JOM

DOI: 10.1007/s11837-016-2205-6
Ó 2016 The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society

Five-Axis Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing for Nuclear

Component Manufacture

ADAM HEHR ,1,4 JUSTIN WENNING,1 KURT TERRANI,2

SUDARSANAM SURESH BABU,2,3 and MARK NORFOLK1

1.—Fabrisonic LLC, Columbus, OH 43221, USA. 2.—Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge,
TN 37831, USA. 3.—Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering,
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. 4.—e-mail: ahehr@fabrisonic.com

Ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) is a three-dimensional metal

printing technology which uses high-frequency vibrations to scrub and weld
together both similar and dissimilar metal foils. There is no melting in the
process and no special atmosphere requirements are needed. Consequently,
dissimilar metals can be joined with little to no intermetallic compound for-
mation, and large components can be manufactured. These attributes have
the potential to transform manufacturing of nuclear reactor core components
such as control elements for the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. These components are hybrid structures consisting of an
outer cladding layer in contact with the coolant with neutron-absorbing
materials inside, such as neutron poisons for reactor control purposes. UAM
systems are built into a computer numerical control (CNC) framework to
utilize intermittent subtractive processes. These subtractive processes are
used to introduce internal features as the component is being built and for net
shaping. The CNC framework is also used for controlling the motion of the
welding operation. It is demonstrated here that curved components with
embedded features can be produced using a five-axis code for the welder for
the first time.

annular ‘‘flux trap’’ design to achieve very high

INTRODUCTION
The High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak
Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been in
operation since 1966,1 and it is the nation’s highest
flux reactor-based neutron source with a primary
mission as a major neutron scattering user facility.2
HFIR is the world’s leader in isotope production
used for research, medicine, and industrial applica-
tions, while in-vessel irradiation of fuels and mate-
rials are also routinely performed in this reactor.
The reactor consists of a cylindrical core with an
This manuscript has been authored by UT-Battelle, LLC under Contract
No. DE-AC05-00OR22725 with the U.S. Department of Energy. The Uni-
ted States Government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article
for publication, acknowledges that the United States Government retains
a non-exclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, world-wide license to publish or
reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so,
for United States Government purposes. The Department of Energy will
provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in
accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan (http://energy.gov/down
loads/doe-public-access-plan).
thermal neutron flux at its center. The core consists
of involute Al-6061 plates with dispersed U3O8
particles. Two cylindrical control elements, also
consisting of an Al-6061 alloy matrix surround the
core (Fig. 1). Selectively dispersed along the axis of
these elements, however, are Eu2O3 and Ta parti-
cles which are neutron absorbers. Both outer sur-
faces of the fuel and control elements are free of any
dispersed fuel or absorbers and are clad against the
water with Al-6061 alloy. The composite nature of
the curved fuel and control elements with selective
spatial distribution of the neutron absorbers makes
them costly to fabricate with traditional forming
techniques. The construction methodology has not
changed since the 1960s and involves a complex
series of powder processing, welding, rolling,
machining, and explosive forming.3
Ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) is a
relatively new three-dimensional (3D) metal print-
ing technology that uses ultrasonic vibration energy

Fig. 1. Simple schematic of HFIR core.
to weld together similar and dissimilar metal tapes
one layer at a time.4,5 The process operates near
room temperature and does not use heat as the
bonding mechanism. Instead, the ultrasonic vibra-
tions of the process fracture surface oxides and
bring metallic lattices intimately close, which, in
turn, creates a metal-to-metal bond. Periodic com-
puter numerical control (CNC) machining opera-
tions are used interchangeably with the ultrasonic
welding stage to introduce internal features and to
finalize the geometry of the printed part to fabricate
complex components, e.g., heat exchangers or cooler
devices.6 No special atmosphere requirements exist
for UAM, so the build envelope is flexible and bound
by the envelope of the CNC machine. Figure 2
explains the process and tooling.
The solid-state, or no melting, nature of UAM
enables bonding of aluminum alloys and joining of
dissimilar metals because solidification and high-
temperature chemistry is avoided and minimized,
respectively.7,8 Metals which have been joined to
themselves and other metals include aluminum
alloys (1xxx, 2xxx, 3xxx, 5xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx), coppers,
stainless and 4xxx steels, and some titanium alloys.
Chemistry is largely minimized because the scrub-
bing action of the process generates heat on a
localized level near the interface only. When welding
at room temperature, peak temperatures near 100°C
have been measured for aluminum and copper alloys
at the interface using fast response thermocouples.9
This localized heat generation creates a weld zone
submicron in size,10 which correspondingly negates
bond strength degradation (e.g., similar to a thin
braze joint).11 On the other hand, dissimilar welding
with directed energy deposition or melt type pro-
cesses can produce weld zones near 0.2 mm in size.12
Hehr, Wenning, Terrani, Babu, and Norfolk
Additionally, the types of metals which can be joined
are limited to eutectics and legacy joining combina-
tions for melt-based processes.
The combination of dissimilar metal joining and
subtractive operations of UAM enable the fabrica-
tion of unique metal parts that are not possible with
standard subtractive processes or fusion-based 3D
printing, i.e., powder or filament processes. The
control elements for ORNL’s HFIR are a good
candidate for UAM due to their aluminum con-
struction, large size, and composite features (i.e.
embedded neutron-absorbing materials). One of the
major goals of this study was to eliminate one of the
most expensive steps during traditional manufac-
turing, namely explosive forming, which is needed
for shaping the control elements into a cylindrical
geometry with a radius of roughly 9 in (23 cm). To
directly produce the cylindrical control element via
UAM, the SonicLayerTM 7200 was utilized (Fig. 2a).
Its build envelop is near 1.8 9 1.8 9 1 m, and it is
capable of five-axis welding motions.
CONTROL PLATE CONSTRUCTION
For part construction, five-axis welding motions
were implemented using TRAORI direction vector
programming.13 The program was created by using
relations for a circular arc in an iterative manner.
The SonicLayerTM 7200 is equipped with an axis
that moves perpendicular to the surface being
welded. This axis is used to handle irregularities
found in the anvil such that constant downforce is
always applied during welding. Welding was done
on a hardened aluminum anvil with the same
curvature as the prescribed welding motion (Fig. 3a
and b). This anvil design utilizes a vacuum and
mechanical fasteners to constrain a 1/8-in (3.175-
mm)-thick Al-6061 T6 baseplate. This baseplate was
bent to the curvature of the anvil prior to welding
using roll forming. Figure 4 shows a montage of
welding onto the bent baseplate.
In addition to welding, small disks (5.59 mm in
diameter and 1.71 mm in height) of neutron-ab-
sorbing materials were embedded into the build as
demonstrated earlier in small-scale flat builds.14
These disks consisted of a mixture of Al-6061 powder
and Eu2O3 or Ta powders. The volume fraction of the
neutron absorbers was 60% in the disks. The disks
were cold-pressed and retained 8 vol% porosity prior
to UAM embedding. Embedding was done by first
machining slots into the build and then manually
placing the disks into the cut slots. The Son-
icLayerTM 7200 does not have five-axis machining
capability; consequently, machining was carried out
by pivoting the anvil such that the machined surface
is parallel with the curvature of the part (Fig. 3c).
The cut slots are shown in Fig. 5a along with welded
Al-6061 H18* tapes. Note that traditional manufac-
turing of these elements resulted in plates with a
*Al-6061 H18 tapes were made by cold rolling annealed Al 6061
to a H18 temper.
Five-Axis Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing for Nuclear Component Manufacture

Fig. 2. UAM process: (a) Fabrisonic SonicLayerTM 7200; (b) additive or ultrasonic welding stage of process; (c) subtractive or machining stage of
process. The SonicLayerTM 7200 is capable of five-axis welding motions.

Fig. 3. Five-axis welding and machining: (a) solid model of welding horn and anvil; (b) anvil with mounted baseplate for welding; (c) anvil rotation
for machining operations using a constant pivot point and shims. The SonicLayerTM 7200 is not equipped with a five-axis machining stage, so
shims were utilized.

Fig. 4. Welding montage: (a) weld start; (b) middle of weld or crest of anvil; (c) end of weld.

uniform middle layer of dispersed neutron absor- The aluminum tapes were welded onto a pre-
bers. The UAM route enables very selective spatial heated baseplate of 180°F (82.2°C). The baseplate
placement of neutron absorbs at different composi- was heated using resistive heaters within the anvil.
tions throughout the control element. The sonotrode or rolling tool piece used a pre-
 Hehr, Wenning, Terrani, Babu, and Norfolk

Fig. 5. Build construction: (a) welded tapes and machined features for neutron-absorbing materials, tapes are staggered for strong interlocking
behavior; (b) embedding of neutron-absorbing materials through sheet consolidation.

Fig. 6. Final part: (a) welded component ready for post-process five-axis machining; (b) finalized part. The embedded features cannot be seen.

patterned surface texture of 14 lm Ra to grip the
tape during welding. The tape thickness was 0.006
in (0.152 mm). The welding parameters were 32 lm
peak-to-peak scrubbing amplitude, 100 in/min
(2.54 m/min) rolling speed, and 4500 N downforce.
These parameters were selected through pilot welds
and UAM literature.9,15,16 Although anisotropy in
mechanical properties is common for UAM parts,17
recent studies show that simple annealing treat-
ments can greatly reduce this degree of anisotropy
and results in components with robust
properties.18,19
The neutron-absorbing disks were embedded with
the use of Al-6061 H18 sheet held under vacuum.
Sheet was welded using a scrubbing amplitude of
29 lm, a rolling speed of 60 in/min (1.52 m/min),
and a downforce of 3500 N. Its thickness is also
0.006 in (0.152 mm) and was produced using the
same processing conditions as the tape. Sheet was
employed to constrain the neutron-absorbing mate-
rials in place during welding. Sheet welding and
consolidation of the embedded materials are shown
in Fig. 5b.
Good consolidation occurs over the embedded
materials as indicated by the textural pattern and
reduced shiny character seen post-welding. The
shiny character is an indication of unbonded areas
because lack of subsurface support prevents the
ultrasonic scrubbing action. On the other hand, lack
of shiny character is an indication of good consoli-
dation character and subsurface support. This
shine-free consolidation character continues until
the component is finished (Fig. 6a). No shiny char-
acter from the embedded features is observed.
External five-axis machining was carried out on
the component to finalize part detail. Figure 6b
shows the final part. An x-ray image of the final part
is shown in Fig. 7 along with a schematic of the
embedded disks. The embedded disks can be clearly
seen in the x-ray.
SUMMARY AND FUTURE WORK
Ultrasonic additive manufacturing (UAM) was
used to create a curved Al 6061 part using five-axis
welding motions. In addition to welding, neutron-
Five-Axis Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing for Nuclear Component Manufacture
Fig. 7. Neutron-absorbing disk embedment: (a) solid model of disk layout for disk embedding; (b) schematic of layers with dimensions; (c) x-ray
image of final part with disk type. The embedded disks can be clearly seen in the image.
absorbing materials were strategically embedded
into the part. These neutron-absorbing materials
can be embedded into aluminum directly with UAM
because of the low formation temperature of the
process. This component serves as a demonstration
of a robust alternative additive manufacturing
route for the production of control elements for
ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). This
process eliminates many serial steps in traditional
manufacturing to greatly simplify the production,
resulting in a potential cost reduction of roughly an
order of magnitude. Although post-UAM thermal
treatment is likely necessary (to optimize the
mechanical properties of the final control element),
it is unlikely to result in a significant cost increase.
Neutron irradiation of small UAM parts at HFIR
has been completed to date,20 and detailed results
will be available in future publications. Future work
also includes increasing the component size,
increasing the complexity of the geometry, and
large-scale neutron irradiation of built components
for final demonstration and qualification of the part.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Research sponsored by the Laboratory Directed
Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, managed by UT-Battelle,
LLC, for the U. S. Department of Energy. The aid
and technical insight of James Kiggans, Ronald
Swain, Troy Jensen, Dan Pinkston and Chris Bryan
at ORNL is gratefully acknowledged. HFIR is fun-
ded by the Department of Energy Office of Science,
Basic Energy Sciences.
REFERENCES
1. R. Cheverton and T. Sims, Report No. 4621: HFIR Core
Nuclear Design, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1971.
2. D. Selby and G. Smith: Nucl. News (La Grange Park, Ill.),
53, 35 (2010).
3. G. Adamson Jr, Report No. 4342: Fabrication Procedures
for the Initial High Flux Isotope Reactor Fuel Elements,
Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1969.
4. D. White, Adv. Mater. Processes 161, 64 (2003).
5. K. Graff, M. Short and M. Norfolk, Solid Freeform Fabri-
cation Symposium of Proceedings (2010), pp. 82–89.
6. M. Norfolk and Hilary Johnson, JOM 67, 655 (2015).
7. E. Herderick, Mater. Sci. Technol. Conf. Exhib. 2, 1413
(2011).
8. W.J. Sames, F.A. List, S. Pannala, R.R. Dehoff, and S.S.
Babu, Int. Mater. Rev. 61, 315 (2016).
9. M. Sriraman, M. Gonser, H. Fujii, S. Babu, and M. Bloss, J.
Mater. Process. Technol. 211, 1650 (2011).
10. J. Sietins, Exploring Diffusion of Ultrasonically Consoli-
dated Aluminum and Copper Films Through Scanning and
Transmission Electron Microscopy (PhD thesis, University
of Delaware, 2014).
11. A. Truog, Bond Improvement of Al/Cu Joints Created by
Very High Power Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (MS
thesis, The Ohio State University, 2012).

12. T. Abe and H. Sasahara, Precis. Eng. 45, 387 (2016).
13. Report No. 6FC5095-0AB10-0BP1: Milling with Sinumer-
ick: 5-axis machining, Siemens, 2009.
14. K. Terrani, S.S. Babu, C. Bryan, J. Kiggans, D. Pinkston,
N. Sridharan, M. Gussev and M. Norfolk, Trans. Am. Nucl.
Soc. 113 (2015).
15. P. Wolcott, A. Hehr, and M. Dapino, J. Mater. Res. 29, 2055
(2014).
16. A. Hehr, P.J. Wolcott, and M.J. Dapino, Rapid Prototyp. J.
22, 377 (2016).
Hehr, Wenning, Terrani, Babu, and Norfolk
17. N. Sridharan, M. Gussev, R. Seibert, C. Parish, M. Norfolk,
K. Terrani, and S.S. Babu, Acta Mater. 117, 228 (2016).
18. P. Wolcott, A. Hehr, C. Pawlowski, and M. Dapino, J.
Mater. Process. Technol. 233, 44 (2016).
19. M. Gussev, N. Sridharan, M. Norfolk, K. Terrani and S.
Babu (Oak Ridge National Lab, The University of Ten-
nessee, Fabrisonic LLC, unpublished research, 2016).
20. K. Terrani, J. Kiggans, N. Sridharan, M. Gussev, M. Nor-
folk, J. Burns, D. Chandler, S. Babu, C. Bryan, D. Pink-
ston, Trans. Am Nucl. Soc. 114 (2016).