Electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) technology is rapidly evolving. Technological advances now push change not only in battery systems but in cable and wiring systems as well. Complex electrical distribution systems within EV and HEV engines are driving cutting-edge R&D in materials joining, wire harness and cable network designs, and more. Tech innovator EWI has long been a leader in helping manufacturers develop and deploy innovative weld connection techniques and solutions to support these complex powertrain systems.

EWI Senior Technology Advisor Matt Short discusses issues and opportunities in Material Joining Challenges in the Cable and Wiring Systems of EV-HEVs. This new paper covers many of the common weld connection challenges related to the ICEV cable and wiring systems, as well as the EV-HEV battery packs, and the solutions EWI is researching to address these obstacles.

To read Material Joining Challenges in the Cable and Wiring Systems of EV-HEVs,
click
here.

To learn about EWI’s technology
and solutions development in vehicle electrification, contact Matt Short at ms[email protected].

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The Additive Manufacturing Consortium (AMC), operated by EWI, conducts pre-competitive research to advance the use of AM within industry. Each year, it selects several R&D projects to support through membership fees. An overview of AMC projects is presented in a new article, The Additive Manufacturing Consortium: Current Projects and Plans for 2019.
by EWI Director of AM Programs Mark Barfoot.

The AMC meets quarterly to discuss ongoing projects, project results, and future research. To learn more about AMC activities and membership, contact Mark Barfoot at 716.710.5597 or [email protected].

To download the overview of current projects and plans for 2019, click here.

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The rail industry has long been seeking a more dependable,
longer-lasting way to weld rail lines. The standard joining methods, flash-butt
welding and thermite welding, produce joints with short weld lives and require
frequent repair.

To address this issue, EWI
conducted research on linear friction welding (LFW) as a potential method for
joining rail. The results, published by the Federal Railroad Administration,
demonstrated that using LFW improves rail weld quality.

Building on the findings and working with the support of
EWI, Manufacturing
Technology Inc. (MTI) has developed low-force
friction welding, a new method that can produce stronger welds with
improved hardness, reduce cycle times, and extend weld life.

To read more about this new joining solution for rail, click here.

To learn more about EWI’s work with the rail industry, visit
ewi.org/industries/railroad/.

The post EWI Research Helps MTI Develop Low-force Friction Welding Solution for Rail appeared first on EWI.

EWI has announced new dates for its comprehensive Fundamentals of Welding Engineering course. Classes will be held at EWI headquarters in Columbus, Ohio.

• The Spring
  Session is set for March 4-8, 2019.
  Click here to register.

• The first Summer Session is scheduled for June 17-21, 2019. Click here to register.

Taught by EWI engineers, Fundamentals of Welding Engineering provides engineers and technicians with a broad introduction welding technology, techniques, and related topics. The five-day course is organized into modules covering welding processes, welding metallurgy and weldability, welding design and testing (including mechanical testing and NDT), and qualifications and procedure review. Students will leave with a solid understanding of welding variables and their effect of weld quality as well as a deep appreciation for welder skills. Students can earn 40 CPD credits for the course.

“Our welding fundamentals class is designed for experienced industry professionals, such as metallurgical, industrial, electrical, and mechanical engineers, who are looking for a deeper understanding of welding for their manufacturing operations,” stated EWI Principal Engineer and course instructor Randy Dull. “One particularly beneficial course component is our step-by-step walk-through the process of qualifying a welding procedure to meet the requirements of both ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code Section IX and AWS D1.1 Structural Welding Code — Steel. We help to make this qualification process, which can be intimidating and cumbersome, more manageable for our students.”

Class size is limited to ensure that all attendees have the opportunity to interact directly with instructors. If you wish to attend one of the upcoming sessions but are unable to, the popular course will be offered again in both late Summer and Fall 2019.

To register or get more information, please see our Training & Classes schedule. If you have questions about these or other EWI courses, contact [email protected].

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A $1.2M award by America Makes has been granted to the ASTM Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence to help develop industry consensus on best practices and standards for materials handling and post processing. As a founding partner in the new Center of Excellence, EWI will play a critical role in the project to help advance post-processing techniques for additive manufacturing (AM).

The project team
consists of the center’s current partners – EWI, Auburn University, NASA,
Wichita State University’s National Institute for Aviation Research – as well
as Quintus Technologies, Carpenter Technologies Corporation, Aerojet Rocketdyne,
Rolls Royce Corporation, Honeywell Aerospace, GE Aviation, and Raytheon. The
project aims to:

1. Determine the mechanical performance debit of using as-built additively manufactured components
2. Understand how this changes with application of Hot Isostatic Pressing
3. Test the values by burst-testing thin wall components with narrow flow channels  
4. Publish standards based on these results

EWI’s contributions will be focused on characterization including powder characterization, optical surface metrology, and X-ray CT. This data will be used to understand the effects of surface roughness on the fatigue strength of additively manufactured parts.

According to EWI’s Alex Kitt, “This work demonstrates the commitment of government, industry and academia to collaborate on r esearch that will lead to the development of impactful AM standards.  EWI is confident these standards will increase adoption and confidence in this cutting-edge technology, and we are excited to lend our expertise and capabilities to this joint effort.”

For more information about the ASTM AM Center of Excellence, visit www.amcoe.org.

To learn about EWI’s AM capabilities and services, click here.

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The electrification of automobiles, trucks, and busses – once considered a technology related primarily to the manufacturing and assembly of batteries – now affects nearly every aspect of today’s vehicles. As the demand for vehicle electrification rapidly increases, manufacturing engineers face an array of engineering challenges. To help manufacturers deploy new concepts more efficiently, EWI has instituted a dedicated research program to address materials joining challenges related to the initiative.

In his new paper, Vehicle Electrification: An Analysis of Current Challenges, Senior Technical Advisor Matt Short discusses how EWI is investigating the manufacturing of high-performance batteries, manufacturing of wire harnesses and cables, and weld quality monitoring with the intent to develop new methods and technologies to optimize vehicle electrification.

To download a Vehicle Electrification: An Analysis of Current Challenges, click here now.

To discuss your vehicle electrification issues with Matt Short, contact [email protected].

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Silicon carbide is an important structural ceramic material owing to its excellent thermal and environmental stability, resistance to radiation, resistance to thermal shock, and high strength and ceramic toughness. For these reasons, silicon carbide components are well-suited for advanced nuclear fuels and other high-temperature service programs. Finding a satisfactory solution to SiC-to-SiC joining, however, has been an ongoing problem.

EWI has developed a novel approach to SiC joining that uses a multiphase, braze-alloy interlayer consisting of silicon and aluminum. The approach does not require high pressures – a key distinction compared to other processes – and has the potential to meet the requirements for nuclear fuel programs.

Development of Brazing Alloy for SiC Brazing, written by Project Engineer Drew Shipley and Senior Engineer Alber Sadek, describes this breakthrough and how the approach was achieved. To download a copy of this paper, click here now.

To learn more about EWI’s technology development
in welding and joining, contact [email protected] or 614.688.5164.

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Effect of Structural Support on Microstructure of Nickel Base Supperalloy Fabricated by Laser-Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing by EWI Engineers Hyeyun Song, Tom McGaughy, and Alber Sadek has been published in the journal ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING. The article, co-authored by their colleague Wei Zhang at The Ohio State University, will appear in Volume 26 of the journal in March. It is currently available online.

INCONEL® 718 builds are produced by
laser-powder bed fusion additive manufacturing for cubic geometries with and
without structural support. The effect of support on the as-built
microstructure is studied based on the microstructural characteristics and
micro-hardness variations. Particularly, the microstructure is examined by
optical microscopy, and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The precipitates are
identified via high-resolution energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and
selected area diffraction. Hardness distribution on cross sections parallel and
perpendicular to the build direction is mapped. Furthermore, it is developed a
lumped-capacity solution to heat conduction coupled with a quasi-steady state
temperature solution for moving point heat source. These analytical solutions,
taking into account various processing parameters, are used to explain the
observed microstructure similarity with and without support. The comprehensive
set of microstructure data is useful for future work of modelling
processing-microstructure relation as well as optimizing post-fabrication heat
treatment.

To read or download this article, click here. After February 17, 2019, the article may be purchased through Science Direct.  EWI members can request a copy from EWI at [email protected].

If you would like to contact the authors, they can be reached at [email protected] or 614.688.5000.

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