Fronius now has competition in dissimilar welding

By cddolan74 (**)

Date 03-25-2014 12:36

curios to travel speeds achieved if it replaces GMAW

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 03-26-2014 06:09 Edited 03-26-2014 06:36

As promised:

New Steel-to-Aluminum Welding Process for Honda

New Steel-to-Aluminum Welding Process for Honda
Three developments in joining contribute to lighter door panels, better performing vehicles
Robert Brooks
Wed, 2013-02-20 22:49

"Honda Motor Co. Ltd. will implement a new welding system it has developed in order to join steel to aluminum, so that the light metal can be used to build outer door panels of the 2014 Acura RLX. That new model becomes available in North America in March 2013. The new method will be extended to cover production of other Honda and Acura models in the future.

This new technique follows a Friction Stir Welding method that Honda introduced in 2012 for continuous welding of dissimilar metals (e.g., steel to aluminum) in the production of vehicle subframes.

General Motors Corp. also introduced a steel-to-aluminum joining process in 2012, a resistance spot welding technology it developed involving a patented electrode design. Like the new Honda method, GM’s development will allow it to incorporate aluminum in automotive exterior panels for doors, or hoods, lift gates, etc.

Honda noted that welding steel and aluminum for external panels called for simultaneous advances in different joining technologies, including methods of preventing electrical corrosion that results from the reactions of different materials, and controlling the thermal deformation that results from the different expansion rates of steel and aluminum.
Combining simultaneous developments

Honda said it made three developments that allowed it to achieve industrial-scale production of aluminum outer door panels.
Combining these developments, the automakers said is able to avoid the spot-welding used to form door panels in conventional production, but it is able to do so without replacing its current production lines.

Honda’s first, critical development for joining dissimilar materials is the "3D Lock Seam," a structure in which steel and aluminum panels are layered and “hemmed” to create a double seal. Then, it developed a technology that prevents electrical corrosion by using anticorrosive steel for the inner panel and a new form that ensures the gap between the two panels is filled completely with an adhesive agent.

Next, it introduced an adhesive agent with a low elastic modulus and optimized the location of the 3D Lock Seam, to control thermal deformation of the material during the joining process. The new production process helps to reduce door panel weights by approximately 17%, according to the developer, compared to standard steel door panels, thus contributing to greater fuel economy.

Also, Honda pointed out that reducing weight reduction at the outer side of the vehicle makes it possible to concentrate the point of gravity toward the center of the vehicle, which improves stability in operation."

Edit: This is a follow up article written in February of 2013 to the article above:

http://world.honda.com/news/2013/4130218New-Technology-Join-Steel-Aluminum/

Respectfully,
Henry

By ssbn727 (*****)

Date 03-26-2014 06:18 Edited 03-26-2014 06:27

Here's another article from Honda:

Automobile Japan
September 6, 2012

Honda Develops New Technology to Weld Together Steel and Aluminum and Achieves World's First Application to the Frame of a Mass-production Vehicle
- Hybrid-Structured Front Subframe Achieves Both Weight Reduction and Increased Rigidity -

TOKYO, Japan, September 6, 2012 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that it has newly developed a technology for the continuous welding of the dissimilar metals of steel and aluminum and applied it for the first time in the world to the subframe of a mass-production vehicle, a key component of a vehicle body frame. Honda will adopt this technology first to the North American version of the all-new 2013 Accord, which will go on sale in the United States on September 19, 2012, and will expand application sequentially to other models.

1st illustration is of a front subframe... 2nd illustration below is showing a conceptual diagram of FSW of dissimilar metals...

Striving to reduce vehicle weight in order to increase fuel economy, Honda focused on Friction Stir Welding (FSW) and developed a new technology for the continuous welding of steel and aluminum. This technology generates a new and stable metallic bonding between steel and aluminum by moving a rotating tool on the top of the aluminum which is lapped over the steel with high pressure. As a result, the welding strength becomes equal to or beyond conventional Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding*1.

This new technology contributes to an improvement in fuel economy by reducing body weight by 25% compared to a conventional steel subframe. In addition, electricity consumption during the welding process is reduced by approximately 50%. It also enabled a change in the structure of the subframe and the mounting point of suspension, which increased the rigidity of the mounting point by 20% and also contributed to the vehicle’s dynamic performance.

Furthermore, Honda established a new method to apply this technology to mass-production vehicles. Conventionally, FSW required use of large equipment, but Honda developed a FSW continuous welding system applied to a highly versatile industrial robot. This system also can be used for aluminum-to-aluminum welding and thus, the welding system with the same specifications can be used for production of a full-aluminum subframe.

Honda also developed a non-destructive inspection system*2 using a highly-sensitive infrared camera and laser beam, which enables an in-line inspection of the bonding location for every unit.

*1 A welding technique most commonly used for welding of identical materials such as steel-to-steel or aluminum-to-aluminum
*2 A system that evaluates quality without actually destructing the parts

Respectfully,
Henry

Conceptual diagram of FSW of dissimilar metals (65k)

By cddolan74 (**)

Date 03-26-2014 13:48

Thanks Henry,
think its amazing how fast FSW is being developed. Honda states "industrial-scale production" for FSW, would be nice to see side by side comparisons and whats sacrificed if anything to change from GMAW to FSW