Electron Beam Welding (EBW)
Electron Beam Welding (EBW) is chosen as the method of joining components for several important reasons. EB Welding is similar to laser welding in several respects but very different in many others- giving EB Welding unique advantages. The most important being; higher beam energy density, welding with a deflection pattern, no significant beam reflectivity from any metal surface, and closed loop power control. As a direct result of these advantages, EB Welding is one of the best controlled, most robust welding processes which provides the highest quality welds.
In the Electron Beam Welding process, high energy density beams produce a very localized heat input into the component being welded and allow for the deep, narrow "keyhole" welding. This deep hole welding is possible because the energy density of the beam is so intense that the material being welded is vaporized at the point of beam impact and the beam drills a hole into or even through the material being welded. Heat is transferred to the material being welded from the edge of this hole. The hole is then moved through the part and the molten material flows around the backside of the hole and resolidifies, forming the weld. Traditional welding techniques with lower energy densities rely on heat being conducted into the metal being welded. Since heat is conducted outward evenly in all directions, a single pass of a conduction mode weld is generally as wide as it is deep.
Even though an electron beam can produce a deep "keyhole" type weld it can also produce a precise conduction mode weld or even provide just enough heat to form a minimal heat input braze joint. This can be accomplished by scanning the beam quickly over the joint or by enlarging the apparent beam spot size by adjusting the focus or by using a deflection pattern to customize the heat input into the part. Precise electron beam welds of this type have been used to join thin foils less than 0.001 inches (0.025 mm) thick.
Electron Beam Technologies touch our lives in ways that few people realize. Electron beams produced the pictures on tube type televisions. Electron Beam lithography is used to manufacture the semiconductor devices we use every day. Electron microscopes produce the high magnification images that have advanced science. Electron Beams are even being used to cure the ink printed on packaging materials and sterilize medical instruments.
High power electron beam systems are used in the aerospace, automotive, defense, food processing, medical, nuclear, petrochemical, power generation, and a variety of other industries for welding and drilling. Today's aircraft have components that were manufactured using Electron Beam Welding. Most of the automobiles on the road today around the world also have components that were manufactured using EB Welding. The fiberglass that insulates our homes was produced on machines with precision electron beam drilled holes. PTR and its affiliate companies in the Global Beam Technologies Group manufacture these electron beam welding and drilling systems.
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