TWI Digital Library

An algorithm and procedure for controlling process zone temperature during friction stir processing are presented. The approach is based on the correlation between weld zone temperature with spindle power. A simplified thermal balance model of the w…

A description is presented of the development of an aircraft adapter pallet system for the rapid deployment of supplies and equipment for use by the US Army. The pallets consisted of seven lightweight AA-6005A aluminium alloy (Al, 0.4-0.7%Mg, 0.5-0.…

Aluminium alloy A6N01-T5 (Al, 0.63%Mg, 0.53%Si) hollow extrusions suitable for joining by friction stir welding, to be used in the generation of Japanese railway rolling stock, were designed, and the static and fatigue tensile strength of joints wer…

Friction stir welding was used to produce a space shuttle external barrel section of 2195-T8 Al-Cu-Li alloy. Seven panels (joint thickness of 8.1 mm (0.32 in)) were joined to form a barrel 8.4 m (27.5 ft) in diameter and 4.6 m (15 ft) long. A comput…

Details are reported of application of friction stir welding (FSW) to manufacture of double skin bodies of railway carriages for commuter lines in Japan. A "defect free" FSW process is used to weld double skin panels of length 25 m using hollow extr…

Development work by TWI on behalf of the Swedish Nuclear Fuel & Waste Management Co. for the EB and friction stir welding of lids onto Cu radioactive waste disposal canisters (1050 mm diameter, 50 mm wall thickness) is reviewed. In 1986, when th…

Friction stir welding was evaluated as a cheaper alternative to the use of fasteners for the joining of lap joints of the aluminium alloy 7075-T351 motor thrust frame of the Ariane 5 rocket. In initial trials to optimise the tool design for lap join…

With regard to the need for in-process subsurface defect monitoring during friction stir welding (FSW) of aluminium alloys, an investigation is presented into a real-time force measurement system of process output to sense defect formation. Issues d…

An experimental investigation was made on the effect of processing variables and tool material on the microstructure of friction stir welded (FSW) 6 mm thick HSLA-65 steel plate, with the aim of optimising the process variables for enhanced mechanic…

Thermodynamic modelling and experimental measurements were employed to investigate the influence of intermetallic compound formation on the shear strength of dissimilar joints between an aluminium alloy and ultra-high strength steel fabricated by fr…

The effects of friction stir welding (FSW) on the microstructure, hardness, residual stress state and grain distribution of 2124 Al-SiC composite alloy were investigated. The composite was of AMC225xe aerospace AW2124 alloy reinforced with 25% SiC p…

Ni3Al/Ni3V dual two-phase intermetallic alloys, incorporating Ta and Re additions, with enhanced high-temperature strength and hardness, were developed for friction stir welding tool applications and applied to fabricate butt welds in SUS 430 steel …

A high force, multi-axis friction stir welding (FSW) machine was employed to perform one-run welding experiments on thick plates (thickness 75 mm) of AA 6082-T6 alloys, and the hardness, microstructure and crystallographic texture of the joints were…

An experimental study was carried out to evaluate the acoustic emission (AE) method as a means of monitoring the welding state and identifying weld defects during the friction stir welding (FSW) process. FSW was carried out on 6061 aluminium alloy p…

3D fully-coupled thermomechanical models implemented in the ABAQUS finite element code were developed to investigate residual stresses and distortion in friction stir welding (FSW) and three case studies were examined. The temperature field obtained…

A methodology is presented to define conical tool geometry and process parameters for friction stir welding (FSW) of thin plates. A calculation algorithm integrating a basic thermal model, tool geometry and process kinematics is proposed, the proces…

The development of friction stir welding (FSW) technology for the Ariane 5 ME heavy launch vehicle project is illustrated with respect to the superior material properties of FSW within the parameter development and the manufacturing of circumferenti…

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were conducted on X52 and X60 pipeline steel specimens (outer diameter 324 mm, wall thickness 6.35 mm) and weldment integrity was evaluated by metallography, NDE and mechanical properties characterisation. Wel…

Two common approaches to describe kinematics in simulations of the friction stir welding (FSW) process, the Lagrangian representation and the Eulerian representation, were compared using "ABAQUS/Explicit" and "FLUENT" software programs, and the infl…

The details and methodology of an automatic path planning system for friction stir processing (FSP) of castings are presented, incorporating the means by which operator input is minimised, the limitations and challenges of the automatic programming …