The MIAB Welding of Tubular Sections for Mass Production Industries

The magnetically impelled arc butt (MIAB) welding process is becoming established in Europe as a rapid, clean and reliable forge butt welding technique for a variety of tubular automotive components. Principal advantages are realised on thin wall tube joints and production applications are in the range 0.7 to 5mm wall thickness. The ability to join non-circular components has been exploited and tube to plate or tube to tube T joints can also be made. With increasing production experience and general weldability data available, MIAB welding provides a viable alternative to flash and friction welding and in some cases can allow greater flexibility in component design.