TWI

In relation to the development of corrosion barrier capsules for spent nuclear fuel disposal, friction stir welding experiments were conducted on oxygen-free copper plate specimens (thickness 20 mm) using different joint preparation, shielding gas a…

A friction stir processing (FSP) technique was employed to fabricate D2 steel hunting knife blades with long-life cutting edge retention, and blade integrity tests were undertaken. The FSP tool design was a convex scroll shoulder step spiral and the…

Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a relatively new technique which utilizes frictional heating combined with a forging pressure to produce virtually defect-free high strength bonds. Although considerable experimental work has been reported in the liter…

Friction stir lap diffusion welding was employed to fabricate dissimilar AA 6060 aluminium alloy/mild steel joints and mechanical testing and metallurgical examination of the weldments were undertaken to investigate the effect of microstructure form…

Similar overlap and dissimilar butt joints were fabricated by friction stir spot joining of AA 6061-T6 (Al, 1-1.1%Mg, 0.66-0.67%Si) and AA 5052-H34 (Al, 2.58%Mg) sheets of thickness 1 and 2 mm, respectively, and microstructural analysis was used to …

An finite element method (FEM) model, considering variables such as tensioning level, heat input and sheet geometry but ignoring mechanical tool effects, was developed to investigate the efficacy of the mechanical tensioning technique for controllin…

A 3D computational fluid dynamics model was developed to conduct numerical simulations of heat generation, material flow and temperature profiles during reverse dual-rotation friction stir welding, a process variant in which the tool pin and the ass…

SiC particle reinforced 2124Al metal matrix composite (MMC) plates (thickness 8 mm) were joined by friction stir welding (FSW) and the relationship between process parameters, weld defect formation and joint mechanical properties was investigated. T…

The microstructures and strengthening mechanisms during friction stir processing (FSP) of AZ91 (Mg, 9%Al, 1%Zn) die-cast and Mg-Y-Zn (Mg, 5.9%Y, 2.6%Zn and Mg, 5.5%Y, 4.3%Zn) cast alloys were investigated and the effect of second phase particle disp…

Numerical simulation of the friction stir welding (FSW) process was undertaken by means of an arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation and a fully coupled thermomechanical analysis was performed to account for the heat flux generated by plast…

The effects of friction stir welding (FSW) tool geometry on material flow during the welding of 4 mm aluminium alloys 2024-T51 and 6056-T4 were investigated. Welds were made using three different welding tool pins (conical non-threaded profile, coni…

The relationship between microstructure and properties in friction stir welding was studied. The effects of grain size, particle size and distribution, and dislocation density on weld strength in friction stir welds in work-hardenable Al alloy AA 52…

The mechanical properties and microstructures of friction stir butt welds in 6.4 mm and 12.7 mm thickness quenched and tempered martensitic steel plate were compared with those of GMA butt welds in the same parent metal. The friction stir welds in t…

A description is presented of the self reacting friction stir welding (SR-FSW) process and the specially designed welding head; results are reported from tests determining the mechanical properties of SR-FSW welds in AA-2219 and AA-2195 aluminium al…

The use of friction stir welding, as an alternative to bolted or riveted joints, for the assembly of Airbus wings is discussed. Issues considered include: cost reduction, weight reduction, joint quality, and enhanced in-service performance. Potentia…

A method investigated by Sweden for storage of nuclear waste in copper canisters sealed using friction stir welding (where EB welding has been used before) is described. Topics include: Nimonic 105 and Densimet sintered tungsten alloy tool; welding …

The numerical simulation of the friction stir welding process using two different commercial finite element codes is described. FORGE3, which uses an updated Lagrangian approach, was used to simulate the plunge of the pin and the THERCAST package, w…

Evaluation of phased array ultrasonic inspection for the detection of typical friction stir weld defects is reported. Characteristics of friction stir welds with respect to inspectability are described. Phased array operation is outlined. A variety …

Friction stir welded joints in aluminium alloy 6061-T6 sheet were produced using a robot arm, to assess the ability of the arm to withstand the mechanical stresses associated with friction stir welding. The arm was fitted with an electrically powere…

A friction stir welding tool with a variable length probe (suitable for variable thickness joints, repairs and circumferential welding) was developed and evaluated for the welding of aluminium alloy 2195. Tapered sheet, of both increasing and decrea…