Techniques and Equipment

The department Joining and Assessment of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht-Research Centre Geesthacht maintains a comprehensive understanding of the interplay between joining technology, in-service properties (micro structure, general mechanical, fatigue and breakage behaviour of welding joints, and material and component behaviour influenced by joining. Therefore a strong basis is made for development of system solutions for difficult medium to long term problems posed in the area of light-weight structures.

The equipment comprises laser and diffusion welding equipment, testing laboratories for static and cyclic (fatigue) testing, an analytical laboratory and an X-ray laboratory for testing without destruction.

Laserhalle

A new hall with a semi-industrial laser system has been built at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Research Centre, Geesthacht, in collaboration with Airbus Deutschland GmbH. The hall was officially opened on April 19, 2010 by representatives of Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht and Airbus. The new system will be used to research laser beam welding of new lightweight construction alloys, among other areas. The material researchers from Geesthacht are taking over the system from the Airbus location in Nordenham.
The new system will be used to optimise welding technologies for innovative lightweight alloys in joint research and development projects. With the pilot welding system, it is now possible to weld up to a length of about nine metres in the newly constructed hall. The system is ideal for research in the area of strength and reliability of laser welded light-weight structures. Joining of aluminium and magnesium alloys are major fields of application. Further developments include joining of high-strength steels, production processes for CFRP-Ti joints as well as repair welding technologies for TiAl components.

In the future, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht Research Centre will increasingly be geared towards development of new lightweight materials and material systems. To this end, construction of the pioneering Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht “Light-weight Materials Assessment, Computing and Engineering Centre” (ACE) is planned. The new laser system will be part of this expansion. The particular strength of the ACE research platform will lie in the combination of processing, characterisation and simulation methods. This includes both joining technology and production of sample multi-material systems and complex lightweight structures.

Equipment	Specifications

Laser Welding Laboratory

Rofin Sinar DY 022

Diode pumped 2,2 kW Nd:YAG-Laser, 2 fibre optic light guides, fibre diameter 300 µm respectively

Rofin Sinar DY033

Diode pumped 3,3 kW Nd:YAG-Laser, 1 fibre optic light guide, fibre diameter 400 µm

KUKA KR30HA

The robot is an industrial 6axis robot arm mounted on an external 4.5m axis, 30kg load capacity, all from KUKA. The robotic system is a positioning and clamping system for small parts. High precision by means of adapted gears.

Connection of DY033 and DY022 in parallel possible

2 Wire feed systems in parallel possible

Ixion ULM

3-axial CNC handling centre, additional axis, wire feed system,

600 x 700 mm handling area

Connection to DY022

2 DC035	CO2-laser from Rofin-Sinar, max. output 3.5 kW
Weldotherm PP270-65	Malleablising furnace 600 x 600 x 700 mm, up to 650 °C

Diffusion Welding Laboratory

Hotpress

Vacuum soldering and diffusion welding max. 1500 °C max. 250 kN Vacuum up to 10-4 Pa

Mechanical Testing Laboratory

Zwick BasicLine 2,5	Electro-mechanic 2,5 kN universal testing station
Zwick BasicLine 5,0	Electro-mechanic 5 kN universal testing station
Instron 1182	Electro-mechanic 50 kN universal testing station
SchenckTrebel RM100	Electro-mechanic 100 kN universal testing station With climate control unit (-160 bis + 375 °C)
ARAMIS	Optical 3D deformation measurement system, 2 cameras
Impact testing machine	300 J with temperature control
Impact testing machine	50 und 75 J
Frankoskop	Hardness testing system for Brinell, Rockwell and Vickers
HMV-2000	Small probes hardness testing machine, Vickers
RUMUL Resonance Testing Machine	max. loads: 10 kN, 100 kN, 80 Hz-120 Hz

Fatigue Testing Laboratory

H 10	2 Servohydraulic 10 kN test station, horizontal
H 25	3 Servohydraulic 25 kN test stations, horizontal
H 100	3 Servohydraulic 100 kN test stations, horizontal
H 160	Servohydraulic 160 kN test stations, horizontal
Schenck	Servohydraulic 400 kN test station, vertical
Schenck	Servohydraulic 1000 kN test station, vertical
Schenk	Servohydraulic 2500 kN test station, vertical
Schenk/Instron mulit axial XYZ-testing maschine	for max. load of 1000 kN
Rossenberger 25	Resonance test station 25 kN

Analytical Laboratory

REM Zeiss DSM 962	Scanning electron microscopy (Metallographic, Micro-fracture, analyses)
Kevex/DIPS	EDX (Point-, Line profile- and element diffusion analyses)
Leco RH-402	Hydrogen Analyser
Leco CS-444	Carbon - Sulphur Analyser
Leco TC-436	Oxygen - Nitrogen Analyser
Spectrolab	Spark emission spectrometer for steels

X-ray Laboratory

Seifert Isovolt 160M1	Stationary X-ray apparatus for radiology
Seifert Isovolt 320/13	Stationary X-ray apparatus for radiographic testing
Rigaku	3-Ring-X-ray diffractometer for measuring residual stress

Contact Person at HZG:

Dr. Nikolai Kashaev, Institute of Materials Research
Phone: +49 (4152) 87-2536, Fax: +49 (4152) 87-2534

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