Friction Stir Welding and Related Technologies

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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: friction stir welding; modelling; aluminum; mechanical characterization; digital image correlation; plasticity and microstructural characterization
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E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: mechanical and microstructural characterization of metallic materials; modelling; numerical simulation; plasticity and welding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Friction stir welding (FSW) is known as one of the most promising joining technologies with lower ecological and environmental influence. Compared to the fusion conventional welding techniques, FSW is gaining competitiveness in industries such as the automotive and aerospace, mainly, due to the joint configuration versatility and the capability of welding a wide range of base materials in similar and dissimilar configurations.

Over the years, FSW has begun to show even more versatility, relevant to other parallel manufacturing technologies. In fact, its full suitability for automation leads to the use of the fundamentals of FSW to be applied to technologies such as surfacing, forming, composite fabrication, additive manufacturing, and hybrid manufacturing technologies. The interest of the scientific community is still constantly increasing, independent of any particular research field.

Current research findings in the FSW field will be reported in this Special Issue of JMMP, where the main focus is providing a deeper understanding of the process, from the most fundamental weld formation mechanisms to the large-scale process control and application. Papers showing high-end knowledge about this technology and its variants will be considered in order to translate the valuable developments being performed by the scientific community on this research field.

We are interested in contributions in the following areas:

  • Friction stir welding
  • Friction stir processing
  • Friction based additive manufacturing
  • Robotics in FSW
  • Numerical modelling of the FSW process
  • Optimization of FSW parameters
  • Mechanical and metallurgical characterization of FSW welds
  • Techniques for mechanical and metallurgical characterization of FSW welds
  • Internet of things (IoT) for FSW
  • Applications of FSW
  • Case studies of FSW in the industrial environment

Dr. Carlos Leitao
Prof. Dr. Dulce Maria Rodrigues
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 9922 KiB  
Article
Manufacturing Concept and Prototype for Train Component Using the FSW Process
by Elizabeth Hoyos, Santiago Escobar, Jeroen De Backer, Jonathan Martin and Mauricio Palacio
J. Manuf. Mater. Process. 2021, 5(1), 19; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp5010019 - 13 Feb 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2848
Abstract
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a process originally developed for joining light materials, such as aluminum and magnesium, as an answer to their poor weldability by conventional fusion processes. In Colombia, the technique has been studied but its industrial implementation is uncommon, due [...] Read more.
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a process originally developed for joining light materials, such as aluminum and magnesium, as an answer to their poor weldability by conventional fusion processes. In Colombia, the technique has been studied but its industrial implementation is uncommon, due to the high cost of specialized machinery and the unfamiliarity with the technique of local industries. This article presents an implementation case study of FSW on a 6082-aluminum alloy train component from Metro de Medellín (MdM), aiming to establish the component design changes required to accommodate the FSW process, and conventional machines available in the local area which may be available for welding. Additionally, a simple comparison was made between the cost of this approach versus the manufacturing strategy currently used for the selected component. Initially, welding forces were measured when performing the seam on the selected component using an FSW machine. This data was then used to downselect the local milling machines with these capabilities. A simple but specific tool was designed for the geometry of one of the component features. Finally, a prototype was fabricated, and weld samples were obtained, polished, etched, and examined using a microhardness machine and an optical microscope. Results show a good opportunity for the execution of simple components with uniform geometries, which can be carried out using locally available machinery because they do not surpass their maximum loading capacity, the welds do not present visible discontinuities, and an average hardness of 69.5 HV and mechanical efficiency of 95% can be achieved. Additionally, the manufacturing process is around 30% cheaper compared to traditional methods, making the application viable, economically speaking. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Friction Stir Welding and Related Technologies)
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13 pages, 3543 KiB  
Article
Influence of Softening Mechanisms on Base Materials Plastic Behaviour and Defects Formation in Friction Stir Lap Welding
by Sree Sabari, Ivan Galvão, Carlos Leitão and Dulce Maria Rodrigues
J. Manuf. Mater. Process. 2020, 4(4), 120; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp4040120 - 13 Dec 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2492
Abstract
The AA6082-T6 and AA5754-H22 aluminium alloys were selected as the base materials to fabricate similar and dissimilar friction stir lap welds. Three lap configurations, AA6082/AA5754, AA5754/AA6082 and AA6082/AA6082, were produced using three pin profiles and tested to analyse the role of the plastic [...] Read more.
The AA6082-T6 and AA5754-H22 aluminium alloys were selected as the base materials to fabricate similar and dissimilar friction stir lap welds. Three lap configurations, AA6082/AA5754, AA5754/AA6082 and AA6082/AA6082, were produced using three pin profiles and tested to analyse the role of the plastic behaviours of the base materials on the welding conditions. The macrostructural characterisation was carried out to understand the material flow response and hook defect formation. The mechanical characterisation of the joints was done by microhardness and lap tensile shear testing. The finite element analysis and phase simulation were conducted to predict the phase dissolution temperatures and the softening kinetics. The welding torque and axial forces registered were analysed to quantify differences in the alloy’s flowability during welding. The analysis of the welding machine outputs enabled to conclude that higher axial forces were registered when the AA5754 alloy was placed at the top of the dissimilar lap joint, showing that the non-heat-treatable alloy has lower flowability than the heat-treatable alloy. These results were associated with the flow-softening of the AA6082 alloy in plastic deformation at high temperatures. The coupled experimental and numerical analysis revealed that the plastic behaviour of the base materials strongly influenced the material flow and, in this way, the hook defect formation and the shear tensile properties of the welds. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Friction Stir Welding and Related Technologies)
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20 pages, 8592 KiB  
Article
A Novel Approach for the Detection of Geometric- and Weight-Related FSW Tool Wear Using Stripe Light Projection
by Michael Hasieber, Michael Grätzel and Jean Pierre Bergmann
J. Manuf. Mater. Process. 2020, 4(2), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp4020060 - 23 Jun 2020
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3422
Abstract
Friction stir welding (FSW) has become an up-and-coming joining method with a wide range of industrial applications. Besides the unique weld seam properties, recent investigations have focused on the process-related tool wear of shoulder and probe, which can have detrimental economic and technological [...] Read more.
Friction stir welding (FSW) has become an up-and-coming joining method with a wide range of industrial applications. Besides the unique weld seam properties, recent investigations have focused on the process-related tool wear of shoulder and probe, which can have detrimental economic and technological effects. This paper presents a systematic quantitative characterization of FSW tool wear using stripe light projection as a novel method to detect weight and form deviations of shoulder and probe. The investigations were carried out with a robotic welding setup in which AA-6060 T66 sheets, with a thickness of 8 mm, were joined by weld seams up to a total length of 80 m. During the experimental tests, geometrical deviations of the tool induced by wear were detected for varying weld seam lengths and different measuring points on the probe and shoulder. It was shown that wear depended on welding length which in turn caused significant deviations and weight losses on shoulder and probe. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the wear on shoulder and probe can be considered separately. It was found that there is a progressive wear rate on the shoulder and a degressive wear rate on the probe depending on the weld seam length. To demonstrate the negative impact of tool wear on shoulder and probe after 80 m weld seam length, visual and metallographic inspections and tensile tests were carried out to detect resultant irregularities in the weld seam. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Friction Stir Welding and Related Technologies)
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17 pages, 7495 KiB  
Article
Effects of Refill Friction Stir Spot Weld Spacing and Edge Margin on Mechanical Properties of Multi-Spot-Welded Panels
by Guruvignesh Lakshmi Balasubramaniam, Enkhsaikhan Boldsaikhan, Shintaro Fukada, Mitsuo Fujimoto and Kenichi Kamimuki
J. Manuf. Mater. Process. 2020, 4(2), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp4020055 - 7 Jun 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 4427
Abstract
Refill friction stir spot welding (RFSSW) is an emerging technology for joining aerospace aluminum alloys. The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of the refill friction stir spot weld spacing and the edge margin on the mechanical properties of multi-spot-welded [...] Read more.
Refill friction stir spot welding (RFSSW) is an emerging technology for joining aerospace aluminum alloys. The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of the refill friction stir spot weld spacing and the edge margin on the mechanical properties of multi-spot-welded AA7075-T6 panels. AA7075-T6 is a baseline aerospace aluminum alloy used in aircraft structures. The study employs an innovative robotic RFSSW system that is designed and developed by Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI). The experimental strategy uses Design of Experiments (DoE) to characterize the failure loads of multi-spot-welded panels in terms of the spot weld spacing, edge margin, and heat-affected zone (HAZ) of the spot weld. The RFSSW process leaves behind a thermal “imprint” as HAZ in heat-treatable aluminum alloys. According to the DoE results, larger spot weld spacings with no HAZ overlap produce higher failure loads of multi-spot-welded panels. On the other hand, edge margins that are equal to or less than the spot weld diameter demonstrate abnormal plastic deformations, such as workpiece edge swelling and weld crown dents, during the RFSSW process. The larger edge margins do not demonstrate such abnormal deformations during the welding process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Friction Stir Welding and Related Technologies)
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