Joining technique could improve design optimisation

The new method from Brigham Young University’s (BYU) School of Technology may be helpful to vehicle manufacturers in achieving the 54.5 miles per gallon average the US Environmental Protection Agency is mandating for US fleets by 2025.

The technique, called friction bit joining, uses a small, consumable bit to create a solid-state joint between metals. The method was invented by manufacturing engineering technology professor Michael Miles and retired BYU professor Kent Kohkonen, in collaboration with Orem, Utah-based company MegaStir Technologies and Oak Ridge National Lab.

‘It’s all about making vehicles lighter and our process can help to combine steels and light metals in the same vehicle frame, which gives engineers more flexibility in designing an optimal structure,’ Miles said in a statement.

The latest development in the process successfully bonds lightweight aluminium with cast iron by inserting a thin layer of steel between the two metals, which facilitates the bonding process.

Findings of this research, carried out in collaboration with the University of Ulsan in South Korea, are published in the June issue of the International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing.