TWI

A friction stir welding (FSW) procedure using a W-Re alloy tool, magnetic welding fixture and a high-speed steel backing bar was developed for application to precipitation-hardened martensitic stainless steel (13.7%Cr, 7.1%Ni) thin sheet (thickness …

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were undertaken on type 304 austenitic stainless steel (18-20%Cr, 8-10.5%Ni) under various process conditions by changing the heat input, and the microstructure and mechanical properties of joints obtained at …

A methodology incorporating friction stir processing (for plasticising) and friction stir welding (for joining components) was developed to fabricate T-shaped copper conductor rails. Experiments were undertaken on copper plate specimens (thickness 8…

A refill friction stir spot welding technique was employed to fabricate joints in AA 2014 aluminium alloy (Al, 3.51%Cu, 0.7%Mn) sheets (thickness 2 mm) and the effect of tool rotational speed on microstructure and mechanical properties was investiga…

AZ31 magnesium alloy sheets (thickness 3 mm) were joined by TIG welding and the effect of two run rapid cooling friction stir processing (RC-FSP) on welded joint microstructure and mechanical properties was investigated. TIG welding was undertaken a…

The effect of process parameters during the plunge stage of friction stir welding were examined as part of the development of industrialised friction stir welding equipment. The effects of the tool plunging speed and the rotational speed on the maxi…

An abrasion circle friction stir spot welding (ABC-FSSW) technique was employed to fabricate dissimilar metal joints between aluminium and steel automotive sheets, and the microstructure, mechanical properties and weld formation mechanisms of the jo…

With regard to inconsistencies in the literature concerning the correlation between friction stir welding (FSW) process inputs and post weld process or material response, an investigation is presented into the primary variables (temperature, cooling…

A friction stir processing (FSP) technique was employed to fabricate D2 steel hunting knife blades with long-life cutting edge retention, and blade integrity tests were undertaken. The FSP tool design was a convex scroll shoulder step spiral and the…

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a relatively new technique which utilizes frictional heating combined with a forging pressure to produce virtually defect-free high strength bonds. Although considerable experimental work has been reported in the liter…

Friction stir lap diffusion welding was employed to fabricate dissimilar AA 6060 aluminium alloy/mild steel joints and mechanical testing and metallurgical examination of the weldments were undertaken to investigate the effect of microstructure form…

Similar overlap and dissimilar butt joints were fabricated by friction stir spot joining of AA 6061-T6 (Al, 1-1.1%Mg, 0.66-0.67%Si) and AA 5052-H34 (Al, 2.58%Mg) sheets of thickness 1 and 2 mm, respectively, and microstructural analysis was used to …

An finite element method (FEM) model, considering variables such as tensioning level, heat input and sheet geometry but ignoring mechanical tool effects, was developed to investigate the efficacy of the mechanical tensioning technique for controllin…

A 3D computational fluid dynamics model was developed to conduct numerical simulations of heat generation, material flow and temperature profiles during reverse dual-rotation friction stir welding, a process variant in which the tool pin and the ass…

SiC particle reinforced 2124Al metal matrix composite (MMC) plates (thickness 8 mm) were joined by friction stir welding (FSW) and the relationship between process parameters, weld defect formation and joint mechanical properties was investigated. T…

The microstructures and strengthening mechanisms during friction stir processing (FSP) of AZ91 (Mg, 9%Al, 1%Zn) die-cast and Mg-Y-Zn (Mg, 5.9%Y, 2.6%Zn and Mg, 5.5%Y, 4.3%Zn) cast alloys were investigated and the effect of second phase particle disp…

Numerical simulation of the friction stir welding (FSW) process was undertaken by means of an arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation and a fully coupled thermomechanical analysis was performed to account for the heat flux generated by plast…

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…

Friction stir welds were made in the austenitic stainless steels 304L (thickness 6.4 mm (0.25 in) and 3.2 mm (0.125 in)) and the superaustenitic stainless steel AL 6XN. Welds in the 3.2 mm sheet were made in a single pass. The 6.4 mm plates were wel…