The Nickel Alloy project is working to continue development of research to increase the weldability of nickel-chromium alloys. Our approach is to control oxidation sources within the process through atmospheric controls and monitoring.  To accomplish this, the team has constructed an Atmospheric Control Chamber to enable control over both the ambient atmosphere and the local shielding gas. In addition, an oxygen detector is being implemented to allow precise measurements of the atmospheric oxygen content.

By varying the weld parameters, as well as experimenting with various shielding gas configurations, we are exploring how various parametric changes affect the quality of the weld.