Industrial Need
Nickel Superalloy 718 (Ni718) is used in numerous subsea assemblies. Ni718 bolts were previously been selected as suitable demonstrators for this work, being currently machined from billets, or hot press forged; methods that are relatively expensive, and time consuming. Friction welding techniques offer the potential for solid-phase additive manufacture to build up semi-finished, close to net shape products by the successive welding of relatively simple shapes. This approach can dramatically reduce the volume of raw material used and the extent of machining required in part production; which can result in significant cost savings, time savings and associated environmental benefits.
Objectives
The objectives of this work are:
To review potential new applications for additive manufacturing by FW in a range of industry sectors including aerospace, transport and oil and gas.
To select a relevant case study for each industry sector and to produce demonstration components for each selected application.
To conduct a technical and economic assessment of the demonstrator components in order to generate relevant data to support industrial uptake of friction additive manufacturing.
Relevant Industry Sectors
Aerospace, Transport, Oil and Gas