MTI partners with LIFT to deliver largest linear friction welding machine to Detroit

Manufacturing Technology Inc. (MTI), South Bend, Ind., has announced it will develop North America’s largest linear friction welding machine (in terms of force capacity and tooling envelope) for LIFT—Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow—for use in lightweight metals R&D projects, based in Detroit.

The LF35-75 welding machine, currently under development and set for completion in spring 2018, will be housed in LIFT’s Corktown manufacturing center. The machine will bring the same linear friction welding technology used in aerospace to achieve lightweighting in blisks and integrally bladed rotors (IBR) in aircraft engines to the automotive industry.

LIFT, one of the founding members of Manufacturing USA, part of the federal government’s National Network for Manufacturing Innovation program, is a public-private partnership designed to help develop and deploy advanced lightweight metal manufacturing technologies and implement education and training programs.