TWI Digital Library

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…

Artificial intelligence (Al) and machine learning (ML) are major drivers for improving quality of manufacturing process including Friction Stir welding. The specific parameter that has 100% effect on the quality of FSW has not yet been identified, h…

Based on the detailed analysis of the microstructure on top surface of friction stir welded (FSW) joint of 2024 aluminum alloy by optical microscope, XRD and transmission electron microscope. SEM was employed to obtain the in-situ corrosion developm…

An investigation was undertaken to evaluate the separation forces exerted by the tool on the fixture compared to the weld process loads generated during butt welding of self reacting bobbin friction stir welds. Two tempers of an aluminium alloy were…

Aluminium alloy 7050-T751 was friction stir welded using a range of process parameters, and finite element analysis was used to calculate the time-temperature distributions so that the resultant weld properties could be related to the welding parame…

The use of friction stir welding for the repair of cracks in aluminium alloy 2024 aircraft wing skin structures, and the repair fatigue life were investigated. An artificial crack, 42 mm in length, in a flat section 2024-T351 alloy of 3.2 mm thickne…

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…

Advances in low cost, rapidly re-configurable fixturing and support tooling for the production of complex curvature parts by friction stir welding are described. An Intelligent Friction Stir Welding (IFSW) path planning algorithm developed by the So…

A modified friction stir lap welding process was developed to encase uranium alloy foil in an aluminium jacket and results were compared with two other bonding methods for fabricating monolithic fuel plates, namely hot isostatic pressing and transie…

A spot FSW robot system was developed and used to weld lap joints in aluminium alloys (used mainly in car body assembly) and the static strength of the welded joints was compared with resistance spot welded joints. A prototype spot FSW gun was combi…

The development of a friction stir welding tool for thermoplastics, and specifically for ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene terpolymer), is described. To eliminate the voids and poor mixing which resulted when sheet ABS was welded using a tool des…

The plastic flow and microstructure of friction stir welded butt joints in aluminium alloy 7050-T7451 (Al, 6.2%Zn, 2.2%Mg, 2.3%Cu, 0.01%Zr) of thickness 7 mm were investigated. Cylindrical compression test samples (5.1 mm diameter and height) machin…

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…

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…

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…

The material flow of aluminium alloy and steel during dissimilar friction stir spot welding was visualised using zinc tracers and the surface temperature of the flat-tipped tool during stirring was measured by telemetry. Welds were produced in AA505…

The swept frequency friction stir spot welding technique was employed to fabricate lap joints in 6061 aluminium alloy workpieces and the influence of process parameters on mechanical properties was investigated. Welding experiments were conducted us…

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 …

With regard to the development of additive friction stir deposition (or MELD) as an additive manufacturing process, a mesh-free coupled thermomechanical approach was employed to model MELD by invoking smoothed particle hydrodynamics to discretise th…

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were undertaken on Invar 36 alloy (Fe,36%Ni) sheet specimens (thickness 3 mm) and the microstructure evolution and recrystallisation mechanism were investigated. Bead-on-plate FSW was performed using a polycry…