SOME REMARKS ABOUT TRENDS IN WELDING AND JOINING* D. von Hofe, K. Middeldorf 1. <...> Introduction: Development of joining technology as a production process. <...> Just think of the insertion of a handle into a stone with holes in order to manufacture the first hammer, the tying of a stone tip to a wooden shaft in order to increase the effect of an arrow, the weaving and sewing of fabrics and the joining of stones or pieces of wood in order to create whole building structures. <...> One particular type of joining relates to the so-called material-locking joining of components (as opposed to so-called positive-locking joining) in which the components are joined with each other in such a way that they can no longer be easily separated from each other once again, e.g. by means of adhesive bonding, brazing or, as always, welding. <...> Today, the industrial production of technical goods, particularly of investment goods, is hardly conceivable without joining technology. <...> Welding, brazing and adhesive bonding are used for the manufacture of household appliances, vehicles of all kinds and electrical and electronic devices as well as for building structures in the private and industrial sectors. <...> Today joining technology accounts for a substantial proportion of the entire manufacturing process of investment goods. <...> Proportion of the value added by welding in some sectors as examples Sector Сonstruction of metal and plastic pipelines Metal construction Vehicle construction (motor and rail vehicles) Shipbuilding Aerospace construction: (including allied joining technologies) Value added by welding approx. 3 % approx. 5 % approx. 7 % approx. 8 % approx. 8 % (according to internal calculations by DVS / GSI in 2012) * The research is done within the frame of the independent R&D. 21 T e c h n i c a l s c i e n c e s 2. <...> Significance of welding and joining technology today 2.1 Welding as a joining process — Diversity of processes. <...> Similar welding is a peculiarity amongst the joining processes because, in the case of this process, the parts are joined with each other in such a way that continuity is created between the materials to be joined. <...> However, dissimilar welded joints are also possible in order to join different materials or using dissimilar filler materials if the utilised materials are capable <...>