Electron Beam Welding Technology For Australian Industry

4 Apr 08

Goodrich Corporation, is a global supplier of systems and services to aerospace, defence and homeland security markets. With one of the most strategically diversified portfolios of products in the industry, Goodrich serves a global customer base with significant worldwide manufacturing and service facilities.

In Australia, Goodrich Customer Services has grown steadily over 50 years through access to the extensive Goodrich aerospace product portfolio and technology to become one of Australia’s leading maintenance facilities for aircraft systems.

An example of the company’s innovative approach to capability growth is the Joint Strike Fighter program where the company has teamed up with Melbourne based Rosebank Engineering to win  a contract to manufacture the Uplock actuators for the Weapons Bay Door Drive System for this 5th generation fighter aircraft.

Goodrich is based in Zetland, Sydney (10 minutes from Sydney airport) with over 75 employees and a turnover of US$20M, the company’s core capability is in the repair and overhaul of aircraft actuation systems, generators, fuel systems and helicopter servo controls.

To support the development of an armature re-manufacturing line for Airbus commercial aircraft generators, Goodrich recently acquired a large Electron Beam Welder from ADI in Bendigo. This large welding capability had been used by ADI for the electron beam welding of NULKA missile casings (the NULKA system is used by the Navy as a missile decoy system).

Electron beam welding is described by Cary and Helzer in their book Modern Welding Technology as a fusion welding technique in which a beam of high-velocity electrons is applied to the materials being joined. The work pieces melt as the kinetic energy of the electrons is transformed into heat upon impact, and the filler material, if used, also melts to form part of the weld. Pressure is not applied, and a shielding gas is not used, though the welding is often done in condition of a vacuum to prevent dispersion of the electron beam.

As the electrons strike the work piece, their energy is converted into heat, instantly vaporizing the metal under temperatures near 25,000 degrees Centigrade. The heat penetrates deeply, making it possible to weld much thicker work pieces than is possible with most other welding processes. However, because the electron beam is tightly focused, the total heat input is actually much lower than that of any arc welding process.

Cary and Helzer point out the advantages of electron beam welding are that the effect of welding on the surrounding material is minimal, and the heat affected zone is small. Distortion is slight, and the work piece cools rapidly (while normally an advantage this can lead to cracking in high-carbon steel).

Almost all metals can be welded by the process, but the most commonly welded are stainless steels, super alloys and reactive and refractory metals. The process is also widely used to perform welds of a variety of dissimilar metals combinations.

The machine that Goodrich is currently commissioning at their Sydney facility is the largest in Australia with the Working Chamber internal dimensions being Height – 36 inches, Length – 54 inches and Width – 36 inches. The machine utilises a vacuum as described above which at maximum is 6X10-3 mBar.

It is a very powerful welder with the Gun having a maximum power output of 150 kV at 40 mA. Utilising a function generator to programme weld shapes the machine is highly flexible with common configurations including : Sine wave, saw tooth, circular, elliptical and any combinations of these shapes.

As this is a unique capability in Australia, Goodrich is ready to provide this service to support industrial users who need access to the special welding attributes that an electron beam welder offers.

Contact Goodrich Corporation Australia

John Dwyer
Business Development Manager
Goodrich Customer Services Australia
John.dwyer@goodrich.com

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