Light metals such as aluminium play an important role in reducing the weight of a car body. However, joining them to steel is a challenge due to the very different melting points and coefficients of thermal expansion of the two materials. The SWOPtec process offers a flexible solution and ARNOLD UMFORMTECHNIK is looking to develop the process further.
SWOPtec (Steel Welded Opposed Plug) is a joining process for joining aluminium with steel materials, with its core competencies lying in the production of the joining element.
The focus for SWOPtec applications is on the automotive industry, both OEMs and their suppliers. The process, which was originally developed and patented by Benteler Automobiltechnik GmbH, can be used for a wide range of applications and is suitable for all component joints where aluminium is to be joined to steel.
Dr.Ing Vitalij Janzen has been working at ARNOLD UMFORMTECHNIK GmbH & Co Kg in the field of research and development for five years and is now responsible for developing SWOPtec further. He explains: “The initial impetus came from Benteler Automobiltechnik, with the company approaching ARNOLD in 2018. A process solution was developed and presented in mid 2019. However, the original SWOPtec fastener was not able to meet all of ARNOLD’s customers’ requirements. Further developments and areas of application followed, with the first series application in several model series launched at the Hyundai Motor Company in Korea.”
In principle, the SWOPtec process is used to join aluminium components – cast aluminium, extruded aluminium or sheet aluminium components – to steel components using spot welding technology. SWOPtec is a two stage process. In the first stage, the connecting element is punched in and then the component assembled with fasteners is fed to the core line and welded in the second stage.
With SWOPtec, the customer can act very flexibly. Both steel-steel connections and steel-aluminium components can be manufactured on one production line, meaning a large number of model variants can be produced with the same welding systems. ARNOLD UMFORMTECHNIK is constantly developing the process with various feeding concepts being worked on, as well as the geometry of the swop elements continuously being adapted.
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