Helium welding gas (Helium welding gas) is at the center of the aerospace industry. While Boeing produces the titanium fuselage of 787 airplanes, helium gas mixture (He-75% + Ar-25%) is employed and welding penetration depth is as high as 8.2 mm (40% more than that with pure argon), porosity is reduced to 0.05%, 150 kg of structural weight of a single plane is conserved, and fuel efficiency increases by 2%. In welding NASAs SLS rocket fuel storage tank, the weld strength of aluminum alloy has already been 450MPa (320MPa for argon solution), and certified according to ASME BPVC standard, while the defect rate decreased from 1.2% to 0.3%.
The high purity of welding gas helium is relied on by nuclear equipment industry,. French AREVA group (AREVA) in EPR reactor pressure vessel welding, helium pure protection, impurity of weld concentration controlled at less than 10ppm, equipment lifespan up to 60 years (argon solution up to 45 years), cost of maintenance reduced by 18% annually. China General Nuclear Power Group uses helium-argon gas mixture (He-50%) to shorten the welding cycle of nuclear grade stainless steel pipes from 14 days to 9 days, and increase the pass rate to 99.7%, meeting IAEA safety requirements.
The automotive industry makes the best use of helium in welding light materials. The stainless steel exoskeleton of Tesla Cybertruck utilizes helium welding gas in laser-arc composite welding at a rate of 1.8 m/min (the standard process is 1.2 m/min), reducing thermal deformation by 70% and decreasing the cost of manufacturing the bike by $1,200. In welding of Toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicle’s titanium alloy hydrogen storage tank, helium protection reduces the weld seam’s hydrogen embrittleness by 90%, the burst pressure is increased to 120MPa (industry standard is 70MPa), and the driving range is increased by 15%.
Electronic and medical precision welding is a high-end application scenario. Apple component maker Foxconn in stainless steel middle frame welding of iPhone, the use of helium shielded high-frequency pulse TIG process, solder joint diameter precision at 0.02 mm (arghon solution at 0.1 mm), the yield was improved from 92% to 99.8%. In Medtronic’s titanium pacemaker enclosure welding, helium welding gas regulates the width of the heat-affected zone to 0.05 mm (0.2 mm for argon), increasing product lifespan from 8 to 12 years and market share by 23%.
The energy and resources sector is countering helium shortage with technological advancement. A closed-loop recovery system developed by Qatar Gas can recover 99.99% pure helium from LNG production waste gas, with the saving of 55% welding gas costs. The low-temperature adsorption technology developed by the European Union’s “HELIUM4.0” project has increased the rate of helium recovery from 75% to 98%, and the return on investment time for equipment has decreased from 4 years to 2.1 years. By 2023, the global helium welding gas market will be $1.4 billion with semiconductor equipment welding applications’ share increasing to 28% and driving 12-inch wafer production to increase by 17%.