ETA Technology – Hitched to Friction Welding

Mr. P.S. Nair, MD, ETA Technology Pvt. Ltd

Mr. P.S. Nair is a visionary and a technocrat who was instrumental in building ETA Technology known for innovative design in Machine Manufacturing. He is the Managing Director of the company since its inception. He is well known in the industry and have received numerous awards for innovative design. Mr.Nair has over 40 years of solid experiences in the field of machine building and related fields.

Mr. Nair started his career in 1970 as a trainee engineer in an engine valve manufacturing company in Pune. Mr. Nair has also worked at Kar Mobiles Ltd and Thoshiba Anand batteries, prior to starting ETA Technology Pvt. Ltd. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from REC Calicut in the year 1970

Friction welding is a solid phase welding process used for joining similar or dissimilar metals to yield a strong metallic bond. It has a cycle time of a few seconds only and hence is ideal for mass production. It saves materials if bi-metallic components are used. It saves on energy. Very low heat affected zone(HAZ) and hence semi-finished components can also be welded. No edge preparation required. No filler material, shielding gas, spattering, fumes or radiation…!

The brain behind ETA
One technocrat who realized the advantage of this clean production process early and determined to make the most of it is Mr. P.S. Nair who founded the Bangalore based ETA Technology Private Ltd. way back in 1991.

Mr. Nair is an Electrical Engineer. from REC, Calicut. His passion for friction welding helped him build a company that builds friction welding & allied production equipment to serve the industry within and beyond our shores. He always believes in treading a path that others have not taken. So much so that he doesn’t find delight in making the same machine again!

Driven by constant innovation ETA today makes the widest range of machines for friction welding for a plethora of applications. It’s not only the pioneer in making high tech friction welding machines and the undisputed leader in India, but also a world leader in this specialized field, catering to the varied and exacting needs of prestigious clients from across the globe.

ETA’s 100T Machine for Welding Truck Axles

Equipment & SPMs
ETA makes friction welding machines of varied capacities and features (20T-200T) for different applications. For instance its 30KN Machine comes with built-in shear for weld flash removal. The same model has a version incorporating auto-load/auto-transfer to detect/deflash/unload with a total cycle time of 9 seconds! 60KN vertical friction welding machine is designed for welding IC engine valves.

Electrical Upsetting Machine is yet another engineering marvel. This is used for manufacturing flanged components from bar stock. Here the bar is held near one end between two Cu jaws with the end firmly butting against an anvil. The secondary of a resistance welding transformer is connected to the avil and jaws. Since the portion of the bar between the Cu jaws and anvil short circuits the transformer, a heavy short circuit current passes through this section and consequently heats up this section.

Simultaneously an upsetting force is applied axially on the job from the other end and the plastic material in the heated section deforms into a bulb shape. When the required volume of material is thus gathered in the bulb the operation is stopped, the job is transferred to a forging press and the bulb is forged to the desired shape. ETA’s servo controlled Drive Screw Press needs special mention. In conventional friction screw press energy is transmitted from the transmission wheels to the flywheel by friction though a leather band. On return stroke, energy stored in the moving parts is dissipated as heat by applying brake. In an innovation by ETA, the two transmission wheels are dispensed with. The fly wheel is driven by an AC servo/spindle motor through a timer pulley/belt. The motor can be made to run the flywheel at a present speed very precisely till the dies come very close. The motor is now disabled and the entire energy in the moving masses gets transferred to the job. When the moving die comes to rest, the motor is reserved and the ram returns to its home position very precisely.

Since there is no mechanical braking, no energy is wasted. The motor brakes online – regeneration principle where the kinetic energy in the moving mass is converted to electrical energy and sent back to the mains. Since the drive motor does not run when the ram is stationary, no energy is consumed during idling of press. ETA has developed machines for tapped end grinding, valves straightening, grooving, for turning head dia, face and radius and etching. It has a whole lot of SPM’s for Ball turning and burnishing, commutator slotting, Steel gear assembly, Forward carrier assembly, etc. It also makes test rigs for testing fatigue, steering columns, rack push-pull, endurance axial elasticity, impulse test (for hydraulic hoses), and shock absorber, just to name a few. ETA also refurbishes and rejuvenates old machines giving a new lease of excellent service life.

ETA’s High Speed Production Cell for IC Engine Valve Forging

State-of-the-art plant
ETA has a sprawling manufacturing plant at Peenya Industrial Area, Bangalore equipped with the best of the production equipment and a dedicated workforce of 70 plus. The plant is fully geared to conceptualize, design, develop and manufacture customized machines for friction welding, linear friction or friction stir welding or special purpose machines for IC engine valve industry.

Clients galore
ETA’s vast knowledge, and technology base and engineering acumen, backed by its accomplishments and reputation spanning over two decades, has won for it customers from across the globe. Today 70% of its total production is exported the countries being Turkey, Jordan, China, UK, Spain, Italy, US, Brazil, Thailand, Germany and Japan. ETA has recently bagged an EEPC Award for its Outstanding Export Performance.

At home its ever-expanding customer base includes :
IITs, Rane Engine Valves, Varroc Engineering, Rane TRW Steering, ANG Auto, CRI Pumps, Toyota Kirloskar, Wipro, Tata Motors, Axle India, Duro Valves, Sundaram Hydraulics, Automotive Axles, ISMT, BEL, etc. A dedicated design team, a resourceful vendor base, a home grown quality culture and a high standard of manufacturing practices are some of the attributes of the success of our organization”, says Mr. Santhosh Kumar, Director-Technical. “Quality is instilled in the entire process of our manufacture, right from design, production, assembly and to final testing. We have excellent relations with our hand-picked vendors who always live up to our expectations”.

“Today is the age of automation and productivity. So our endeavor is to come out with such machines which will obviate the need for skilled labour. Our upsetting machine has been developed keeping this needs in view. It can be operated by any unskilled operator”. Barring a couple of channel partners, ETA doesn’t have any organized marketing network. All the orders it has received are through word of mouth and satisfied customer telling a prospective user. But the company has plans to develop a strong marketing network to take its current turnover of Rs.50 crores to Rs.100 crores by the time it celebrates its Silver Jubliee! –

P.K. Balasubramanian
E-mail: editor@divyamediaonline.com