Design of experiments (DOE) tools help manufacturers assess and develop processing
technologies for a wide range of applications. DOE approaches allow users to
develop empirical maps correlating input factors to selected process responses.
These maps can then be used to optimize processes for quality and performance.
There are several key steps in creating a DOE, including design
selection, experimental data collection, conditioning for statistical analysis,
mapping of the datasets, and assessment of the robustness plot. The result is
an effective method for characterizing performance of manufacturing systems.
If you would like to learn how to apply DOE methodology to your technical investigations, EWI is here to help. To speak directly to an EWI engineer, contact 614.688.5152 or [email protected].
EWI will host a webinar to introduce the process and benefits of a new friction welding method designed and fabricated for use on RE135 rail. Developed with support from the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the unique solid-state technique offers benefits including:
Lower impact on rail – No formation of martensite in the weld or heat-affected zone of the rail
Flexible – Uses threaded studs that allow for detachment and reattachment of signal wires from the rail for maintenance-of-way operations
Stronger – Provides twist-off strengths and conductivity that exceed other common industry techniques
Cordless – Battery powered and requires no tether to a truck
The webinar will be offered on the following dates: July 8, 9, 14, and 16. (Material covered will be the same in each webinar session.) To register, click the button with your choice of dates below.
Contact EWI Event Manager Michelle Bulan with questions at [email protected].
Click on the button that corresponds to your choice of dates below:
Ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials offer great advantages in manufacturing including increased crack resistance, elongation, and thermal shock resistance. Joining CMCs to other materials, however, can be a difficult process involving multiple steps.
EWI has developed a one-step brazing method for joining CMC material to itself, metals, and other ceramics. This new technique is described in Brazing of Ceramic Matrix Composite Material to Itself, Other Metals, and Composites, written by EWI Project Engineer Drew Shipley.
You are invited to download this paper, at no charge, by
completing the form on this page.
To learn more about this new process for joining CMCs, contact [email protected]. For more information about EWI’s innovations in welding and joining technology, click here.
Complete this form to download the paper:
To view the paper, please submit the form above.
To speak to an EWI expert about a project, call 614.688.5152
or click here.
We are pleased to introduce Beckett Thermal Solutions as a new EWI member. The Ohio-based company produces gas combustion components for a wide variety of industries.
In the past, when low-cost ductile steels were used for most automotive structural components, cracking during crash events was uncommon and finite element analysis (FEA) models achieved good correlation without predicting material failure. With the adoption of high strength steels, aluminum, and magnesium alloys, damage models must now capture material failure so crumple zones and total energy absorption can be predicted accurately. Use of these new materials also highlights limitations of FLDs (Forming Limit Diagrams) when simulating the formability of stamping processes. The reduced ductility in these advanced materials has led to non-necking material failures in production that require an additional prediction tool.
Until recently, damage models required an unrealistic amount of testing, needed too much computation power, or were so simplistic that they could only be used for limited applications. Advancements in numerical modeling have merged with developments in CPU processing power and digital image correlation (DIC) technology to create damage models with a wide variety of applications. GISSMO (Generalized Incremental Stress State Dependent Damage MOdel) is one of the many triaxiality stress-based damage criteria that are now being adopted by industry.
Triaxiality stress is the ratio of hydrostatic pressure to Von-Mises stress:
Physical testing is required to develop the various triaxiality values in the characteristic damage curve (Figure 1).
Figure 1 (credit: www.dynamore.de )
EWI has successfully implemented an efficient set of tests that utilizes tensile samples produced with EDM (electrical discharge machining) and DIC to establish the triaxiality limit curve (Figure 2). As with any damage model, a mesh regulation study is required to adjust the damage limit as a function of element size.
Figure 2
GISSMO is an
especially useful and efficient triaxiality damage model because it can be used
for both forming and crash simulation. In addition, improved crash performance
can be achieved by exporting the formed part, with strain gradient, from
stamping simulation for use in crash FEA. The additional strain hardening increases
the energy absorption compared to a strain-free part so thatthe material fails
in a realistic way that correlates well with the physical world.
If you are
interested in learning more about how damage criteria can be used to improve
failure prediction for your forming or crash simulations, please email Tom
Feister at [email protected].
Consumer and business needs across the US have altered dramatically over the last few months. The challenges of COVID-19 have underscored the necessity for manufacturers to be responsive, agile, and ready to pivot to address pressing shortages and new priorities. Achieving those goals quickly, however, has been a challenge especially for small and mid-sized enterprises. Figuring out how to quickly revamp work procedures to accommodate new products and rapid output is not often clear or easy.
EWI has developed a low-risk, low-cost, consultative program
to help manufacturers respond quickly to rapid market changes and to design a coherent
plan for moving forward. The EWI Remote
Planning Service for Automation offers an interactive, online,
team-to-team approach to resource assessment, process review, production line modification,
and work cell design. The service engagement, conducted online, is 100% virtual
and is completed over a two-day period. It eliminates the need to travel or
visit to other work sites and delivers a customized automaton plan, ready for swift
implementation.
Learn more about EWI’s Remote Planning Service for
Automation now by clicking here.
To speak to an EWI associate about a Remote Planning Service
engagement, contact Dominic Myers at 716.710.5535 or [email protected].
We were all busy — BEFORE. And many of us are still busy. But today’s busy looks a little different than yesterday’s busy, and we’re operating in a significantly more unpredictable and rapidly changing environment as priorities shift, almost daily.
At EWI, the last couple of months have found us — like so many others — juggling those priorities. To name just a few:
In response to critical shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), we partnered with Building Momentum of Alexandria, Virginia and leveraged our capacity for technology development and rapid prototyping to develop and test a protective medical mask in just a few weeks. The resulting vacuum-formed stopgap face mask design is now available to the public — and, unlike previous commercialization efforts, we’ve made it free via open source….
