Latest Technology/Processes for Welded and Riveted Joints

New Technology for Welding Aluminum

The F-150 is the primary high-volume vehicle to utilize a lot of aluminum. Portage amasses the same
number of units of its prominent pickup in a month as all other aluminum-bodied vehicles joined sell
every year. The aluminum body is joined with auxiliary glue and 4,000 bolts versus 7,000 spot welds on
a customary steel pickup.
While aluminum keeps on making advances into the automobile business, steel isn't going to blur
away. It will keep on being a critical material in Detroit for quite a long time. Actually, Ford engineers
expanded their utilization of high-quality steel in the new F-150 edge from 23 percent to 77 percent to
improve firmness and sturdiness, while lessening weight.
Customarily, aluminum vehicles have been collected with auxiliary cements and bolts. Since higher
generation volumes upset cement use, automakers have depended on self-puncturing bolts to join
aluminum body parts.
Be that as it may, bolts include cost, and riveting weapons have a restricted scope of joint setups.
What's more, while this methodology can be utilized to join lower-quality steels with aluminum, it isn't
appropriate for joining aluminum to ultra-high-quality steel.

Robotic Percussive Riveting System

The illustration below shows the developed robotic percussive riveting system. It includes a 6-
DOF industrial robot that replaces the first worker for holding/moving a percussive rivet gun; a 5-axis
computer numerical control (CNC) gantry system that replaces the second worker for holding/moving a
bucking bar. The entire riveting process is automated through synchronization between the robot and
gantry. Furthermore, the choice of a gantry system instead of a second robot allows it to serve as a jig
for mounting sheet metals.
 Industrial Application

1. Aerospace Industry for aircraft assembly automation

Airplane Riveting Improved With New Technology

An aircraft is held together by hundreds of thousands of rivets. Fully

automatic machines install rivet holes and rivets with precision in
numerous materials. A new hybrid technology combines this mechanical
joining technique with adhesive bonding. The lighter an aircraft is, the
less fuel it consumes. Given the need to cut carbon dioxide emissions,
this is a key aspect of materials research. Aircraft manufacturers are
therefore pinning their hopes on particularly lightweight construction
materials. These include not only lightweight metals, but also fiber
composite plastics, particularly carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs).
Whenever two CFRP components have to be joined together, this has so
far been accomplished primarily by riveting.

Friction Stir Welding (FSW)

FSW is considered to be the most

significant development in metal joining in a
decade and is a “green” technology due to its
energy efficiency, environment friendliness, and
versatility. As compared to the conventional
welding methods, FSW consumes considerably
less energy. No cover gas or flux is used, thereby
making the process environmentally friendly. The
joining does not involve any use of filler metal
and therefore any aluminum alloy can be joined
without concern for the compatibility of
composition, which is an issue in fusion welding.
When desirable, dissimilar aluminum alloys and
composites can be joined with equal ease. In contrast to the traditional friction welding, which is usually
performed on small axisymmetric parts that can be rotated and pushed against each other to form a
joint, friction stir welding can be applied to various types of joints like butt joints, lap joints, T butt joints,
and fillet joints

Industrial Application

1. Shipbuilding Industry for production of large aluminum panels for ship decks

2. Aerospace Industry for manufacture of large tanks for satellite launch vehicles and lightweight
aluminium airframe structures for commercial and military aircraft.

3. Automotive Industry for high-volume production of components (e.g. light alloy wheels and
fuel tanks

References:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927796X05000768

https://www.assemblymag.com/articles/91863-new-technology-for-welding-aluminum
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40436-013-0014-5