Public Funding for Aquasium Technology Limited

Currently, UK EV drive manufacturing uses Laser welding as a 'go-to' high-productivity joining process for copper and aluminium components. However, laser welding has shown many short comings, owing to the fundamental limitation of adsorption of laser energy into copper material, and thus greatly complicating the manufacturing processes of PEMD devices. This has encouraged Ford to explore alternative processes. Internal Ford evaluation and lab-based tests have shown that replacing laser welding with electron beam welding greatly impacts production efficiency and quality of the product. Lab-based proof of concepts has demonstrated that electron beam welding overcomes most issues associated with laser welding process. The electron beam welding process is efficient without needing pre-welding preparation, including trimming the parts before joining occurs. This eliminates scrap produced during the welding process. This process also doesn't require shielding gas and operates in a controlled vacuum machine instead of the atmospheric environment therefore has a significantly less negative impact on the environment. Cambridge Vacuum Engineering has joined Ford on the EB-eDrive project to automate and scale up the electron beam process to an industrial scale which requires gathering comprehensive data and creating a robust operational and quality assessment process. This project will develop and establish a world-class, UK-based, welding supply chain, ensuring continued UK leadership in Driving the Electric Revolution.

The automotive manufacturing sector is important to the UK economy, with a turnover of £82 billion, directly employing 169,000 people. UK automotive production plants produced 2.71 million internal combustion engines (ICE) in 2018, 4th in Europe, employing 11,500 with £8.5 billion turnover. However, the automotive industry is facing the challenges that ICE production is set to decline over the next decade as they are replaced by EVs due to requirement for zero-tailpipe emission, consumer demand and government regulation. In EVs, battery packs are the most expensive and difficult part of the vehicle to reliably manufacture at scale. Many car manufacturers are moving towards using cylindrical cells (typically 22mm diameter and 70mm long) rather than pouch or prism cells. Cylindrical cells offer the advantage of high energy density, giving greater vehicle range, greater damage tolerance and safety, and faster charge rates. A typical EV will contain some 12,000 joints between cells and bus bars, and typically a vehicle will roll off a plant's production line every 30 seconds. This presents a unique manufacturing and production rate challenge. Conventional welding (typically wire bonding, resistance spot, mini-tig/pulsed arc) can make these joints, but only at a slow rate, as such multiple parallel stations are needed, adding to capital and operational costs. More recently, laser welding has been deployed using galvanometer mirror beam deflection (scanning) and refocussing; offering higher production rates, although the materials used for bus bars (copper and aluminium alloys) are inherently difficult to laser weld due to reflectivity, and the speed of scanning is limited by the speed with which the optics can be mechanically adjusted. In the scenario where a single failure can compromise the lifetime performance of the battery pack, high rejection rates have been experienced with volume laser welding approaches, which has caused several high-profile product recalls. The EB-Bat project will demonstrate battery pack manufacture using a process shown to be potentially x20 times faster than laser welding. EBs can be deflected and refocussed much more rapidly than laser beams, as this is achieved using magnetic fields, without moving parts as the welds are made. In addition, EBs do not suffer from reflectivity from copper and aluminium, making more consistent and reliable welds. The EB-Bat project will provide a compelling demonstration of the process performance, productivity, quality and economics to the automotive manufacturing sector with an aim to secure funding to take it into production.

**_The demand for 'thick section' steel structures, primarily in power generation, is strong & growing._** Globally 79% of electricity is generated by thermal processes, in which conventional power plants provide over 62% of global electricity supply and the remaining 17% is by nuclear fission processes and this is expected to increase (IEA, 2015). Thermal power plants make use of a large number of thick section (\\\>20mm) components for many parts of the primary circuit; pump and valve bodies, ancillary systems and other safety critical components. Furthermore, off-shore wind demand in the UK requires \>1,000 structures (towers and foundations) or 1m tonnes of steel p.a. to be cost-effectively fabricated. The fabrication of large metallic structures typically requires high-integrity, thick section, welding; often for structures that are for safety critical applications (e.g. pressure vessels/steam raising plant, aerospace parts, etc). Arc-based welding techniques are first choice for simple engineering steels, but there are limitations in applying these processes to high performance advanced alloys and other materials. Arc-based processes can only weld to a depth of ~2-3mm, and thus multi-pass welding is needed; this increases manufacturing time (sometimes requiring tens or hundreds of passes per welded joint), costs and increases the chance of weld defects and the amount of inspection and re-work needed. **_To reduce cost this manufacturing time needs to be significantly reduced._** Electron beam (EB) welding can weld from 0.1mm to \>200 mm in a single pass, without costly filler wires, uses less process gas and can reduce fume exposure -- and thus can achieve unrivalled productivity improvements (\>1,000x for very thick section fabrications). CVE has over the last 7 years developed and has begun commercialising the 'EBFlow' system; which creates a local-vacuum process head, targeting off-wind fabrication, and reduces this welding time from 6,000hrs to <200hrs, equivalent to a reduction in cost of over 85%. **_The LowCostEB project will use this approach (and learning) to remove the requirement for a vacuum chamber and dedicated shielding through the application of low-cost 'local-chamber' system._** This project will deploy a team comprising Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) who develop bespoke power beam welding solutions for high integrity fabrications, TWI (an RTO specialising in welding and performance testing) and Stainless Metalcraft (an example end-user fabricator). The consortium will develop and evaluate of the LowCostEB system to improve material utilisation, develop designs for maximising manufacturing efficiency, and establish fabrication methods maximising the economic and production benefits.

To embed novel technical capabilities and commercialise on innovative leading welding technology.

RapidWeld will use a novel electron beam welding process, Reduced Pressure Electron Beam welding (RPEB) to fabricate welds on offshore wind foundation monopiles. These will be 'First-in-Class' globally establishing this UK innovation as world-leading technology, with substantial benefits to UK energy consumers, UK offshore engineering, the associated offshore wind supply chain and the UK's high value jobs market. RPEB uses heat generated by a beam of high-velocity electrons to make a high strength and durable welded steel join in a clean and efficient way. The project aims to be disruptive to existing welding technology and reduce the costs of future offshore wind foundation monopiles by up to 20%. With monopile type foundations accounting for over 90% of foundations used in UK projects, RPEB could realise significant cost savings on future projects. The RapidWeld project team comprises: SSE, the UK's leading offshore wind developer; Aquasium Technologies (trading as CVE), the SME designer and manufacturer of the RPEB equipment; SIF, a global leading fabricator; and, TWI, the UK's foremost welding research establishment.

A collaboration between Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) to analyse failure mechanisms of electron beam welder filaments that will provide knowledge, improvements and confidence in filament technology, that CVE and their customers can use to benefit modern manufacturing. Filament life is an important factor for users of CVE equipment. CVE electron beam welders are widely used in high volume production industrial sectors such as automotive and sensors, where any down time for filament change incurs great cost. CVE welders are also used in low volume, high value sectors such as aerospace and nuclear where filament reliability is imperative as a questionable weld can create high value scrap. The electron emission filament is the heart of an electron beam welder; by advancing knowledge of this key element, CVE aims to provide a filament solution that manufacturers can utilise to preserve electron beam welding as one of the most advanced and powerful manufacturing technologies.

The turbo-charger market continues to grow at a CAGR of 10% as manufacturers design leaner and more fuel efficient engines. This technology will be the largest contributor to reducing CO2 emissions in vehicles (worldwide) for at least the next decade. This project will boost the productivity of production equipment for this market, an important export market for Aquasium Technologies (AQ) that will be worth \>£15m per year in 2022\. The PlasMan2 project will build on a previous feasibility study to adopt a novel electron beam (EB) welding gun technology for the production of turbo-chargers. The project will build and test a system and provide the necessary bridge to allow integration of the technology. The operational data collected will be used to quantify the benefits of adopting the technology and will be used to promote sales of the equipment against more conventional competitors, and emerging laser welding machines. We will also investigate and assess the potential for using the technology in new emerging markets of additive manufacturing (various markets), thick-section welding (for off-shore wind and nuclear energy) and vacuum melting (precious metal recycling). The technical capability of being able to rapidly pulse the electron beam and much higher consistency output are particularly suited to these markets. The additional work planned is that equipment at TWI will be upgraded to allow demonstration of the Plasman2 smart machine technology to industries other than the original target (automotive), such as aerospace, power and medical sectors. This will involve additional hardware and software developments by ATS. TWI will be carrying out the demonstration work package requiring machine operators, application engineers and weld/AM quality engineers. TWI will also host an industry demonstration day. These activities will promote the Plasman2 technology developments to a wider industrial base than was previously planned.

"Globally 79% of electricity is generated by thermal processes, in which conventional power plants provide over 62% of global electricity supply and the remaining 17% is by nuclear fusion processes and this is expected to increase (IEA, 2015). Thermal power plants make use of a large number of thick section (\>20mm) components for many parts of the primary circuit; pump and valve bodies, ancillary systems and other safety critical components. Furthermore, off-shore wind demand in the UK requires \>1,000 structures (towers and foundations) or 1m tonnes of steel p.a. to be cost-effectively fabricated. **_The demand for 'thick section' steel structures in power generation is strong & growing._** The ability to fabricate these thick section structures cost-effectively is (in part) limited by the welding time and associated cost; to produce a typical 40m long monopile (60mm thick) takes ~6,000 hrs of 'arc-on' welding time. **_To reduce cost this manufacturing time needs to be significantly reduced._** Aquasium technology has developed the 'EBFlow' system, based on high productivity electron beam welding which can reduces this welding time to <200 hrs, equivalent to a reduction in cost of over 85%. **The EBManPower project will implement and validate the first EBFlow system within a large-scale fabrication facility to enable cost-effective manufacture of large scale power generation infrastructure.** Cammell Laird is one of the UKs last heavy fabrication ship yards and is the manufacturing partner for the U-Battery micro modular reactor (MMR) system. This project will focus on using the EBFlow system deployed at our site in Birkenhead to demonstrate the viability to fabricate MMRs in a cost-effective manner. Being able to achieve this will be critical to drive widespread deployment of new, cost-effective, nuclear fission solutions to meet low-carbon energy needs both within the UK and across the globe. Through this project our partnership believe we can increase revenues, grow exports and secure high value jobs in manufacturing and low-carbon energy sectors."

Wire-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) is able to rapidly deposit a large volume of material, followed by a final machining operation to reach the final dimensional tolerances for parts. This fabrication method offers a considerable improvement in material usage for components that are machined from solid - commonly known as buy-to-fly ratio for aerospace and space industries. Existing wire-based AM systems used either ARC or laser as the heat input source, but both of these approaches have a fundamental limitation in controlling the heat input; which leads to distortion and residual stress in the final parts. An electron beam (EB) heat source do not suffer from this problem as the beam can be manipulated at very high frequencies -- leading to very precise heat input and avoiding residual stress fields. Our project aims to develop a UK EB wire AM platform -- adapted from a best-in-class EB welding system -- primarily targeting use in the aerospace, power and mining sectors for 'difficult to deposit' and high value Ni, Ti and Al based materials. High deposition rate, large build volume EB AM has been developed to a rudimentary level, with a single commercial system supplier capable of producing parts made by Sciaky in the US. Demonstrator components will be fabricated to address the challenges of: Achieving commercially viable build rates Fabricating industrially relevant complex structures Producing high integrity deposits (minimising the development of undesirable grain growth) Meeting the industry standard mechanical property requirements Minimising any distortion arising from the process The market for the EB wire AM process appears to be particularly promising for expensive and difficult to machine materials such as Nickel and Titanium -- which are commonly welded using EB systems (in aerospace and automotive sectors). Initial cost analysis calculations suggest a 40% reduction in costs of EB wire AM over rough machining from solid for a simple titanium aerospace component. We envisage being able to develop and supply \>10 systems per annum on a commercial basis by 2020-2022; all manufactured in the UK. This would represent a boost of \>£15m to the partners in the project and help to secure more than 75 jobs.

The turbo-charger market continues to grow at a CAGR of 10% as manufacturers design leaner and more fuel efficient engines. This project will boost sales of production equipment for this market, an important export market for Aquasium Technologies that will be worth £12m per year in 2022. The PlasMan project will examine the feasibility of adopting a novel plasma cathode electron beam welding technology for the production of turbo-chargers. The project will build and test a system and provide the necessary bridge to allow integration of the technology. The operational data collected will be used to quantify the benefits of adopting the technology and will be used to promote sales of the equipment against more conventional competitors, and emerging laser welding machines. We will also investigate and assess the potential for using the technology in new emerging markets of additive manufacturing, micro-machining and vacuum melting. The technical capability of being able to rapidly pulse the electron beam and much higher consistency output are particularly suited to these markets.

The demand for ‘thick section’ steel structures in power generation is strong & growing – primarily driven by need for off-shore wind towers and foundations structures – with UK demand for 1,000 structures or 1m tonnes of steel p.a. The fabrication of structures is limited by the welding time (and cost); to produce a typical 40m long monopile (60mm thick) takes ~6,000 hrs. CVE has developed the ‘EbFlow’ system which reduces this welding time to <200 hrs, equivalent to a reduction in cost of over 85%. However, to date, this has only been successfully achieved using proprietary ‘HTUFF’™ steel supplied by the Nippon steel from Japan. This steel alloy is able to overcome HAZ toughness which is by product of the rapid welding approach. Owing to Nippon having a monopoly supply position, this has prevented and serious market investment and uptake of the approach. The HiWeld project aims to integrate induction heating into the EbFlow system, to overcome this issue by applying a localised heat-treatment – allowing standard grades of C-Mn steel to be used for structures. Critically, standard S355 steel can be supplied by any UK, European or Worldwide supplier; unlocking a key market barrier to adoption of the EbFlow process. This development will enable >£10m of systems to be deployed by CVE within 3-5 years of project completion, potentially reducing the cost of off-shore wind structures by 3-5% (LCOE prediction).