WELD OF THE WEEK: Magnetically Impelled Arc Butt Welding (MIAB)
MIAB is an extremely fast way to butt weld small pipe and tube. The process was developed at the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute in Kiev, Ukraine. MIAB has some unique advantages for high production joining. The process is not as widely known or utilized in the United States as it should be.
I had the honor of visiting the Paton Institute with Petro (Peter) Kuznetsov. Dr. Kuznetsov earned his doctorate refining MIAB at the institute.
MIAB is a variation on the flash butt welding process. What makes it different are the permanent magnets built into the pipe jaws which cause the arc to rotate and melt the entire end of the pipe ensuring complete fusion.
See our video below for a demonstration of the process. We are welding 1″ tubing in less than 3 seconds. We photographed the process with a high-speed camera to show the details of how magnetically impelled arc butt welding is done.
MIAB has limitations on wall thickness, diameter, and part shape but if you have a product that could be welded with MIAB it is hard to beat the speed and quality of the process. We have a system in our lab dedicated to testing your parts.
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