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Ed Yeates ReportingSay goodbye to the glaring fireball and sparks of conventional welding.
Manufacturers from around the country are in Salt Lake this week watching demos of a revolutionary new welding tool developed by Brigham Young University.
As a kid, I remember my dad telling me never look at a welder's arc since the bright fireball could damage the eyes.
Well here's a welder without the fiery arc, developed by BYU engineers. Two pieces of solid steel are welded together by a pin-like tool made from an extremely hard material -- second only to the hardness of a diamond.
Carl Sorensen / Engineering Research Team, BYU: "THERE'S A BROAD SPECTRUM OF INDUSTRIES WHICH DO WELDING AND JOINING OF STEEL THAT FIND THIS TO BE A TECHNOLOGY THAT WE THINK WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE WAY WE DO WELDING AND JOINING."
Where? In the making of cars, ships, trains, military vehicles, pipelines and more.
Standing only a few feet away -- we see only a gentle glow from friction as the tool spins, heating and softening the steel on each side of the seam.
It then pushes the steel on both sides out of the way, and squeezes everything back together again.
Sorensen: "AS IT COMES BACK TOGETHER AND IT SQUEEZES TOGETHER - AND IT'S LIKE TAKING TWO PIECES OF CLAY AND SQUEEZE THEM TOGETHER AND MAKE ONE PIECE OUT OF IT."
But instead of clay, it's solid steel -- or any alloy the welder chooses.
Ed Yeates, Science Specialist: "WITHIN ABOUT FOUR MONTHS, THE ENGINEERING TEAM HERE AT BYU WILL HAVE A SMALLER MACHINE AVAILABLE TO WELD ALL KINDS OF MAJOR PIPELINES - IN THE FIELD - ON LOCATION."
Sorensen: "THAT WILL EASILY FIT IN THE BACK OF A PICKUP TRUCK THAT YOU CAN DRIVE RIGHT OUT TO THE PIPE WELDING SITE, SET IT UP, WELD THE PIPE, MOVE ON TO THE NEXT JOINT AND GO ON."
The whole process is twice as fast as conventional welding. There's less distortion of metal, the seams are seamless, and the bond stronger.
BYU has assigned patents on the new welding tool and is working in collaboration with the company that originally developed the friction stir welding process.
