Bio
Dr. Wei Tang is a Sr. R&D staff in Materials Science and Technology Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. His major research interests include additive manufacturing, welding, microstructure, mechanical properties, residual stress, and NDT&E. He studied fracture mechanics and NDT&E of welded joints. He has been working on friction stir welding & processing (FSW&P) since 1998. At ORNL, he continued working on FSW&P of special alloys and irradiated stainless steel, studied microstructure, mechanical properties, phase transformation, residual stress, and heat treatment of similar and dissimilar materials printed by wire arc directed energy deposition additive manufacturing. Dr. Wei Tang has more than 100 publications in a book, journals, conference proceedings, ORNL milestone reports and presentations. Dr. Wei Tang received his Ph.D. degree with welding major in Mechanical Engineering at Xi’an Jiaotong University in China.
Professional Experience
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Materials Science and Technology Division, Oak Ridge, TN.
Sr. R&D Staff, May 2014 – present.
- University of South Carolina, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia, SC.
Research Assistant Professor, 2002 – May 2014.
Postdoctoral Researcher, November 1999 – 2002.
- University of Texas at El Paso, Department of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, El Paso, TX.
Postdoctoral Researcher, January 1998 – October 1999.
- Tsinghua University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing, China.
Postdoctoral Researcher, January 1996 – December 1997.
Awards
- “R&D 100”, US DOE, 2023
- “The 4th National Challenge Cup College Students Competition Award”, National Students Union, China, 1995
- “Tengfei Cup Award”, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, 1995
- “Science and Technology Advancement Award”, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, 1995
- “Baogang Educational Scholarship”, Baoshan Steel Company, China, 1995
Education
- Ph.D. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, 1995
- M.S. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, 1992
- B.S. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, 1989
Professional Affiliations
- American Welding Society (AWS) member
- AWS Technical Paper Committee (TPC) member
Specialized Equipment
- MTS Friction Stir Welding Process Development System
- Macro- & Micro-hardness Tester
- Optical Microscopy
- Digital Image Correlation Tensile Testing System
Publications
Microstructure and mechanical properties of friction stir weld performed on neutron-irradiated 304L…
Other Publications
- Clinton T. Canaday, Matthew A. Moore, Wei Tang, A. P. Reynolds, Through thickness property variations in a thick plate AA7050 friction stir welded joint. Materials Science and Engineering A, 559: 678 – 682, 2013.
- A.L. Pilchak, W. Tang, H. Sahiner, A.P. Reynolds, and J.C. Williams, Microstructure evolution during friction stir welding of mill-annealed Ti-6Al-4V. Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A, 42(3): 745-762, 2011.
- W. Tang and A. P. Reynolds, Production of wire via friction extrusion of aluminum alloy machining chips. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 210 (15): 2231-2237, 2010.
- Rebecca Brown, Wei Tang and A. P. Reynolds, Multi-pass friction stir welding in alloy 7050-T7451: Effects on weld response variables and on weld properties. Material Science and Engineering A, 513-514: 115-121, 2009.
- T. Long, W. Tang, and A. P. Reynolds, Process response parameter relationships in aluminum alloy friction stir welds. Science and Technology of Welding and Joining, 12 (4): 311-317, 2007.
- R.W. Fonda, J.A. Wert, A.P. Reynolds, and W. Tang, Friction stir welding of single crystal aluminum. Science and Technology of Welding and Joining, 12 (4): 304-310, 2007.
- A. P. Reynolds, W. Tang, Z. Khandkar, J. A. Khan, and K. Lindner, Relationships between weld parameters, hardness distributions, and temperature histories in alloy 7050 friction stir welds. Science and Technology of Welding and Joining, 10 (2): 190-199, 2005.
- A. P. Reynolds, Elizabeth Hood, and Wei Tang, Texture in friction stir welds of Timetal 21S. Scripta Materialia, 52(6): 491-494, 2005.
- A. P. Reynolds, W. Tang, M. Posada, and J. DeLoach, Friction stir welding of DH-36 steel. Science and Technology of Welding and Joining, 8 (6): 455-460, 2003.
- A. P. Reynolds, Wei Tang, T. Gnaupel-Herold, and H. Prask, Structure, properties, and residual stress of 304L stainless steel friction stir welds. Scripta Materialia 48(9): 1289-1294, 2003.
- Y. Chao, X. Qi and W. Tang, Heat transfer in friction stir welding —experimental and numerical studies. ASME J. of Manufacturing Science and Engineering. 125(1): 138-145, 2003.
- Yaowu Shi and Wei Tang, The principle and application of the friction stir welding. Electric Welding Machine. 30(1): 6-9, 2000.
- W. Tang, X. Guo, J. C. McClure, L.E. Murr, and J. Mater, Heat input and temperature distribution of friction stir welding. Journal of Materials Processing and Manufacturing Science. 7: 163-172, 1998.
- W. Tang and Y. W. Shi, Detection and classification of welding defects in friction welded joints using ultrasonic non-destructive method. Insight, 39(2): 88-92, 1997.
- W. Tang, Y. W. Shi, and B. S. Chen, Characterization of ultrasonic defect signal and NDT & Evaluation of friction welded joint. Transaction of Mechanical Engineering, 33(5): 59-64, 1997.
- W. Tang and Y. W. Shi, Recognition of weak bonding defects in friction welded joints using numerical signal analysis method. Welding Pipe and Tube, 20(6): 16-20, 1997.
- P. Zhu, B. S. Chen, and W. Tang, Three dimensional topography reconstruction and quantitative analysis of metallic fracture surface. Chinese Journal of Stereology and Image Analysis, 2(1): 1-5, 1997.
- W. Tang and Y. W. Shi, Influence of crack depth and strength matching on deformation and plastic zone at crack tip for welded joint specimen. International Journal of Fracture, 74: 77-87, 1996.
- W. Tang, Y. Chen and Y. W. Shi, Ultrasonic testing of the friction welded joints in low carbon steel parts with non-ideal joining defects. Nondestructive Testing, 18(11): 308-310. 1996.
- W. Tang and Y. W. Shi, Influence of crack depth and strength matching on fracture toughness for welded joints. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 51(4): 649-659, 1995.
- W. Tang, Y. W. Shi, and Y. J. Chen, Ultrasonic non-destructive testing of welded joints with weak bonding of low carbon steel. Insight, 37(7): 523-526, 1995.
- W. Tang and Y. W. Shi, The effects of crack depth and strength matching on fracture resistant capability of welded joints. Transactions of the Welding Institution, 16(1): 50-56, 1995.
- Y. W. Shi, N. Zhou, X. P. Zhang, W. Tang, Y. P. Lei, Microshear test and its evaluation to mechanical properties of welded joints. Transactions of the Welding Institution, 15(4): 235-240, 1994.
- W. Tang and Y. W. Shi, An investigation of the plastic rotational factor during bonding process for three-point bending specimens. Computers & Structures, 43(4): 709-712, 1992.
- Y. W. Shi, W. Tang, and J. X. Chen, Investigation of theoretical formula for the requirement of welding pipe fracture toughness. Welding Pipe and Tube, 15(5): 30-34, 1992.Y. W. Shi, J. X. Chen, and W. Tang, Prediction of the fracture toughness requirement value for a high-frequency welded pipe. Welding Pipe and Tube, 15(1): 3-7, 1992.