TWI Digital Library

With regard to the application of friction stir welding (FSW) to the production of launcher tanks holding cryogenic liquids, an investigation was undertaken to establish a robust and industrialised FSW process for AA 2219 alloys in T87 and T851 cond…

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…

Two techniques developed on TWI's "RoboStir" system, robotic floating-bobbin friction stir welding (RFBFSW) and robotic stationary shoulder friction stir welding (RSSFSW), are described and some results from welding trials are presented. The RFBFSW …

A friction melt bonding process was employed to fabricate dissimilar lap joints between ultralow carbon (0.01%C, 0.14%Mn) or dual-phase DP600 (0.08%C, 1.51%Mn, 0.35%Cr, 0.06%Mo) steel grades and 1050, 2024 or 6061 aluminium alloys and the microstruc…

The stationary shoulder technique was applied to the self reacting pin tool (SRPT) for friction stir welding (FSW) of high quality aluminium alloy railway car body structures in order to enhance the appearance of no coating side structures construct…

Controlled force monitored plug-in tests were undertaken to investigate the influence of rotational speed and to analyse flow regimes during friction stir welding (FSW) of different aluminium alloys. Experimental specimens comprised sheets (thicknes…

A thermal model with a thermo pseudo mechanical (TPM) heat source was employed to investigate the influence of process parameters (rotational speed, feed rate and tool geometry) on the temperature profile at the interface of dissimilar metal lap joi…

AA 2219 aluminium alloy sheets (thickness 2.5 mm) were joined by friction stir welding (FSW) and an investigation was undertaken into the relationship between joint mechanical properties, the torque generated by the spindle motor and process variabl…

A kinematic approach is presented for modelling the friction stir welding process and the relationship between tool geometry and process parameters. The model was used to describe the correlation between features of the weld nugget, process paramete…

Vertical and angular truss extrusions made from 6082-T6 aluminium alloy (Al, 0.7-0.74%Mg, 1.04-1.14%Si, 0.53-0.54%Mn) were friction stir welded in a half-overlap configuration to fabricate panels for marine applications and their fatigue performance…