Steels remain central to structural manufacturing, but joint integrity increasingly governs performance and reliability. This symposium covers welding‑centric and complementary joining of structural steels, emphasizing arc welding, high‑energy fusion, and brazing‑based metallurgical bonding, including laser and laser–arc hybrid processes where applied to steels. Focus areas include thermal cycles, phase transformations, weld/HAZ metallurgy, residual stress, distortion, and defect formation, linked to fatigue, cracking, leak integrity, and durability. Multi‑pass welding, interpass evolution, and PWHT in production and repair are highlighted, along with resistance/solid‑state joining and enabling characterization, modeling/ICME, and data‑driven process control for robust qualification
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
· High‑energy fusion joining, including waveform‑controlled GMAW/GTAW/SAW, laser and laser–arc hybrid welding, and electron beam welding, with emphasis on weld/HAZ metallurgy.
· Multi‑pass pulsed GMAW and related arc welding, including thermal‑cycle control, interpass microstructure evolution, and weld/HAZ optimization.
· Post‑weld heat treatment (PWHT), including weld/HAZ evolution, residual‑stress relief, repair scenarios, and code‑mandated requirements.
· Dissimilar‑metal welding and brazing, including graded interlayers and elevated‑temperature performance.
· Resistance welding (spot, projection, seam, mash‑seam), emphasizing process control and defect mitigation.
· Solid‑state joining, including friction‑based methods and ultrasonic metal welding, focusing on interfacial mechanisms and joint integrity.
· Brazing and metallurgical bonding, including induction, vacuum, controlled‑atmosphere, laser brazing, diffusion bonding, and TLP bonding.
· Advanced characterization of welds and HAZs, including EBSD, APT, residual‑stress measurement, and in‑situ synchrotron and neutron methods.
· Modeling, ICME, and digital enablement, including prediction of phase transformations, HAZ evolution, and residual stress/distortion.
· In‑process sensing, inspection, and AI‑driven methods for real‑time quality prediction, process control, and accelerated qualification.