The advanced welding technology that helped save lives in F1

When Romain Grosjean’s Haas automotive break up in two and burst into flames in the course of the 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix, it was the titanium halo that in the end saved his life. However what few individuals know is {that a} groundbreaking welding method performed an important function in making the halo sturdy sufficient to carry out as designed in that terrifying second.

The halo, now an important a part of System 1’s security package deal, confronted sturdy opposition when it was first launched in 2018. Nevertheless, a number of high-profile crashes – together with Grosjean’s fiery accident, Zhou Guanyu’s dramatic flip at Silverstone in 2022, and the Verstappen-Hamilton conflict at Monza in 2021 – have since silenced the critics. The cockpit safety gadget has confirmed its price again and again.

However what not many individuals know is that manufacturing the halo to fulfill the FIA’s security requirements – to resist the immense forces it’d face, the halo needed to be able to supporting the load of a London double-decker bus – posed a serious technical problem, one which conventional manufacturing strategies could not clear up. This required not solely high-grade titanium but in addition a flawless, revolutionary welding course of to protect the fabric’s properties.

The problem of welding titanium

By the top of 2017, the businesses that participated within the FIA’s tender for the manufacturing of the halo – together with the occasion that in the end gained the contract – didn’t have the in-house technical capabilities to weld the 5 titanium elements of the halo to the best doable high quality. That is once they turned to LKN WeldTitan, the titanium-specialized division of Dutch firm LKN WeldCompany BV. After practically 4 weeks of intensive analysis and growth, they succeeded in welding the elements collectively in a approach that fully preserved the titanium’s technical properties, making certain that the halo met FIA’s stringent requirements.

“Titanium is a reactive metallic, which suggests it reacts with parts within the air – even at room temperature, in a way that oxidation happens,” explains Patrick Wouterse, founder and CEO of LKN WeldCompany, chatting with Autosport. “That is why it is extremely proof against corrosion: as soon as a skinny oxide layer varieties, it protects the metallic from additional oxidation, a property that makes titanium very best for chemical industries.”

However for the halo, the important thing property wasn’t simply corrosion resistance however the strength-to-weight ratio. “Titanium, particularly the grade 5 alloy used for the halo, is far stronger than metal whereas being considerably lighter,” Wouterse continues. “The place you’d want 15 millimetres of stainless-steel for a sure energy, you would possibly solely want 5 millimetres of titanium. That is why it is used extensively in aerospace and why it was chosen for the halo. You need the strongest doable construction with out including an excessive amount of weight to the automotive.”

Nevertheless, titanium is a fragile course of, as heating the metallic causes it to turn out to be much more reactive, making it soak up parts like oxygen and hydrogen “like a sponge in a bucket of water”. Even the slightest contamination, reminiscent of microscopic traces of grime or oils from a fingerprint, can have already got disastrous penalties for the energy of the titanium within the space the place the weld is.

“As soon as titanium absorbs these parts, it adjustments the metallic’s composition and weakens it dramatically, as much as 75% within the affected space,” Wouterse explains. “To forestall that, it is advisable to create an surroundings the place, throughout welding, no different parts can attain the metallic.”

The innovation: a flawless welding course of inside a purge chamber

Usually, welders shield the realm with a neighborhood stream of inert gasoline, like argon, to protect the molten metallic. However with titanium, that is not sufficient. “The warmth radiates outward — the encircling materials can attain 1,000 levels Celsius. However at simply 150 levels, titanium already begins absorbing oxygen,” says Wouterse.

“You may really see the harm — the titanium adjustments color. Silver means the properties are intact, whereas gold signifies that there was a really slight however acceptable deterioration. But when it turns blue, purple, or inexperienced, the fabric is basically ruined.”

Titanium halo

Picture by: LKN WeldCompany BV

To unravel this, Wouterse and his staff spent years perfecting a singular welding course of, constructing specialised welding purge chambers, so the welding can happen in an environment of inert gasoline.

“It sounds easy – simply put the elements in a field and fill it with argon – nevertheless it’s extraordinarily advanced,” Wouterse says. The issue is that there at all times stays a small quantity of oxygen within the purge chamber. “We fill the chamber primarily with argon, helium and neon. However argon is heavy, oxygen is gentle, and helium is even lighter. Even the slightest turbulence from shifting your palms contained in the gloves can combine the gases and lift oxygen ranges.”

“We needed to discover methods to get the oxygen focus right down to only a few elements per million,” Wouterse continues. “All the things, from the form of the chamber to the wall end, impacts the consequence. In order that’s all very difficult. And there are at the least fifteen different variables that every one need to be excellent to get the precise values.”

Over the previous twenty years, Wouterse has specialised on this course of. By LKN WeldCompany BV, he has constructed a powerful popularity, resulting in world demand for his firm’s experience in specialised welding tasks throughout industries reminiscent of aerospace, vitality, chemical, nuclear, pharmaceutical, and automotive. As well as, Wouterse is regularly employed by firms for course of growth and high quality management.

After FIA’s halo provider reached out to LKN through a mutual connection, the Amersfoort-based firm developed a customized welding chamber massive sufficient to deal with the complete halo jig, considering the construction’s advanced, asymmetrical hole design. “We then certified the method in accordance with EN ISO requirements, welded a prototype and examined it – it simply met the FIA’s requirements,” Wouterse remembers. “After that, we moved shortly into manufacturing. We ended up welding the primary hundred halos for System 1 in early 2018.”

Romain Grosjean, Haas F1, emerges from flames after a horrific crash on the opening lap of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Marshals attend the accident

Picture by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Photographs

A life-saving legacy

For Wouterse, seeing the halo in motion – particularly throughout crashes like Grosjean’s – is a supply of immense delight. “After all, you at all times hope nothing dangerous occurs. However when it does, it is good to know there is a halo on that automotive. It makes you proud to suppose, ‘We helped make that’.

“Particularly at first, so many individuals hated the halo — they thought it was ugly whereas a few of the drivers stated it obstructed their view. However after the primary huge crash the place the halo made the distinction, all of the criticism stopped. Everybody agreed it was the precise factor.”

Grosjean’s crash left an enduring impression on Wouterse. “While you have a look at simulations that had been made after the incident, you see how the halo deformed the barrier simply sufficient to guard Grosjean’s head. With out it, he would not have survived. And since the halo held, he was additionally capable of climb out of the burning wreckage.”

Wouterse even exchanged messages with Grosjean afterward. “I reached out on LinkedIn and defined our function within the halo. He replied, ‘Then I assume I have to thanks.’ As an enormous System 1 fan myself, that meant loads.”

Later this yr, Wouterse plans to go to the F1 Exhibition in Amsterdam to see Grosjean’s burned-out chassis in individual — a strong reminder of the life-saving expertise he and his staff helped excellent.