| US space agency
NASA has granted Delphi $950,000 to help fund the development of its deformation
resistance welding (DRW) process. Originally developed for use in space
shuttles, the technology could be coming to automotive body-in-white facilities.
DRW can deliver reliable, repeatable, leak-free welds at lower
costs than conventional welding. The technology can join dissimilar materials
and lightweight tubular structures.
SpaceForm, a Delphi joint venture with the Edison Welding Institute of
Columbus, Ohio, is developing DRW for mass production. The technology
has potential applications in exhaust systems, tubular spaceframes, fluid-based
mechanical systems, and load-bearing structures.
“It could cut welding cycle times by up to 79 per cent and is automation-friendly,”
said SpaceForm.
Engineers generally avoid designing tubular structures because thin-walled
tubes are difficult and expensive to weld. It is easier and cheaper to
use sheet metal structures.
DRW uses conventional resistance welding equipment, but with higher weld
currents. To join tubes, they must first be formed with flanges at their
ends. The process compresses the fold against the tube in a resistance
welding machine and passes current through them.
The electrodes allow relative motion between the parts while they are
at temperatures close to the materials’ melting points. The process
creates joints through the deformation and displacement of material at
the weld interface.
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