For many decades, welding was considered the only way to ensure joint integrity in demanding load-bearing or high-vibration structures. So, companies manufacturing heavy-duty equipment or fabricating large, metal structures only welded joints.
Today, there is a fastener alternative to welding: direct-tension, swaged lockbolts. These two-piece fasteners are part bolt and part blind rivet. They consist of a short, non-threaded cylindrical collar and a long, headed pin that has both nonhelical threads and a pintail that breaks off during installation.