EADS ETL
20 April 2012
Growing industrial recognition of DeltaN friction-stir welding technology – developed by EADS Innovation Works and offered through the EADS Technology Licensing initiative – was underscored by an award for innovation that was presented this week by the international Network of Automotive Excellence (NoAE) organization.
Receiving the award was Grenzebach Automation, a German system integrator and process solutions provider – which utilizes the DeltaN technology under license from EADS, and provides the friction-stir welding production units in cooperation with industrial robot manufacturer KUKA.
“There were 270 applications worldwide in the NoAE innovation awards competition, from which 21 winners were selected – with RoboFSW by DeltaN being chosen in the manufacturing category,” said Juergen Silvanus, EADS Innovation Works’ Expert in Welding Technologies.
As part of this recognition, the industrial team was provided a booth at the 2012 Project Day event, held on April 17-18 in Dusseldorf, with representatives from Grenzebach Automation, KUKA and EADS Innovation Works on hand to meet with attendees.
“There was high interest in our technology from the Project Day participants, who are very well qualified in their sectors of industry,” Silvanus added. “Although NoAE is an automotive organization, it opened this year’s event to aerospace and railway sectors as well, which enlarged the audience.”
Benefits of the DeltaN solid-state friction-stir welding technology include high quality of the welded seams, excellent solid joint structure and robustness, the ability to achieve deep welding with depths of up to 50 mm., minimal welding distortion and discoloration, as well as the elimination of fumes, dust and spatter.
A key element is the DeltaN welding tool, which incorporates a simple and robust design featuring a stationary shoulder portion and a rotating welding pin. This concept places the high revolutions on the pin and zero revolutions on the shoulder, providing significant reductions in welding distortion and vertical down-forces when compared with standard tools, while also increasing the pin’s lifetime by reducing lateral loads.
The friction-stir welding technology package offered by Grenzebach Automation is based on a robotic solution for the joining of metals, alloys and metallic ceramics with higher efficiency and flexibility – all with significantly reduced costs when compared to other friction-stir welding concepts or alternative welding processes.
By integrating specially-designed high payload robots from KUKA, the resulting production process is made flexible and cost-efficient, supporting configurable 3D-geometries and a wide range of process forces.
Separately, a recent agreement concluded by the EADS Technology Licensing initiative will lead to the transfer of DeltaN friction-stir welding technology and know-how to Germany’s BRÖTJE-Automation company for gantry production machines it supplies to the aerospace sector, as well as for other potential industrial applications.
- In the photo above, celebrating the RoboFSW by DeltaN innovation award at Dusseldorf’s Project Day event are (from left to right): Dr. Guenter Horzetzky, State Secretary in the German Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs; Dr. Joachim Doehner, Product Management, Grenzebach Automation; Otto Kellenberger, Key Account Manager - Aerospace, KUKA Robot Group; Andreas Froelich, Software Engineer at Grenzebach Automation GmbH; and Juergen Silvanus, Expert - Welding Technologies at EADS Innovation Works.
• Learn more about the EADS Technology Licensing initiatives’ achievements and activities with the archived news stories.
