Welding thick sections

When a leading manufacturer of vibration testing systems explored an alternative route for manufacture, it turned to TWI for assistance in identifying the right method for them.

LDS Test and Measurement is an international company with its UK base in Royston, Hertfordshire. It manufactures electro dynamic vibration test systems and supplies OEMs and test houses across the world.

A range of their products incorporate large vibration tables, which are often made to customer specifications. Therefore, a certain degree of flexibility is required in their manufacture. By their nature, these tables need to be lightweight but high strength, so the material chosen for this application is magnesium. Magnesium has the added benefit of having vibration damping properties - something that is particularly important for vibration testing equipment.

The drawback with this choice of material is that its supply is somewhat limited, with plate only rolled in certain widths, which are sometimes not appropriate for the LDS vibration tables. As a result, for large testing systems, LDS require that two plates are joined together to form the complete table.