Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) has joined the Megawind Project in collaboration with Haizea Wind Group and ScottishPower (part of the Iberdrola Group).

This significant research project will study the feasibility of using low vacuum electron beam (EB) welding for joining thick steel sheets in the offshore monopile production process.

CVE will work as appointed consultants and evaluate the benefits of fabricating offshore components using EB.

The Megawind project will run for three years and is supported by the Hazitek programme administered by the Basque Government in northern Spain.

The project was born out of the need to improve monopiles, which is the most widely used type of foundation and has the greatest market potential, to integrate them with the new generation of large offshore wind turbines (+15MW).

The project’s main objective is to develop innovations around the design and manufacture of the monopile itself, the transition piece, and the joining system between the two.

With the increase in the size of the wind turbines, the efforts that the foundation must support increase and, consequently, the size of the large pieces that support them also increases: the monopiles, the bases that are nailed to the seabed, and the pieces of transition, joining elements between the monopile and the wind turbine tower.

This all implies a series of challenges in the design, manufacture and installation of these components and the joining systems, as well as in the treatments and coatings that are necessary for their correct operation in a marine environment.

Monopiles to host bigger turbines need to exceed 10 metres in diameter and 100 metres in length.

Their manufacture by means of conventional welding methods requires steel plates of great weights and dimensions.

Haizea Wind and Iberdrola will address the adaptation and validation of a vacuum electron beam welding method, never before applied to this type of joint. The feasibility of this method would significantly increase the rate of production.

Associated with the increase in the size of the monopiles is also the increase in the size of the transition pieces and the connection flanges, which will need to exceed 10 metres in diameter.

Navacel will work on the design of large flanges in sectors, which will bring a new supplier to a market with high demand.

The bolted joints that Erreka will develop for future monopiles pose a challenge for handling, assembly and tightening, so the company will investigate the development of tools and procedures to facilitate the installation and tightening of larger bolts as well as the development of innovations in screws.

Galvasala, TTT Group and Fex will work in three lines to meet the challenge of addressing how components can survive in the demanding offshore environment.

Their scope includes coatings for galvanized parts, heat treatments and protection against corrosion by laser deposition.

This week, CVE attended the 17th Engineering Structural Integrity Assessment Conference (ESIA17) between the 23-25 May 2023. The conference was in conjunction with the China Structural Integrity Consortium’s International Symposium on Structural Integrity (ISSI 2023).

The conference, which took place at The Lowry in the heart of Greater Manchester, provided a unique opportunity for the engineering structural integrity community to learn about novel solutions and technical advances to some of the most urgent challenges facing engineering today, and to network with leaders in ESI from around the world.

Chris Punshon, CVE’s Head of New Energy Applications, presented on the suitability of electron beam welds for the fabrication of wind turbine sub structures.

Wind turbine structures are made from thick carbon steel (typically grade S355) plates. The thickness makes submerged arc welding the default choice by manufacturers.
However, submerged arc welding requires preheat, a significant quantify of welding consumable, and the multiple passes mean welding is time consuming.

Electron beam welding is an alternative welding technique, which has the potential to significantly reduce welding time. Steel of up to 200mm thick can be welded in a single pass, and a longitudinal seam weld in a monopile can be produced in minutes rather than hours.

A key step in enabling fabricators to implement electron beam welding is to confirm that the mechanical properties and fatigue performance are suitable.

The presentation presented the key similarities and differences between electron beam welds and conventional arc welds, including a discussion of the most appropriate way to test electron beam welds in order to obtain a reasonable measure of fracture toughness.

For more information, please get in touch.

CVE will be exhibiting as part of the UK Pavilion at Battery Show Europe, 23-25 May 2023.

Taking place in Stuttgart, Germany, the exhibition is the leading meeting place for the advanced battery and H/EV technology community.

The UK Pavilion is returning to highlight the latest in Government backed advanced automotive battery technology. The UK Pavilion will host 17 SMEs, who will bring exciting new battery technologies and manufacturing techniques, representing the very best of UK clean automotive innovation. 

A record number of SMEs will be participating in the UK Pavilion at the Battery Show, highlighting the breadth and depth of innovation made possible by Government support.

Philippa Oldham, Stakeholder Engagement Director at APC, commented,

“The significant increase in companies participating in the UK Pavilion this year demonstrates that the UK innovation eco-system is thriving, helping us maintain a competitive position in clean and EV technology development. Through participation in the Battery Show Europe, UK Pavilion exhibitors are keen to foster partnerships whilst encouraging investment and collaborative innovation with organisations in Germany, Western Europe and the wider world. We look forward to supporting them in their efforts.” 

CVE will be showcasing their progressive manufacturing solutions that will reduce costs and time to market for battery and motor manufacturers.

You can find us at stand 10D30, where we will be pleased to discuss CVE’s electron beam welding machines for the automotive sector.

Find out more by following the links below.

Evflow – Electron Beam Welding Machine for EV Components

Electrification Industry

CVE Win Faraday Challenge Funding

Welding Electrical Conductors for Electric Vehicles

Electron Beam Welding of Busbars

An Introduction to Electron Beam Welding

Laser Welding vs Electron Beam Welding

Other business highlighting their technologies on the UK Pavilion are:

CVE recently presented at the 2023 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP), in conjunction with the 38th Korea Atomic Power Annual Conference.

Bob Nicolson, Managing Director, and Chris Punshon, Head of New Energy Applications, presented on “High Power, Local Vacuum Electron Beam and Laser Welding Solutions for Nuclear Applications”, as highly respected specialists in the field, following an invitation to be plenary speakers from the Technical Programme Committee.

The International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP) is a forum for leaders of the nuclear community to exchange information, present results from their work, review the state of the industry, and discuss future directions and needs for the deployment of new nuclear power plant systems around the world. The technical programme of the ICAPP 2023 consisted of 3 plenary sessions, 1 panel session and more than 40 parallel sessions.

Running alongside the International Nuclear Energy Expo 2023, the congress took place on the 23rd-27th April 2023 at The Hwabaek International Convention Centre (HICO) in Gyeongju, Korea.

A collaboration between Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE), SSE Renewables, Sif Group, and TWI, has resulted in the first-ever electron beam welded section to be incorporated in an offshore wind turbine monopile foundation (transition piece). The resulting monopile is set for installation in the second phase of Dogger Bank Wind Farm, which is located more than 130km off the Northeast coast of England.

Monopiles are currently fabricated using conventional techniques such as submerged arc welding (SAW), but the consortium has demonstrated that electron beam (EB) welding is significantly quicker, cheaper, cleaner, more energy efficient and produces high quality welds with excellent fatigue properties.

The type of electron beam welding technology used – called Ebflow^TM – is an innovative development within the electron beam welding industry. Instead of welding inside a costly and size-limiting vacuum chamber, Ebflow uses a local vacuum system that creates and maintains a vacuum around only the seam that is being welded. This technique unleashes the potential to use EB welding on large structures, such as the biggest monopiles, while reducing costs and enhancing productivity. The technology – developed by CVE – has been shown to weld monopiles at least 25 times faster than current methods, whilst using 90% less energy, costing 88% less, and producing 97% less CO₂ emissions than SAW methods.

The project required installation of an Ebflow system at Sif’s Maasvlakte 2 facility in Rotterdam to perform several longitudinal welds on 2750 mm length seams on 8m diameter rolled cans with a wall thickness of between 67-85mm. Qualification of the welding machine, weld procedures and operators were witnessed by third party inspectors and the regulatory body, DNV, which subsequently issued a technology qualification for EB welding and non-destructive testing (NDT) of the longitudinal seams produced with the process. The comprehensive performance testing programme proved that Ebflow produces welds with fatigue strength that is at least as good, if not better, than observed in equivalent arc welded joints.

The resulting can was incorporated into a monopile transition piece in January 2023 and is scheduled to be installed offshore as part of a foundation in Dogger Bank Wind Farm in late 2023.

Olly Cass, SSE Renewables Project Director for Dogger Bank Wind Farm said: 

“This is a ‘first-in-class’ project, establishing this UK innovation as a world-leading technology. With monopile type foundations accounting for over 90% of foundations used in UK projects, Ebflow RPEB could realise significant cost savings on future projects.

“These substantial savings will not only benefit the UK offshore engineering industry but could be passed on to UK energy consumers.

“We’re proud to be pioneering this innovative technique on Dogger Bank Wind Farm by demonstrating its capabilities on a critical offshore component and this would not have been possible without the great collaborative work with Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE), Sif Group, and TWI. We’re excited about what could be achieved by scaling up this method to pick up the pace as we work towards net zero targets.”

Dogger Bank Wind Farm is a joint venture between SSE Renewables, Equinor and Vårgrønn. The farm is being built in three 1.2GW phases and is expected to start generating power this summer.

CVE are exhibiting at Coiltech Deutschland 2023 in Augsburg, Germany. You can find CVE’s stand in Halle 2, stand number B34, where Sales Manager, Chris Coaster, and Consultant, Nick Edge, will be pleased to discuss CVE’s electron beam welding machines for the fabrication of EV powertrain components.

CVE’s Development Engineering Manager, Alex O’Farrell, will be presenting at the conference on Wednesday 29th March 2023 at 11:00 in Halle 3. Alex will present under the Manufacturing Technologies Session, chaired by G. Fabri, from University of L’Aquila, and the title of his presentation is “High Quality Welding of Stator Hairpins and Copper Conductors”.

Coiltech is an international coil winding exhibition and conference, which will take place in Augsburg, Germany, between Wednesday 29th and Thursday 30th March 2023.

The exhibition covers the following key areas:

• Materials, machines and techniques for the development, manufacture and maintenance of electric motors, transformers and generators
• Power distribution and industrial transformers
• Drive solutions for electromobility
• Coils in general

Find Out More:

• Evflow – Electron Beam Welding Machine for EV Components
• Electrification Industry
• CVE Win Faraday Challenge Funding 
• Welding Electrical Conductors for Electric Vehicles
• Electron Beam Welding of Busbars
• An Introduction to Electron Beam Welding
• Laser Welding vs Electron Beam Welding

This week, CVE are at the 23rd Technical Sessions on Welding and Joining Technologies, in Irun, San Sebastian, Spain. Running between the 7th and 9th March 2023, the conference serves as a meeting point for the exchange of knowledge among experts in the welding sector, as well as to update and contrast the opinions of the speakers and attendees. It also represents an opportunity for the dissemination of technical knowledge, offering a means for the development of new technologies in the field of joining technologies.

The session is organised by CESOL, the Spanish Association of Welding and Joining Technologies, an independent and non-profit association of people and companies at the service of welding and other joining technologies. CESOL was created in 1993, and is the result of the merger of ADESOL, the Spanish Association for the Development of Welding, created in 1977, and CES, the Spanish Centre for Welding and Joining Technologies, created in 1988.

CVE’s Development Engineering Manager, Alex O’Farrell, presented on the 7th March at the 1st Technical Session on Welding. His presentation was titled “Electron Beam Welding of Copper Electrical Conductors for Electric Vehicles.”

The main objective of the session is to disseminate the know-how of the latest achievements in the field of joining, coating, additive manufacturing and related processes like structural integrity, inspection, quality and environmental management.

The conference will offer welding professionals, their employers, scientists, fabricators and welding-products suppliers the best framework to exchange ideas and information, share knowledge resources, an establish a dialogue intended to open new research directions and to join together in partnerships for new projects development. This 23rd Sessions can be an opportunity to advance in the welding profession, its products and its practices and to continue driving the welding industry forward.

The topics covered include:

• New technologies in welding and cladding processes and their applications
• Materials joining processes
• New inspection techniques
• Mechanical behaviour of welded joints (fracture mechanical test, distortion and residual stresses)
• Design and modelling processes of welded joints
• Weldability of new materials
• Adhesive bonding and structural applications
• Characterization of materials
• Corrosion
• Additive manufacturing
• Welding automation
• Failure analysis
• Health and safety (occupational exposures, welding fumes)
• Developments in personnel certification and welding codes

The following industries are also represented:

• Aerospace
• Defence
• Inspection
• Transport
• Battery and electronics
• Energy and chemical
• Power generation and advanced energy
• Heavy manufacturing
• Steelmakers
• Medical
• Regulatory

For more information about Alex’s presentation please email sales@camvaceng.com.

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) has received funding from Innovate UK under the Faraday Battery Challenge.

A partnership between Innovate UK, UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, and The Faraday Institution, has be constructed to create a challenge that supports the research and development of the most promising, innovative, and sustainable battery technologies for the propulsion of electric vehicles in the automotive sector.

The result is £27.6 million in funding being invested across 17 research and innovation projects and facilities that will drive the growth of a strong battery business in the UK.

CVE’s proposal, EB-Bat, in collaboration with Delta Cosworth and TWI, will use the funding to design, build and test an electron beam (EB) welding machine that can weld battery busbar components.

Electron beam welding is potentially 20 times faster than laser welding. You can deflect and refocus electron beams much faster than laser beams, as this is achieved using magnetic fields, without moving parts as the welds are made. Plus, 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.

Other benefits of welding battery busbars using electron beam over current laser welding methods include:

• Energy savings
• Smaller factory footprint
• A reduction in scrap
• Welding fume control

The project partners combine a wealth of experience in the automotive industry, with Delta Cosworth, electric vehicle specialists developing innovative battery solutions and part of the wider Cosworth Group; and TWI as a world-leading welding and materials development organisation. CVE, the lead partner in the project, are designers and manufacturers of electron beam and laser welding machines for many applications, including turbochargers.

Simon Dowson, Managing Director at Delta Cosworth, commented:

“Developing and manufacturing batteries is one of our core capabilities at Delta Cosworth. We have already made leaps and bounds in delivering flexible battery solutions, our Cylindrical Scalable Modules being at the centre of our battery offering. Creating, more efficient and reliable ways to manufacture our batteries like electron welding will aid us in maximising our battery technology’s potential and give us the possibility to transfer new manufacturing techniques across the wider Cosworth group.” 

Tony Harper, Challenge Director for the Faraday Battery Challenge, said:

“As we move towards a net zero future the UK’s electric vehicle industry must continue to evolve. These winning projects have all shown how their ideas can potentially accelerate the development of technologies or business practices in the UK. I look forward to seeing how their innovations help to significantly advance the performance characteristics of batteries for electric vehicles.​”

Find out more about the funding in the UK’s Research and Innovation’s announcement: Delivering the Future of Battery Technology.

CVE featured in The Welding Institute’s Winter 2022 edition of the Welding and Joining Matters journal.

Launched in Spring 2022, the committee of Welding and Joining Matters is formed of professional members of The Welding Institute. It is a lively and easily read journal covering all aspects of welding, joining, and fabrication as well as inspection and structural performance of all classes of materials and welded products.

It has articles of interest for all personnel working in these industries, from practitioners and technicians on the shop floor, to inspectors, welding coordinators, welding engineers, incorporated and chartered engineers as well as managers, researchers, and designers of fabricated equipment and structures.

The journal is available as electronic and hard copy publication, which is published four times a year.

Authored by Chris Punshon, CVE’s Head of New Energy Applications, you can read CVE’s featured article below or download it as a PDF.

Find out more about the journal on The Welding Institute’s website.

CVE exhibited at Fabtech 2022 from the 8th of November to the 10th of November, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

FABTECH is North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing event. It provides a convenient ‘one-stop shop’ venue where you can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, find the tools to improve productivity, and increase profits. They strongly believe in the power of in-person events to discover, educate, and motivate the metal fabrication industry.

Tony Slater, Technical Sales Manager, and Steve Horrex, Sales Director, were at Booth C13212 exhibiting our product lines:

• Electron beam welding (EBW) machines – high and low voltage
• Laser beam welding (LBW) machines – conventional with a shielding gas, or in a vacuum
• Ebflow – welding with electron beams and a local vacuum, ideal for thick-section/large components
• Ebflow Light – welding with a laser and a local vacuum
• Surface modification using an electron beam

The show encompassed three halls at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. Attendees will found a variety of technology pavilions dedicated to Forming & Fabricating, Tube & Pipe, METALFORM, Welding, Finishing, 3D/Additive Manufacturing and Robotics & Industrial Automation. Featured technologies included:

For more information, please visit the organiser’s website.