The Brite-Euram project Assessment of Quality of Power Beam Welded Joints (ASPOW) deals with the laser and electron beam weldability of structural C-Mn and duplex and stainless, Cr-Mo steels, Superalloys, Ti-alloys and Al-alloys as well as with the non-destructive (NDT) inspection of such welds and their mechanical-fracture properties.
Object of the first part of the weldability work was the LBW and EBW welding of different widely used structural materials and alloys using two different types of laser: a CO2 and a Nd-YAG laser sources. Further, the laser weldability work concerned welding of an industrial component, a turbine rear casing, some parts of which may need replacement during component lifetime. In particular this operation was carried out between the case and the attachment flange. The EBW has also been applied for welding of Al-alloy bridge components as well as welding of girth joints in high temperature material pipes.
The second part of the ASPOW Project is to recommend suitable mechanical testing techniques for the assessment of power beam (electron and laser) welds based on the substantial amount of small (tensile, Charpy-V, CTOD, bend) and large (Wide Plate, I-beam and fatigue of Al-beam) scale testing and evaluation work conducted during the project duration of three years.