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Friction stir welding (FSW) has found many applications in the advanced energy sector. The FSW process is used for the manufacture of heat exchangers such as lamellar exchangers or plate heat exchangers. In the wind industry, FSW has become a…
No, you do not need permission to mount an FSW head on your machining centre. Stirweld’s welding head is universal and can be easily installed on any type of CNC. The FSW head behaves like a module added to your…
Yes, but some families of alloys are not weldable: 2xxx and 7xxx due to their high sensitivity to cracking. Moreover, this light metal must be welded with care so that the parts do not deform. Friction stir welding (FSW) is…
The welding force is the pressure exerted by the robot or the machine during friction stir welding operations. The force control is one of the most important elements for a quality FSW weld. The friction stir welding force is measured…
A constant force of the FSW tool on the parts to be joined is essential to guarantee a quality weld. For this reason, Stirweld has integrated a force sensor into its FSW welding head. This feature monitors the pressure exerted…
FSW can be used to weld all aluminium alloys, including those that are not weldable with conventional processes. With this process, it is now possible to join high-strength aluminium alloys such as the 2000, 6000 and 7000 series. FSW is…
An exit hole is left by the FSW tool during the removal phase. This hole at the end of the bead has no impact on the quality of the weld. It can be prohibitive for certain applications of circular welds…
The FSW tool pin is one of the components of our friction stir welding tools. It is located at the end of the tool in the extension of the shoulder. The length of the FSW tool pin depends on the…
Yes, a wormhole is a FSW defect also called a tunnel in friction stir welding jargon. Identifiable to the naked eye, this weld defect is characterised by porosity along the weld joint. The wormhole is a defect that can occur…
The quality of FSW welds can be verified by non-destructive testing (NDT) and destructive testing to ensure compliance with the FSW ISO 25239 standard. The visual inspection permits the observation of visible defects to the naked eye which appear as…
No, it is important to use an FSW tool that is suitable for the material being welded. Copper and aluminium react differently to heat during the welding process. If the temperature is too high, copper will tend to stick while…
Yes, Stirweld’s FSW robot spindle can weld structures with complex geometry such as double curvature. Our Robotic Friction Stir Welding technology has made complex path welding operations possible. This multi-directional welding capability has opened up opportunities for advanced industry sectors…
In this FSW configuration, the parts to be joined are positioned one on top of the other. This joint geometry allows for the positioning of dissimilar materials or parts with different thicknesses to be avoided. The FSW process keeps the…
Yes, the friction stir welding process can be used to join thick aluminium alloys. Our FSW welding head allows access to quality welds up to 20 millimetres thick of the base material.
Welding aluminium is a much more complex operation than for other metals. Welding aluminium requires a great deal of skill and the right tools. The best way to weld aluminium is by cold welding, or more precisely, by welding in…
Wormhole is a defect that can be encountered in friction stir welding (FSW). It can occur on FSW butt or lap welds. Visible to the naked eye, the wormhole is an internal cavity in the welded joint. This porosity is…
Yes, the Stirweld welding head is force controlled. The pressure exerted on the workpiece must be constant in order to guarantee quality FSW welds. It is therefore essential to know and control the force to be applied during the FSW…
FSW technology offers many technical and ecological advantages. Green welding technology, it does not involve any fusion or addition of material. It does not emit toxic gases or UV radiation. Energy consumption is reduced compared to other welding techniques (TIG,…
FSW stands for Friction Stir Welding. Invented in 1991 by The Welding Institute (TWI), the FSW process is based on the assembly of two parts by heating the materials. The pasty state is obtained thanks to the friction of a…
Friction stir welding (FSW) is a welding technique that has been democratized in the aeronautical sector. The FSW offers the ability to weld large or complex panels such as wedi hull plates. It also provides a robust and reliable alternative…
The welding temperature with the FSW head is managed according to 3 parameters: the feed speed: the faster the FSW tool feeds, the colder the material will be the rotation speed: the faster the tool rotates, the hotter the material…
The automotive industry uses the FSW process on an industrial scale for the construction of lighter vehicles. FSW technology allows the manufacture of light alloy components such as alloy wheels, body sheets, engine blocks or fuel tanks. One of the…
Clamping has an important impact on the quality of welds, for example on large panels from machine tools. The two parts to be joined must be clamped tightly on a support in order to withstand the welding forces. The clamping…
The FSW head provides a quality single pass weld for parts up to 10mm thick. Our FSW technology allows a welding capacity of up to 20 mm with a double pass on both sides. This thickness also depends on the…
Yes, it is possible to make welds with dissimilar materials using the FSW process. Friction stir welding is a breakthrough technology for joining different metals without melting or adding material. The FSW process allows parts to be welded together even…
FSW technology allows the assembly of long panels, bent or folded parts or hollow sections. Therefore, friction stir welding has many applications in the railway field. In the context of the construction of high-speed trains, the FSW process is used…
Yes, it is possible to weld in a cold or, more precisely, in a pasty state. This process is based on the joining of two materials in a solid state without exceeding the melting temperature. Cold welding is used in…
There are many welding processes that apply to different jobs and work environments. The most common welding processes are: •,Coated electrode welding, more commonly known as arc welding or MMA •,TIG welding, performed with gas arc with tungsten electrode •,MIG…
In welding, flash refers to the burr on the retreating side due to the rotation of FSW tool. The flash is the main defect that can be encountered during a friction stir welding operation. Flashes occur mainly when too much…
Friction stir welding has many applications in the aerospace industry. Indeed, this sector has adopted FSW, which makes it possible to weld all aluminum alloys One of the main aerospace applications is the assembly of aluminum hydrogen tanks. FSW provides…
In order to ensure the solidity of your weld, it must meet two essential conditions: the right penetration of the weld and homogeneity along the whole length. For maximum strength, it is necessary that the parts are fully penetrated. The…
Friction stir welding is applied to the manufacture of large aluminum floors for naval structures. The FSW process also allows the production of high-strength extruded aluminum decks and bulkheads, alloys that were previously considered un-weldable. Finally, FSW has become an…
Friction stir welding is a solid state welding process without the need for filler metal. This technique is more commonly known as FSW for Friction Stir Welding. This breakthrough technology was invented and patented in 1991 by The Welding Institute…
The machining centre is designed to operate in position control. Friction stir welding requires force control, and therefore a force sensor to control the friction of the shoulder on the workpieces. Integrated directly into the Stirweld head, this sensor measures…
There are 5 main FSW defects: Flash or burr on the edges of the weld ; Wormhole or tunnel which i.e. a porosity present on all or part of the length of the weld ; Lack of penetration which is…
Friction welding (or inertial friction welding) is a process where the heat required for welding is obtained by rubbing the parts to be joined together under axial pressure. Friction stir welding (FSW) is a variant of friction welding. FSW is…
The effectiveness of friction stir welding is particularly well known for joining materials identified as difficult to weld, such as aluminium. Friction stir welding technology can be used to weld all aluminum alloys. FSW welding of the 5000 series retains…
Yes, the FSW tool is the same regardless of the welding configuration (lap or butt). The choice of the tool depends on the distance to be welded, the depth to be welded and therefore the thickness of the part and…
Yes, it is possible to switch from welding to machining and back again without disassembling the FSW head. The Stirweld welding head was designed by experts in FSW and machining. This hybrid system allows welding and machining to take place…
Our FSW tool does not require tilting to ensure a solid weld. When using our FSW head on a 5-axis machine, tilting can be done. The degree of tilt of the Stirweld FSW welding head is between 0.5° and 3°.…
In order to guarantee the quality of a FSW weld, it is necessary to carry out a study of prototypes in accordance with the ISO 25239 standard. These prototypes are controlled by destructive and non-destructive tests. Non-destructive testing (NDT) includes…
The WPS (Welding Procedure Standard) certification is valid for a specific application. It depends on the material, its thickness and the welding configuration. For each application, it is therefore necessary to qualify the weld according to these parameters. The WPS…
Yes, it is no longer necessary to tilt the tool during the FSW process with our technology. Other friction welding processes will require a tool tilt angle to be set to improve the surface finish of the joints. The purpose…
Hooking is a defect in the surface of the material that can occur in FSW welding operations. The material rises on the edges of the feed zone and it thins on the receding side. This internal defect can be detected…
In butt and through welds configurations, there are several ways to position the parts to be joined. The T-joint is one of them. FSW T-joint welding is achieved by intersecting the two parts at right angles with one part in…
Yes, Stirweld offers the development of custom FSW tools to suit the specific needs of our customers. We also offer a wide range of standard FSW tools available in our catalog. We study the customer’s request and help him to…
Today, various areas of the telecommunications industry have adopted the FSW process for welding these aluminum and copper components. Friction stir welding optimizes the welding of machined cold plates for satellites and data centers. In addition, FSW technology coupled with…
Stirweld’s FSW solutions can be equipped with temperature measuring tools. Stirweld’s intelligent tool holder is simply installed on your welding heads and spindles. It allows to check that the heat is constant during the friction stir welding process. For quality…
Yes, it is possible to join aluminium and steel parts using recent welding processes, including friction stir welding The physical properties, coefficient of expansion and electrochemical potential of these two materials are very different. With conventional welding techniques, it is…
The qualification of the welding operator depends on the technology chosen to weld aluminium. It is possible to weld certain types of aluminium alloys with traditional welding processes such as TIG or MIG. These techniques require the welder to have…
Friction stir welding (FSW) guarantees a higher quality and strength of the welds than those obtained by conventional techniques (TIG, MIG, EBW). There are 2 types of FSW welding: butt or lap welding. The choice between these configurations depends on…
Laser welding of aluminium, like electron beam welding, has porosity defects. However, cold plate welding requires a 100% seal. In addition, laser welding requires a smaller gap between the two parts. Friction stir welding is an innovative and popular technology…
[et_pb_section][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type= »4_4″][et_pb_text] The average life of our tools is 2000 metres of weld in a typical FSW configuration. The life of the FSW tool varies depending on 2 key factors: the correct use of the tool and its settings. The…
Friction stir welding provides an answer for optimal thermal management in the field of Defense. Liquid cold plates are used to cool embedded systems such as commercial radars or control and power electronics. Allowing the assembly of any type of…
Yes, in FSW welding, the shoulder must be in permanent contact with the surface of the workpiece. It is the friction of the shoulder against the workpiece that provides the heating necessary for the friction stir welding operation. The shoulder…
The use of the FSW head with retractable pin offers the advantage of not leaving an exit hole unlike standard welding heads. As its name indicates, the pin retracts at the end of the weld. It allows to directly close…
Friction stir welding (FSW) consists in assembling two parts by bringing them to a pasty state thanks to a rotating pin, in particular thanks to a robot or a FSW head for CNC. Specifically, the rotating tool is pressed into…
Yes, it is possible to join aluminium and stainless steel parts even though both materials are known to be difficult to weld. Unlike stainless steel, aluminium is a light metal that welds at low temperatures. Joining these materials with conventional…
A 6-axis robot with an articulated arm equipped with an FSW spindle can weld in 3 dimensions. This equipment offers a wide range of movement allowing welding horizontally, vertically, on the ceiling… This multidirectional welding capability makes 3D welding of…
Yes, Stirweld’s FSW welding head is a hybrid system that allows machining and welding. The FSW head fits all machine tools and is easily installed for an optimized friction stir welding operation. The user can quickly mount and dismount the…
Friction stir welding is a solid state welding technique that does not reach the melting point. Known for its ability to weld difficult to weld materials, FSW is mainly used for the high quality joining of aluminium and copper parts.…
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) was invented by Wayne Thomas of the Welding Institute in 1991. The TWI is a British research and technology organization specializing in welding. In 1995, a second patent was filed to extend the application to the…
Compared to a conventional FSW head, the FSW head with retractable pin has an additional function: the progressive removal of the pin in the shoulder in order to fill the exit hole of the FSW weld. As the only FSW…
Yes, it is essential to get the welding force data during the operation. This information allows real-time control of the quality of the weld. Our FSW Stirweld heads and spindles are designed to provide this intelligent data through its powerful…
The depth of tool penetration is one of the main parameters of the FSW process to ensure the quality of the weld. For this purpose, it is necessary to carry out prototype tests in order to define the welding parameters…
Yes, it is possible to join aluminium and copper parts even though these materials have different physical characteristics. Welding aluminium with copper allows, among other things, to limit the electrical resistivity of the latter. FSW is therefore used in cold…
Lack of Penetration (LoP) occurs when the metal does not completely fill the thickness of the joint. This internal defect can occur during butt welding operations. This lack of root penetration is mainly due to the fact that the pin…
The most common types of friction stir welding are butt and lap welding. The most usual FSW configuration is butt welding. The parts to be joined, of equal thickness, are placed against each other. In a lap weld, the two…
No, external preheating is not necessary for a welding operation with FSW technology. We have integrated a delay phase into our welding process that avoids this phase. The preheating action is thus carried out by the tool itself while continuing…
FSW butt welding involves joining parts together tightly so as to limit the thickness of the joint. The rotating FSW tool is brought into contact with the materials to be joined. The material is softened by the heating action of…
During an FSW welding operation, the shoulder brings heat to the top of the workpieces to be welded. This can cause distortion of the material which requires post-weld machining to restore the correct flatness. To control this distortion during friction…
The 1000, 3000 and 5000 series, which are not heat treated, are the easiest aluminium alloys to weld. The 6000 series is also easily weldable. However, depending on the welding technique, the joining process may cause a decrease in the…
A friction stir weld may have wormhole or kissing bond defects. In order to repair these defects, it is necessary to pass the FSW tool over the weld again. In the case of a wormhole defect, the welding operation must…
Our FSW welding heads are designed and approved for 5 years of use and this 24 Our FSW equipment undergoes numerous tests on a wear bench in order to guarantee its robustness and lifespan.
