Steel is routinely welded robotically. There are a very large number of applications where this advance in materials science will make a very large difference, keep in mind that:
- ceramics are thermally quite stable (with respect to expansion/contraction)
- ceramics do not conduct electricity
- ceramics do not melt easily
- ceramics are hard; leading to excellent longevity
I agree with you that it's a big deal to be able to do it, but I am pretty sure it'll stay specialty and extremely expensive for a long time. Brazing is good enough for a lot of things after all, just not so much against corrosion or super high temperatures.
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This seem to need very high precision and until you can hand weld it, it will have limited applications comparing to Steel
Steel is routinely welded robotically. There are a very large number of applications where this advance in materials science will make a very large difference, keep in mind that:
- ceramics are thermally quite stable (with respect to expansion/contraction)
- ceramics do not conduct electricity
- ceramics do not melt easily
- ceramics are hard; leading to excellent longevity
- ceramics are chemically very stable
This is a pretty major thing.
I agree with you that it's a big deal to be able to do it, but I am pretty sure it'll stay specialty and extremely expensive for a long time. Brazing is good enough for a lot of things after all, just not so much against corrosion or super high temperatures.
I wonder if this might be a possible step on the way to the "magic plumbing" that molten-salt thorium reactors apparently need?