Electron Beam Welding & Brazing

Applied Fusion was one of the first shops in the United States to integrate Electron Beam welding into the job shop industry.

In the mid-1970’s Applied Fusion began pioneering a new movement that would take standard, conventional fabricated component welding methods and technologies to a new and much higher level.

Applied Fusion was established and ready to go when the semiconductor industry began to develop. We immediately began assisting engineers with new welding methods that allowed designers to create components that were once not possible. Today, Applied Fusion provides Electron Beam services for all industries that require high-end, highly reliable welding and brazing requirements. We commonly work with all alloys including Inconel/Hastalloy and refractory metals such as Titanium, Tantalum, Molybdenum, Niobium and Tungsten.

Applied Fusion‘s highly skilled Electron Beam welding team has over 100 years of combined experience. They work in unison, openly share techniques, constantly taking on new challenges while developing new applications and fine tuning older processes. Because AFI has full, complete, in-house manufacturing capabilities, designing and machining custom tooling and fixturing to compliment and streamline throughput is a daily activity saving our customers time and money. Applied Fusion’s Electron Beam facility is truly the gem and heart and soul of our company. It has earned worldwide recognition as an extremely competent and efficient shop for the major industries that demand our services.

Electron Beam welding is the best choice for welding when there is a need for a high degree of repeatability, weld penetration and a demand for the highest quality of weld integrity possible. It is also best suited for welding when a Laser nozzle does not have access such as welding down the inside of a tube or any other hard to reach applications. The only thing required for Electron Beam welding is a “line of site” of the weld joint.

All of our Electron Beam welding is performed in a high vacuum environment, thereby totally eliminating the contamination of oxygen and the need for shielding gases. This feature gives the engineering designer great opportunity to expand his design parameters and greatly reduces machining and conventional weld costs as well as minimizing costly restraining fixtures. The welding power (30kw) of our high voltage 150kv machines has tremendous control and allows deep weld penetrations of all metals (up to 4” deep on Stainless Steel). Even lower penetration welds (as low as .005) are cost effective with Electron Beam welding. Most of our welds are subject to helium mass spectrometer leak testing and hydrostatic pressure testing. These welds are extremely reliable and can be easily machined without worrying about leaks or structural integrity. Some customers, however, prefer to show off the beautiful cosmetics of the EB weld.

Our newest high voltage machine has a chamber size of 13’ long x 13’ wide x 10’ high with the latest in advanced control systems for all beam parameters and part positioning, including a high speed deflection system (up to 50mhz) that allows for multi-pool welding “split beam welding and tracking”. It also has a tilt rotary and vacuum sealed sliding gun system for maximum flexibility of the working envelope. The subjective human element is totally eliminated by advanced CNC programs that precisely dictate the power level of the EB gun (weld penetration); the speed of travel of the work piece providing the machined components are held to some nominal tolerances. The supreme luxury of repeatability from the first weld to the ten-thousandth weld will amaze all users.

Machining of expensive weld preparations are unnecessary for Electron Beam welding. Properly machined faying surfaces are all that is required. This very high speed welding creates a very narrow heat affected zone (HAZ). This means less overall heat input greatly reducing distortion and bowing of the completed weldment as opposed to other welding techniques. To minimize distortion even more, in many cases weld relief grooves are machined near the weld zones to help remove additional stress. AFI assists engineers with many variations of joint designs and stress relief grooves to maximize weld performance and can provide the services to machine these features into the work piece if the customer desires.

Applied Fusion’s Electron Beam facility is extremely service-oriented and puts forth every effort to support local machine shops with their Electron Beam welding and Electron Beam brazing needs. Even though we manufacture complete projects “in-house”, which usually involve Electron Beam applications, a segment of our facility is kept open to produce quick turn-around jobs for other shops. Typically, from the day the parts arrive to the completion date, AFI averages 2-3 day throughput time which includes vacuum leak check and pressure leak check certifications.

Please feel free to contact us during normal business hours if you have any questions regarding Electron Beam applications or services. Our experienced team is quick with responses and quotes.