What is the Name of the World's Largest Welding Tool?

This welding tool is part of the family of leading-edge tools developed to weld the key stage of Space Launch System - the most efficient rocket designed for deep-in-space mission.

By aluminium, many people think of aluminium foil or flimsy can of soda.

While it can’t be denied that aluminium is kinda foil, it is one of the most crucial metals when it comes to space. That’s because of its light weight and durability. To consider aluminium as the only protection against the killing void of space may not be comforting. Still, NASA’s cutting-edge aluminium alloy has, evidently, the best design for its newest generation of manned spacecraft.

In this point, NASA has designed a brand-new terrestrial welding tool shaking up aerospace manufacturing, and standing as a gigantic monument to the reasoning of measure-twice and cut-once.

Without fail, welding in space is possible in case of emergency. Still, the process isn’t really easy all the time. Laser welding gives a means of emergency repair in spite of temperature, gravity or air, but obviously, the ideal spaceship is the one that just needs welding together right in the first time.

Do Big Using Vertical Assembly Center

2014 unveiled NASA’s Vertical Assembly Center in Michoud Assembly Facility (New Orleans). It is the world’s biggest spacecraft welding equipment with 170 feet in height and 78 feet in width. Also, it’s part of leading-edge tools developed to weld key stage of SLS (Space Launch System) – the most efficient space rocket ever designed.

For a wide angle view of Vertical Assembly Center (VAC), a 16mm fish-eye lens was utilized at the ribbon cutting ceremony on September 12th, 2014. The VAC is the world's largest spacecraft welding tool. (Photo cr: NASA)

The Vertical Assembly Center would lift the SLS’s components up and down its striking height utilizing a big mobile ring. This ring helps swiftly and correctly position the rocket’s components when moving along rails. Then they can be welded in situ. This center applies friction stir welding – the favored welding techniques for welding aluminium in aerospace manufacturing – to connect the SLS’s components into one vehicle.

NASA's Friction Stir Welding tools (FSW) bring out qualified and strong welds in aluminum alloys employed to manufacture the Orion spacecraft, Space Launch System rocket which will travel a 4-person craw to Mars.

In March, 2015, Boeing, the manufacturer of the Vertical Assembly Center found out that its rails suffered a slight misalignment, retarding the device production in 3 months or so. This misalignment might have resulted from a shift in the soft Louisiana soil making up the center’s foundation. Still, there is no elimination to the possibility of a uncomplicated manufacturing error. Regardless of the cause, the retardation is pretty mirror, and the rocket will still be launched in 2018 as scheduled.

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Vietnam Engineers Create More Cost-Efficient Welding Machines Than Same Imports

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Vietnamese Engineers Create Lower Cost Welding Machines Than Same Imports

Designed by 2 Vietnamese engineers, those welding machines with cost and time advantages will soon come into market.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Phuong from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Dr. Nguyen Van Hieu, deputy director of A41 aircraft repair factory have created an automatic pipe welding machine with much lower production cost than the same imports. This locally made welder will aid engineers in saving money and time for operation and maintenance.

Made-in-Vietnam automatic pipe welding machine

The robust development of Vietnam’s industries has resulted in much higher demand for welders, welding equipment, and state-of-the-art welding technology. All the welding equipment for pipe shaped metal components have been imported, which financially challenges enterprises. Indeed, just foreign-invested companies and large corporations can afford buying the technologies and machines. 

The two engineers kicked off work on an automatic pipe welding machine with high cost efficiency and higher productivity than the conventional welding methods.

This machine consists of 3 parts – those are, electrical-electronic, mechanical, and operation units. Each of them has its own function.

The machine base is designed in a way that enables operators to put it in the areas with different terrain. It can run with one-phase and three-phase AC power sources.

This product has come into operation at shopfloors of A41 factory – a unit of Ministry of National Defence.

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