
Introduction
A high-energy electron beam is used to increase the temperature during the welding
process known as electron beam welding. The work piece is struck by the electrons, and their
kinetic energy transforms into thermal energy, heating the metal, fusing the edges of the work
piece together to produce a weld following solidification. A vacuum chamber is used for the
procedure, with a pressure range of 2*10-7 to 2*10-6 psi (0.00013 to 0.0013 Pa). It takes a very
high vacuum to avoid losing electron energy in collisions with air molecules. A cathode
releases the electrons (electron gun). The cathode and anode are subjected to a high voltage
(about 150 kV), which accelerates the electrons by up to 30% to 60%. of speed of light
The electrons kinetic energy reaches sufficient to melt the intended weld. A portion of the
energy of the electrons is converted into X-ray radiation. Then, in the focusing coil, electrons
that have been accelerated by an electric field are concentrated into a narrow beam. The
electron beam is moved along the weld by the deflection coil. The thickness of work pieces
that can be welded with an electron beam ranges from 0.0004" (0.01 mm) up to 6" (150 mm)
in steel and up to 20" (500 mm) in aluminium. Any metals, including those that are rarely
weldable by other welding techniques (refractory metals, such as tungsten, molybdenum, and
niobium), and chemically active metals, may be joined using electron beam welding (titanium,
zirconium, beryllium). Metals with dissimilar properties can be joined by electron beam
welding. Any metal that can be arc welded may be welded using EBW, and in most cases, the
quality of the welded joint is on par with or better than that of GTAW.
Due to the possibility of the beam scattering in the presence of gas, electron beam welding is
only accomplished in a vacuum environment. This welding process is highly mechanised and
computer-controlled due to the vacuum process and the high voltages employed. As a
consequence, the work parts are moved within the welding vacuum chamber using specialised
fixtures and CNC tables.
Generation of free electrons
If one considers the physics of the electron beam process it may seem surprising that
the heat for this welding is provided by the kinetic energy of particles which are the lightest
present in matter. The fact that the mass of rest electron is only 9.1x10^-28 g or that an electron
is about 1836 times lighter than an identically charged proton particle. The disadvantage of
using a particle of low mass for a kinetic energy transformation process is made up for by one
of the electron's most important properties as it carries an electrical charge where its magnitude
is 1.6x10-19. This charge ultimately results in the beam current. Much more important is the
fact that this charge makes it possible to accelerate electrons by electrical fields so effectively
that they ultimately gain the amount of energy required to weld metals. The typical accelerating
voltage used for welding of 150kV = 1.5x105 V, and in a suitable vacuum, electrons reach a
speed of 2x10^8 m.s^-I, or in other words two thirds the speed of light. When the electrons
move at this speed, their relative mass increases by around 35%, adding to their kinetic energy,
which is indicated by the expression 1/2mv2.

Fig.1 Relationship between the electron speed and the accelerating voltage
The cathode performs a variety of crucial purposes in addition to being an electron
source. It must be able to emit a large number of electrons for an extended period of time while
consuming the least amount of thermal energy; in other words, it must be able to produce high
beam currents. To obtain a high beam current the emitting surface of the cathode is at a high
temperature.
The electrons are accelerated in the anode's direction by the electrical field that exists
between the cathode and anode. They move at a steady speed through the anode. At the same
time, a high voltage generator constantly flows fresh electrons, or current, into the cathode. As
a result, an electron current travels in a closed circuit from the workpiece to the machine and
then back to the high voltage generator through the earth connection.
The cathode and an anode the simplest form of beam generator can be constructed into
system like Pierce system. Due to economic reasons anode, cathode and control electrode
system like Wehnelt Cylinde are used. With the aid of a control electrode the electron current
and thus the beam current can be adjusted.
Equipment used in Electron Beam Welding
Electron beam welding machines can be divided into three groups:
 Universal welding machines
 Cycle type production machines
 Continuous welding machines.
All these types of machines include the following common elements:
 An electron beam gun
 A working chamber
 A method of positioning the workpiece
 A high voltage supply
 Magnetic lens
 Electro Magnetic lens and Deflecting coil

a) Electron Gun:
It is the heart of the system of electron beam welding. It is a cathode tube (negative pole) that
creates electrons, accelerates them, and focuses them on a specific location. This Gun is mostly
constructed of tungsten or tantalum alloys. The cathode filament was heated to 2500 degrees
Celsius for continuous electron emission.
b) Working chamber:

The working chamber is made of structural steel to reduce the interfering effects of the external
magnetic fields. Vacuum is created in the working chamber using electric or mechanical driven
pumps. The working chamber must be capable of receiving any welding jigs or workpiece
positioning tools together with one or more of the workpieces. Because the working chamber
is mostly evacuated, the internal walls do not require any special corrosion protection.

c) Positioning the workpiece:

For holding work pieces that can move in all three directions, EBW uses a CNC table. With
the aid of the appropriate fixtures, the welding plates are secured to the CNC table.

d) High Voltage Supply:

A power source is used in this method to provide a steady stream of electrons for the welding
process. About 5 - 30 kV is the welding voltage range for low voltage equipment or thin
welding, and 70 - 150 kV is the welding voltage range for high voltage equipment or thick
welding.
e) Magnetic Lens:
Only convergent electrons are allowed to travel through a set of magnetic lenses. They produce
a high intensity electron beam by absorbing all low energy and divergent electrons.

f) Electromagnetic lens and Deflecting Coils:

Electromagnetic lens used to focus the electron beam on work piece and deflection coil deflect
the beam at required weld area. These are last unit of EBW process.
Working of Electron beam welding
Electron Beam Welding is a type of welding that uses heat generated by a beam of high-energy
electrons. The electrons strike the work piece and their kinetic energy converts into thermal
energy heating the metal so that the edges of work piece are fused and joined together forming
a weld after Solidification. The process is carried out in a vacuum chamber at a pressure of
about 2*10-7 to 2*10-6 psi (0.00013 to 0.0013 Pa). Such high vacuum is required in order to
prevent loss of electrons energy in collisions with air molecules.
 First, electrons are produced by the electron gun, which is a cathode. These electrons
flow towards the anode, which is positively charged and located immediately after the
electron gun. The anode accelerates the electrons and form an electron jet which is further
move towards magnetic lenses.
 Fig.3 Working model of Electron beam welding
 The magnetic lenses are a series of lenses which absorb low energy electrons and does
not allow to divergent electron to passes through it. It provides a high intense electron
jet.
 Now this electron beam passes through electromagnetic lens and deflecting coils which
focus and deflect the electron beam at the required spot. This unit direct high velocity
electron beam to the weld cavity where its kinetic energy converts into heat energy due
to collision. This heat energy is used to create weld by fusion. The entire welding
process is carried out in a vacuum chamber; otherwise, the electrons collide with air
particles and lose energy.

Electron Beam can weld work pieces with thicknesses ranging from 0.01 mm to 150 mm of
steel and 500 mm of aluminium.lectron Beam Welding may be used for joining any metals
including metals, which are hardly weldable by other welding methods: refractory metals
(tungsten, molybdenum, niobium) and chemically active metals (titanium, zirconium,
beryllium). Electron Beam Welding is also able to join dissimilar metals.
The weldability of metallic materials
 One of the main requirements for reliable and economic welding is a knowledge of the
properties of the material and how they are affected by the thermal processes taking place.
 With an unknown material, depending on the function and value of the component, it must
be decided whether sufficient information is available on its metallurgical behaviour
during electron beam welding, or whether welding trials are needed.

Process related effect:

 The liquid and vapour phases
 The effect of the vacuum
 Solidification
  Heat affected zones
 Internal welding stresses

Classifying weldability:

 Weldability is essentially a material property but in electron beam welding both the
method of welding and the equipment required should also be considered.
 Weldabilities of various metallic materials are classified in accordance with DVS-
Merkblatt 3204 as follows:

A - Weldable using normal practice.

Normal practices are: De-focusing, beam oscillating, beam offset, use of stress
relieving slots adjacent to the weld, etc.
B- Weldable using particular techniques.
Particular techniques are: Pre- and post-weld heating, welding using additives.
C- Of limited weldability.
Welds in these materials are not evaluated in DIN 8563 Part 11 and are only
for use of limited applications
The weldability of individual groups of materials:
1) Irons and steels: Most iron and steel materials are very suitable for welding. In this
regard consideration must be given to the welding of rimmed, killed, carburized and
free machining steels. They lack the additives required to suppress the gaseous reactions
which take place in the weld pool.
 Case hardening and nitriding steels - They can be successfully electron beam
welded prior to surface treatment
 Steels with high carbon content - Problem of cold cracking. Preheating and
post-weld heat treatments must be carried out (using a de-focused electron
beam).
 Unalloyed and low alloy steel - Must contain low Sulphur and phosphorous.
 High alloy Cr Ni-steels - weldability is dependent on Oxygen and Nitrogen
contents of the metal and stabilizing elements Niobium and Titanium.
2) Copper materials: The high thermal conductivity and thermal expansion of copper
results in traping of gaseous elements and shrinkage internal stresses.
 Coppers with oxygen contents of less than 5 ppm are however quite suitable for
welding.
 Other copper-based materials such as Cu,Cr,Zr, the copper nickel alloys, and
Aluminium and tin bronzes are all suitable for welding.

3) Nickel and cobalt materials: Pure nickel and nickel materials with low alloy contents
are suitable for welding.
 With nickel alloys a, a decrease in the speed of welding can help to prevent hot
cracking.
 The majority of high temperature, corrosion and wear resistant cobalt alloys can
also be successfully electron beam welded.
 4) Aluminium materials: In general welding of Aluminium is difficult because of high
M.P difference between oxide and metal and high affinity of weld pool for atmospheric
gases.
 In case of EBW, the electron beam easily breaks through the oxide skin, melting
it in the process, whilst the vacuum keeps any harmful gases away from the
weld pool. Electron beam welding is thus excellently suited to welding of
aluminium.
 In welding of aluminium, zinc is regarded as an especially unwelcome alIoying
element.

5) Titanium materials: Titanium is one of the group of materials sensitive to gases. It reacts
with the atmospheric gases oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen and loses its ductility.
 All the titanium alloys are very suitable for electron beam welding. The only
exceptions are the β-alloys which tend to become brittle in their heat affected
zones because of metallurgical effects.

6) Special metals: The special metals are materials such as beryllium, molybdenum,
niobium, tantalum, vanadium, tungsten and zirconium, all of which like titanium are of
particular importance in certain branches of industry. All of them have a Electron beam
welding marked tendency to become embrittled as a result of absorption of atmospheric
gases even at relatively low temperatures below about 300 ℃. The possibility of
electron beam welding them in a vacuum is thus particularly attractive.

7) Dissimilar material combinations: Even when the respective weldabilities of two

different materials are known, how they will behave when welded together still cannot
be predicted.
 The main difficulty with many molten mixtures is formation of highly brittle
intermetallic phases.

Group B
Group A

Fig.4 Elements listed according to their electron distribution to

determine their relative suitability for welding in combination

Preparation of the workpiece:

1. Surface cleaning:
 Solvent degreasing, most effectively in an
ultrasonic unit.
 Pickling in different acids.
 Rinsing with distilled water.
 Drying in clean, preferably warm air.
 Removal of surface coatings.
Fig.5 a) Case hardened layer not removed before welding;
b) Case hardened layer removed before welding

2. Surface cleaning:
 Solvent degreasing, most effectively in an
ultrasonic unit.
 Pickling in different acids.
 Rinsing with distilled water.
 Drying in clean, preferably warm air.
 Removal of surface coatings.
3. Basic joint shapes:
a) Butt welds: It is an ideal example for almost all types of electron beam welded
joints.

Fig.6 Butt Welds

 b) T-butt and other types of joint:

Fig.7 T joint with I Lap

4. Gap width:
 Electron beam welding involves a narrow fusion zone between two metal
plates, which means that the faces to be welded must be precisely matched.
 The danger of fusion defects can be greatly increased by inexact positioning of
the electron beam with respect to the abutting faces to be welded. An
accidental shift in the position of the beam can be caused by a number of
factors, such as distortion of the workpiece during welding.

5. Accommodate Shrinkage:
 Clamping arrangements, as well as the use of tack welds, are only able to
withstand the high shrinkage forces generated in certain cases, such as where
the volume of the weld is small. Tack welding, however, requires use of an
extra production step.

6. Ventilation openings:
 Voids resulting from the machining operation should be kept as small as
possible by careful design. In other cases, ventilation openings such as drilled
holes of diameter < 2.5 mm should be provided outside the region of the weld.
The difference in pressure of the entrapped air and the working chamber
should equalize once the keyhole penetrates through to the void.

7. Dimensions of the working chamber and moving the workpiece:

 The internal dimensions of a working chamber are of critical importance to the
design of the workpiece and welding assembly jig which can be
accommodated.

Quality levels and acceptable variations in electron beam welds

An electron beam welded component is tested before it is put into service according to
the nominated specification. Testing means measuring the item, comparing the values obtained
with a given standard and evaluating the results. In Germany, Testing is measured with in the
standards DIN 29 595 (aerospace industry) and DIN 8563 Part 11 (other industries), which
specify the various quality classes and acceptable variations for electron beam welding. These
standards are the result of many years of intensive exchange of experience between users,
machine manufacturers, research institutes and technical inspection bodies. The following
explanations are based mainly upon the information given in DIN 8563 Part 11, which is the
standard with the broadest field of application.
a) Evaluation Groups
DIN 8563 Part 11 specifies three types of weld which are given the following
identification: i) AS – EB ii) BS-EB iii) CS-EB
A, B and C differentiate between the different quality classes: A is the highest and C
the lowest. S denotes the 'butt' weld seam geometry and EB - to differentiate it from
other welding processes - electron beam welding.
b) Post-weld machining
If particularly high strength requirements are placed on a given electron beam welded
component, then under certain conditions, even in class A, the variations occurring may
be unacceptable. For example, for dynamic applications the welds should be free of all
undercut, spatter and droplet formation along the root of the weld. In these cases the
possibility of carrying out post-weld machining should be mentioned. In the production
documentation it must be remembered that any post-weld machining required for
characteristics and variations not otherwise contained in quality class A must be
detailed and specified separately.
c) Weld width
In contrast to standards and specifications for other welding processes, in DIN 8563
Part 11 and DIN 29 595 no maximum permissible width of the weld is specified. In
practice, in most cases electron beam welds are not wide enough to have an adverse
effect on the quality characteristics specified. A minimum width of 2 mm is, however,
recommended for practical manufacturing reasons, such as the tolerances applied in the
machining of the components, the accuracy of guidance of the weld positioning
arrangement, and the accuracy of positioning of the electron beam, etc.
d) Excessive weld profile (convexity)
In case of DIN 8563 Part 11, for a weld thickness of 10mm, a maximum weld profile
(convexity) for the crown and root of the weld of ∆a, = 2 mm is specified, the question
often arises as to why this profile should not be permitted to be even greater, and the
disadvantages were this value to be exceeded.

Fig.8 Effect of weld convexity ∆a1 on the angle α between the surface of the
workpiece and the tangent to the weld for a given weld width b.
Figure illustrates why the profile ∆a1 should not be allowed to be greater when the
width of the weld b remains constant. The reason for this limit is not the volume of the
crown or root of the weld, but the angle a between the surface of the workpiece and the
tangent to the profile of the weld. It is apparent that too small an angle a, even when>
90°, together with the undercutting which also often occurs, will cause a reduction in
the strength of the weld. Since the width of the weld varies only slightly with the
thickness, it is more practical to limit the profile of the weld. The maximum acceptable
 value ∆a1 is independent of the thickness of the weld and in all quality classes is not
permitted to exceed 5 mm. In general, in actual manufacturing practice no real difficulty
is experienced in meeting this requirement.
e) Pores, shrinkage cavities
The gas reactions involving accompanying or alloying elements, together with
irregularities occurring during solidification of the mobile weld pool are the main cause
of pores and shrinkage cavities in the weld. A large number of effective methods are
available to the practical welder to prevent, or at least almost completely suppress,
formation of such voids. Unacceptably high costs would be incurred, however, to
produce a weld specified as being absolutely free from all pores and shrinkage cavities.
It is much more economical, even in class A welds, to accept a limited number of such
voids. If necessary, the effect which such pores and shrinkage cavities have on the
properties of the manufactured product can be investigated experimentally using
artificially produced defects. In these investigations it has been shown that at least two
methods of non-destructive testing, such as radiographic and ultrasonic testing, should
be employed adequately to determine the size of a void. To ensure the quality of a weld
seam, standards and codes must set limits on the number and size of pores and shrinkage
cavities it contains. Thus, in electron beam welding, in contrast to other methods of
fusion welding, these types of defects are described in particular detail. From this it will
be clear that the standards deal with the actual effect which individual voids resulting
from the welding process have on the strength of the component. In the standards lines
of pores, which are generally a result of poor preparation of the workpiece and in
particular of the presence of impurities deals with more stringently because of their
crack-like nature.

Application of Electron Beam Welding

1. Automotive industries: The electron beam is used to weld a multitude of

gear/synchronizer, clutch/shaft and planet carrier components for manual and automatic
transmissions as well as torque converters and impellers/shaft assemblies for turbochargers.
Mass production Electron Beam welders are characterized by short cycle times and either
manual or automatic part loading/unloading.
2. Aerospace industries: The aerospace industry heavily depends upon electron beam welding
as a key manufacturing technology. EB Welded components are used in aircraft & rocket
engines, sensors, gears, actuators and air frames. Developed and refined over decades, the
electron beam welding process consistently delivers the superior results required for
manufacture or repair of components used in commercial and military aerospace.
3. Defense industries: The Electron Beam Welding process is used for demanding joining
tasks in many low- and high-tech applications within some of the most sophisticated defense
systems. The highly repeatable process ensures safe, reliable performance for short- and long-
term operation in a wide variety of extreme conditions
4. Electronic industries: One of the advantages of the electron beam welding process lies in
its robustness to join materials like aluminum, copper or stainless steels, which are commonly
used in semiconductor fabricating equipment and electronic packaging. The process can be
optimized to the specific task by tailoring the shapes of the welds - shallow for sealing
purposes to deep and narrow to butt welding of heavy cross sections even in aluminum.
5. Medical industries: Many medical devices are preferably welded with an electron beam
because of the precise nature of the process and the autogenous welding. This ensures that
the biocompatibility of selected materials is not changed while welding and they are better
tolerated in the body. As a production tool, Electron Beam Welding encompasses a range of
applications from single-piece production for custom components to mass produced and off
the shelf biomedical products.

Fig. 9 Clutch carrier/shaft Shaft/Gear Diameter.

assembly

Future Scope for Electron Beam Welding

The development of Electron Beam welding machines is directly linked with application and
demands of end users as well as final investment cost. So, some of the new and future
development that can be done in this are given below-
 Design and build a development machine for developing “additive manufacturing
process” using wire feed system which may also be used for surface modification
(macro level) for the semi-conductor industry.
 Optimizing the threading-out region in the case of all-round welds (avoiding spiking)
in conjunction with online control/ joining of cast Ni materials which are difficult to
fusion-weld.
 Introduction of fundamentals of magnetism and demagnetization beam behavior in the
case of high-current welds (>200 mA).
 Introduction of dynamic sliding seal on Electron beam.
 Reduced pressure welding, beam shaping and analysis including auto calibration of
focus, beam current, beam alignment and filament.
 Electron Beam Machine integrated with pin hole probe analyzer.
 Improved electron optics for the heavy-duty gun and auto peaking and setting of the
filament current, which improve the Back Scattered Electron (BSE) imaging to do
advanced joint finding as well as mapping.
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