Resistance Welded Honeycomb - Astech Engineered Products Inc., Santa Ana, CA

STRESSKINâ and
SOUNDWICHâ Panel Machine.

ASTECH is the world’s largest producer of resistance welded honeycomb sandwich structures. The honeycomb consists of flanged ribbons that are resistance spot-welded to face sheets, creating a unique, high-strength panel material with superior performance characteristics.

STRESSKINâ and SOUNDWICHâ honeycomb panels from ASTECH can be manufactured from any resistance-weldable material, including stainless steel, nickel based and titanium based alloys, and can be produced in any reasonable length. The all-welded or diffusion-bonded construction eliminates foreign bonding agents, thereby reducing weight, and eliminating the potential for galvanic corrosion. STRESSKINâ and SOUNDWICHâ structures have exhibited more damage tolerance than
Stretchwrap Forming Machine
NAVTRUSSâ Panel Machine.
competitive panels and may be repaired in the field using standard sheet metal techniques. These panels are also extremely resistant to sonic fatigue and thermal shock. In one jet engine nozzle application, this allows a temperature differential of over 400° Fahrenheit between inner skin and outer skin – a feat too challenging for most other types of honeycomb panels.

Diffusion-bonded titanium panels joined the ASTECH family as a result of the company’s design efforts for the U.S. supersonic transport program. The diffusion-bonding process produces titanium alloy panels that share the superior performance characteristics of resistance-welded panel.

250 ton Stretchwrap forming machine, built by ASTECH.

STRESSKINâ and SOUNDWICHâ honeycomb panels can have a superior strength-to-weight ratio advantage over other honeycomb materials. These extremely heat-resistant panels effectively maintain the properties of the parent material at maximum operating temperature, and are not restricted by a strength-limiting joining material.

Lightweight structures are configured from the honeycomb panels using conventional shop practices such as cutting, sawing, stretch-wrap forming, crush forming, creep forming, fusion welding, resistance welding, and riveting.

A variant on the honeycomb panel was developed for structures requiring thicker face sheets and greater core depths. Using the same resistance welding skills developed for honeycomb construction, ASTECH NAVTRUSSâ panels use corrugated core construction instead of cell construction. NAVTRUSSâ panels can be used for shipboard equipment enclosures and structures, in power plant scrubber systems, in military vehicles, and in a variety of other high-temperature, dynamic or static stress applications where smooth exteriors offer a benefit.