Welding as a way of permanently joining metals entered our life a little over a hundred years ago, but today it is impossible to overestimate its importance. With the help of welding, a significant number of different jobs are performed in various fields, from microelectronics to the manufacture of multi-ton structures. Since metals and alloys come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and chemical compositions, a variety of related technologies, tools and fixtures have been developed.
But the main method has long and deservedly been considered electric welding (and sometimes cutting) of metals, primarily low-alloy steels. Among the advantages of electric welding is fast and reliable joining of materials with minimal costs. However, if necessary, with the help of a welding machine, you can cut the metal, even in hard-to-reach places where another tool simply will not crawl. In recent decades, welding machines have been manufactured using electronic components, which significantly reduced their weight and dimensions and made it possible to further expand their use in everyday life. For example, it has become possible to weld glass or plastic frames to steel or aluminum sheets without damaging the backing material.
The invention and widespread use of electric welding has given the whole world thousands of successful applications, including shoe fixing, craftwork, maintenance of portable shelters and equipment. However, beyond this, welding is an indispensable tool of all welding trades, from construction to electronics, and for many products in between, such as the manufacture of welded aluminum plate. Because of their light weight and sound, metal parts of metal working equipment, such as tanks and pumps, are frequently subjected to occasional mobile welding jobs. All these applications have their own specific challenges. For example, fixing objects under tension is a particularly dangerous task, which requires some special skills and tools, such as a powered, enclosed welding jacket with a fast loading system, an arc-welding torch, a welding safety shield and several lugs for lugs (for example, a welding helmet, goggles, goggles and gloves).
Today, welding is a competitive manufacturing technology, and an essential tool for the design of steel and aluminum structures, automobiles, mechanical parts, and nearly all metals used in their manufacturing. In the coming years, it is expected that this will become a significant business sector, providing employment to thousands of welders and machine tool specialists. It should not surprise anyone, then, that welding is also an important discipline in the field of advanced manufacturing. The future of this technology in Europe is assured.
Graduate Engineering Programs and Industrial Training
The aim of developing advanced manufacturing technologies is for welding to be recognized in the industrial environment as a feasible method for highly complex structures and equipment. At the same time, new technological solutions and material technology will come along with it. Welding is being used in every major field of modern production, but most of them have not yet adapted welding techniques to their needs. Therefore, the key to applying new technology is to provide the manufacturing process with welding technologies to apply. In the past, it was a commercial decision to accept the economic viability of the new welding technologies, and in many fields of manufacturing, as a result, we have missed many opportunities. With high investments, the industrial value of the newly introduced methods can be immensely increased, and the problems concerning welding quality will be reduced to a minimum.
Besides developing new techniques, we can train the next generation of welders. Although welding quality is not a direct factor in the purchase process, it greatly affects the speed of introduction of new welding technologies. If you look at the technical and marketing descriptions of welding systems, you will see that a significant number of them explicitly emphasize their quality, and at the same time, those are the ones which lead to product failure. Therefore, the most important factor in improving welding quality is to regularly provide a welding workforce with further training.
3-D Fabrication and Welding
Today’s industrial manufacturing technology does not only require welders, but also new tools and procedures to create structures, in particular, 3-D fabrication. 3-D printing has developed into a very complex area of manufacturing, providing some remarkable advantages.
Like other modern manufacturing technologies, 3-D printing is a very complex task, requiring a lot of knowledge, expertise and an advanced production line. It is common to read on the internet about new inventions related to 3-D printing, which no longer seem to be relevant for production. However, we know that in manufacturing, some of these inventions are indeed vital for production and especially important for small companies.
