Electron beam welding (EBW) is one of the most extensively utilized high energy-based joining processes having many advantages, namely high penetration, improved weld quality etc. But the electron beam used for joining of materials is subjected to electron-repulsion-induced space charge effect (SCE). This SCE has shown significant variation in the weld-geometries, cooling rate and microstructural features during EBW process for a fixed value of heat input, thereby limiting the effective applicability of the joining process. The present study provides mathematical modeling to study the influence of this SCE on various electron beam attributes. This includes the estimation of electron velocity and penetration, their kinetic energies, de Broglie's wavelength, current and charge densities, number of electrons, gap between the electrons and the Coulomb repulsion force between two electrons. Moreover, the SCE-induced beam divergence is presented through SIMION simulations. The modeling results are validated with the experimental observations.
Electron beam weldingSpace charge effectMathematical modelingSIMION simulations
NSTL
Elsevier
