Simulated Service and Stress Corrosion Cracking Testing for Friction Stir Welded Spun Formed Domes

[摘要] Simulated service testing (SST) development was required to help qualify a new 2195 aluminum lithium (Al-Li) alloy spin forming dome fabrication process for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Exploration Development Technology Program. The application for the technology is to produce high strength low weight tank components for NASA s next generation launch vehicles. Since plate material is not currently manufactured large enough to fabricate these domes, two plates are joined by means of friction stir welding. The plates are then pre-contour machined to near final thicknesses allowing for a thicker weld land and anticipating the level of stretch induced by the spin forming process. The welded plates are then placed in a spin forming tool and hot stretched using a trace method producing incremental contours. Finally the dome receives a room temperature contour stretch to final dimensions, heat treatment, quenching, and artificial aging to emulate a T-8 condition of temper. Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) tests were also performed by alternate immersion in a sodium chloride (NaCl) solution using the typical double beam assembly and with 4-point loaded specimens and use of bent-beam stress-corrosion test specimens under alternate immersion conditions. In addition, experiments were conducted to determine the threshold stress intensity factor for SCC (K(sub ISCC)) which to our knowledge has not been determined previously for Al-Li 2195 alloy. The successful simulated service and stress corrosion testing helped to provide confidence to continue to Ares 1 scale dome fabrication

[发布日期] 2010-06-28

[学科分类] 金属与冶金