In the natural resources and shipbuilding industries, high-quality welding, bolting, and clamping is critical. Hilti North America recognized this as an opportunity for disruption—and developed the FX 3-A Cordless stud fusion system to help revolutionize fastening on steel.
The new FX 3-A Cordless stud fusion system cuts welding time significantly. Covering higher loads and thinner base materials than previous Hilti products, cordless stud fusion is up to 75% faster than traditional welding methods and is a fully mobile and autonomous system with no power cables needed.
This fastening method is also safer than traditional welding methods as it helps shield users from heat and gas. With virtually no sparks, splatters fumes and no angle grinder needed for the surface preparation, it offers more significant advantages from a health and safety perspective.
End-user Benefits
Compared to welding and other methods like bolting and clamping, cordless stud fusion allows more speed and flexibility in engineering, procurement, and construction.
Engineers know they will get more reliable loads–through repeatable and consistent fastenings–as well as more flexibility for design changes. When combined with modular systems like Hilti’s MT or Oglaend portfolios, this new fastening method enables greater use of supports. This is a result of the stronger connection to steel, which is often the weak point of supports with other methods like clamping.
Procurement can choose from a wide portfolio of studs with international approvals and corrosion resistance (up to C5 in highly corrosive environments). As a result, construction becomes not only faster than traditional methods, but it can also be done by almost anyone—with minimal training—helping to reduce the risk of installation error.
Collectively, the benefit of this system gives customers more flexibility and more capacity to finish the work earlier. It’s also a cleaner system with no welding slag, burn marks or ceramic ring waste. When using an optional sealing washer with S-BT-MR SN threaded stud, post-painting is not required. With the easier-to-follow H-code setting customers can expect higher-quality and more consistency, with repeatable fastenings. Additionally, the Active Fusion Indicator (AFI) gives the installer systematic real-time feedback to help improve the quality of fastening.
