TWI Digital Library

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 …

With regard to the development of dissimilar aluminium-steel joint fabrication for automotive applications such as body-in-white, an investigation incorporating experiment and numerical simulation was undertaken to examine the dissimilar friction st…

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were undertaken on sheet specimens (thickness 5 mm) of 5454-H111 aluminium alloys and the relationships between process forces, spindle power and tool geometry were investigated. Twelve FSW tools with specifie…

A friction stir welding (FSW) methodology incorporating laser tracking and constant force control technologies was developed in order to fabricate large, thin-walled aircraft floor structures. The material chosen for study comprised sheet specimens …

An experimental and numerical analysis of the wear of a polycrystalline boron nitride (PCBN) friction stir welding (FSW) tool is overviewed as presentation slides. Topics highlighted include: FSW plunge trials of EH46 shipbuilding steel at a plunge …

The integration of friction stir welding (FSW) into the manufacturing sequence of spinformed domes of aluminium alloys is presented in terms of its optimisation and the specific iterations required with the prior and follow-up procedures of the manu…

An investigation is presented into the use of a friction stir welding/forging process to fabricate tee and I-beam shapes with integral radial shaped fillets, the optimisation of process parameters for different alloys and shapes, and the results of …

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were undertaken to investigate the feasibility of joining a metal matrix composite (MMC), comprising an AA 2124 matrix and 25 vol.% SiC particles, to itself and to a monolithic alloy (AA 2024-T3), and the micr…

The friction stir spot welding of automotive aluminium alloy and Zn-coated steel was investigated. Welds were made in 6000 series AlMgSi alloys (1.2 mm thickness) and galvanised steel (1.1 mm thickness) using a multi-step friction stir spot process.…

Friction stir welding (FSW) tools, equipment and auxiliary devices were developed for application to heavy section aluminium alloy plate (thickness 40-70 mm), and the microstructure and mechanical properties of welded joints fabricated by the proced…

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 …

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…

In relation to the challenges involved in temperature data acquisition and transmission associated with rotation of the friction stir welding (FSW) tool, an investigation is presented into a wireless temperature monitoring system based on thermocoup…

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…

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…

Periodic material phenomena around a threaded pin in friction stir welding (FSW) were investigated with a fully transient thermomechanically coupled numerical simulation, in which the transient motion of the threaded pin was included in the computat…

Friction stir welding (FSW) studies were undertaken to join sheet and plate specimens of aluminium alloys in a butt joint configuration, and design of experiments methods were employed to optimise process parameters with respect to weldment quality …

The microstructure and age hardening of friction stir welds in aluminium alloy plate 2014A-T651 (Al, 4.42%Cu, 0.79%Si, 0.62%Mg) and 7075-T651 (Al, 5.99%Zn, 2.72%Mg, 1.46%Cu) were investigated. Single sided butt welds were produced, temperatures bein…

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…