10 Interesting Facts About Metal Fabrication You Might Not Know

Metal fabrication is used in all aspects of our lives from the buildings we live and work in to the everyday objects we use, but let’s be honest, most of us don’t even give it a second thought.

 

For this reason we thought we’d pay homage to the fabrication industry and give you 10 interesting facts about metal fabrication that you might not know.

 

 

• In Nascar long before the vehicle hits the road over 950 hours of fabrication and welding are spent getting the car up to scratch. This includes roll cages, plus work on the suspension and chassis.

 

• The first industrial robot in history was installed at a plant by General Motors back In 1961. The Unimate came in at over two tonnes in weight and featured a motorised arm that was used to spot weld. It followed step-by-step commands that were stored on a magnetic drum.

 

• During the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (1924-1932) over 4000 riggers, painters, labourers and blacksmiths were employed but no welders – why? Because industrial welding on this scale was still in it’s infancy and therefore no welding was carried out. Instead the bridge is held together by 6 million steel rivets.

 

• The earliest forms of metal fabrication is thought to stem from around 4000 BC when the ancient Egyptians learned how to bend and shape gold to fashion into jewellery.

 

• Over 50% of all products that we have around us require either some form of fabrication or some form of welding. This includes the laptop that I’m furiously typing away on and the chair that I’m sitting on, but also boats, bridges, aircraft, property, cell phones, cutlery, mobile phones…and the list goes on.

 

• The first attempt at welding in space occurred back in 1969 by Russian Cosmonauts. These early experiments made it essential to the advancements in technology that are now used to construct the space station.

 

• In contrast one of the deepest ever welds was carried out during the laying of a long distance pipeline stretching from Oman to India, where an underwater weld was carried out at a depth of 3500 metres (11.500ft).

 

• When two pieces of metal touch together in space they automatically become fused together. Obviously this doesn’t happen here on terra firma simply because our atmosphere creates a layer of oxidised material between the two surfaces.

 

• The Eiffel Tower built in 1889 contains 18,038 large pieces of wrought iron all of which had to be fabricated and held in place with over 2 million rivets

 

• The Burj Khalifa (the worlds tallest building) uses just over half the amount of steel that is contained within the Empire state building, yet at 828 metres it’s 385 metres taller.