ASM Handbook, Volume 6: Welding, Brazing, and Soldering
D.L. Olson, T.A. Siewert, S. Liu, and G.R. Edwards, editors, p 254-261
DOI: 10.1361/asmhba0001369
Electron-Beam Welding
ELECTRON-BEAM WELDING (EBW) is a
high-energy density fusion process that is ac-
complished by bombarding the joint to be
welded with an intense (strongly focused) beam
of electrons that have been accelerated up to
velocities 0.3 to 0.7 times the speed of light at 25
to 200 kV, respectively. The instantaneous con-
version of the kinetic energy of these electrons
into thermal energy as they impact and penetrate
into the workpiece on which they are impinging
causes the weld-seam interface surfaces to melt
and produces the weld-joint coalescence de-
sired. Electron-beam welding is used to weld
Weld generated by an electron beam operating in an enclosed chamber maintained at a pressure of
f i g . 1 approximately 3 Pa (2 x 10 -2 torr)
any metal that can be arc welded: weld quality in
most metals is equal to or superior to that pro-
duced by gas-tungsten are welding (GTAW).
Because the total kinetic energy of the elec-
trons can be concentrated onto a small area on
the workpiece, power densities as high as l0 s
W/cm2 (107 W/in. 2) can be obtained (Ref 1).
That is higher than is possible with any other
known continuous beam, including laser beams.
The high-power density plus the extremely small
intrinsic penetration of electrons in a solid work-
piece results in almost instantaneous local melt-
ing and vaporization of the workpiece material.
Copyright © 1993 ASM International®
All rights reserved.
www.asminternational.org
That characteristic distinguishes EBW from
other welding methods in which the rate of melt-
ing is limited by thermal conduction.
Principles of Operation
Figure 1 shows an electron-beam weld being
performed at a weld chamber pressure of ap-
proximately 3 Pa (2 x 10-2 torr). The "beam"
shown in Fig. 1 is the visible glow that results
from the residual (ambient) gas molecules that
are excited by the electrons in the actual electron
beam.
Basically, the electron beam is formed (under
high-vacuum conditions) by employing a triode-
style electron gun consisting of a cathode, a
heated source (emitter) of electrons that is main-
mined at some high negative potential; a grid
cup, a specially shaped electrode that can be
negatively biased with respect to the hot cathode
emitter (filament); and an anode, a ground po-
tential electrode through which the electron flow
passes in the form of a collimated beam. The hot
cathode emitter (filament) is made from a high-
emission material, such as tungsten or tantalum.
This emitter material, usually available in wire,
ribbon, or sheet form, is fabricated into the de-
sired shape for being either directly or indirectly
heated to the required emitting temperature of
about 2500 °C (4500 °F).
Electrons emitted from the surface of the fila-
ment are accelerated to a high velocity and
shaped into a collimated beam by the electro-
static field geometry generated from the
cathode/grid/anode configuration employed,
thus producing a steady stream of electrons that
flows through an aperture in the ground plane
anode. By varying the negative potential differ-
ence between the grid and cathode, this flow of
electrons can be altered easily (i.e., gated "on/
ofF' or ramped up/down to different levels) in a
precisely controlled manner.
Diode-style electron guns are also employed,
but not to the extent that triode-style electron
guns are. In a diode gun, the specially shaped
electrode (grid cup) is maintained at the same
voltage as the emitter, thus making the diode
gun a two-element (cathode and anode) device.
With this design, the flow of electrons from a
diode gun cannot be adjusted by simply varying
a grid voltage, as is done with triode guns, and
beam current adjustments are usually accom-
plished by varying the operating temperature of
the cathode emitter instead.
Once the electrons exit the anode, they re-
ceive the maximum energy input allowable from
the operating voltage being applied to the gun.

Insulatir
High-
cable
Cathode assembly
(at -160 kV dc)
Beam deflection
coils
Beam column
cutoff valve
Effluent gas ~ F " I]/rJ
_ 1 I /~/
Standoff
distance
Workpiece
Fig. 2 Schematic showing primary components of an electron-beam welding head
Electrons then pass down through the electron
beam column assembly and into the field of an
electromagnetic focusing coil (a magnetic lens).
This focusing lens reduces the diameter of the
electron beam, as it continues in its passage, and
focuses the stream of electrons down to a much
smaller beam cross section in the plane of the
workpiece. This reduction in beam diameter in-
creases the energy density, producing a very
small, high-intensity beam spot at the work-
piece. In addition, an electromagnetic deflection
coil (positioned below the magnetic lens) can be
employed to "bend" the beam, thus providing
the flexibility to move the focused beam spot.
Figure 2 illustrates the main elements of the elec-
tron beam welding head. As described above and
shown in Fig. 2, electrons are emitted from the
cathode and are accelerated to high speed by the
voltage between cathode and anode.
The "gun" portion of an electron gun/column
assembly generally is isolated from the welding
chamber through the use of valves when desired.
The gun may be maintained in a vacuum on the
order of 13 mPa (1 x 10 - 4 torr) when the weld-
Electrical
insulator
H Ign-vacuum
chamber
• To vacuum pumps
Anode (at ground
potential)
_~ To vacuum pumps
netic lens
J rently, three distinct modes of EBW are em-
t
l To vacuum pumps
I _---- Electron beam at
atmospheric pressure
ing chamber is vented to atmosphere (for access
reasons). This level of vacuum in the gun region
is needed to maintain gun component cleanli-
ness, prevent filament oxidation, and impede
gun arcing (high-pressure short circuiting be-
tween electrodes at different voltages). During
welding, this same degree of vacuum is required
in both the gun column and welding chamber
areas to minimize scattering of beam electrons
by excitation collisions with residual air mole-
cules as they traverse the distance from the gun
to the workpiece. This type of interaction tends
to produce a broader beam spot and a resulting
decrease in energy density. Generally, electron
guns are operated with applied voltages that vary
from 30 to 200 kV, and they employ beam cur-
rents that range from 0.5 to 1500 mA. Electron-
beam welding equipment with power levels up
to 30 kW is common, and several units with
power levels of up to 200 kW are commercially
available.
Typically, high-vacuum EBW beams can be
focused down to spot sizes in the range of 0.25
to 1.3 mm (0.010 to 0.050 in.) in diameter,
Electron-Beam Welding / 255
with a power density of about 10 7 W / c m 2
(106 W/in.2). This high level of beam spot inten-
sity generates temperatures of approximately
14,000 °C (25,000 °F) and is sufficient to vapor-
ize almost any material, forming a vapor hole
that penetrates deep into the workpiece. When
this vapor hole is advanced along a weld joint,
the weld is produced by three effects that occur
simultaneously: (1) the material at the leading
edge of the vapor hole melts; (2) this molten mate-
rial flows around the sides of the vapor hole to the
trailing edge; and (3) this continuous flow of mol-
ten material fills in the trailing edge of the advanc-
ing vapor hole and solidifies as the vapor hole
moves forward to produce a continuous weld.
Originally, EBW generally was performed
only under high-vacuum (~<13 mPa, or 1 ×
10 - 4 tOll') conditions; because an ambient vac-
uum environment was required to generate the
beam, welding the part within the same clean
atmosphere was considered beneficial. How-
ever, as the demand for greater part production
increased, it was found that the weld chamber
vacuum level need not be as high as that needed
for the gun region; ultimately, the need for any
type of vacuum surrounding the workpiece was
totally eliminated for some applications. Cur-
ployed:
• High-vacuum (EBW-HV), where the work-
piece is in an ambient pressure ranging from
0.13 to 0.30 mPa ( 1 0 - 6 to 10 3 torr)
• Medium-vacuum (EBW-MV), where the
workpiece may be in a "soft" or "partial" vac-
uum ranging from 0.13 to 3300 Pa (10 -3 to
25 tort)
• Nonvacuum (EBW-NV), which is also re-
ferred to as atmospheric EBW, where the
workpiece is at atmospheric pressure in air or
protective gas
In all EBW applications, the electron-beam gun
region is maintained at a pressure of 13 mPa
(10 4 torr) or lower.
Advantages
One of the prime advantages of EBW is the
ability to make welds that are deeper and nar-
rower than arc welds, with a total heat input that
is much lower than that required in arc welding.
This ability to achieve a high weld depth-to-
width ratio eliminates the need for multiple-pass
welds, as is required in arc welding. The lower
heat input results in a narrow workpiece heat-
affected zone (HAZ) and noticeably fewer ther-
mal effects on the workpiece.
In EBW, a high-purity vacuum environment
can be used for welding, which results in free-
dom from impurities such as oxides and nitrides.
The ability to employ higher weld speeds, due to
the high melting rates associated with the con-
centrated heat source, reduces the time required
to accomplish welding, thereby resulting in an
increased productivity and higher energy effi-
ciency for the process. Total energy conversion
efficiency of EBW is approximately 65%, which
is slightly higher than so-called conventional
2 5 6 / High-Energy Beam W e l d i n g
I I I 8 i
22 ft
Overhead view showing typical floor layout of high-voltage, high-vacuum EBW system. (1) Vacuum
Fig. 3 chamber and manipulating mechanisms. (2) Vacuum pumping system. (3) Computer control cabinet. (4)
Servo cabinet. (5) Automatic voltage regulator. (6) High-voltage power supply. (7) Power distribution cabinet. (8)
Pumping control cabinet. (9) Operator console
welding processes and much higher than other
types of high-energy-density welding processes,
such as laser-beam welding (EBW). Additional
information is available in the article "Laser-
Beam Welding" in this Section.
These characteristics (1) minimize distortion
and shrinkage during welding; (2) facilitate
welding of most hardened or work-strengthened
metals, frequently without significant deteriora-
tion of mechanical properties in the weld joint;
(3) facilitate welding in close proximity to heat-
sensitive components or attachments; (4) allow
hermetic seal welding of evacuated enclosures,
while retaining a vacuum inside the component;
and (5) permit welding of refractory metals, re-
active metals, and combinations of many dis-
similar metals that are not joinable by arc weld-
ing processes. The ability to project the electron
beam a distance of over 510 mm (20 in.) under
high-vacuum conditions, as well as the low end
of medium-vacuum conditions, allows other-
wise inaccessible welds to be completed.
Limitations
Equipment costs for EBW generally are
higher than those for conventional welding proc-
esses. However, when compared to other types
18 ft
I I
m column assembly (gun and electron optics)
\ length of the lens and resulting beam focus
1 • Beam current
I affects final beam spot size.
of high-energy density welding (such as LBW),
production costs are not as high. The cost of
joint preparation and tooling is more than that
encountered in arc welding processes, because
the relatively small electron beam spot size that
is used requires precise joint gap and position.
The available vacuum chamber capacities are
limited; workpiece size is limited, to some de-
gree, by the size of the vacuum chamber em-
ployed. Consequently, the production rate (as
well as unit cost) is affected by the need to pump
down the chamber for each production load. Be-
cause the electron beam is deflected by magnetic
fields, nonmagnetic or degaussed metals must
be used for tooling and fixturing that are near the
beam path.
Although most of the above advantages and
disadvantages generally are applicable to all
modes of EBW, several do not specifically ap-
ply to EBW-NV. Nonvacuum EBW does not
offer the advantage of a high-purity environment
(unless some form of inert-gas shielding is pro-
vided), and it is not subject to vacuum chamber
limitations. Because welding is not done within
the confines of a vacuum environment, the max-
imum practical "standoff," the working distance
between the bottom of the electron beam column
and the top of the workpiece, currently used on
EBW-NV systems is limited to approximately
35 mm (13/8 in.). The maximum attainable pene-
tration is currently limited to about 25 to 32 mm
(1 to 1.25 in.) for 60-kW, 165 kV machines.
These limitations, however, are offset by higher
production rates and a lower rate of vacuum-
related equipment problems that are typical of
EBW-NV systems.
Process Control
Basic variables employed for controlling the
results of an electron-beam weld include accel-
erating (applied gun) voltage, beam current,
welding (beam spot travel) speed, focusing cur-
rent, and standoff (gun column assembly to
workpiece) distance. The final beam spot size
that is produced in the plane of the workpiece is
determined by:
• Characteristics of the electron beam gun/
• Focusing current, which controls the focal
location
• Gun column assembly-to-workpiece distance
• Accelerating voltage
Each of these variables, separately and jointly,
Increasing the accelerating voltage or beam
current increases the depth of penetration; the
product of these two variables---the beam
power---determines the amount of metal melted
for a given exposure time. Increasing welding
speeddrelative travel motion between beam
spot and workpiece--without changing any
other process variable, reduces depth of penetra-
tion and correspondingly reduces weld width.
Changing any of the other basic control vari-
ables to increase beam spot size, thereby lower-
ing the beam spot intensity (e.g., reducing the
power density), reduces depth of penetration and
increases weld width, if welding speed is left
unchanged. Beam deflection can be used to
change the impact angle of the beam (slightly) or
to produce controlled patterns of beam oscilla-
tion to create greater beam spot size or other
special effects. The beam can also be pulsed to
vary the average amount of power inputted per
unit of time.
With EBW-NV, the accelerating voltage and
focus current are normally preset and held at a
fixed value. Beam current may be preset for any
application and then turned "on/of£' (or pro-
grammed to vary in predetermined fashion) with
workpiece travel. Workpiece speed and, in cer-
tain instances, standoff distance may also be
preset to a desired value or varied with work-
piece travel. On many of the latest computerized
numerical control (CNC) types of EBW-NV sys-
tems, beam current, standoff distance, and
welding speed are varied simultaneously, as re-
quired, throughout the length of the weld. Be-
cause of the limited standoff distance involved
with EBW-NV, beam deflection normally is not
feasible, and beam oscillatory motion generally
is not employed.

Typical EBW-HV unit with a 2845 x 1525 × 1830 mm (112 x 60 x 72 in.) chamber. Courtesy of Leybold
F i g . 4 Heraeus Vacuum Systems Inc.
Operation Sequence
and Preparation
Tooling and welding procedures for each
EBW application are developed first on experi-
mental workpieces. Details of the welding se-
quence vary somewhat, depending on equip-
ment differences and application requirements.
A typical sequence of operation for welding in
vacuum is to."
• Assemble and prepare work and fixtures for
welding. This includes cleaning and may in-
clude demagnetizing, preheating, and tack
welding.
• Load fixtured work onto worktable or work-
holding mechanism in welding chamber.
• Start chamber pumpdown.
• After chamber pressure has been reduced to
0.013 to 13 Pa (10 -4 to 10 -1 torr), focus on a
target block and set beam parameters.
• Align joint to the beam position, using very
low power beam spot.
• Begin welding; this usually is performed au-
tomatically, but can be performed manually.
• Terminate the welding cycle.
• Allow work to cool sufficiently if made of
reactive material, then admit air to the cham-
ber and remove fixtured work.
For nonvacuum welding, the electron gun/
column assembly is maintained at established
pressure levels; work-handling and welding op-
erations for EBW-NV usually are mechanized
for high-speed production, and work and fixtur-
Electron-Beam Welding / 257
surfaces to enable the narrow electron beam to
fuse base metal on both sides of the joint. The
members of a joint to be melt-through welded
also are closely fitted. Fit-up tolerance depends
on work-metal thickness and joint design, but is
usually 0.13 mm (0.005 in.) or less. Joint gap is
usually smaller for thin work metal and un-
backed joints and may be only 0.05 mm (0.002
in.) maximum. Interference fits may be used
where shrinkage can cause cracking, as in circu-
lar joints on hardenable metals.
Joint gaps of about 0.08 nun (0.003 in.) max-
imum commonly are used for making narrow
vacuum welds, whereas joint gaps of up to 0.8
mm (0.030 in.) are not uncommon in EBW-NV.
In making deep welds, poor fit-up or too large a
joint gap can cause excessive slLrinkage, under-
fill, undercut, voids, cold shuts, and missed
joints. In most metals, joint gap should not ex-
ceed 0.25 mm (0.010 in.) for narrow welds
deeper than about 50 mm (½ in.), although
sound welds have been obtained using joint gaps
of 0.5 mm (0.020 in.) by increasing the weld
width to about 6.4 nun (0.25 in.).
~leaning. Workpiece surfaces must be prop-
erly cleaned for in-vacuum EBW. Inadequate
surface cleaning of the weld metal can cause
weld flaws and a deterioration of mechanical
properties. Inadequate cleaning of weld surfaces
also adversely affects pumpdown time and gun
operational stability, as well as contributing to
the rapid degradation of the oil used in the vac-
uum pumps.
In EBW-NV, cleanliness of workpiece sur-
ing are prepared before a production run is be- faces is important, but not as critical as with
gun, or they are completed as part of the produc-
tion line operation. Beam parameters, alignment
vacuum EBW. Although the effect of workpiece
cleanliness on pumpdown time and gun stability
of joint with beam position, and transfer and is reduced in nonvacuum welding, it still affects
movement of work for welding are established final weld quality.
before a production run. Alignment of the joint Wire brushing generally is not recommended,
with beam position is slightly less critical than because contaminants may become embedded in
for vacuum electron-beam welding, because the metal surface. Acetone is preferred for clean-
beam spot size and weld width are slightly larger ing electron gun components and workpiece
in nonvacuum welding. parts. If workpieces are cleaned in chlorine or
Joint Preparation. A joint for EBW ordi- other halogen-containing compounds, residue
narily has close fitted, abutting, square-groove from these compounds must be removed by an-
faces, and filler metal usually is not used. Filler other cleaning method (usually thorough wash-
ing in acetone) before welding.
metal can be used if desired, as in EBW of
Fixturing Methods. Methods used for fixtur-
dissimilar metals and alloys. Generally, the
faces of the joint are machined to a surface ing workpieces in EBW are similar to those used
roughness of 3.20 p,m (125 Ixin.) or less. for GTAW of precision parts without the use of
Surface finish on the weld groove faces may filler metal, except that clamping force is usu-
not be critical, depending on part and joint de- ally lower and all fixturing and tooling materials
sign and the requirements for weld properties. In should be made of nonmagnetic materials.
studies on butt welding of 50 mm (2 in.) thick Because total heat input to the weld is much
aluminum alloy 2219 and Ti-6AI-4V specimens less in EBW than for arc welding, and because
the heat is highly localized, heavy fixturing,
that had groove faces with surface roughness
values of 1.60, 3.20, 6.3, 12.5, and 25.0 p,m massive heat sinks, or water cooling is not
(63, 125, 250, 500, and 1000 p,in.), respec- needed. C-clamps are sufficient for many parts.
tively, surface finish had no effect on weld qual- In some applications, clamping may be supple-
ity, as determined by visual examination and mented or replaced by small tack welds or by a
x-ray radiography; all welds were sound. Edge shallow weld pass (sealing pass) over the joint;
surface finish is much less critical on broad the penetration weld is completed later at full
welds than on narrow welds. Edge roughness is power.
not critical on lap joints in thin metal, as long as For EBW-NV, general-purpose welding posi-
burrs do not separate the surfaces. tioners are satisfactory. Locating and aligning
Ioint Fit-Up. A butt joint is not open, as in arc mechanisms are of simpler design than for weld-
welding, but has closely fitted, nearly parallel ing in a vacuum; accessibility and beam widths
258 / High-Energy Beam Welding
Standard low-voltage EBW-HV unit consisting of a 3505 x 2845 x 2690 mm (138 x 112 x 106 in.) chamber.
Fig. 5 Courtesy of Sciaky Bros., Inc.
F!g. 6 Twin EBW-MV installation designed to weld a ring gear onto a flywheel. Courtesy of Leybold-Heraeus
Vacuum Systems Inc.
for nonvacuum welding do not require as much
accuracy in tracking of the joint. Maintenance of
work-handling equipment for EBW-NV is sim-
plified because of its out-of-chamber location.
Demagnetization. Workpieces and fixtures
made of magnetic materials should be demagne-
tized before welding. Residual magnetism may
result from magnetic-particle testing, magnetic
chucks, or electrochemical machining. Even a
small amount of residual magnetism can cause
beam deflection. Workpieces are usually de-
magnetized by placing them in a 60 cycle induc-
five field and then slowly removing them.
Equipment used for magnetic-particle testing
may be used. Before welding, workpieces
should be checked with a gauss meter. Accept-
able gauss-meter readings vary from 5 x 10 -5 T
(1/2G) for very narrow (highly critical) welds up
toasmuchas 2 x 10-4to4 x 10-4 T (2 to 4 G)
for relatively wide welds.
Pumpdown. The time required to pump the
work chamber of an in-vacuum EBW unit down
to the desired ambient pressure depends on the
chamber size used, type of pump employed, and
level of vacuum required. Electron-beam weld-
ing equipment currently employs either com-
puter or program logic controls, normally pro-
viding automatic vacuum sequencing.
For EBW-HV, a pressure of 13 mPa (10 -4
torr) or less is produced by a mechanical pump.
(either a simple piston, a rotary vane type, or a
combination pump-and-blower package), oper-
ating in conjunction with an oil-diffusion pump.
The size of these pumps depends mainly on the
size of the weld chamber used, as well as on the
final operating vacuum level and total pump-
down time needed.
Generally, a 1.1 m3 (40 ft3) chamber employ-
ing a 250 mm (10 in.), 250 m3/min (8820 ft3/
min) diffusion pump and a 17 m3/min (600 ft3/
rain) mechanical pump package can be expected
to reach a welding pressure of less than 40 mPa
(3 x 10-4 torr) in approximately 4 min, while
an 11 m 3 (400 ft3) chamber employing a 510 mm
(20 in.), 1070 m3/min (37,800 ft3/min) diffusion
pump and a 37 m3/min (1300 ft3/min) mechani-
cal pump package can be expected to pump
down to the same pressure in approximately 12
rain.
If desired, the pumpdown time of the 11 m3
(400 ft3) chamber could be reduced to under 6
min by increasing the size of the pumping sys-
tem to an 815 mm (32 in.) 3090 m3/min
(109,200 ft3/min) diffusion pump and a 77.9
m3/min (2750 ft3/min) mechanical pump pack-
age; however, the higher cost associated with
this increased pumping capability would have to
be evaluated against the financial benefit of the
saving in pumpdown time to determine whether
it would be economically feasible. In the exam-
ples above, weld chambers are assumed to be
clean, dry, and empty. The cleanliness of the
work chamber, the amount of water vapor (hu-
midity) in the ambient air, and the workpiece
assembly (material and shape of both weldment
and fixturing) thus affect the actual pumpdown
time obtained in any production application.
For partial-vacuum EBW, where the pressure
level required in the weld chamber is approxi-
mately 13 Pa (10-~ torr) and a pressure level of
13 mPa (10 -4 torr) is provided only in the elec-
tron-beam gun/column regions, diffusion pumps
are not needed for the weld chamber, and weld
chamber pumping is accomplished strictly by
mechanical pumping. For high-production EBW
of small parts in a partial vacuum, pumpdown
time ranges from about 20 s for relatively large-
volume (general-purpose) partial-vacuum weld
chambers of about 0.14 m3 (5 ft 3) down to less
than 5 s for fairly small-volume chambers of
0.014 m 3 (0.5 ft3), with the use of a mechanical
pump rated at 37 m3/min (1300 ft3/min).
Preheat and Postheat. Most commonly
welded metals can be processed with EBW
methods, even in thick sections without preheat-
ing, because of the extremely narrow width of
the HAZ. Hardenable and difficult-to-weld met-
als may need to be preheated, especially for
thick sections and in applications when the weld
is restrained.
High-strength alloy steels and tool steels
thicker than about 9.5 mm (3/8 in.) ordinarily
 Electron-Beam W e l d i n g / 2 5 9

must be preheated before EBW to prevent crack-

ing. Deep circular welds, especially partial-pen-
Electron column assembly etration welds, in thick sections of carbon steel
containing more than about 0.35% C usually
require preheating. However, welds subject to
less restraint, such as circumferential welds on
Chamber access cylindrical shapes, can be made on 13 mm (1/2
door in.) thick 0.50% C steel without preheating.
Bridge-typeframe Preheating, when required, is usually done
before the work is placed in the work chamber.
Service Selection of heating method depends on the size
platform \ Vacuum ducting and shape of the work and the preheat tempera-
ture; a combination of methods can be used.
Torch and furnace heating are widely used; in-
duction and infrared-radiation heating are also
Upper chamber
used. On small parts or where distortion from
Dial indexer localized heating is not a problem and where
increased cycle time can be tolerated, heating is
~ ~ ' ~ / Toolingpallet sometimes done with a defocused electron
beam; this method can also be used to supple-
o ment other methods of heating.
When postheating is used on EBW parts, it is
accomplished by conventional means (i.e.,
Indexerslide
assembly stress relieving or tempering) after removing the
work from the welding chamber.
Operating Conditions. Starting and stopping
the weld usually require special consideration to
avoid uniformity of the weld at these points and
possible melt-through and loss of metal.
One technique that is used to avoid these dif-
ficulties is to start the weld at full beam power on
a starting tab of the work metal that is tightly
Hydraulically fitted against one end of the joint and to con-
poweredlitl/lower ram elude the weld on a runoff tab at the other end of
Spindledrive assembly
the joint. The use of starting and runoff tabs
prevents underfill at the ends of the joint, which
Schematic showing a cutaway view of a dial table device incorporated into an EBW-(MV/PV) system to is caused by the introduction or exit of the beam.
Fig. 7 provide indexing of work station into welding area Workpieces can also be made oversize to pro-
vide extra material for starting and stopping.
The tabs or the extra material can be machined
off after welding. Starting and runoff tabs are
used mainly in low-production operations.
Another technique is to start and stop the weld
on the work, raising the current gradually (up-
slope) at the beginning of the weld and reducing
it gradually (downslope) at the end of the weld.
Upslope and downslope power may be used at
controlled rates and time intervals, as estab-
lished for a specific application, and can be pro-
grammed into the welding procedure. The use of
upslope and downslope is of special value where
the weld is a closed path, as in welding circular
and circumferential joints.
In many applications of closed-path welds,
the weld can be started at full power, with
downslope at the end providing a sufficiently
gradual termination and a suitable distance of
overlap. Downslope of current after overlapping
the beginning of the weld on circular welds in
thick sections of high-hardenability steels is crit-
ical to avoid porosity and cracking. Other pa-
rameters may also be adjusted to avoid these
defects. Upslope is usually rapid; downslope is
from a few degrees to a major portion of a revo-
lution.
A "cosmetic pass" is made when needed to
smooth or flatten the crown of a weld that is
Fig. B Custom-designed EBW-MW system used to produce automotive parts. Courtesy of Sciaky Bros., Inc. irregular or too high. Such a pass is used to
260 / High.Energy Beam Welding

correct undercut or underfill. The beam is usu-

ally defocused or reduced in power, or both, in
making a cosmetic pass. Filler metal may also be
added in making a cosmetic pass intended to
correct undercut or underfill.

Weld Geometry
The shape of the parts to be welded and the
corresponding joint designs are critical to the
successful application of EBW in vacuum or at
atmospheric pressures (nonvacuum). While
minimum heat input and low thermal distortions
are important advantages of EBW, the molten
metal still shrinks as it solidifies. Shrinkage
stresses may lead to microcracks if parts, due to
design restrictions, are unable to shrink at corre-
sponding rates and the joint volume is com-
pletely constrained. Additional information is
available in the article "Procedure Development
and Practice Considerations for Electron-Beam
Welding" in this Volume.

Joint Design
Butt, comer, T-, lap, and edge joints can be
made by the EBW process using square-groove
or seam welds. Fillet welds, which are difficult
to make with vacuum EBW, are readily made
using EBW-NV. Square-groove welds require
fixturing to maintain fit-up and alignment of the
joint. They can, however, be self-aligning if a
rabbeted joint design is used~ Self-alignment is
particularly important in batch loading the vac-
uum chamber for efficient work manipulation.
The weld-metal area can be increased using a
scarf joint, but fit-up and alignment of the joint
are more difficult than with a square-groove
weld. Most joints are designed to be welded in a
single pass with full penetration or penetration to
a specified depth.
Electron-Beam Welding Machines
This brief review is aimed at introducing the
potential user to some of the EBW equipment
currently available. Further advances in the con-
trol and programming of these systems can be
expected because of the likelihood of uninter-
rupted progress in the electronics and computer
industries.
As discussed earlier in this article, the EBW
process is accomplished at three pressure-de-
pendent lines, referred to as the three modes of
EBW. The original mode is the high or "hard"
vacuum mode in which welding is carried out in
the pressure range of 0.13 to 130 mPa (10 -6 to
10-3 tort). In the second mode, medium vac-
uum, the pressure ranges from 0.13 to 3300 Pa
(10 -3 to 25 torr). The term "medium vacuum"
includes the range of pressure (0.13 to 130 Pa,
or 10-3 to 1 torr) referred to as the "soft" or
partial vacuum. The third mode is called non-
vacuum or atmospheric, with welding carried
out at atmospheric pressure.
All three modes employ an electron-beam
gnn/column, a power supply with controls, one
or more vacuum pumping systems, and work-
Fig. 9 Standarddual-mode portable EBW system. Courtesy of EBTECCorp.
handling equipment. Although in nonvacuum
welding the workpiece is not placed in an evacu-
ated work chamber, the electron beam gun/
column must be in a vacuum environment. The
electron gun in all three modes is held at a pres-
sure of 13 mPa (10 -4 torr) or less; otherwise, the
high voltage required for the acceleration of the
electrons could not be sustained.
Electron-beam welding equipment comes in
two basic designs: (1) the low-voltage system,
which uses accelerating voltages in the 15 to 60
kV range; and (2) the high-voltage system, with
accelerating voltages in the 100 to 200 kV range.
Beam powers up to 100 kW are available with
both high-voltage and low-voltage equipment.
The lower-voltage machines operate at a
higher current. Typically, 30 to 60 kV machines
operate at a 500 mA beam current. The high-
voltage machines of 150 kV operate at 40 mA.
The higher-voltage machines produce a greater
depth-to-width ratio of the weld nugget. This
could be the difference between a 12:1 depth-to-
width ratio versus a 25:1 depth-to-width ratio.
The higher-voltage machines can utilize a longer
standoff distance than can low-voltage ma-
chines; however, low-voltage machines are sim-
pler in construction and less maintenance is re-
quired (Ref 1).
Low-voltage equipment is more suitable for
high- and medium-vacuum operations, while
nonvacuum welding is carried out at higher volt-
ages (130 to 175 kV minimum). All three
modes, however, are operational with high-volt-
age equipment. The nonvacuum, high-voltage
systems generally are used for welding materials
less than 25 mm (1 in.) thick. With low-voltage
systems, the gun may be fixed in position on the
chamber or may be mobile inside the chamber.
With high-voltage equipment, the gun is gener-
ally fixed in position on the chamber. Figure 3
shows a typical floor plan of a high-voltage,
high-vacuum welding facility with a welding
chamber size of 1725 by 1725 by 1980 mm (68
by 68 by 78 in.).
Figure 4 shows a standard high-vacuum ma-
chine with a chamber size of 2845 by 1525 by
1830 mm (112 by 60 by 72 in.). This type of unit
is available with power ratings of 7.5 kW (150
kV, 50 mA) and 25 kW (150 kV, 267 mA). The
gun/column in this unit is fixed, and the work
travels under the gun. Work-handlingequipment
makes processing of workloads of up to 1400 kg
(3000 lb) at welding speeds of 3300 mm/min
(130 in./min) possible. This system can be ob-
tained with various degrees of automation; most
utilize CNC operations. Figure 5 shows a high-

Fig. 1 0 Standard dial-indextable-type EBW-NVsystem. Courtesy of Leybold-HeraeusVacuum Systems Inc.
vacuum unit with a chamber size of 3505 by
2845 by 2690 mm (138 by 112 by 106 in.). This
installation comes with a movable gun. Low-
voltage, high-vacuum systems with movable
guns are available with power ratings of 7.5 kW
(60 kV, 125 mA) 15 kW (60 kV, 250 mA),
30 kW (60 kV, 125 mA), and 42 kW (60 kV,
700 mA).
Medium-vacuum machines are, frequently
special-purpose units tooled for particular as-
semblies. Figure 6 shows a dual-system partial-
vacuum welding installation for joining ring
gear and counterweight onto flywheels. Dual
medium-vacuum systems of this type, which are
used for high-production applications, can be
readily modified to produce alternate parts by
simple changes in the work-handling compo-
nents and weld programming. As with the sys-
tem shown in Fig. 4, a wide range of automation
and computer control is available.
The medium-vacuum mode of EBW was ini-
tially employed to increase the production ca-
pacity of the process. This mode of application
typically involves the use of a chamber custom
designed to provide a minimum of weld-zone
volume that has to he evacuated during each part
cycle (that is, a chamber envelope that is not
much bigger in size than the particular work-
piece to be welded plus any fixturing it may
require). Because only a small volume needs to
be evacuated, coupled with the fact that me-
dium-vacuum EBW is normally performed in an
ambient vacuum level of nominally 6.5 Pa (5 x
10 -2 torr)--which is several orders of magni-
tude higher in pressure than high-vacuum
EBW--the pumpdown times necessary are
much less than those required on a high-vacuum
EBW system (that is, times of <10 s compared
to >3 min). Thus, in order to take advantage of
this significant reduction in the time required for
evacuating the weld zone, various methods were
developed to rapidly transport parts into or out of
the weld area on EBW-MV systems. Figure 7
shows one of the conventional methods used for
this purpose, employing a dial table arrangement
for repeatedly indexing a set of work stations
through the weld area. Each individual work
station contains whatever fixturing might be re-
quired to hold the part. The parts can usually be
loaded/unloaded into and out of these work sta-
tions either manually or automatically. This par-
ticular method for achieving rapid part trans-
fer is capable of being employed both with the
drop-bottom (discretely pumped) EBW-MV
unit and the sliding-seal (continuously pumped)
EBW-MV unit.
Figure 8 shows a custom partial-vacuum sys-
tem, typical of the variety used for high-produc-
tion automotive parts manufacture. Installations
of this type currently are available with power
ratings of 100 kW (100 kV, 1 A) for welding
heavy cross sections from 50 to 205 mm (2 to 8
in.) thick.
Some smaller units are also available that fea-
ture dual-mode operation; they operate in either
the high- or medium-vacuum mode, depending
Electron-Beam Welding / 261
on the application. Figure 9 shows a dual-mode
portable machine rated at 6 kW (60 kV, 100
mA) with fully automatic and preset pumping
and welding cycles. The small weld chamber
can be pumped down to 65 mPa (5 x 10 -4 torr)
in 10 s.
The system shown in Fig. 10 is an example of
a nonvacuum unit featuring a standard dial index
table. Parts are loaded into a fixture nest in the
table and are indexed through a small, radiation-
tight enclosure in which parts are welded at 100
kPa (1 atm). This nonvacuum unit has power
ratings of 17.5 kW (174 kV, 100 mA) or 35 kW
(175 kV, 200 mA) and can be used either as a
standard system or as a custom-designed special
task system.
Computer control systems available in many
EBW units. Control of welding operations can
be expanded to include joint locators, five-axis
programmable contouring, and several digitiz-
ing provisions that can be actuated on the basis
of information generated by the seam locator.
Many EBW systems can also be adapted for
electron-beam heat-treating applications.
Safely
Protection must be provided by equipment de-
sign and arrangement, and by safety precautions
in EBW and related operations, against the usual
hazards of welding and the special hazards of
exposure to (1) the high voltages involved in
generating the electron beam, (2) the beam itself
(direct viewing of intense radiation emitted by
molten weld metal can be harmful to eyesight
and thus the beam operation should be viewed
only through a filter lens commonly used for arc
welding), and (3) radiation of x-rays produced
by impingement of the beam on the work or
other materials. From a safety standpoint, an
accelerating voltage of less than 20 kV produces
soft x-rays, while an accelerating voltage of over
20 kV produces hard x-rays (Ref 1). Shielding is
more demanding against radiation as the acceler-
ation voltage increases. Suitable precautionary
measures are described in AWS F2.1-78, "Rec-
ommended Safe Practices for Electron Beam
Welding and Cutting," and in AWS/ANSI
Z49.1, "Safety in Welding and Cutting."
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This article was adapted from "Electron Beam
Welding" in the 9th Edition Volume 6 Metals
Handbook. Special thanks are due to the com-
mittee that prepared the original article.
REFERENCES
1. H.B. Cary, Modern Welding Technology,
2nd ed., Prentice Hall, 1989, p 256
2. J.F. Lowry, J.H. Fink, and B.W. Schuma-
cher, A Major Advance in High-Power Elec-
tron Beam Welding in Air, J. Appl. Phys.,
Vo147, 1976, p 95-106