Post by RWTH Aachen University

At first glance, welding seems like a simple process: two metal parts are joined together using heat. But appearances can be deceiving. As soon as a component melts and solidifies again, it undergoes significant changes. The process creates internal stresses that gradually dissipate—and these forces have undesirable consequences. They lead to the component deforming and internal changes occuring that have a big impact on further processing. This is because the component must then be subjected to extensive post-processing. In the worst-case scenario, cracks or other material defects can even form, which would render the component unusable. What science and industry therefore want are precise components that are intact and that require little to no post-processing. The best possible scenario would be if no such processing were to take place at all. To make this possible, an interdisciplinary team at RWTH Aachen University comprising researchers from ten institutes has been working intensively for twelve years to understand melting-based processes such as welding. They aim to understand exactly what happens during melting and cooling. Divided into more than 20 subprojects, the researchers are investigating how they can manufacture components with greater precision. The projects have been funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - German Research Foundation since 2014 as part of the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1120 Precision Manufacturing. This is a major project, and it will conclude in June 2026. 💯 While metal milling can be performed with micrometer precision, melting processes are significantly more unpredictable. “More than 100 factors play a part in the welding process. These range from the material and the ambient temperature to the person performing the process,” says Professor Uwe Reisgen, head of the Institut für Schweißtechnik und Fügetechnik RWTH Aachen and spokesperson for the Collaborative Research Center. 👍 Read more ➡️ https://lnkd.in/d22FFDRN 📸 1 (Winandy): At the Welding and Joining Institute at RWTH Aachen University: Inspecting a steel specimen prior to measuring its thermal expansion in the dilatometer. 📸 2 (Winandy): In the gas metal arc welding process, layers are added to a steel sample to create a 3D-printed test specimen.