Actually, forget it, it isn’t so much of a formula as it is
a compound. For those of you not sitting
close to your treasured periodic table the Fe is Iron and the Al is
Aluminum. The compound FeAl13 is a combination
of metal and aluminum. Scratching your
head yet? You know that there is no way
to permanently blend iron and aluminum.
Not so fast. Something new is on
the horizon. It is called FSW for
short. The long hand is Friction Stir
Welding and it is here. FSW is already
being used in the airplane and automotive industry. Do you own a 2013 Honda Accord? A 2010 Toyota Prius? How about a Mazda Miata? Those vehicles have FSW parts.
“Don’t watch the arc!”
Have you ever been behind a welder and have him scream that in your direction
because you were staring Living Dead-like into the glow of the welding torch? They scream that because that arc of light
can severely damage the retina. That
grizzled old welder had your best interest at heart as he was using the old-school method of welding that for generations has been known as fusion
welding. It is the joining together of
two similar metals with high heat and filling wire that melts the two together. When the metals cool a strong bond is
formed.
Friction Stir Welding does not involve high heat and the
metals never reach the molten state. A
rotary tip plunges into the separation between two metals and as it spins the
friction created weds the metals together.
It is like a strange knitting method.
The technology was invented in 1991 by The Welding Institute in Cambridge,
England. It was later perfected by some guys wearing pocket protectors at a Scandinavian research laboratory. In the early 2000s FSW started to be used in
the aeronautical industry because the best thing about FSW is that it can join
separate metals together into one. And
the bond is tight and strong. So, with
the use of FSW steel can be welded to aluminum thus creating the aforementioned,
FeAl13. Aeronautical designers, like automobile
and bicycle designers, like to eliminate weight. Using more aluminum and other lightweight
metals makes a huge difference in performance. Engineers at Honda have tested the method and
the bonds created by FSW are as strong as current welding methods.
The SBT will be on the lookout for bicycle manufacturers
using the FSW method. A lightweight frame
is the goal of every manufacturer. New
bikes assembled using FSW could have any number of metal and aluminum features
coming together as one. New FSW bikes
could also drop a few ounces because the use of filler wire, and the mass it
brings along, would be eliminated. In
terms of being green, FSW uses half the electricity of traditional fusion
welding. So the days of the arc, the shield,
and the flying sparks may be coming to a close.
Please visit our website for a new link to our affiliate Performance
Bike. They are having a big Memorial Day
weekend sale with everything on sale, some discounts up to 70% off. Visit www.stickybottleteam.net.
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