TWI Digital Library

An investigation was undertaken to examine the use of an industrial serial robot incorporating dual loop force/position control to reduce the investment cost and increase process flexibility in friction stir welding (FSW) by compensating the lateral…

A pinless tool with involute grooves on its shoulder surface was designed to facilitate friction stir spot welding (FSSW) of 2024-T3 aluminium alloy (Al, 3.8-4.9%Cu, 1.2-1.8%Mg, 0.3-0.9%Mn) sheets (thickness 1.5 mm) and the influence of process para…

The tool workpiece thermocouple (TWT) temperature measurement method was applied for optimisation of the initial welding phases (plunge and dwell) in conventional FSW (friction stir welding) and FSSW (friction stir spot welding), and an analysis of …

In relation to the development of a friction stir welding (FSW) process to seal copper canisters for nuclear fuel waste, an investigation was undertaken into material and heat flow in FSW copper plates (thickness 50 mm) by inserting brass rods into …

Friction stir processing (FSP) was employed to stir electroless copper coated SiC particles with a core shell structure to produce SiC/Cu particle reinforced aluminium matrix composites in the stir zone of AA 6061-T651 aluminium alloy plates with th…

Friction stir spot welding (FSSW) experiments were undertaken on sheet specimens of similar and dissimilar combinations of AA 2024-T3 (thickness 1.27 mm), AA 2024-O (2.2 mm) and AA 7075-T6 (1.27 mm) aluminium alloys under various process conditions,…

With regard to the use of friction pull plug welding to close out the termination hole associated with pin tool retraction during friction stir welding of circumferential welds in pressurised cryogenic propellant tanks, an investigation is presented…

A hybrid friction stir welding (FSW) technique, comprising FSW and a YAG laser (power 2 kW) for preheating ahead of the tool, was developed to decrease tool load and defects. An SS 400 ferrite-pearlite carbon steel (0.16%C, 0.01%Si, 0.49%Mn) was wel…

Butt joints were fabricated by friction stir welding (FSW) in 4340 steel (0.43%C, 0.69%Mn, 0.76%Cr, 1.76%Ni, 0.24%Mo, 0.43%V, 0.16%Cu) and between 4340 steel and Inconel 718 (Ni, 17-21%Cr, 4.7-5.5%Nb, 2.8-3.3%Mo) and their microstructure and mechani…

A combination of laser surfacing and friction stir processing (FSP) was employed to modify a cold-worked AISI D2 tool steel (1.5%C, 11%Cr, 0.83%Mo, 0.36%V) with the aim of clarifying the FSP conditions required to obtain a microstructure with unifor…

A man-machine interface for friction stir welding (FSW) was proposed that allows a human operator to augment a traditional control system by monitoring and continuously adjusting the parameters of an established welding programme, and hardware and s…

A review is presented of the development programme to achieve a production-ready procedure to manufacture copper canisters for Swedish radioactive waste storage using friction stir welding (FSW) for encapsulation, incorporating adaptive thermal mana…

A geometric feature, termed the "Wiper", was developed to improve the weld track surface finish produced by friction stir welding (FSW) and processing tools with scrolled shoulders, and experiments were undertaken to investigate the influence of "Wi…

A study was conducted into a proof of principle for the effectiveness of a neural network in identifying the presence of metallurgical defects and for evaluating tensile strength from the feedback provided during the friction stir welding (FSW) proc…

An experimental investigation was made into the friction stir weldability of MRI 320D magnesium alloy and of hybrid joints between AZ91D and rolled aluminium alloy AA5454. Welding was optimised to perform FSW joints of light metal alloys with a thic…

Experiments were undertaken to investigate the evolution of welding forces and torque generated during robotic friction stir welding of circular and semicircular butt welds in 6082-T651 aluminium alloy plates (thickness 6 mm). Welding was performed …

With regard to the application of AA 2219 aluminium alloys to space launch vehicle propellant storage tanks, an investigation is presented into the influence of process parameters (tool rotational speed, shoulder downward force and weld transverse s…

Friction stir welding (FSW) experiments were conducted on Ti-6%Al-4%V (Ti, 6.32%Al, 4.08%V) and SP-700 (Ti, 4.37%Al, 2.93%V, 1.91%Fe, 1.9%Mo) alloy sheets (thickness 2 mm) in order to investigate the effect of process conditions on joint microstruct…

An experimental investigation was undertaken to study the effects of different pin profiles (threaded conical, square, pentagon and hexagon) and the same process parameters on temperature distribution around the tool and resulting microstructure dur…

A feasibility study was undertaken to investigate the use of friction stir welding to join B4C particle reinforced Al metal matrix composite plates (thickness 8 mm) that form the neutron absorber tubes of the basket of a spent nuclear fuel cask. Wel…