Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE)’s local vacuum electron beam welding system, Ebflow, welds steel nuclear pressure vessel of 200mm thickness in under 3 hours, revolutionising the assembly and welding of thick-sections for pressure vessel manufacture.

CVE’s ground-breaking local vacuum electron beam (EB) welding technology, Ebflow, achieved a continuous, fully penetrating weld in a 200mm thick, three-metre diameter demonstrator vessel section in low alloy steel.

The weld was produced in a nuclear grade steel typical of that used in some proposed small modular reactor (SMR) designs, with a circumferential weld length of ~10m.

The joint was completed in a single pass, reducing the predicted weld time from several months, using conventional arc welding, to ~140 minutes using Ebflow.

This weld represents a breakthrough in the industrialisation of Ebflow for fabrication of thick-section materials, not only for the nuclear industry, but also for other applications – such as offshore wind and hydrogen production – transforming the global capacity to produce zero-carbon energy.

The project is a continuing collaboration between CVE, Sheffield Forgemasters, TWI, Arc Energy Resources, NAMRC, University of Sheffield, University of Cambridge, and University of Manchester. There was also a steering committee consisting of the Ministry of Defence, Rolls-Royce submarines and SMR divisions, the UK Atomic Energy Authority and Cavendish Nuclear.

The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) part-funded the project under the £26m Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Programme within the BEIS Energy Innovation Programme. Engagement with the Office for Nuclear Regulation and Environment Agency was also instigated by BEIS as the project progressed.

After years of highly-advanced engineering and process development, CVE has led Ebflow to market, achieving near commercial exploitation for pressure vessel applications, as well as offshore wind foundation structures.

CVE and Sheffield Forgemasters carried out the factory acceptance testing (FAT) of the welding system, which verifies that the equipment was built and operating in accordance with design and safety specifications, at CVE’s site, before shipping to Sheffield.

Sheffield Forgemasters’ aim to incorporate Ebflow as an advanced fabrication technique, offering significant savings on both processing time and cost, over the traditional arc welding methods, which typically can take months and includes numerous stages of non-destructive testing (NDT).

Notably, the weld was performed without pre-heat or consumables and with an overall energy consumption of less than 100kWh. This represents a considerable saving in CO₂ emissions, in comparison with to more conventional arc welding practice, which requires ~1,000kWh arc energy and pre-heat of ~180^oC before welding can begin.

The welded assembly was examined using several ultrasonic test methods including conventional pulse echo ultrasonic testing (UT) and time of flight diffraction (TOFD). TOFD is particularly well suited to the vertical EB weld joint preparation, resulting in a high level of accuracy in size and position of weld imperfections.

The tests reported that the weld zone was free from any reportable indications, as defined by the ASME acceptance criteria.

Test pieces representative of the welded assembly will be subjected to rigorous mechanical testing at Sheffield Forgemasters after appropriate heat treatment. It is intended that a sample will be removed and introduced into a campaign to assess the influence of exposure to the high levels of radiation anticipated in service.

Determination of magnitude and distribution of residual stresses both as-welded and after heat treatment will be carried out using a contour method.

Ebflow combines the use of a local vacuum system and a high power electron gun that produces a high intensity electron beam. The beam penetrates the full thickness of the vessel and fuses the two components prepared with a close-fitting square butt preparation to produce a welded joint in a single pass.

The local vacuum approach allows the EB process to be applied to thick-walled large vessels, which cannot be practically contained within a vacuum chamber, and can operate at significantly higher vacuum pressure than in-chamber EB welding systems. This results in an improved process tolerance to cleaning and outgassing when welding big structures.

The Ebflow system comprises:

• A patented high power electron beam generator designed for long duration welding campaigns with consistent, reliable welding performance, particularly for very thick section materials.
• Local vacuum chamber and pumping system with minimum volume designed for rapid pumping (5 minute pump down in the FAT, compared to hours for conventional in-chamber systems) and minimal energy consumption compared to in-chamber systems as only mechanical pumps are required.
• Several configurations of local vacuum deployment for vessels and other structures including the use of vacuum jackets for different sized vessels, sliding local vacuum seals for modular construction of components and internally mounted guns for heavy wall pressure vessels.
• Beam quality measuring station that permits characterisation of the welding beam before and after welding to demonstrate consistency and reliability and provide a quality assurance measure.

In addition, all electrical data is monitored continuously and captured, so that it can be stored and uniquely linked to the welded part, providing a through life record of the welded component.

The resulting weld is inspected in real-time with a temperature resistant ultrasonic test method to provide immediate information on weld quality indication where detailed examination may be needed on completion of welding. The outcome is in line with the industry 4.0 data management approach.

Ebflow has the potential for exploitation in many of the global SMR programmes for primary structures and associated pressure containing plants.

It also has applications in low carbon energy, hydrogen production and storage, chemical and pressure plant industries.

CVE are exhibiting at CWIEME in Berlin, 10-12 May 2022.

CWIEME is the Coil Winding, Insulation, Electronic Manufacturing Exhibition, which has the global coil winding, transformer, electric motor, generator, and e-mobility supply chain all in one place.

You can find us in Hall 6 at stand 2E02, where we will be happy to discuss developments in electron beam welding for electric vehicle (EV) powertrain components, including batteries.

On the stand you will find Chris Coaster (Sales Manager), Alex O’Farrell (Development Engineering Manager), Liam Howarth (Sales Agent), and Nick Edge (Consultant), who all look forward to meeting you!

To arrange a meeting in advance of attending the exhibition, please email sales@camvaceng.com.

CWIEME is the the largest global event dedicated to the coil winding transformer, electric motor, generator and e-mobility supply chain, which enables global knowledge exchange.

Find the solutions to your latest engineering challenge among the over 600 leading components, raw material and process machinery manufacturers.

Product sectors include:

• Adhesives, resins, and coatings
• Electromechanical components
• Electronic and electrical components
• Electric powertrain components
• Insulation and shielding materials
• Intermediate semi-finished products and materials
• IT & software
• Motor components and accessories
• Other machines and manufacturing systems
• Transformer components and accessories
• Winding systems and supplies

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

TWI will be presenting a poster titled “Fatigue Performance of Longitudinal Seam Welds Made by Rapid Weld Electron Beam Welding for Use in Monopiles” supported by Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) and SSE Renewables at Wind Europe in Bilbao on 6^th April.

The presentation will highlight the potential of electron beam welding to produce significant cost savings in many industries under the Rapid Weld project.

The Rapid Weld project aims to create an industry-approved weld process for offshore wind, which is more productive and sustainable than established methods while reducing energy and material costs significantly.

This will use CVE’s new technology, Ebflow.

Ebflow can reduce the time needed to weld a monopile by 95%, whilst being 94% more energy efficient, resulting in a 98% overall cost reduction – compared to traditional submerged arc welding (SAW) – based on a typical specification of a 60 metre long, 8 metre diameter monopile, with a wall thickness of 80mm.

CVE’s Head of New Energy Applications, Chris Punshon, will be at the event – please get in touch if you’d like to discuss the project in more detail!

For more information, you can view the poster.

Find out more about the event on the organiser’s website.

Chris Punshon, Head of New Energy Applications at Cambridge Vacuum Engineering, will feature on the upcoming episode of Weld Tech Talk on Saturday 30th October 2021 at 17:00 IST.

Hosted by The Indian Institute of Welding, the episode’s title is Local Vacuum Power Beam Welding in Energy Applications.

The presentation will cover CVE’s development of local vacuum electron beam welding and its commercialisation (Ebflow), illustrating practical applications of the process in heavy section structural steels, austenitic stainless steels and high-temperature alloys.

Examples of the current and potential applications will be presented together with evidence of achievable weld quality and properties.

Electron beam (EB) welding is a powerful welding process capable of joining large thicknesses of metallic materials in a single pass, leading to the potential for high productivity combined with exceptional weld quality and minimal distortion.

The development of reduced pressure EB welding, and more recently, reduced pressure laser welding has led to the possibility of deploying the process outside the usual confines of a vacuum chamber using local sealing and pumping.

This local vacuum process variant also permits the delivery of active gas during welding, which leads to the possibility of weld composition modification in autogenous welds.

The presentation will aim to answer any questions received before the event where possible, or you may ask them at the end during the Q&A session.

The presentation will take online via Zoom on Saturday 30th October 2021 at 17:00 IST.

Please click here to register your attendance.

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering secure Offshore Wind Growth Partnership funding for a ground-breaking advanced welding solution to support low-cost offshore wind tower manufacturing.

The Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) has awarded funding to Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE) in the 2020 Development Grants Competition for the development of ground-breaking electron beam welding technology, Ebflow. As an industrial partner, Global Energy Group (GEG) will be supporting a trial programme and qualification of the technology for eventual use at their planned tower manufacturing facility.

• OWGP award £300k grant for the development of ground-breaking Ebflow electron beam welding technology
• Industrial partner GEG will provide offshore wind sector expertise and a trials programme to qualify the technology with the aim of implementing it at their planned state-of-the-art tower manufacturing facility at the Port of Nigg in the Highlands of Scotland
• Ebflow has the potential to reduce welding time by 76%, cut electricity usage and reduce carbon emissions by 90%

The OWGP grant will facilitate the deployment of CVE’s welding technology for producing long seam and circumferential seam welds associated with offshore wind tower production.

GEG are advancing their plans to develop a next-generation tower manufacturing facility at the Port of Nigg. Participating in this project as an industry partner provides evidence of a UK route to market in offshore wind, paving the way for the commercial introduction of Ebflow. High-productivity welding is a defining factor in influencing the economics of large-scale serial manufacturing.

Ebflow can be readily transported and operated on-site and applied to significantly larger structures than can be accommodated in a vacuum chamber. Ebflow brings all the advantages of electron beam welding to structures of unlimited size.

Figure 1: Global Energy Group’s Port of Nigg facility.

The technology is also strongly endorsed by SSE Renewables who are leading the current RapidWeld project in electron beam welding and facilitating a trial on the Dogger Bank Wind Farm, the world’s largest offshore wind farm. If successful, this UK innovation will be a 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.

In addition to other competitive benefits, the collaborative project between CVE and GEG has the potential to reduce welding times by over 75% while bringing down energy usage and associated carbon emissions by over 90%.

Global Energy Group’s Director of Innovation, Steve Chisholm, commented:

“GEG recognises that it can only maintain a position of international competitiveness through the development and deployment of ground-breaking innovation. The application of electron beam welding to offshore wind tower production is truly transformational and has massive potential to improve productivity, reduce cost and dramatically lower carbon emissions.”

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering’s Managing Director, Bob Nicolson, commented:

“Ebflow is a disruptive technology that has been in development for 10 years. It is a major breakthrough in thick section, large structure welding and it has applications in a wide range of industries. The OWGP grant, in conjunction with the RapidWeld project, has the potential to provide a significant step towards the Offshore Wind Sector Deal’s ambition of increasing the UK content of UK offshore wind farms to 60% by 2030. We are excited about the collaboration with GEG, who have demonstrated willingness to adopt new advanced manufacturing processes and are perfectly positioned to integrate this technology into their newly installed manufacturing set-up.”

OWGP Programme Director, Andy Macdonald, commented:

“OWGP is delighted to be supporting CVE’s development of electron beam welding for offshore wind monopiles and towers. It is essential that UK fabricators have early access to technology that can reduce costs and ensure quality for long-term competitiveness. As well as providing solutions to fabricators, this project will help CVE to develop new markets and increase sales in the offshore wind sector.”

Pennsylvania College of Technology (PCT) recently honoured its donors after a ‘best-ever’ philanthropic year. Amongst the list were Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (CVE), who partnered with Penn College in early 2020, resulting in PCT acquiring a CVE electron beam welding machine.

The event saw Penn College recognise honourees for their unwavering support that ignited a record-setting year for institutional fundraising.

The annual event took place in front of the Penn College Donor Wall, which pays permanent tribute to those whose contributions of gifts, pledges, donations and entrustments of equipment and technology significantly empower students – including CVE who feature under the Heritage Society section.

The recognition is a result of the $2m Welding Expansion Project that added 35,000 sq. ft. of space to the College’s instructional lab, as well as new systems and technologies. The state-of-the-art welding lab features a CVE welding machine – believed to be the only electron beam welder used for instruction in U.S. higher education. Next door to the welder, you can find advanced laser welding and cutting processes (including CNC plasma cutters) and a full lab of automation and robotics.

Principal supporters for the expansion project included Cambridge Vacuum Engineering, BAE Systems, Kuka Robotics Systems, Lincoln Electric and more.

As a result, the College can enrol up to 60 more welding students annually – more than 300 in total. The welding lab was first extended in 2010 but has had to be expanded again due to the programme’s popularity and growing demand for graduates in the industry.

Figure 1. The Welding Expansion Recognition Wall.

Figure 4. State-of-the-art lab video

Millionaire’s Society ($1 million+)

• Blaise Alexander/Blaise Alexander Family Dealerships*
• William J. Martin*
• Miller Electric Manufacturing Co.*
• Octopuz Inc.
• Larry A. and Sherry Ward

Golden Society ($500,000 to $999,999)

• Ira Lubert
• Anthony Misitano
• Judith von Seldeneck
• Volvo Construction Equipment*

Visionary Society ($100,000 to $499,999)

• ABB Robotics*
• Acero Precision
• Gene Haas Foundation*
• The High Companies and High Steel Structures LLC*
• Highway Equipment and Supply Co.*
• Hudock Capital Group LLC*
• Komatsu
• Kuka Robotics Corp.
• Ed & Sharon Madalis
• Nationwide Insurance Co.
• Novatec Inc.*
• Libellula
• Penn Power Group*
• Farhad and Debi Saba
• The Satorius Family
• Sodick Inc.
• Soitaab USA Inc.
• Susquehanna Trailways
• TurnKey Electric Inc.
• Williamsport Hospital School of Nursing Alumni Association*

Heritage Society ($50,000 to $99,999)

• Cambridge Vacuum Engineering
• Dolphitech
• Betty Edkin*
• Mary Fish*
• Frazier Family
• William F. Geyer and Dorothy J. Gerring*
• John Deere*
• Laserline
• Darla Logue*
• John and Linda Lundy*
• Miller Welding Automation
• NAIMA
• Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association-North Central Chapter*
• Subaru of America Inc.
• Susquehanna Valley Corvette Club Foundation
• The Soars Family and Pneu-Dart Inc.
• Terex Corp.
• Woodlands Bank*

Ambassador’s Society ($25,000 to $49,999)

• American Dental Education Association
• BAE Systems
• Lawrence Belle and MaryBernadette Reidy
• Bracalente Manufacturing Group
• The Brook J. Lenfest Foundation Inc.
• The Coca-Cola Co.
• Compass Group North America
• Mark and Denise Cunningham
• Elsner Engineering Works Inc.
• Glen-Gery
• Jim Green
• Tom and Mary Gregory
• Hensel Phelps
• R. David and Joann Kay
• LNS America Inc.
• Randy and Debra Mattern
• Dale and Sally Metzker
• Chris and Wendy Miller
• Ryan Monteleone
• Precitec Inc.
• Michael J. Reed
• Rolls-Royce Corp.
• Harold Sinclair
• Suzanne and David Stopper
• Studebaker Drivers Club-Keystone Region

CVE recently exhibited at FABTECH Chicago 2021. Fabtech is North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing event.

Held at McCormick Place in Chicago from September 13-16, the exhibition saw North America’s largest collaboration of technology, equipment, and knowledge in metal forming industries.

Tony Slater, Technical Sales Manager at CVE Inc. (our USA subsidiary), was at booth B25062 in Hall B (welding, welding automation, robotics and industrial automation), where he met a wide range of welding professionals.

The exhibition was attended by over 30,000 visitors, with over 1,000 exhibitors covering 500,000 sq. ft. of floor space.

Thank you to everyone who came to see us! If you have any further questions, please get in touch.

Fabtech provides a convenient one-stop-shop venue. You can meet with world-class suppliers, see the latest industry products and developments, find the tools to improve productivity, increase profits, as well as discover new solutions to all your metal forming, fabricating, welding and finishing needs.

The show encompassed three halls with a variety of technology pavilions. Featured technologies included welding machines (electron beam and laser), maintenance and repair, additive manufacturing and much more. Find out more about the exhibition on Fabtech’s website.

The American Welding Society (AWS) are one of the exhibition’s Event Partners. Founded in 1919, The AWS is a multifaceted, non-profit organisation: with a mission to advance the science, technology and application of welding and allied joining and cutting processes, including brazing, soldering, and thermal spraying. Headquartered in Doral, Florida and led by a volunteer organisation of officers and directors, AWS serves more than 70,000 members worldwide.

Take a look at Cambridge Vacuum Engineering’s listing on the AWS Buyer’s Guide or find out more about AWS.

CVE has achieved Cyber Essentials Plus (CE+) certification. The certification helps guard our IT infrastructure against the most common cyber threats; whilst demonstrating our commitment to cyber security.

It is a Government-organised scheme that has two levels: Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus — with certification for the latter only achievable after passing a hands-on technical verification.

Backed by industry organisations, including the Federation of Small Businesses and the Confederation of British Industry, CVE is proud to have achieved the highest qualification level.

The certification is indicative of our proactive measures against cyber attacks, demonstrating to our customers and prospects that data is being held securely, as well as protecting us against at least 80% of common cyber threats.

Operated by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the certification is recommended for organisations of all sizes from SMEs and microbusinesses, to large multi-national corporations. The scope covers firewalls and routers, software updates, malware protection, access control and secure configuration.

Here, you can find out more about CVE.

Cambridge Vacuum Engineering recently attended ITM Industry Europe, the leading trade fair in Poland for exchanging technological experience amongst the leaders of the innovation sector.

ITM Industry Europe promotes innovation in the industrial sector; due to the exhibition of ideas and solutions developed by the trade fair’s participants and partners, giving measurable benefits to companies and scientific research institutions.

The organisers of the event postponed it for the previous two years, but this year reported incredible energy and buzz of business talks.

There were over 340 exhibitors, whereby companies could present either in-person at the exhibition hall, or try a new tool – an online meeting platform.

CVE exhibited in-person, at the Technika Spawalnicza Sp. z o.o. booth in pavilion 5, stand 64, with information on electron beam and laser welding.

Lots of visitors came to take a look at our sample that was welded using an Ebflow system- CVE’s ground-breaking technology that can weld 300 mm thick sections in a single pass!

The date of the next edition of ITM Industry Europe has already been announced. The organisers are planning the event between May 31 and June 3, 2022.

The aim of ITM Industry Europe is to demonstrate and promote industrial achievements on a global scale. Thus, it gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to take a step into the future, which is incomparable to any other event in Poland.

The ITM Industry Europe trade fair is an example of an excellent combination of industry, business and science. It is attended by nearly 1,000 exhibitors who present innovative machines and solutions for such industries as plastic metalworking, metallurgy, welding, surface treatment, varnishing, automotive, transport, railways.

Poznań is also a venue for the presentation of the achievements of engineers, design teams and scientific bodies; innovations and the most modern solutions, delivered to the industry, enabling the increase of equipment efficiency, optimization of production plants and increasing the market attractiveness and competitiveness of companies.

The scope of the ITM Industry Europe trade fair includes 5 thematic showrooms:

• Mach-Tool (machines and tools)
• Surfex (surface treatment)
• Metal forum (metallurgy, foundry, metal industry)
• Welding
• Research for Industry (scientific achievements of research institutes)

Find out more about the event on the organiser’s website.

The ability to weld thick sections efficiently is critical to drive widespread deployment of cost-effective solutions to meet low-carbon energy needs. Thick section local vacuum electron beam welding is considered a key enabling technology in the serialised fabrication of micro modular reactors (MMR) and other large tubular structures.

CVE, TWI, and Cammell Laird have been working collaboratively for over three years to produce the UK’s first full-size MMR vessel segment.

Supported by Innovate UK, the EBManPower project has demonstrated a low cost and rapid pressure vessel manufacture solution for thick section vessels for nuclear and other industries, using existing UK logistical and manufacturing capabilities. EBManPower focussed on using CVE’s Ebflow system, deployed at the Cammell Laird’s shipyard in Birkenhead, to demonstrate the viability of cost-effective MMR fabrication.

Electron beam welding has been used for the nuclear and aerospace industries for decades. This is the first time that a commercially available local vacuum EB system has been deployed in an industrial environment.

This project has received funding from Innovate UK, grant agreement: 3534/104220. Innovate UK is part of UK Research and Innovation, a non-departmental public body funded by a grant-in-aid from the UK government.

There will be a demonstration day held at TWI Ltd (10:00-14:30), followed by an optional visit to Cambridge Vacuum Engineering (14:30-17:00) to view the Ebflow system, on the 20th July 2021.

A maximum of 25 physically attending visitors can be accommodated at TWI. For those unable to attend, a live stream of the presentations will be offered.

The full agenda is as follows:

• 10:00 – 12:30: Technical presentations
• 12:30 – 14:00: Lunch and demonstrator viewing
• 14:00 – 14:30: Presentation and closing remarks
• 14:30 – 15:00: Travel to CVE (transport not provided)
• 15:00 – 17:00: Equipment showcasing at CVE