Machine Talk Blog

The year was 1970: the Boeing 747 had just completed its first commercial flight, IBM was preparing to shake up the tech world with the floppy disk and Americans were flooding the streets, calling for stricter environmental regulations.

Friction Welding has become the premier choice for companies looking to join dissimilar metals.  Because Friction Welding is a solid-state joining process that does not require melting, it allows for the bonding of two metals, such as Copper and Aluminum, that may be impossible to join with more traditional welding techniques.

With fusion welding processes like MIG and TIG welding, it can be challenging to join dissimilar metals because they often differ substantially in composition and physical, mechanical and metallurgical properties.

At MTI’s Manufacturing Services, we do more than bond parts together; we provide you with a proven, turnkey solution. Whether you need help with just one portion of the friction welding process or want guidance every step of the way, MTI’s team of highly skilled engineers is ready to help.

Tom Budd, MTI Friction Welding Solutions Manager, poses in the MTI booth at the Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show in Anaheim, California

More companies than ever now understand the benefits of Friction Welding, thanks to MTI's recent appearance at the Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show.

Jamie Clews (right) looks over the controls on a machine.

In part five of MTI's Eyes of an Engineer series, we sit down with Global Controls Technical Lead Jamie Clews.  Read on to see how an MTI college program transformed into a full-time job and a move to a new country for Jamie.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The friction welding experts at Manufacturing Technology, Inc. (MTI) are helping welcome the next generation of American space travel and preparing to launch NASA astronauts on missions to deep space through the world’s only exploration-class space systems: NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, Orion spacecraft and the Exploration Ground Systems that launch these vehicles.   

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Continuing its longtime dedication to excellence, Manufacturing Technology, Inc. (MTI) has renewed its AS9100 certification, a key quality indicator for companies working in the aerospace and defense industries.

As the global leader in Friction Welding, Manufacturing Technology, Inc. (MTI) is always looking forward, searching for ways to help put the future of innovative manufacturing into customers’ hands.

WELDING PROBLEMS THE RAIL INDUSTRY FACES TODAY

For decades, railroad companies have been welding 80-foot rails to form Continuous Welded Rails (CWRs) that span from 400 feet to several miles. To accomplish this, they’ve heavily relied on two forms of welding: thermite and flash-butt. However, despite the wide use of these two processes, a significant percentage of railroad failures are a result of low-quality welds.

Friction welding is a solid state joining process. It’s actually a forging process: not a welding process. In the Friction Welding process we use relative motion and high force in order to create frictional heat at the weld interface. This heats the materials being joined to the point where they will plasticize without melting. The result is molecular intermixing at the weld interface and a forged quality joint.

SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 9, 2018: Manufacturing Technology, Inc. (MTI) has shipped North America’s first linear friction welder capable of full sized part development to the LIFT - Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow facility in Detroit where it will contribute to cutting edge lightweighting research in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

PICTURED FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Jamie Clews (MTI Global Controls Technical Lead), Brian Roberts (MTI Manufacturing Operations Lead), Scott Knoll (Amerisure Senior Risk Management Consultant), Daniel C. Adams (MTI President & CEO), Mark Wobbe (Gibson Principal, Risk Advisor), MariClare Osborn (MTI Director of Human Resources), and Jeff Lovin (MTI Director of Technical Operations).  

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 28, 2018:  Manufacturing Technology, Inc. (MTI) today was awarded for outstanding safety performance by Amerisure Insurance Company. MTI was presented the award at its world headquarters in South Bend, IN after maintaining 365 days without a recordable incident. The last time the company achieved this was in 2005.  Additionally, MTI has sustained an impressive 419 days without a loss time incident during the period beginning on July 2017 through September 2018.

For four decades, MTI has been a global leader in friction welding technology — a forging technique that offers many advantages over traditional, fusion welding. With the ability to create super-strong bonds of virtually any size, friction welding is uniquely capable of serving a broad spectrum of industries.

One industry in which we are constantly innovating, is that of aerospace. With changing priorities and advancing technologies that create more demanding joining applications, MTI is continually adapting the rotary and linear friction welding processes to meet the demands of aerospace engineers and manufacturers .

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining process that’s especially popular in the aerospace, transportation, and electronics industries.

Below, we'll explore some commonly asked questions about Friction Stir Welding.

In our fourth installment of Eyes of an Engineer, we introduce you to junior service engineer James Lovell and junior design engineer Luke Barratt.  Luke and James both graduated from MTI’s apprenticeship program in February of 2018.

Discover why they chose MTI, what they learned, and where they’re headed next.

You might not realize it yet, but friction welded parts are all around us, from the cars you drive to the planes you fly in.

Here’s a look at some everyday objects you never knew were friction welded:

Global joining solutions provider MTI has collaborated with technology company HMK, the Siemens motion partner, to pioneer the development of a double axle friction welding machine worth in excess of $2.4 million for one of the world’s leading trailer manufacturers.

In our third installment of Eyes of an Engineer, we introduce you to Tori Zellerhoff and Margot Hughan.  They began working at MTI as part of their capstone thesis for Notre Dame’s Master’s Program in Entrepreneurship, Technology, & Innovation (ESTEEM).

Combining technology with entrepreneurship, the two developed a business plan and go-to-market strategy for MTI’s latest technology, low force friction welding. 

Find out how they got started, what they learned at MTI, and what they enjoyed most about the experience.

Using our friction welding and solid state joining know-how, MTI has developed, designed, and manufactured low force friction welding machines that are operating in industry today.