Robust Temperature Control for Friction Stir Welding
IPID 31531: Robust Temperature Control for Friction Stir Welding
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), operated by Battelle Memorial Institute under contract to the U.S. Department of Energy, solicits interest from companies interested in obtaining license rights to commercialize, manufacture and market the following technology. License rights may be issued on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis and may include specific fields of use. PNNL may also be available to licensee(s) to assist in further research and development of the technology under a SPP agreement, ACT agreement, or CRADA agreement.
THE TECHNOLOGY:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed gains scheduling software for friction stir welding (FSW) through servos and regulator gains and temperature set points. These control techniques are implemented on the spindle axis only and run independently from weld path and fore axis motion. The outer-loop Robust Temperature Control (RTC) techniques modify the PID control algorithms and are agnostic to the power control mechanism (torque, spindle, forge axis, etc.). In addition to being the first gains scheduling for friction stir welding, the control methodology allows for the ability to command ramps in commanded temperature or power and an automatic hand-off to the temperature control RTC mode when the user defined transition temperature is reached. Temperature is measured with a thermocouple in the FSW tool. The software logic is translated into ladder logic, structured text and flow charts so that it can be easily implemented onto any control system. Developed logic and can be easy implemented onto FSW machines that use CNC G and M modes. In CNC machines, RTC should be implemented as a modal G-code. For non-CNC machines developed techniques can be implement by adding fields to the HMI recipe.
For all inquiries, please reference Battelle IPID 31531
NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PROCUREMENT. Any company interested in licensing this technology must respond with a letter of interest (may be submitted by e-mail) no later than thirty (30) days from the publication date of this Notice summarizing the company's business and technical expertise and motivation for pursuing this opportunity. Companies deemed appropriate will be provided with further information on the technology. Such information may require an executed Nondisclosure Agreement. Respondents wishing to enter into negotiations for a commercial license will be required to submit a business plan for the commercialization of the technology prior to licensee(s) selection and negotiations. Please send letters of interest to the attention of the POC identified within this Notice, referencing Battelle IPID 31531.
Sara M. Hunt, Commercialization Manager, Phone (509) 375-6555, Email sara.hunt@pnnl.gov
