Machine Talk Blog

The solid state, forged quality bonded joint offered by friction welding has made it an ideal manufacturing process for the automotive industry. With the ability to create highly durable, customized components for everything from commercial to personal use vehicles, friction welding helps Tier One manufacturers design flexible solutions to ever-changing challenges of the automotive industry.

Steel and Inconel: they look similar, but metallurgically speaking, they’re two very different materials. They melt at different temperatures, they have different densities and their forgeabilities vary greatly.

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.

 SOUTH BEND, IN - Ball Aerospace has recognized Manufacturing Technology, Inc. (MTI) for outstanding technical performance on the TIRS-02 Program, a NASA initiative which uses thermal infrared sensors to measure the Earth’s temperature.  MTI played an integral role by joining together titanium and copper for the TIRS-02 Cryocooler, which is used on the Landsat Data Continuity satellite.

“We were thrilled to work with Ball Aerospace and work together to find a joining solution that met their needs” said Mike Laiman, MTI’s Manufacturing Services Business Unit Manager.  “Collaboration was key to our success.”

The International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) is held every two years in Chicago giving national and international manufacturing companies an opportunity to network, learn about new technologies and engage with colleagues. This year’s IMTS wrapped up on September 17, 2016 and once again MTI was thrilled to have spent the week meeting new people, hearing about new challenges and teaching people about friction welding.

The 2016 International Manufacturing Technology Show is September 12-17, 2016 in Chicago, IL and MTI will be there! We’ll be in the North Building, B Hall (Fabricating & Lasers), Booth N-6014 where we’ll discuss our friction welding technologies and how they can improve your manufacturing processes. Specifically, MTI will be talking about Bi-Metallic Friction Welding and how it sets us apart in the joining industry.

 Whiteboard Wednesday Video Series

One of the key differentiators between friction welding and other welding techniques is the ability to join dissimilar metals or two different materials that may be impossible to join by other techniques. Doing so is a cost effective way of getting the benefits from both materials. Typically we can use any of the friction welding technologies to weld dissimilar metals, and the following are some common bi-metallic combinations and applications: