2008 Volume 57 Issue 11 Pages 461-465
The emphasis of this paper is placed on welding fabrication of marine and space structures. My professional work has been performed at Transportation Technical Research Institute in Japan (from 1948−58, and 1962−63), Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio in the United States of America (1958−62, and 1963−68), and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1968−present). Although welding is extremely useful in fabricating various structures, it often causes various problems including residual stresses and distortion caused by heating resulting premature failures. Although most of my work has been related to fundamental research performed in research institutions, I have also been involved in consulting work. Some of my consulting works involved various problems facing Japanese companies fabricating various structures exported to foreign companies. Since many welded structures have been exported from Japan to various countries, I believe that an increasing number of these structures will experience various problems. In my opinion, however, there are only a small number of Japanese technical experts who can handle these problems occurring outside Japan.
