Looking to the future of welding and cutting: What is the next generation of connectivity technology?


The Essen Organizing Committee and the "Mechanical Workers" magazine jointly organized the "Beijing Essen Welding Exhibition and China Welding Industry" essay activity as part of the 20th anniversary of the "Beijing Essen Welding and Cutting Exhibition". The organizer has received more than 60 contributions, including 28 excellent essays.
From the perspective of the author of the essay, there are both veteran comrades who have been engaged in welding for many years and have a deep passion for their careers, as well as rookies who have just joined the welding industry. They have no interest in the exhibition, and their memories and feelings are so touching that they are deeply touched. Their expectations and messages about the exhibition make us dare not slack off, not only can we lie in the past. The results are there to be self-respecting, and to climb the next peak of the exhibition according to the mood of “single high-rise, looking at the horizon”. It is also necessary to use the pursuit of "the belt is gradually widened and not regretted, and the people are dissipated by Yi". The exhibition will be better to meet the bright future of the welding industry.



Klaus Midodov, Secretary General of the German Welding Society

The Beijing Essen Welding and Cutting Exhibition has achieved great success and has become the largest welding exhibition in Asia and the second largest in the world, second only to the International Welding and Cutting Exhibition in Essen, Germany. The main purpose of trade fairs is to develop markets, showcase technological innovations and trends. In June 2007, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Essen Welding and Cutting Exhibition, some development trends of welding technology will be highlighted. Some trends will be reflected in the future and future Beijing Essen Welding Exhibition. . To do this for the following:
(1) In the development of new technology products and the redevelopment of existing technology products, people pay great attention to the optimal use of materials, taking into account the stress of local bearing. Even individual parts are increasingly composited from different materials. For example, tailored welded composite parts made of different steel plates of different thicknesses and surface qualities are coated on the part to prevent corrosion and wear. In addition, the combination of steel and light metal or plastic is increasingly used in lightweight construction, and nickel-based alloys are becoming more and more important in the manufacture of power stations and aircraft engines.
(2) In a broader sense, the joining technology process is necessary to achieve these goals, and will become a core element of rapid, trouble-free, and reliable production in the future, and will be integrated into the manufacturing process chain. Therefore, the connection process has economic significance, has made an important contribution to the production value increase, and has a good development prospect. Connection technology plays an extremely important role in all phases of product life. These phases include: product design, development, manufacturing, use, maintenance and repair, as well as recycling and disposal. To this end, comprehensive product, production and material development requirements, in the research, development, manufacturing and application process, continue to adopt interdisciplinary technical means.
(3) In the connection, not only the degree of mechanization and automation will increase, but also the application of industrial robots will increase. For economic reasons, process and characterization simulations will be key factors in the application and redevelopment of joining processes and materials. These processes and materials cannot be applied in the future without the use of reliable simulation methods. The simulation technology of the connection process enables the optimization of the virtual test and the connection process even for the production process; the planning and implementation of the quality assurance can be arranged before the connection process, which facilitates the implementation and maintenance of the connection. In the early days, they can also be used to train manufacturing and maintenance personnel. Our goal should be to simulate the entire process (chain) using common concepts based on the elements of process simulation, structural simulation, and material simulation.
(4) From a technical basis, the current definition of weldability must be further subdivided into the possibility of welding, the suitability of the weld and the reliability of the weld, ie the possibility of welding the part, the suitability of the material and the welded structure. reliability. In addition to the welding technology process, these terms also take into account the ever-expanding joining processes of brazing, bonding, mechanical joining and coating.
(5) The concept of maintenance is becoming more and more important, especially in the manufacture of road vehicles. The concept of easy repair must be an integral part of product development. High-strength steels, light metal alloys, plastics and tailored welded plates must be considered, as well as laser welding processes, bonding and mechanical joining. These factors are important because the joining process used in production has a direct impact on the maintenance cost of the vehicle. In addition, the cost of third-party and personal vehicle insurance depends not only on the frequency of accidents but also on maintenance costs. If the joining process can only speed up the manufacturing process, but it will incur a high cost during maintenance, it will not achieve the intended purpose. Modular manufacturing methods are suitable for repairs, especially in the manufacture of vehicles, and qualification training for new repair technicians.
(6) People's desire for environmental protection makes them have special expectations for technology, which also applies to connection technology. The requirements for this can be exemplified by the economical use of primary and secondary energy sources, the conservation of raw materials, the avoidance, elimination or storage of residual materials, the selection and use of renewable materials and the recycling of connected parts. In addition, it is urgent to take measures to address health and safety issues in the application of connectivity technologies.
(7) In the future, competition between various connection technologies will occur during the application process. Here, not only will various thermal connection technologies compete with each other, but there will also be competition between low heat and "cold" connection technologies. The following is a brief description of the various connection technologies:
First, gas shielded arc welding still dominates, and the latest research contributes to the application and further development of these processes. However, predictions for the future indicate that the growth of gas shielded arc welding will not be as fast as it used to be.
Second, resistance welding still occupies an important position due to its process performance and productivity. However, due to the application of mechanical joining technology and bonding technology, resistance welding will lose its application field. It remains to be seen whether a combined process such as resistance spot welding and bonding can be successful.
Third, the electron beam welding process, especially the laser beam welding process, is becoming increasingly important due to the rapid transformation from research results to practical applications, and the growth rate of electron beam welding is reduced.
(8) The facts show that the demand for the hybrid welding process is expanding and more applications have been obtained in practice. In this regard, the initial research was mostly a combination of laser welding and gas shielded metal arc welding. There are also combinations of laser welding and gas shielded tungsten argon arc welding and plasma arc welding. Fundamentally, the welding processes in these different welding processes are compounded in a common weld pool and a common processing area, hence the name compound welding process.
The increasing complexity of connectivity technology requires companies to manage their capabilities. The ability here refers to the combination and development of materials related to materials engineering, manufacturing and joining technology for special purposes. In this respect, the company's ability is greater than the collection of individual abilities. The goal should be to apply the company's existing capabilities, equipment and proven processes to control costs and improve efficiency throughout the product's life cycle. While paying attention to these conditions, the connection technology still plays a large role in the value-added process of production, and has a good development prospect. Connection technology is accepted even under difficult economic conditions.
In short, the continued development of connectivity technologies in the future will promote investment in equipment, processes and infrastructure, especially in people's knowledge and capabilities.

This article is quoted from the large-scale essay “Beijing Essen Welding Exhibition and China Welding Industry” jointly organized by “Mechanical Workers” and the Essen Organizing Committee. The original text was published in the “Mechanical Workers” (Hot Processing) Essen Exhibition 2007 Supplement. Copyright, without written authorization, may not be reproduced. Contact number: 0086-10-68327547-815

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