TWI

4th International Symposium, 14-16 May 2003, Session 5A: Aerospace 2, Paper 01

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…

3rd International Symposium, 27-28 Sep 2001, Poster Session, Paper 13

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…

The use of phased array ultrasonics for the detection of small defects in welds is described, and illustrated using a series of examples of friction stir welded aluminium alloy plate. Phased arrays use an array of ultrasonic elements pulsed with dif…

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…

The principles are presented of stationary shoulder friction stir welding (FSW) with examples of the weld microstructures that can be achieved. Trials were conducted on 6.35 mm plate of Ti-6%Al-4%V titanium alloy, with spindle speed of 400 rpm and t…

A friction stir spot welding process was employed to fabricate dissimilar joints between 6016 aluminium alloy (Al, 1-1.5%Si, 0.25-0.6%Mg) and galvanised HSLA 280 phosphorus-hardened cold rolled steel (0.08%C, 1.3%Mn, 0.1%Ti, 0.08%Al, 0.09%P), and th…

A series of friction stir welding (FSW) experiments using threaded tool pins and AA5083 (Al, 4.5%Mg, 0.6%Mn) or A356 (Al, 7%Si, 0.3%Mg) workpiece alloys was undertaken in order to understand material flow mode within thread spaces and its influence …

With regard to the development of friction stir welding (FSW) processes for joining large thin walled 3D structures in aircraft fuselage applications, an investigation is presented into the "LuFo IV" machine concept, incorporating clamping, position…

Friction stir welding trials were undertaken on AA 7075-T7351 aluminium alloy plates (thickness 9.525 mm) to investigate the influence of backing plate characteristics on heat input and cooling rate. Experiments were performed on an MTI RM2 friction…

Two friction stir welding (FSW) procedures, a sacrificial anvil method and a hybrid FSW/arc welding technique, were developed to assure consistent full penetration welds during the construction of offshore and onshore pipelines, respectively. The of…

Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) experiments were undertaken on sheet specimens (thickness 1.3 mm) of AZ31 magnesium alloy (Mg, 3%Al, 1%Zn) and the effects of process conditions and workpiece surface condition on the macrostructure, microtexture an…

An accurate temperature feedback strategy and closed-loop feedback control system for temperature have been developed for friction stir welding. A wireless data acquisition system was constructed to measure temperatures at the tool-workpiece interfa…

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…

A production-capable friction stir welding (FSW) process was developed for butt welds (penetration 25.4 mm) in 6061-T6 aluminium alloys, designed specifically for robotic welding of large box assemblies requiring many multi-dimensional weld paths, a…

Friction stir welding (FSW) of 2219-T6 aluminium alloys (Al, 6.48%Cu) was undertaken with the assistance of micro-plasma arc preheating, and welding efficiency as well as joint microstructure and mechanical properties were investigated. Longitudinal…

A finite element model based on a staggered thermo-fluid solution scheme was employed to investigate flow around friction stir welding (FSW) tools, "MORFEO" code simulations were undertaken to predict flow patterns and temperature distribution in th…

Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) experiments were conducted between AA 5052 aluminium alloy and an SP-270C low carbon steel under various process conditions (tool rotation speed 1000-5000 rpm, plunge depth 0.1-0.7 mm), and the microstructure and me…