Development of small sized friction stir welding equipment for hand operated welding

Abstract

Friction stir welding (FSW) is widely used in various industrial fields. However, high stiffness is required for FSW equipment which has to withstand high applied load and tool torque and therefore, the equipment becomes large sized. It is difficult to employ FSW for site welding such as repair welding and/or manual welding. The authors made a prototype of FSW apparatus equipped with a counterbalanced tool and a local heating device. The relationship between the applied load and welding parameters was investigated and it was found that the force in the welding direction, Fx is reduced to 70 N or less and that in the transverse direction Fy is to 50 N or less. The combined use of the prototype equipment with a counterbalanced tool and the local heating is very effective to downsize FSW equipment.

Development of friction stir welding method using a tilted spherical tool

“…13,14 The main factor causing tool durability problems in FSW of high-strength materials is the stress concentration on the tool, especially on the probe, due to the load applied to the tool during FSW. 15,16 To reduce the load on the tool, several FSW methods have been proposed such as preheating the welded material by laser, [17][18][19] induction heating, 20,21 or plasma. 22 Another effective way to solve the tool durability problem is to use a simple tool shape that reduces stress concentration, such as a probeless tool 23 or a shoulderless tool.…”

Influence of Welding Parameters of Resistance Spot Welding on Joining Aluminum with Copper

“…Dimensions of a part are restrained by the USW process due to the excessive welding energy which is spent on a large workpiece. In several solid-state joining methods, like cold pressure welding and magnetic plus welding, shape is monotonous; consequently, it is essential to improve an efficient Cu/Al joints that give high robustness and flexibility [19,20].…”