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6th Charting the Course in Welding: U.S. Shipyards
As an added benefit, AWS Conference attendees are awarded 1 PDH (Professional Development Hour) for each hour of conference attendance. These PDH’s can be applied toward AWS recertifications and renewals.

June 16-17, 2009 — New Orleans, Louisiana
Facility: Sheraton Metairie New Orleans Hotel
Chair: Lee Kvidahl
View Brochure     Hotel Information

Welding is the most vital and fundamental manufacturing process in the construction of ships and metal hull boats. Keeping in tune with the progress of new innovative developments, as well as their potential value and impact to the industry is essential for those in the shipbuilding community.

The 2009 Shipbuilding Conference will address the critical importance of welding in the shipbuilding industry by providing current information on new and emerging technologies being developed for shipbuilding applications.

In addition to the formal sessions being presented, the conference will provide several opportunities for you to network informally with experts from academia and industry, as well as with conference participants. An exhibition showcasing products and services available to the shipbuilding industry will also be featured during this two-day conference.

   

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Conference Registration Fees

• Each nonmember attendee will receive a two-year complimentary membership in AWS. Your conference registration fee includes all conference sessions, two continental breakfasts, two lunches, and refreshment breaks.
• The registration fee does not include hotel accommodations. Hotel accommodations are subject to hotel regulations and are the responsibility of the attendee.
• You will receive a CD containing copies of all presentations.
• Each participant will also earn 14 Professional Development Hours (PDHs) for attending the conference. These PDH’s can be applied toward AWS recertifications and renewals.

Take advantage of the specially negotiated rate of $115 for single or double occupancy. This special rate is also extended to you three days before the conference and three days after the conference (depending on hotel availability). Be sure to mention the American Welding Society to receive this rate. The deadline for reservations at this special price is May 15, 2009. Each reservation must be guaranteed with a first night’s deposit or a major credit card. Any room reservation cancelled via the website can be done 24 hours in advance. Any other reservations must be cancelled five days in advance of the arrival date and must be done directly with the hotel. There is no charge for valet or the self-parking garage.

Program Schedule

Continental Breakfast: 7:30 AM - 8:30 AM

WELCOME
8:45 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Lee Kvidahl, Conference Chair

Tailoring GMAW for Specific Applications
9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Harry A. Sadler, Manager of Military and Shipbuilding Sales, The Lincoln Electric Company, Cleveland, OH

The GMAW process is commonly used in the shipbuilding industry for a variety of applications. While this process may be used to weld both sheet metal ducting and ship hull plate, the demands on the process for these two applications are very different. Lincoln Electric’s Waveform Control Technology provides the means to optimize the GMAW process for these two diverse examples and many more GMAW usages involved in shipbuilding.  

Intro to UIT – Using Ultrasound to Enhance Material Properties in Shipbuilding
9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
Taylor W. Hanes, Chief Operating Officer, Applied Ultrasonics, Birmingham, AL

Ultrasonic Impact Treatment, known as UIT, uses ultrasonic energy to enhance material properties, achieving effects such as: compressive residual stress, stress relief, enhanced fatigue characteristics and corrosion properties.

10:30-10:45 AM Morning Break

Low Cost Titanium for Naval Applications
10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Matthew Fonte, Business Development Manager, Dynamic Flowform Corporation, Billerica, MA

In February 2008, Dynamic Flowform Corp successfully flowformed Low Cost Shipboard Titanium Pipe prototypes for test and evaluation by NMC, Johnstown, PA and the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC), Carderock, Maryland.  Pipe was also sent to Northrop Grumman Ship Systems (NGSS) in Avondale Shipyard, Louisiana for weld testing.  This paper will discuss the technical manufacturing steps to produce the Titanium Powder, Flowform the Pipe the mechanical and metallurgical testing results of the subject pipe, the weld sample tests and will discuss the economical benefits of using this pipe.

Induction Brazing for Shipboard Pipe Applications
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Patrick M. Hoyt, Chief Welding Engineer, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems New Orleans, Avondale, LA

Currently all US Naval ship pipe connections that require brazing are brazed using gas torches. The use of manual gas torches results in undesirable conditions and reactions, such as safety issues related to the open flame, damage to surrounding components, need for more skilled workers and long brazing times. The use of induction for brazing instead of flame eliminates these undesirable situations and adds value to the Navy, by greatly reducing brazing times and possibly reducing the need for more skilled workers, thus saving the cost and time it takes to build ships. The main objective of this project is to refine/develop an induction brazing system that provides the benefits of induction in a manner which is user friendly to the operator, and is a practical and viable system for use on board ships.

12:30-1:30 PM Lunch (provided)

Friction Stir Welding For Shipbuilding Applications
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.
Bruce Halverson, Quality Assurance Manager, Marinette Marine Corporation, Marinette, WI and John F. Hinrichs PE, CMfgE, FAWS

A review of friction stir welding and friction stir processing advancements in the Marine Industry will be discussed.  Production friction stir welding of the panels for the deckhouse/superstructure of the USS Freedom LCS #1 will be included.  Friction stir processing to improve formability of aluminum alloys will also be discussed.  The presentation centers on aluminum alloys but the processes can be employed on other metals.  Friction stir welding and friction stir processing tool materials depend on the metals involved in the processing as well as the equipment capabilities employed.

How to Avoid Cracking in Arc Welding Aluminum Alloys Used for Marine Applications
2:15 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Tony Anderson, Corporate Technical Training Manager, ESAB Welding & Cutting Products, Florence, SC

To understand the potential for problems associated with cracking in arc-welded aluminum alloys, it is necessary to recognize the many different aluminum alloys and their diverse characteristics. Discussion will include examination of the key areas that can influence the probability of hot cracking. These elements of concern are crack sensitivity of the base alloy and weld metal chemistry, the selection and use of the most appropriate filler alloy, and choosing the most suitable joint design. Further discussion will include sensitization, intergranular corrosion, exfoliation and stress corrosion cracking and the part that the ASTM B928 Standard for high Mg Al alloys for marine service plays in their prevention.

3:00-3:15 Afternoon Break

Properties and characteristics of Aluminum Welds for Marine Applications
3:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
R. P. Martukanitz, Ph.D., Applied Research Laboratory, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA

The presentation will begin with a discussion on the effects of the welding process on the development of microstructures within the fusion zone and heat affected zone of aluminum alloys used for marine applications. This information will be linked to local and global properties for these alloys in welded structures. The general characteristics of welds in aluminum marine alloys will be presented, with special attention to strength, fatigue, and stress corrosion cracking. Finally, the impact of the welding process on design and production will be discussed.

Do and Don’t for Welding Aluminum and Advancements in the Gas Metal Arc (GMAW) and Friction Stir (FSW) Welding Processes
4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.
Israel Stol, Sr. Specialist & Consultant, Aluminum Company of America (ALCOA), New Kensington, PA

As the need for lighter and faster ships continues to grow in the USA and abroad so does the use of aluminum in the construction of these crafts. As aluminum is being integrated into the designs of these structures, different joining processes and techniques need to be refined and adopted for the fabrication of these structures. In addition to development of these joining processes, it is also necessary to help familiarize the Naval designers and shipyards in the capabilities and limitations of these processes and their use. Besides mechanical fastening (e.g. Riveting and Bolting) and adhesive bonding, most other aluminum joining processes applicable to ship-building are based on fusion and solid-state welding. Gas Metal Arc welding (GMAW) and Friction Stir Welding (FSW), respectively, are most representative of these welding processes. Unlike the GMAW process, which is based on simultaneously melting a filler wire and the parts being welded by fusion, the FSW process is based on rotating a tool, which “plasticizes” the parts about it and causes them to coalesce into sound metallurgical bonds. This lecture will present Alcoa’s advancements with the Gas Metal Buried Arc (GMBAW) welding process, Friction Stir welding of thick (e.g. 1.77in.) and tough (e.g. 7xxx) alloys and simultaneous welding of multiple parallel joints with the process.

Continental Breakfast: 7:45-8:45AM

Terac – Straightening with Induction & Induction Fairing on Mobil Offshore Drilling Units (MODU)
9:00 a.m. – 9:45 a.m.
Tom Brown, Regional Sales Manager, EFD Induction Inc., Madison Heights, MI and George Baldree, Welding Engineer, Keppel AmFELS, Brownsville, TX

This will be a two part presentation. The first part of the presentation will be an overview of the use of induction to realize rapid, effective, and aesthetically improved straightening of decks, bulkheads, etc. The second part of the presentation will include an actual production application (including thicknesses and grades of steel) of induction by Keppel AmFELS on Mobile Offshore Drilling Units.

Transient Thermal Tensioning Applications for Shipbuilding
9:45 a.m. – 10:30 a.m
Randy Dull, Engineering Team Leader of the Arc Welding Group, Edison Welding Institute, Columbus, OH

Transient thermal tensioning has proven to be effective in controlling buckling distortion when welding stiffeners to thin section steel panels. Recent work has been done to identify the range of plate thickness where this technique can be effectively used. Additional work is being done to determine suitability for use on higher strength steel plate.

10:30-10:45 AM Morning Break

The Use of Weld Simulation to Reduce Production Costs
10:45 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Garrett Sonnenberg, Structural Engineer, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News, Newport News, VA

This presentation will summarize the work that Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding has done to reduce the cost of producing welded structures. It will cover the use of numerical software, the approaches taken, and the elimination of extraneous data to achieve a successful optimization program. A discussion on the development of weld bead process simulation, the application of the bead simulation to a weldment, and finally extending this information to the development of a weld sequence will also be presented.

Reducing Distortion by Using Controlled Waveform Arc Welding Systems
11:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.
Harry A. Sadler, Manager, Military and Shipbuilding Sales, The Lincoln Electric Company, Cleveland, OH

It has long been recognized that reductions in welding heat input reduce welding related distortion. Unfortunately many traditional approaches to improved productivity have little impact on heat input. This presentation will cover how recent developments in controlled waveform arc welding systems allow true reductions in heat input.

12:15-1:15 PM Lunch (provided)

Secrets of Professional Cast Iron Welding and Other Repair Technologies
1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Gary J. Reed
Short background on my experience in successfully repairing tens of thousands of damaged cast iron castings over the past 40 years. Explanation of why cast iron cannot be welded the way other metals can be. Explanation of how cast iron responds to heat (expansion / contraction and hardening). Specific ways cast iron can be welded successfully and why. How metal stitching works. When to choose welding and when to choose metal stitching. Process for designing a successful repair. Discovering, understand and solving the cause of the damage before doing the repair. Designing reinforcements. Damage caused by accidents or incidents VS damage caused by normal operating conditions. Examples of various types of repairs including fusion welding, furnace brazing, powder welding metal spraying, metal stitching and bolt hole repairs.

AWS D1.1/D1.5 Phased Array Ultrasonic Inspection
2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Edwin Herasymiuk (Her-Sum-Yuck)

This presentation describes the introduction to phased array ultrasonics, and the evolution of new inspection codes for phased arrays. Ultrasonic phased arrays are now commercially available as an inspection technology and offer major benefits over the traditional ultrasonic for weld inspections. Specifically, phased arrays are rapid, flexible and results can be audited when encoded scanning is used. In addition, phased arrays have no safety problems, no environmental effects and minimal data storage requirements. However, all new technologies must follow a set or rules, or codes, to guarantee reasonable defect detection and that a suitable process is followed. AWS D1.1 accepts phased arrays in principle, and Olympus NDT has adapted the manual OmniScan M to fulfill the code with a special AWS array of appropriate dimensions and frequency. The instrument can assess defects using direct Indication Rating readings at the three inspection angles. Besides showing 45°, 60° and 70° waveforms, the instrument shows an optional S-scan for better imaging. In addition, the instrument offers weld overlays with defect locations, based on position measurements from the weld. Automated inspection systems have not fulfilled D1.1 yet, as probes are not oscillated. However, there is on-going work to implement AUT.

Afternoon Break 2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Ship Repair Advancements Utilizing UIT
3:00 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.
Taylor W. Hanes, Chief Operating Officer, Applied Ultrasonics, Birmingham, AL

Ultrasonic Impact Treatment, known as UIT, uses ultrasonic energy to enhance material properties, achieving effects such as: compressive residual stress, stress relief, enhanced fatigue characteristics and corrosion properties. UIT has been used to great success to address sensitization and stress corrosion cracking on several Ticonderoga Class Aegis Cruisers for the US Navy, and has been specified for fatigue enhancement of the US Coast Guard’s Deepwater Cutters, currently under construction at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

UIT has been used to great success to address sensitization and stress corrosion cracking on several Ticonderoga Class Aegis Cruisers for the US Navy, and has been specified for fatigue enhancement of the US Coast Guard’s Deepwater Cutters, currently under construction at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems.

Virtual Reality: A Practical Approach to Improving Weld Quality and Reducing the Cost of Welder Training
3:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Jerry Jones, President and Chief Technology Officer, Native American Technologies Company, Golden, CO

Welder training is primarily the instruction about, and development of skills to enable students in, the practice of welding. Skills teaching is a process which requires a combination of an environment in which to experience the skill, competent feedback for continuous improvement, and testing to evaluate performance. Traditional welder training provides this environment through the use of a welding booth, and a competent teacher who can identify problems that students are having and make appropriate suggestions. This approach has three problems: 1) a single instructor can only interact and provide feedback to one student at a time; 2) the equipment, materials and supplies, and time of the student and instructor are expensive; and, 3) feedback about the size, shape, and quality of a weld requires the weld to be cut, ground, etched, and examined – the delay between producing the weld and the feedback makes the turn-around less effective for training and is costly.

If a virtual environment can be provided which includes sufficient realism to be a useful training situation and offers individualized and real-time feedback, then some portion of the training can be accomplished without producing real welds and without taking the time of an instructor to provide feedback. There are a small number of virtual welder training systems available commercially. Limited testing of these systems has shown the welders can develop good welding skills and reduce the amount of time making actual welds, while successfully learning. To the extent that the virtual environment can supplant the actual environment, there is potential for reducing the time to learn the skill, and also reducing the cost through savings on consumables and metal. However, virtual reality welder training systems require a significant capital investment and have limited capability for real-time feedback, which presents a significant barrier to the widespread use of this technology.

This presentation is about a project, by the National Shipbuilding Research Program, Native American Technologies Company, Bender Shipbuilding, Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, General Dynamics Electric Boat, and the University of New Orleans to develop a lower cost virtual reality welder training system. The computer industry, today, is concentrated on entertainment, including “gaming”. The project is in progress, and a prototype system has been produced, which utilizes advanced computer technology being developed for gaming applications. By combining high speed computer capability and Artificial Intelligence based software this system is a significant breakthrough in reducing the barriers. The projected system cost is expected to eliminate the capital expense barrier while the Artificial Intelligence methods can provide rapid and effective real-time feedback to the student -- thereby enabling the widespread use of virtual reality for welder training. Shawn Wilber of Bender Shipbuilding is the Team Leader and Dr. Jones is the Principal Investigator on this project.

The presentation will also include a demonstration of the Virtual-reality Welder (VW) Training System.

ADJOURNMENT