IIW History 1990-2015

Aviation and airport facilities also occupy a significant role in globalisation overall and play a key part of a nation’s economic activities through encouraging international business, commerce and tourism. The vital measurement of the economic benefits from air travel is that aviation transports close to two billion passengers annually and 40% of interregional exports of goods (by value), generating 29 million jobs worldwide. 20 With respect to airport construction, it was estimated that over USD 385 billion of projects were under construction in 2013/14 with China leading the way with 59 regional airports to be completed by 2015. 21 Nevertheless, it is important to reiterate that welding was of fundamental importance in the construction of modern airport infrastructure and in the modes of transport used by these facilities. The Airbus A380, first introduced into service in October 2007, is typical of the newgeneration of wide-bodied commercial aircraft that has used the latest materials and joining technologies in their construction, including composite materials that comprised 20% of the airframe, and carbon-fibre and glass-fibre reinforced plastics, which have been used extensively in the wings and fuselage. 22 In achieving the technical and commercial success of an aircraft such as this, advanced materials and welding techniques such as laser beam welding, friction stir welding and adhesive bonding were to play a critical role in reducing the Airbus A380s structural weight by as much as 25%, producing an aircraft that unquestionably was much more efficient all around. 23 The Boeing Dreamliner 787, smaller in size than the A380, was the first commercial aircraft to have a composite fuselage, wings and other structural components of the aircraft thereby achieving considerable savings in the structural weight as a result of the latest advanced joining techniques for these materials. China has also contributed significantly to advances in the

MEETING CHALLENGE – THE WAY AHEAD in aerospace applications. IIW, in many ways, was to contribute to the work undertaken by Qiao and his colleagues through the collegial relationship with many experts within IIW’s Commissions, including Mr Ernest Levert (USA) who assisted and provided expert opinion on the latest developments in weldingand joiningof aerospacematerials through the facilities of the Beijing Aeronautical Manufacturing Technology Research Institute (BAMTRI) and its Deputy Director of Science and Technology, Prof. Dr Guan Qiao. Qiao was responsible for the development and success of many innovations in joining materials including low stress, non- distortion TIG welding of thin walled structural elements used

Guan Qiao