TWI Digital Library

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were undertaken on commercially pure Ti and Ti-6%Al-4%V plates (thickness 6 mm) by incorporating nickel foil markers of varying thicknesses to reduce forging load, enhance surface finish, eliminate void format…

Friction stir butt welds of Al alloy (2024, 6013 and 6056) sheets (4 mm thickness) were examined by conventional ultrasonic inspection with a single focused transducer (25 MHz frequency), facilitating the detection of void-like flaws as well as the …

A description is presented of the friction stir welding (FSW) machine developed for fabrication of the external fuel tanks for the Space Shuttle. The cylindrical part of the tanks was composed of curved panels welded into barrels with welds of const…

The relationship between microstructure and corrosion of friction stir welded joints in aluminium alloys 2024-T351 (Al, 4.43%Cu, 1.42%Mg, 0.61%Mn) and 7010-T7651 (Al, 5.92%Zn, 2.11%Mg, 1.68%Cu) was investigated. Plate of 6.35 mm (0.25 in) thickness …

Friction stir welded and TIG welded butt joints in aluminium alloy 6061 matrix B4C-reinforced (15-30% B4C) composites were compared. TIG welds were produced using a combination of aluminium alloys 4043 and 4047 as filler metal with pure Ar or a mixe…

A non weldable to weldable (N2W) methodology is presented in which friction stir welding (FSW) is used to join a non weldable (but highly wear resistant) material to a weldable material (e.g. a steel insert positioned within the wear resistant mater…

Friction stir welding (FSW) has been used to weld aluminum alloys such as 7075 to 7075, which is considered not weldable by most other methods. In this application FSW was used to join two dissimilar aluminum alloys 7075 and 6N pure copper in a lap …

A real-time wireless temperature measurement system was developed to facilitate improved temperature measurement at the tool-workpiece interface and a closed-loop control system for friction stir welding (FSW) that maintains weld quality under vario…

An extensive study of friction stir welding (FSW) of HSLA-65 steel plate (thickness 6 mm) was undertaken, incorporating defect-free friction stir butt welding at a travel speed of 3.4 mm/s, the achievement of low/no distortion FSW by employing appro…

Following an overview of friction stir spot welding (FSSW) for potential automotive applications (including robotic FSSW in poke welding and C-frame configurations, and pedestal FSSW machines for manual, automatic or robotic use), a FSSW process dev…

Variations in microstructure in friction stir welds in AA 7449 (Al, 2.2%Mg, 8.2%Zn, 1.7%Cu, 0.12%Si, 0.15%Fe, 0.2%Mn, 0.05%Cr, 0.25 T plus Zr) in the initially overaged (T7) condition were studied. Isothermal heat treatments were conducted at 350 an…

Experimental measurements and thermal modelling were used to determine the transient heat loss into friction stir welding tools and so calculate the welding efficiency. Energy inputs were determined from force and torque measurements made whilst per…

Experimental methods were developed to track material flow and mixing during the friction stir welding (FSW) process. Experiments were conducted with butt joints of 6.35 mm (0.25 in) thickness 7050-T7451 aluminium alloy plates. The FSW tool was H13 …

Alternative friction stir welding tool shoulder materials to improve welding speed and quality were evaluated. The materials, which were compared with tool steel using a tool designed for exchangeable shoulder inserts, were: nitrided tool steel, Inc…

Two techniques developed on TWI's "RoboStir" system, robotic floating-bobbin friction stir welding (RFBFSW) and robotic stationary shoulder friction stir welding (RSSFSW), are described and some results from welding trials are presented. The RFBFSW …

A friction melt bonding process was employed to fabricate dissimilar lap joints between ultralow carbon (0.01%C, 0.14%Mn) or dual-phase DP600 (0.08%C, 1.51%Mn, 0.35%Cr, 0.06%Mo) steel grades and 1050, 2024 or 6061 aluminium alloys and the microstruc…

Controlled force monitored plug-in tests were undertaken to investigate the influence of rotational speed and to analyse flow regimes during friction stir welding (FSW) of different aluminium alloys. Experimental specimens comprised sheets (thicknes…

A thermal model with a thermo pseudo mechanical (TPM) heat source was employed to investigate the influence of process parameters (rotational speed, feed rate and tool geometry) on the temperature profile at the interface of dissimilar metal lap joi…

A kinematic approach is presented for modelling the friction stir welding process and the relationship between tool geometry and process parameters. The model was used to describe the correlation between features of the weld nugget, process paramete…

Vertical and angular truss extrusions made from 6082-T6 aluminium alloy (Al, 0.7-0.74%Mg, 1.04-1.14%Si, 0.53-0.54%Mn) were friction stir welded in a half-overlap configuration to fabricate panels for marine applications and their fatigue performance…