Research fellowships

To:    Professors Engaged in Joining Research
Subject:    Request for Proposals for AWS Fellowships

The AWS Foundation has established a fifth graduate research fellowship, starting in the 2023-24 academic year.

The American Welding Society (AWS) Foundation seeks to foster university research in joining and to recognize outstanding faculty and student talent.  We are again requesting your proposals for consideration by the AWS Foundation.

The Research Fellowships are $35,000 per year.  $17,500 installments are paid following the submission of progress statements on November 1 and March 1. Proposals may be funded for a period of up to three years, however, renewal applications must be submitted for the second and third years. Renewal by AWS will be contingent on demonstration of reasonable progress in the research or in graduate studies.

Proposals must be received at American Welding Society by April 15, 2023. New Fellowships will be announced in May. The AWS Foundation reserves the right not to make awards if the Committee does not find any satisfactory candidates. 

The AWS Fellowship is awarded to the student for graduate research toward a Masters or Ph.D. Degree under a sponsoring professor at a North American University.  The qualifications of the Graduate Student are key elements to be considered in the award.  The academic credentials, plans, and research history (if any) of the student should be provided in the application package.  The student must prepare the proposal for the AWS Fellowship.  However, the proposal must be developed under the guidance of a professor and accompanied by letters of recommendation from the sponsoring professor and others acquainted with the student's technical capabilities. Should the student selected by AWS be unable to accept the Fellowship or continue with the research at any time during the period of the award, the award will be forfeited, and no further funding will be provided by the AWS Foundation. The bulk of funding should be for student support.  

RESEARCH TOPICS
Topics for the AWS Fellowship may span the full range of the joining industry. Proposals for both applied and fundamental research topics are welcome. 

DETAILS
The technical portion of the proposal package should include:

Executive Summary
Annualized Breakdown of Funding Required and Purpose of Funds (Student Salary, Tuition, etc.)
Matching Funding or Other Support for Intended Research
Duration of Project
Statement of Problem and Objectives
Current Status of Relevant Research
Technical Plan of Action
Qualifications of the Student Researcher and Professor
Pertinent Literature References and Related Publications
Special Equipment Required and Availability
Statement of Critical Issues Which Will Influence Success or Failure of Research
The technical portion of the proposal should not exceed 15 typewritten pages. The title page, which may include the executive summary, is not included in the page count limit. The maximum file size for the technical portion is 2 megabytes. Proposals that exceed either the page limit or file size limit will be considered non-conforming and will not be evaluated.

In addition, the proposal must include:

Student's Academic History, Resume and Transcript (Both undergraduate and graduate)
Recommendation(s) Indicating Qualifications for Research must include one or more letters of recommendation from the sponsoring professor or others acquainted with the student's technical capabilities. A maximum of three support letters may be submitted.
Brief Section or Commentary on Importance of Research to the Welding Community and to AWS, Including Technical Merit, National Need, Long Term Benefits, etc.
Statement Regarding Probability of Success
Proposal should be typed in a minimum of 12-point font in Times, Times New Roman, or equivalent. Proposals received after the deadline will not be evaluated. Proposals should be sent electronically by April 15, 2023 to John Douglass, Associate Director, AWS Foundation at jdouglass@aws.org.

AWARD REQUIREMENTS 
Recipients will be expected to submit at least one manuscript for publication in the Welding Journal Research Supplement and to present in the Professional Program at a future FABTECH Conference event during the time you are funded under this fellowship (up to three years). The manuscript will be reviewed just like all other submissions, and no special treatment will be given during review resulting from the AWS Graduate Fellowship status. 

Topics for the AWS Fellowship may span the full range of the joining industry. Proposals for both applied and fundamental research topics are welcome. Two fellowships will be selected in 2022.  For one of the two available, priority will be given to proposals that address one of the recommended topics below.

Topic: Optimal location for Charpy Vee Notch (CVN) notch location for heat affected zone (HAZ) testing of single and multiple pass-per-side steel welds

Description: The location of the notch for CVN testing of HAZs is typically specified in terms of the distance from the fusion line (FL), in a format such as “FL +1” where the notch is 1 mm away from the fusion line. See AWS D1.1:2015 Table 4.14 for an example. Various standards specify different notch locations, while others specify multiple locations. In the case of this topic, the “optimal location” is the location where the lowest absorbed energy values would be obtained for low, moderate and high heat input. If the HAZ location with the lowest value is identified, and acceptable results obtained from this “worse case” situation, then additional HAZ testing should not be required. Given the variety of locations specified by standards, it is apparent that there is not consensus as to where this “worse case” situation occurs. This lack of agreement is likely due to the variety of factors that likely affect the HAZ properties, including the steel composition, welding heat input level, thickness should be conducted on low and medium carbon steel, low alloy steel (D1.1 Gr 4)) and Cr-Mo steel (ASME P-number 4 or 5A).  Welding process used would be GMAW.  Joints tested will be single bevel.

Objective: Establish a practical method of prediction of size and location of areas of HAZ w/ various levels of heat input. Identify the location of the area within the HAZ of common structural steels where the CVN absorbed energy is lowest and develop a means of predicting this location. Practical predictions based on fundamental concepts such as phase transformations, heat transfer, solid-mechanics, thermodynamics, kinetics, etc. will be especially welcome. The output of this research would be usable by code and standard writers to specify this “worse case” location for standardized testing.

Topic: The effects of moderate to very low heat input/moderate to small bead size on Charpy Vee Notch (CVN) values in weld metal and the HAZ in multiple pass steel welds carbon steel and HSLAS and nickel alloyed steels.

Description: While the effects of high heat input and large weld beads on the toughness of weld metal and the HAZ of multi-pass welds are well known, the effects of moderate to very low heat input/medium to very small beads on toughness are not well understood.  With large beads, there is little interpass tempering, leading to low toughness.  As bead size decreases, there is more interpass tempering that leads to an increase in toughness.  It is unknow whether very small beads will result in a reduction in toughness due to excessive interpass tempering.  There are the variety of factors that affect the weld metal and HAZ properties, including the steel composition, welding heat input level, thickness of the steel, preheat and interpass temperatures, and bead shape. Welding process used would be GMAW.  Joints tested will be single bevel when testing the HAZ.

Objective: Develop curves that show how toughness changes with heat input/bead size and shape.  The output of this research would be usable by code and standard writers to specify tolerances on heat input/bead size and shape from what was used during qualification.