Welding

Small Modular Reactor (SMR) construction shifts into high gear, as UK company Sheffield Forgemasters welds a full-size nuclear reactor vessel in under 24 hours instead of the usual 12 months. The rollout of this game-changing tech could be massive.

Composite metal foams (CMFs) offer big advantages over traditional solid metal. And while the welding of CMFs usually poses some challenges, it has now been been discovered that the use of an alternative type of welding works like a charm.

Denver's Keystone Tower Systems says it can cut the cost of wind energy with tech borrowed from pipemaking. It uses spiral welding techniques to roll sheet steel into huge turbine towers on-site, stronger, faster and cheaper than current techniques.

In 2015 we first heard about the Helix, a compact-folding, lightweight titanium bike. One successful Kickstarter campaign later, it has now finally entered commercial-scale production – and it's not made entirely like other titanium bikes.

Although many aspects of the automobile manufacturing process are now automated, the inspection of welds is still typically performed by humans. A new robotic system should make the checking of those welds easier and more accurate than ever before.

Researchers have developed a new way to weld ceramics together at room temperature, using ultrafast laser pulses.

Traditionally, welding has been limited to materials that share similar properties. But now, scientists are claiming a breakthrough method that can weld together materials as different as glass and metal, thanks to ultrafast laser pulses.

AA7075 is an aluminum alloy that's almost as strong as steel, yet it weighs just one third as much. Unfortunately its use has been limited, due to the fact that pieces of it couldn't be securely welded together. That's recently changed, however, thanks to the use of titanium carbide nanoparticles.

​Back in 2015, we heard about how Dutch 3D-printing firm MX3D was planning on printing a steel footbridge that would go across Amsterdam's Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal. Well, construction of that bridge is now complete – although it still has to be placed over the water.

Objects created by 3D printers tend not to be as strong as their traditionally-constructed counterparts. Thanks to new research, however, 3D-printed items can now be made that are reportedly 275 percent stronger than would otherwise be possible.​

Welding can damage the items being joined, or even cause explosions. That's why scientists at Northeastern University created MesoGlue. It's a glue that bonds metal to metal – or to other materials – and it sets at room temperature.

Welding pipes in cramped, potentially dangerous areas is an expensive and time-consuming exercise. OC Robotics and TWI Ltd​ have been working on a potential solution in the form of an articulated robotic snake​ that navigates and welds pipes from the inside​ using high-powered industrial lasers​.