Edison Welding Institute
The Edison Welding Institute has installed a Gleeble HAZ 1000 as an integral part of its weldability test facility in Columbus, Ohio. An independent, non-profit organization, EWI is the largest applied engineering center in the US dedicated to advancement and implementation of materials joining technology. The weldability testing facility allows members of EWI access to a wide variety of weldability tests and serves as a focal point for test procedure and data base develop-ment.
The Gleeble 1000 replaces an older Gleeble 510 and represents the first Gleeble 1000 to be installed. Dr. John Lippold, Manager of EWI's Materials De-partment, says, "We chose the Gleeble 1000 because of its flexibility, compactness and unique capabilities for performing precise thermal/mechanical simulation work. The 1000 satisfies 95% of our weld simulation requirements. A Gleeble 1500 is also available to us through the Welding Engineering Department at Ohio State University and serves the other 5% of our needs."
Current projects within the weldability testing facility at EWI include studies of metal matrix composites, nickel-base superalloys, high-carbon/high-silicon stainless steels, duplex stainless steels and various structural steels. The Gleeble 1000 will play an important role in these and other investigations. A joint program with Dr. William A. Baeslack III, at OSU is designed to develop correlations between Gleeble hot ductility testing and other weldability test techniques, particularly the Varestraint tests. This work will seek to define a "weldability parameter" based on the physical, chemical and metallurgical properties of a given material. The Gleeble 1000 will be used to generate much of the data needed to define this parameter.
Beginning this summer, EWI will begin a program to develop standardized testing procedures for a variety of weldability test/material combinations. This work will include standardization of hot ductility test procedures and the generation of a hot ductility test data base for the use of EWI member organizations.
Dr. Lippold says, "Across the broad spectrum of weldability test methods — and we've identified over 150 separate and distinct tests for hot cracking — there is little or no standardization of procedures. In addition, many researchers do not report the details of their testing, making it impossible for others to make full use of the data. As a result, much of the weldability test data available in the literature, including Gleeble hot ductility data, are of questionable value, or, in some cases, misleading. There is an obvious need for additional research and eventual standard-ization of weldability test techniques. EWI, with its large membership base and newly expanded weldability testing facility, is ideally suited to undertake this task."
A partnership among OSU, Batelle Memorial Institute, and The Welding Institute (TWI) in the United Kingdom was the nucleus of EWI when it was founded in 1984 with a grant from the State of Ohio. EWI currently has more than 210 members, representing a broad cross section of American industry and government agencies. Together with TWI, EWI funds more than $9 million of research in materials joining technology. Technical departments include materials, bonding and forge welding, fusion welding and automation, engineering, and nondestructive evaluation. EWI currently employs more than 70 staff.
This article first appeared in the Gleeble® Newsletter — Summer 1989.
