Medtronic Gives Away Ventilator Design Specs in Coronavirus Fight

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Medtronic is sharing design specifications for a basic ventilator model with any company that wants to help produce them for hospitals racing to treat coronavirus patients as the medical device maker discusses a manufacturing partnership with Elon Musk’s Tesla.

The Dublin-based company on Monday posted specs for its PB 560 ventilator “to enable participants across industries to evaluate options for rapid ventilator manufacturing to help doctors and patients dealing with COVID-19.” Software and other information for the compact model, on the market since 2010 and sold in 35 countries, will also be added for download soon, Medtronic said.

“Medtronic recognizes the acute need for ventilators as life-saving devices in the management of COVID-19 infections. We know this global crisis needs a global response,” Executive Vice President Bob White said in a statement. “By openly sharing the PB 560 design information, we hope to increase global production of ventilator solutions for the fight against COVID-19.”

The Buffalo plant, along with Tesla’s main electric car factory in Fremont, California, were idled this month amid stay-at-home orders for most businesses and workers to help curb the spread of COVID-19.

 

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WORKING FROM HOME DUE TO COVID-19

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Almost all companies in the corona virus affected countries are encouraging or mandating that staff adopt a work-from-home policy. For modern tech companies, the infrastructure and policy needed for remote working are unquestionably already in place and the vast majority of staff members are probably already laptop users.

For many smaller companies and organizations, however, the situation is likely to be very different. Remote working is probably limited to a few, and realistically mainly for email and other non-operational systems. Breaking the organization into just a few groups with differing requirements and dealing with the needs of each to effect the mass evacuation may seem a simplistic approach, but is probably essential given the urgency in some cases. In order to be productive, there are common requirements that all remote workers need:

  • A computer
  • A good internet connection
  • Chat and conferencing applications
  • A dedicated workspace (preferred)
  • Optionally, a phone
  • Self-motivation and discipline
  • A strict routine

Importantly, companies and organizations also need to prepare themselves and their employees for the increased cyber-security risks associated with remote working. What are some of the challenges that may need to be addressed?

Physical security of company devices

Employees will be exposing company devices to greater risk as they leave the safety and security of the workplace. Devices need to be protected against loss and theft with options such as:

  • Full-disk encryption ensures that even if the device falls into the wrong hands, the company’s data is not accessible.
  • Log out when not in use – both at home and in public places. An inquisitive child accidentally sending an email to the boss or a customer is easily prevented, as is limiting the opportunity for someone to access the machine while your back is turned in the local coffee shop.
  • Strong password policy – enforce passwords on boot, set inactivity timeouts, and ban sticky notes with passwords on them.
  • Never leave the device unattended or on public display. If it’s in the car, then it should be in the trunk.

What’s in the Home Technology Environment

Ask employees to audit their own home environment for vulnerabilities, before connecting work devices.

Collaborative Tools and Authorization Processes

It may seem strange to put these two items under the same heading, but one can help prevent issues with the other.

  • Provide access to chat, video and conference systems so that employees can communicate with each other.
  • Use the collaborative tools to protect against unauthorized instructions or transactions.

Training

When employees are relocated out of the workplace and placed into the more casual atmosphere of working from home, they may consider clicking on links, as there are no colleagues who might see them watching that amusing video or visiting a webpage.

Cyber-security awareness training is typically an annual requirement for employees. It would be prudent to offer a refresher to help avoid the human element that cybercriminals attempt to exploit האתר שלי. Consider running a campaign and training requirement before the employee begins working remotely … or as soon as possible thereafter.

Support and Crisis Management

In the rush to provide remote access, don’t sacrifice cybersecurity or the ability to manage systems and devices. The ability to support users remotely will be essential to ensure smooth operations, especially if users become quarantined due to health concerns. Remote workers need to have clear communication protocols for IT support and for crisis management if they encounter unusual or suspect issues that could be the result of a breach.

Beyond technology and functional processes, there are other key factors to effective remote working:

  • Communication – Consider having team calls once per day, brief people on the status, and give everyone the opportunity to share experiences and issues.
  • Responsiveness – Remote working is not the same as working in an office environment. Establish clear guidelines of how quickly a remote worker is expected to respond to a request depending on the communication type, email, Slack, calendar invites, etc.
  • Working schedule – Agree a method of clocking on and off.
  • Liability – Ensure coverage for the company assets while in the employee’s possession.
  • Tech support – Distribute the contact details: all remote workers need to know how to get help when needed.
  • Socialization – Bring remote workers together, particularly virtually.  Social interaction is an important part of motivation and increases productivity.
  • Accessibility – Establish a virtual open-door management policy, just as there is in the office. Make sure people are accessible and can be easily engaged.

Don’t assume that all employees can switch to remote working effectively and with little assistance or guidance.  Home is not the office and they may need significant assistance to adapt.

Philosophically, the world may never be the same again as this mass remote working mandate could prove to be a social/work experiment that few companies would have ever undertaken on such a scale.

Stay safe – and healthy!

 

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Corona Virus Could Hurt Aviation Over the Long Term

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For aviation, and many industries, the COVID-19 crisis is hitting faster and harder than any previous crisis.  For the past six weeks airline capacity cuts, fleet groundings, and sadly, layoffs, have happened at a shocking pace, along with talk of halting jetliner production, many more layoffs, and of government aid for the afflicted parties. Time is racing by, and it’s very difficult to anticipate developments five days, or even five hours, ahead.

Strangely, it might be easier to discuss five years ahead. What will the long-term impact be of this unprecedented disaster on the aviation industry? Here are the following possibilities;

Private aviation boosted, or not.

Whenever a pandemic or terrorist incident strikes, there’s an anecdotal upsurge in wealthy people considering private aviation as an alternative to scheduled air transport. This makes sense, but has never proven to be sustainable beyond the short-term. Worse, this crisis is very badly hitting equities markets and corporate profits, both of which are closely linked to business jet demand. Perhaps worst of all, this crisis is hammering fuel prices. Resource-rich countries and energy extraction companies are crucial to large cabin jet demand, so that segment will likely be hit hardest.

More Teleconferencing instead of travel.

For decades, air transport observers have fretted that the remarkable increase in telecommunications technology will enable more remote meetings, at the expense of in-person meetings and conferences. There’s no evidence whatsoever of this – business travel demand growth has if anything accelerated over the past ten years. But this pandemic and the associated lockdowns is forcing people to rely much more heavily on these technologies, which in turn continue to get better. This trend, coupled with rising corporate environmental awareness and outright flight shaming, could lead to a tipping point where teleconferencing is seen as a viable substitute, thereby hurting air travel demand, particularly for airlines’ most lucrative customers.

China going its own way.

China’s economic, air travel, and jetliner market woes actually began early in 2019, well before COVID-19. Worse, this crisis has exacerbated tensions with the US and the West. As economic nationalism increases, and as state aid plays a bigger role in many economies, China might just decide to pursue an autarkic future. Commercial jets are already a priority in the country’s 2035 plan, and while the results so far have been poor, that problem could be solved with high trade barriers. Chinese airlines would be forced, against their will, to buy local jets. Since China is the biggest and fastest growing export market for Western jets, this would be a serious impairment to future industry growth.

Slower growth with de-globalization.

This goes beyond China-Western relations. The biggest question of all concerns the geopolitical and macroeconomic drivers behind the aviation industry’s remarkable jet age growth. We’ve lived in a happy world where businesses are global, trade was increasingly free, and people are free to discover exciting new places and cultures anywhere on the planet. But those trade barriers could persist for years, affecting the entire business world, not just aviation. Even without government pressure, the disruption to supply chains induced by this crisis will likely further move toward inshoring, for many industries. Meanwhile, the increased public, corporate, and personal debt resulting from this crisis could crimp economic growth for years to come.

Chances are, the macro trends that have benefited aviation will resume their historical direction, with a typical strong post-crisis jetliner market recovery. But it’s almost as easy to envision a dystopian future with slower growth and higher borders. That would not be good for the aviation industry at all. Except, that is, for the military side.

 

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5G Technology Bringing a Great Revolution

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Experts and businesses are extremely excited about the capabilities of 5G technology as it will change the way people live and work. The revolutionary 5G technology will affect the way businesses operate, help us build more connected cities, smarter vehicles, boost gaming capabilities, help live streams, augment the way we communicate and even push the possibilities of virtual reality and augmented reality. How you play, work, and travel will be affected by the 5G network, with countries around the world competing to deploy 5G fully functional nationwide as soon as possible.

5G technology is a new cellular-network technology.  Almost every major industry will be affected by 5G, becoming an important part of the way we build infrastructures, manufacture goods, experience entertainment, receive healthcare, and of course, communicate with each other. In short, it will become the lifeblood of the global economy for the next decade and beyond. Much of the hype surrounding 5G centres around three major takeaways: faster connections, faster speeds, and faster access to the cloud. And, when we say fast, we mean it. 5G will make 4G seem almost archaic.

With connectivity at the heart of industry transformation, 5G will have a key role to play—not just in the evolution of communication but in the evolution of businesses and society as a whole. On the road to 5G, operators will need to do more than just evolve networks; they will need to transform their business to address new opportunities.

5G will Offer you Breakneck Speeds

Again, one of the biggest promises of 5G is the faster speeds. Even more so, the new network promises lower latency. But how fast will 5G be? These next-generation networks can be up to 100 times faster than the 4G network that you are probably using right now or on average about 20 times faster. If you managed to come across an 8K video that you wanted to stream, you would have no issues doing so on the 5G network. Or maybe there is a new 3D movie you would like to download? No problem. Your new 5G network will download it in approximately 3 seconds compared to six minutes on the standard 4G.

By 2025, 5G networks will strengthen mobile connectivity and radically improve the smartphone experience for billions of mobile devices. 5G will deliver lower latency, higher bandwidth, faster data sharing, and faster than existing wireless technology.

5G will have Greater Bandwidth

A lot of the excitement about 5G centres around its impressive speed, however, there are a lot other great benefits from using a 5G network. The next-gen network will have much greater bandwidth, allowing it to facilitate many more connected devices at the same time and also making service much more reliable. Due to this, 5G goes far beyond just no more spotty services and smartphones. Next-generation smart homes, manufacturing facilities run by robots, smart hospitals, farmers, and virtual reality systems will all utilize this zero-latency and expanded bandwidth. Information will be processed at breakneck speeds.

5G will Help the IoT Reach its Full Potential 

Another buzzword that you are sure to have heard in the past few years is the IoT, which stands for the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things or IoT for short is an ecosystem that consists of web-enabled smart devices that use embedded processors, sensors and communication hardware to collect, send and act on data they acquire from their environments. The IoT will bring forth more interconnected cities, places driven by real-time data. The cities will help autonomous vehicles communicate with people’s smart devices, and their smart devices will be connected to their homes, and their homes will be connected to the rest of the city, using real-time data to improve the quality of life for its residents.  For the IoT to work at its peak, we need 5G. The next-generation network will allow us to connect all of these devices at once with no issue.

5G will Help us Create Safer Autonomous Vehicles 

Some people are calling 5G the air in which future autonomous vehicles will breathe. For fully autonomous vehicles to work in the near future, vehicles need to be able to communicate with each other and its surroundings effectively making split-second decisions. The bandwidth and zero latency of 5G will allow manufacturers to produce safer autonomous driving systems for vehicles, connecting transportation to other people, buildings, street lights, etc.  5G could also accelerate the coming age of flying cars.

5G Could Change Healthcare for the Better  

Again the speed and bandwidth of 5G allows it to be used to make split-second and even life-saving decisions based on data. Now, robotic surgeries are nothing new in the world of healthcare, yet 5G could make them far more common. Even more so, some experts have argued that 5G will open the gates to better healthcare across the globe for people. 5G will make it possible for surgeons to operate remote robotic surgery appliances, and conduct secure remote video-enabled patient interactions. It has the potential to eliminate massive barriers and improve access to quality health care around the globe.

Will 5G Really Change the World? 

The general consensus at the moment is yes. However, like with any new technology they are going to be some concerns and a long adoption time. We still might not see the full benefits of a 5G network until 2025. 5G will help create an even more interconnected world and interconnected infrastructure. The next generation of hospitals and transportation will be built on this network.

 

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Micro-turbine Engine Operating with Environmentally Friendly Natural Gas

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UAV Turbines, Inc. (UAVT), a pioneer of micro-turbine technology, announced that its Monarch 5 turbo-shaft engine can now run on natural gas, signifying an unmatched level of fuel flexibility.

Previously shown to run efficiently on all types of heavy fuels including jet fuel, the addition of natural gas extends this technology beyond flight and into ground emergency and standby power generation for both onsite and remote application areas. This fuel flexibility coupled with Monarch 5’s lightweight, portable, and reliable power generation capacity makes this engine a game-changer for the industry.

Fred Frigerio, UAV Turbines’ Senior Vice President of Engineering, commented, “A major feature of our gas turbine engines is that they operate with safe-to-handle heavy fuel such as Jet A and a wide variety of other fuels. With minor engineering changes, the Monarch 5 engine can adapt to several different clean energy fuel sources such as natural gas and hydrogen. Both are clean-burning fuels, with little or no output of greenhouse gases. Sustainable and clean energy sources are becoming more important for applications in various environments served by UAV Turbines’ new micro-turbogenerator product line.”

UAV Turbines’ miniaturized microturbine technology creates a vast new universe of opportunities for integration into systems powering hard-to-access remote weather stations, oil fields, telecom towers, construction sites, emergency field teams, stationary first responders and military vehicle communications. A very portable micro-turbogenerator system running on natural gas or diesel fuel will benefit these users by offering them the flexibility of running with various available fuels while allowing the user to select based on cost, availability, or quality.

Kirk Warshaw, CEO of UAV Turbines added, “Most recently, UAV Turbines emerged from a decade of stealth and privately funded research and development to make public demonstrations of its breakthrough propulsion and power generation technology platforms warum schau hier nicht. Since the successful demonstration of the Monarch 5 in Group 3 UAV flight, UAV Turbines has demonstrated its Monarch Hybrid Range Extender (HREX) configuration and prototypes of its turbogenerator system for ground-power applications in the 3-40 kW range.”

 

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3D Droplet Printer Creates Synthetic Tissues

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Using a custom built droplet network printer, researchers at the University of Oxford have developed a 3D printer that can create materials with several of the properties of living tissues.

The new type of material consists of thousands of connected water droplets, encapsulated within lipid films, which can perform some of the functions of the cells inside our bodies.

These printed ‘droplet networks’ could be the building blocks of a new kind of technology for delivering drugs to places where they are needed and potentially one day replacing or interfacing with damaged human tissues. Because droplet networks are entirely synthetic, have no genome and do not replicate, they avoid some of the problems associated with other approaches to creating artificial tissues – such as those that use stem cells.

‘We aren’t trying to make materials that faithfully resemble tissues but rather structures that can carry out the functions of tissues,’ said Professor Hagan Bayley of Oxford University’s Department of Chemistry, who led the research. ‘We’ve shown that it is possible to create networks of tens of thousands connected droplets. The droplets can be printed with protein pores to form pathways through the network that mimic nerves and are able to transmit electrical signals from one side of a network to the other.’

Each droplet is an aqueous compartment about 50 microns in diameter. Although this is around five times larger than living cells the researchers believe there is no reason why they could not be made smaller. The networks remain stable for weeks.

‘Conventional 3D printers aren’t up to the job of creating these droplet networks, so we custom built one in our Oxford lab to do it,’ said Professor Bayley. ‘At the moment we’ve created networks of up to 35,000 droplets but the size of network we can make is really only limited by time and money. For our experiments we used two different types of droplet, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t use 50 or more different kinds.’

The unique 3D printer was built by Gabriel Villar, a DPhil student in Professor Bayley’s group and the lead author of the paper.

The droplet networks can be designed to fold themselves into different shapes after printing – so, for example, a flat shape that resembles the petals of a flower is ‘programmed’ to fold itself into a hollow ball, which cannot be obtained by direct printing. The folding, which resembles muscle movement, is powered by osmolarity differences that generate water transfer between droplets.

Gabriel Villar of Oxford University’s Department of Chemistry said: ‘We have created a scalable way of producing a new type of soft material. The printed structures could in principle employ much of the biological machinery that enables the sophisticated behaviour of living cells and tissues.’

 

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Super Magnets Produced Successfully With Laser-Based 3D Printer

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Research team develop a method for producing specially designed magnets.

Magnetic materials are an important component of mechatronic devices such as wind power stations, electric motors, sensors, and magnetic switch systems. Magnets are usually produced using rare earth elements and conventional manufacturing methods. A team of researchers at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) has worked together with researchers from the Graz University of Technology, the University of Vienna and the research institution Joanneum Research to produce specially designed magnets using a 3D printer. The results were published in the journal Materials.

Permanent magnets are incorporated into a number of mechatronic applications. Traditional manufacturing methods such as sintering or injection molding are not always able to cope with increasing miniaturization and the resulting geometric requirements for magnets, and this is a trend that is set to continue in the future. Additive manufacturing processes offer the necessary freedom of design.

The research team, involving Prof. Dr. Jörg Franke from the Institute for Factory Automation and Production Systems at FAU, has now succeeded in creating super magnets using laser-based 3D printing. Metallic powder of the magnetic material is added layer by layer and the particles are joined by melting.

The process allows magnets to be printed with a relatively high density at the same time as controlling their microstructure. This allows researchers to tailor the magnetic properties to suit the required application exactly.

 

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The Importance of Redefining How Data is Governed, Controlled and Shared in Industrial Revolution

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The first chapter of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has been powered by an explosion of data harnessed by extraordinary advances in technology and the spread of connected devices. As a result, seven technology companies are now among the eight most highly valued companies in the world. The success of the next chapter in the world’s digital transformation depends on governments and companies ensuring data is used in a way that balances benefit across the broader economy and society as a whole.

Pressure is mounting for regulatory and other frameworks that will allow innovation to continue while addressing rising concerns over how data is used. Governments are trying to combat the propagation of fake news and the use of data for illegal purposes such as trafficking and terrorists’ communications and recruitment activities. In a connected world, companies grapple with the balance between data security on the one hand and innovation, personalization and interoperability on the other, while consumers are increasingly worried about their privacy.

But how can data be better governed, controlled and shared?

Following five potential futures have been defined for public and private stakeholders to consider:

Future #1: Giant Platforms Control Data

To a large extent, this is where we are today. Companies now use data to add value to almost every aspect of life, enhancing people’s social lives, lowering business costs and providing services and information that facilitate all manner of daily interactions.

To achieve this, many employ cookies and device-tracking technology to follow online activity and infer information such as preferences. They then use these not only to improve their own services but also to send notifications and targeted advertising.  As platforms, their access to unique aspects of data activities, along with the accumulation of data and analytics, has produced deep network effects. Each platform also has its own approach to how much data is shared and how much control consumers have.

Now questions are being raised over the impact of these techniques as digital technology spreads into other industries. If today’s regulatory status quo continues, big tech firms may become even more influential. They could continue to amass data and talent, investing billions of dollars in research and development and acquiring artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups and companies in traditional businesses such as retail and healthcare.

Future #2: Protections Put Users in Control

As firms amass more data, some governments have introduced digital protections. These rules increase data security requirements and controls on personal information and treat the right to privacy as a priority and a human right. If people feel more secure about going online, they may be further encouraged to take advantage of connected digital services, whether commercial or government.

The most prominent example is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), under which users can demand that a firm erase their data or transfer it to another company. They can also ask why their personal data is collected, how it is used and for how long it will be retained.

As these regulations evolve, questions arise about second and third-order impacts and the resulting trade-offs. For example, increased operational expenses and constraints could raise the cost of doing business and increase barriers to entry, limiting the ability of new competitors to gain footholds. Restrictions on sharing data with third parties could also make it harder for firms to collaborate on data-driven innovation.

Future #3: Utilities Encourage Data Sharing

Data utilities could offer a simpler way for users to manage data without having to manage consent with every firm with which they come into contact. Marketplaces, where firms could trade consumer data, would give individuals centralized control over how information about them is used and shared.

Consumer-centric data utilities may not replace the need for baseline data protections entirely, but they could streamline the complex web of data management responsibilities that consumers now have. Models could also emerge that allow individuals not only data control but also data monetization. Alternatively, data utilities run by coalitions of firms could help businesses exchange aggregate, rather than individual data. Sharing aggregated data could help alleviate privacy concerns associated with sharing individual-level data and facilitate the sharing of “data insights” that help solve broader challenges, for example in public health.

Future #4: Protocols Enable Data Sharing and Exchange

Global standards for data rights and obligations could be embedded in the very fabric of the internet through rules and protocols around data exchange.

The internet could serve as a precedent. In its early days, it was restricted and focused on non-commercial exchange. The question would be whether this approach should (or could feasibly) be adopted for handling people’s data, given the complexity and number of constituents and the impacts that new protocols could have on them. Less was at stake when internet protocols were established.

Future #5: Governments Control Data

Though much data is already crossing borders, governments increasingly consider data and digital infrastructure as critical for national security and economic competitiveness. As a result, just as emerging economies in the past wanted to foster domestic auto production, today many want their own technology industries to thrive.

Some governments have started to write rules on where data infrastructure and technology reside, creating national-level constraints on technology investments by foreign companies or powers, and potentially increasing their means of social control but also their ability to foster local economic development and take advantage of the AI revolution.

Such barriers and constraints may prioritize national goals over global innovation and business effectiveness. Finding the right balance between multiple objectives will be crucial.

The next chapter

The second chapter of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has the potential to bring great benefits to people around the world: healthcare that is individualized for maximum benefit at minimum cost and intervention, e-government that enables efficient access to services and cars that rarely crash.

Delivering the potential of digital technology will require new approaches to data management and, in some cases, new regulations. Governments and businesses will need to find the right balance between safeguarding individuals’ data and ensuring that innovators can keep striding forward.

 

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Smart Farming by UAVs

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With a few taps on a cell phone, a drone in the distance intelligently sows seeds into the field. It only takes 4 minutes to complete the planting of an acre.

Such a scene really happened in Duhu Town, Taishan City, Jiangmen, Guangdong, China. Recently, agricultural science and technology personnel Qin Haigang brought a new type of intelligent spreading drone to the rice fields of various large farmers in Duhu Town to introduce them to the latest direct drone seeding technology.

“This intelligent spreading system drone can load 20 kg of seeds at a time, and the planting area reaches 4 acres.” Qin Haigang opened the operating system, swiped his fingers a few times, and the drone flew to two meters above the paddy field and put Seeds are spread evenly across the field האתר שלי.

Qin Haigang introduced: This drone is very convenient to operate, it can be operated with a mobile phone, and the accuracy is within 10 cm. “It achieves the purpose of seeding by air jet, which can better protect the seeds and the spacing of the seeds is very precise.”

According to on-site statistics, the intelligent planting of 7 acres of experimental fields was completed by drone, and the planting was completed in 30 minutes. The average planting time per acre was only 4 minutes. Li Ziming, the person in charge of Mingyang Agricultural Machinery Professional Cooperative in Duhu Town and other members of the cooperative expressed satisfaction with the test results after the on-site observation.

Large farmer Li Ziming told reporters: Now 120 acres are being cultivated, and drone planting now saves time and effort than I used a rice transplanter. If successful, it will drive surrounding farmers to plant drones together. According to Qin Haigang, UAV intelligent broadcasting technology is a new technology gradually promoted in recent years. Compared with traditional technology, UAV intelligent broadcasting has three major advantages:

The first is to reduce the steps of raising seedlings and transplanting seeds, and to spread the seeds directly on the rice fields.  Second, the cost of sowing is lower.  The third is to save seeds. The traditional transplanting method requires an average of 7-10 kg of seeds per acre, and the drone only needs 4 kg of seeds per acre.

 

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Joining Metals Without Heat (Cold Welding)

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Techniques like Arc Welding, Friction Welding, Ultrasonic Welding, and Laser Welding, all involve heat in some way or another. In fact, heat is considered synonymous with welding and is integral to join two materials.  But this is far from the truth and cold welding is the obvious proof. Cold welding is the process of joining two metals without using heat. It might sound impossible, but it is one of the most popular welding methods out there.

The element of heat in a welding process is used to make the parts plastic enough so that diffusing of the atoms can take place, either between the two work-pieces or with a different medium in the middle.  However, it isn’t mandatory to use heat to join materials. Cold state welding demonstrates that in real-time.

Cold welding uses pressure to join two materials. Scientifically, this process is called solid-state diffusion and it uses pressure to create welds. When two materials are pressed together, they generally do not weld to each other. This is mainly due to the fact that there is an oxide layer or a thin barrier on the surface of the materials. If we take the case of a metal, an oxide layer on the surface is like a barrier that doesn’t allow it to diffuse with another metal.

Cold welding overcomes this issue by preparing the metals before they are welded. The preparation process involves cleaning or brushing the metals to such an extent that the top oxide or barrier layer is removed. This is achieved by de-greasing the metal and then wire brushing it. Once the desirable surface cleanliness is obtained, both materials are pressed together mechanically with the right amount of force. The amount of force depends on the material itself, as some materials may only weld at high pressures.

One of the conditions required for cold welding is that at least one of the materials must be ductile and must not have undergone severe hardening. This obviously narrows down the list of materials that can be the candidate for the cold welding. Soft metals are the best choices for cold welding.

The most common joints possible with cold welding are:

  • Butt joint
  • Lap joint

In Butt joint, removing the barrier layer of the metal is not often required as the plastic deformation that happens during the joining process breaks up the barrier automatically. However, lap joints do require special treatment because otherwise, the material won’t adhere to each other.

The limitations of cold welding 

Perfect cold welding is very hard to achieve. This is due to several reasons like oxide layers that form on top of the metal in atmospheric conditions, surface irregularities, surface contamination, and more.  Optimum cold welds only happen when the two surfaces that are being pressed together are clean and free from any form of contaminants. The more flat and regular the surface is, the easier and uniform the weld is going to be. Also, there are limitations on the types of metals that cold welding can join. Non-ferrous soft metals are the only candidates suitable for cold welding. Copper and Aluminum are the two most commonly cold-welded metals. Metals that contain carbon are not possible to cold weld.

Advantages of using cold welding 

The most noteworthy advantage of cold welding is that the resultant welds have the same bond strength that of the parent material. This feat is very hard to recreate in metalworking. Cold working can also weld Aluminum 2xxx and 7xxx series which is often not possible with other forms of welding.

In industries, cold welding is known for its ability to weld aluminum and copper together which are often hard to weld with other forms of weld techniques. However, the bond created between the two materials by cold welding is very strong. Cold welding provides clean and strong welds without the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds reseña.

Applications of cold welding 

Cold welding is mostly applied in welding wires. Since there is no heat involved and the process can be done quickly, cold welding can ensure perfectly welded wires, mainly with aluminum, copper, 70/30 brass, zinc, silver and silver alloys, nickel, and gold. There are even handheld tools available that you can use to cold weld wires, making it very portable and easy to use. Cold welding is also used in cases where dissimilar metals have to be joined, like the one between the copper and aluminum that we already discussed.

Cold welding provides one of the most solid welds for creating parent metal like bonds. It neither requires heat energy nor special tools. Among the most popular weld techniques, cold weld shows that heat isn’t necessary if you are joining specific types of materials.

 

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