TWI

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 …

The bobbin tool or self-reacting tool variant of the friction stir welding process was investigated on butt joints of various 2000 series aluminium alloys for aircraft fuselage applications; welding feasibility tests were conducted in pin length con…

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…

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…

In relation to the requirement for automatic inspection of weld quality during the friction stir welding (FSW) process, the "MonStir" process monitoring system was developed to analyse measured process forces and their frequency spectra, and an inve…

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…

Electron backscattering diffraction (EBSD) was employed to examine the grain refinement during rapid cooling friction stir welding of commercially pure copper sheets (thickness 2 mm) and the application of a liquid CO2 cooling technique to reduce th…

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were undertaken on AA 6061-T6 aluminium alloys to investigate the effects of liquid cooling of tooling on spindle speed, spindle torque, spindle power, forge force, and the amount of material plastically defor…

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) 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 effect of welding conditions (tool rotational speed and tool holding time) on static strength was studied for dissimilar friction stir spot welds between 2017-T6 (Al, 3.5-4.5%Cu, 0.8-1.5%Mg) and 5052 (Al, 2.2-2.8%Mg) aluminium alloy sheets (thic…

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 …

Following an overview of initial work on friction stir welding (FSW) of titanium alloys, developments in the stationary shoulder FSW (SSFSW) technique are described, highlighting the potential of the SSFSW approach to increase welding speed (up to 2…

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were performed on Al-based alloys prepared by direct-chill casting and continuous casting, and the influence of intermetallic particles and process parameters on onion ring zone morphology and microstructure w…

A method was developed to integrate basic force control functionalities into a CNC milling machine for friction stir welding (FSW) by using a standard CNC controller, optimum control parameters for various FSW conditions were identified and the forc…

The CFD (computational fluid dynamics) technique was employed to develop a numerical model of friction stir welding (FSW) of DH36 steel (0.16%C, 1.2%Mn, 0.02%Cr, 0.02%Nb, 0.04%Al, 0.03%Cu) plate (thickness 6 mm) under low and high welding speed cond…

Al, 50%Si alloys were joined by friction stir welding (FSW) on spray deposited sheets (thickness 1.5 mm) for butt welding and powder metallurgy plates (thickness 10 mm) for surface welding and the welded joint surface quality and microstructure were…

The influence of joining parameters on the microstructure, intermetallics, hardness, shear properties and tensile strength of dissimilar friction stir welds between AA1050 aluminium alloy and hot-stamped boron steels was investigated. Overlap welds …

An investigation is presented into the influence of friction stir welding (FSW) process parameters (tool rotation speed and feed rate) on the mechanical properties and microstructure of welded joints of AA2095 (Al, 4.6%Cu, 1.14%Li) in as-welded and …