TWI

An investigation is presented into the influence of friction stir welding (FSW) process parameters (tool rotation speed and feed rate) on the mechanical properties and microstructure of welded joints of AA2095 (Al, 4.6%Cu, 1.14%Li) in as-welded and …

A description is presented of the process flow of a production job based on friction stir welding (FSW) for the serial production of aluminium drying trays for the food industry. FSW joint quality issues (joint impermeability, weld surface quality a…

Technology improvements and process innovations in respect of friction stir welding (FSW) of high temperature materials are reviewed, welding process conditions and mechanical properties of completed welds for various alloys using polycrystalline cu…

An experimental study was carried out to investigate friction stir welded lap joints in AA-6082 aluminium alloy sheets in order to determine methods to improve weld quality; the experiments were performed using two different types of probe, the MX-T…

The use of friction stir processing (FSP), a process derived from friction stir welding, to tailor a material's microstructure locally to achieve maximum performance was investigated. Superplastic behaviour was examined in friction stir processed 5 …

The mechanical properties and microstructures of dissimilar butt welds made between aluminium die casting alloy ADC1 (Al, 11.9%Si, 0.37%Fe, 0.44%Mg) and the extruded alloy A-6061-T6 (Al, 0.84%Mg, 0.67%Si) were studied. The materials were 4 mm thick …

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the effect of welding conditions on weld macrostructure and the microstructure and mechanical properties of the nugget zone in welds in AA-7010 aluminium alloy made by friction stir welding (FSW).…

The surface and near-surface residual stress distributions of friction stir welds in three different aluminium alloys were measured using an x-ray diffraction technique. Welds in very low alkali and hydrogen content Al-Li alloy C458 (Al, 1.73%Li, 2.…

A fully coupled thermomechanical three dimensional finite element (FE) model was developed to analyse the thermomechanical conditions, including material flow and heat generation, at the tool/matrix interface in friction stir welding. The model was …

The relationship between the friction stir weld (FSW) microstructure and local corrosion susceptibility of three aluminium alloy (2024-T351, 7010-T7651 and 5456-H116) plates (4.5-12.7 mm thickness) as well as a dissimilar 2024/7010 weld was investig…

Friction stir welding of DH-36 mild steel sheet was evaluated for shipbuilding applications. Butt welds were prepared in sheet of 4.6 mm (0.18 in) thickness using an unthreaded tool (W, 25%Re) rotating at 400 or 500 rpm and travelling at 203 mm/min …

As part of a study investigating FSW as a method for joining the lids on copper canisters for the long term storage of nuclear waste, the development of microstructure and heat flow during the FSW process was experimentally investigated. The microst…

The weldability of 2 mm thickness thixomoulded sheets of AZ91D magnesium alloy by friction stir welding (FSW) was studied as a function of tool rotation speed (880-1750 rpm) and specimen travel speed (50-500 mm/min). The composition of the sheet was…

An instrumented constrained Charpy test was used to measure the fracture toughness of friction stir welded joints produced using several designs of welding tool in sheet aluminium alloys 6082 (4.7 mm) and 7108 (3.2, 5.0 mm). This test constrained pl…

A series of models was used to study weld formation in 6000-series aluminium alloy in the friction stir welding process. Weld formation was considered as three separate thermomechanical processes: coupled friction heat generation; plastic flow slip …

Full field displacement measurement with digital image correlation was used to study the mechanical properties of friction stir welded joints in aluminium alloy plates. Welds were made in 5454-O and 5454-H sheet of 3.9 mm thickness, and 2195-T8 plat…

An experimental investigation was undertaken into the preparation and mechanical properties of two candidate substitutes to MP 159 Ni-Co alloy as tool materials for friction stir welding of high strength aluminium alloys. The alloys studied were "Ae…

Butt joints were fabricated in AA 6061-T6 (Al, 0.8%Mg, 0.6%Si) and AA 6082-T6 (Al, 0.62%Mg, 0.99%Si, 0.49%Mn) plates (thickness 6 mm) by friction stir welding, and the tensile and fatigue properties of the weldments were investigated. The microstruc…

Dissimilar butt and lap joints between AA 5083-H111 or AA 6082-T6 aluminium alloys and copper were fabricated by friction stir welding and morphological, metallographic and structural analyses were undertaken on weldments made under a range of proce…

Optical microscopy, SEM and electron backscattering diffraction techniques were employed to investigate the microstructural evolution and solid-state phase transformations during friction stir spot welding (FSSW: also known as friction spot joining)…