Development of Welding Technology for the European Space Industry

Welding is considered as a critical technique for the joining of materials within the European Space Industry.  It is commonly used in a variety ways from large scale structural load bearing applications on launch vehicles and propellant tanks, to small intricate welds produced, for example, in flow control valves.  Welding processes range from the traditional arc processes such as MIG (Metal Inert Gas) and TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas) to high power beam processes such as Laser and Electron Beam Welding.  More recently solid state welding processes such as Friction Stir Welding (FSW) are being considered by many within the space industry as the future of joining materials and have found applications in launcher critical structural applications.

In this work the main drivers for manufacturing flight hardware will be presented together with the key technical challenges which need to be overcome such that the European Space Industry gains maximum benefit.  A number of examples will be used to illustrate this including the manufacturing of propellant tanks for propulsion systems, the welding of dissimilar metals using novel techniques such as Rotary Friction Welding and Magnetic Pulse Welding, and the welding of safety critical devices such as flow control valves.