The AWS Detroit Sheet Metal Welding Conference (SMWC) is a bi-annual event focused on new research in the areas of automotive joining and assembly. EWI has long been a event sponsor, and serves on the technical leadership team. The 17th conference (32rd year!) took place October 19-20.
SWMC XVII featured three keynote presentations. The first, by Dr. Felix Wu of the Department of Energy, was titled Challenges and Opportunities in Joining Technologies of Dissimilar Materials for Vehicle Applications. Dr. Wu focused on key DOE initiatives supporting structural lightweighting goals in the automotive industry. The second keynote was by Dr. Michael Rethmeier. Dr. Rethmeier holds a joint appointment at the Technische Universität Berlin/Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und Prüfung/Fraunhofer IPK. His paper, European Perspective on 21stCentury BIW Joining Challenges, discussed current European design initiatives and associated enabling joining technologies. Mr. Lyndon Lie from General Motors presented the third keynote paper,The Need for Advanced Joining Technologies in a Mixed Material Vehicle: The Cadillac CT6 as a Case Study. Mr. Lie, the Chief Engineer for the program, described the design and material needs for the CT6, and the joining challenges faced.
Other presentations covered resistance spot welding of advanced high strength and generation 3 steels, fusion processes for body-in-white structures, joining of aluminum, resistance welding equipment, quality assurance methods, and solid state assembly. EWI Associates Michael Eff, Warren Peterson, Sam Lewis, Jerry Gould, and John Seaman presented these five papers at the conference:
- Critical Metallurgical and Processing Elements for Welding Aluminum to Steel
- Durability Testing of Ceramic Coatings for Indirect Resistance Heat Treating in Vehicle Lightweighting Applications
- Development of an Open Architecture Capacitive Discharge Welding System
- Examination of Electrolytic Capacitors for Welding Applications
- Refill Friction Stir Spot Welding Development
SMWC XVII was attended by roughly 200 engineers, scientists, and technical managers. EWI looks forward to its continued support for SMWC XVIII in 2018.