TWI Digital Library

Fatigue crack growth in friction stir welded (FSW) aluminium alloys 2024-T3 and 6013-T6 were predicted using two commercial software programs, ESACRACK and AFGROW in order to facilitate lifetime predictions of FSW aircraft structures. The following …

The feasibility of using friction stir welding (FSW) in the construction of an aircraft central wing box from butt-welded extrusions was evaluated. An FSW procedure for welding 7055 T77511 and 7349 T6511 10 mm thickness extrusions was developed by T…

The application of friction stir welding (FSW) to the fabrication of copper backing plates of thickness 6 mm was investigated. The welding conditions, FSW machine development, and mechanical and metallurgical properties of friction stir welded joint…

The design, construction and use of a purpose-built friction stir welding machine for the welding of 15.9 mm (0.625 in) thickness, 1.88 m (74 in) long aluminium alloy 6061-T6 plate and extruded sections to form the side panels of a laser system is d…

The repair of friction stir weld defects in aluminium alloy 6061-T6 3 mm thickness sheet (Al, 0.683%Mg, 0.564%Si) by friction stir welding was investigated using artificial defects. The defects were created using an unsuitable pin profile, whilst re…

A softening model was constructed for friction stir welding (FSW) of 2xxx series aluminium alloys and was combined with previously derived thermal cycle modelling work. A thermal model of energy input and heat conduction was used to calculate therma…

Control equipment for the friction stir welding process was developed and evaluated for the production of a 8.4 m (27.5 ft) diameter, 0.32 in (8.13 mm) wall thickness 2195-T8 aluminium alloy space vehicle external fuel tank. The use of a computer-ba…

Finite element analysis was used to model the friction stir welding process in 6061-T6 aluminium alloy plate, to predict temperature, residual stress and distortion. Temperature distributions in the workpiece were determined as a function of time, c…

Dissimilar lap joints between AA 6061-T6 (Al, 1.01%Mg, 0.59%Si) and A356 (Al, 7.02%Si) aluminium alloys were fabricated by friction stir welding (FSW) and the influence of process conditions on joint microstructure evolution and mechanical propertie…

An investigation was undertaken to examine the interactions, required process adjustments and resultant joint properties associated with conventional and robotic stationary shoulder friction stir welding (SSFSW) for scaled tool geometries. In order …

A rotating data logger system was developed to investigate the influence of process parameters on tool tip temperature during friction stir spot welding (FSSW) of AA 6061-T6 and 5083-O aluminium alloy lap joints. The data logger was designed to rota…

AA 6063-T5 aluminium alloy L-shape stringers (thickness 2 mm) were friction stir welded in an overlap configuration positioned over AA 2024-T3 sheets (thickness 3 mm) using various process conditions and three different tool designs with respect to …

Dissimilar joints between AA 6063 aluminium alloy and S45C steel were fabricated by friction stir welding and the growth behaviour of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) at the weld interface during PWHT was investigated. Welding was performed at a rotat…

Physical simulations were undertaken on cylindrical specimens of 304L stainless steel using a "Gleeble 1500" thermomechanical simulator in the form of hot axial compression tests so that the material underwent similar heating and cooling profiles to…

Friction stir welding experiments were undertaken on Al-Li alloys for application to C919 passenger aircraft fuselage panels, and the microstructure and mechanical properties of the welded lap joints were investigated. The materials comprised 2060-T…

The microstructure, hardness, tensile strength and fracture toughness of friction stir welds in cryogenic tanks made from standard AA2219 AlCu alloy and advanced AA2195 AlCuLi alloy (5 mm thickness) were investigated. AA2195 has relatively low densi…

An investigation is presented into the effects of process parameters on weld quality and defect generation (hooking defects, kissing bonds and top plate thinning) in 7075-T6 aircraft stringers (thickness 1.5 mm) lap-joined on 2024-T3 skins (thicknes…

Friction stir lap welding of aluminium alloy to magnesium alloy was investigated, emphasising the tensile strength, fracture location in the joint and microstructure evolution in the weld under different welding heat inputs. Dissimilar joints betwee…

Thick sheets (thickness 5.4 mm) of a ferritic stainless steel (18.33%Cr, 1.81%Mo, 0.2%Nb) were joined by friction stir welding with optimised process parameters (rotational speed 200 rpm, welding speed 100-160 mm/min) and the microstructure and mech…

An empirical process model to estimate tool shoulder temperature for different materials and friction stir welding (FSW) conditions is described that incorporates a design of experiments method and linear regression analysis (MATLAB software) with c…