University of Waterloo
Assembly Line
Novel welding tech demonstration draws industry representatives
On Oct. 25, Brampton, Ontario-based SORSYS Technologies hosted a demonstration of FuseRing’s induction-assisted friction welding technology on tube and rod materials. Attendees included representatives of the Canadian government, local associations, colleges, the nuclear industry, and the aerospace industry. Adrian Gerlich, professor in the department of mechanical and mechatronics engineering at the University of Waterloo and director of the university’s Centre for Advanced Materials Joining, presented results from the studies his team has performed on parts that were joined using the technology.
This demonstration of the FuseRing technology showed attendees a model that could heat the material in two seconds, but also could have its temperature settings changed, as well as the pressure and angle of the material. The FuseRing concept uses solid-state fusion to join sections of pipe. The inventor of the welding process, Canadian David Lingnau, described it as a “spinduction” process—combining induction heating and kinetic energy to join two workpieces without the filler metals or solid-to-liquid phase transformation. Essentially, the process involves using an induction heating coil to preheat the ends of two tubes or pipes. The operator then retracts the coil and compresses the ends, and then rotates one of the two pipes. The technique uses no filler and produces no fumes or particulates.
Paul Cheng, principal of FuseRing, noted that a wide variety of materials are suitable for this form of welding, and his focus has been on promoting it to industry sectors that struggle with time constraints and safety concerns, such as pipeline, refinery, nuclear, shipbuilding, and submarine.
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