STIRWELD FSW SERVICE

Friction Stir Welding Clamping System

Design of your Friction Stir Welding clamping system by our experts.

Why choose Stirweld for your FSW clamping system?

FSW Expertise

Leverage our deep-rooted experience and specialized expertise in Friction Stir Welding to customize your clamping tools for the perfect fit with your components.

Superior Quality

Elevate the standard of your welding processes and the components produced by using our meticulously crafted clamping tools, created exclusively for optimal FSW performance.

Cost Reduction

Lower your production expenses with our efficient and bespoke tooling solutions, designed to reduce the incidence of quality-related costs.

Unlocking Friction Stir Welding: Key Features of Stirweld FSW Clamping System

Stirweld’s clamping systems are designed to adapt to every stage of your FSW project, providing the right solution for prototyping, serial production and complex welding requirements. Each type of clamping jig is engineered to meet specific needs, ensuring optimal performance, cost-effectiveness and precision for different production phases.

Prototyping jigs

For the prototyping phase of your FSW project, our prototyping jigs allow you to create initial parts in the most cost-effective way possible.

Serial jigs

Designed for medium to large series production, our serial jigs incorporate automation to streamline the clamping process.

dedicated complex clamping jig for friction stir welding

Complex jigs

Our complex clamping jigs provide advanced support for parts with challenging geometries and precise welding paths.

Stirweld Clamping Systems: Industry-Specific Examples

At Stirweld, we have implemented clamping solutions across a diverse range of industries. Below, we present a selection of our most notable examples, each designed to meet the specific needs of applications such as small and large foundry parts, tanks, mounting brackets and large-scale tooling systems.

While these examples highlight our capabilities, the majority of our work is confidential. To protect the proprietary processes and designs of our clients, we are only able to show a limited number of examples. These cases, however, reflect the precision and innovation of Stirweld’s custom FSW clamping systems.

Application: Tanks

This modular clamping solution is designed for butt welding two half-walls of a cylindrical tank, as well as overlap welding the internal reinforcements. The system is engineered to handle the assembly of 12 extruded pieces, making it highly adaptable for different tank dimensions.

Clamping Type: Complex clamping system.
Setup: The tooling includes 8 expandable anvils and 4 welded mechanical beams with linear movement to ensure precise positioning and clamping of the tank components. The parts are aligned using custom detromping (keying) methods for exact placement.
Use Case: Designed for use with a large 5-axis gantry machine, this complex tooling accommodates the full welding process for large tanks, ensuring the structural integrity of the assembly through secure and accurate clamping.

This clamping solution is designed for overlap welding used in the fabrication of cylindrical tanks. The process involves welding a machined tube to two machined end pieces. The simple tooling ensures precise alignment, with the central tube positioned through centering and indexing into the machined fixture. The two pieces are clamped by deforming the clamping device around the external diameter of the tank.

Clamping Type: Simple clamping system.
Setup: The tank is positioned and indexed within the fixture, ensuring accurate alignment before welding.
Use Case: Ideal for use with large 3-axis CNC machines, this system accommodates the welding of cylindrical tanks by securing the tube and end pieces in place for consistent weld quality.

Application: Cast parts

dedicated clamping for cast parts welding

This complex clamping system is designed for the assembly of a cast part and a laser-cut aluminum cover. The first part is a pressure-cast component with a complex geometry, while the second part is a laser-cut aluminum cover that requires both butt and overlap welding.

Clamping Type: Complex clamping system.
Setup: The system includes an anvil composed of multiple blocks that perfectly match the shape of the cast part. The casting is positioned and clamped vertically using toggle clamps, while the cover is precisely lodged in machined surfaces within the casting. Vertical clamping is applied via clamping masks that secure the cover as close to the welds as possible.
Use Case: Suitable for use on standard 3-axis CNC machines, this system ensures secure and precise assembly for casting and cover components, accommodating their complex geometries.

For the precise assembly of a complex geometry casting and a laser-cut aluminum cover, this setup offers a straightforward solution. The welding process involves edge-to-edge welding across the entire thickness of the aluminum cover, ensuring a secure joint.

Clamping Type: Simple clamping system.
Setup: The cast part is supported by a monobloc anvil that matches its shape, ensuring stability during the welding process. Positioning is achieved through centering-locating, with lateral and vertical clamping provided by toggle clamps. The aluminum cover is fitted precisely into machined surfaces within the casting, and tack welding is used, eliminating the need for vertical clamping.
Use Case: Designed for use on standard 3-axis CNC machines, this solution is ideal for small foundry applications that require efficient and precise welding of cast and aluminum components.

Application: Bus bars

This lightweight, manually operated clamping system is designed specifically for demonstration purposes, showcasing the welding of bimetallic materials (copper and aluminum) in bus bar applications. It enables overlap welding of an aluminum bar onto a copper bar, along with additional welds for a copper rod on an aluminum bar and an aluminum rod on a copper bar.

Clamping Type: Simple and lightweight manual clamping system.
Setup: The bus bars are secured with a manual clamping mask, while the rods are held in place using jaws with manual tightening. This setup allows precise alignment and secure positioning of all components for demonstration purposes.
Use Case: Ideal for small-scale demonstrations on 3-axis CNC machines, this tooling provides an accessible way to showcase the capabilities of bimetallic welding in bus bar applications.

Application: Large-Scale Tailor Welded Blanks

dedicated clamping for tailor welded blanks

For the assembly of two half-discs, each with a radius of 1.5 meters, this complex clamping system is engineered to deliver precision in butt welding across the full thickness of the laser-cut parts. The fixture is assembled directly on the machine table, ensuring stability and alignment throughout the welding process.

Clamping Type: Complex clamping system.
Setup: The system uses multiple blocks to form a long, continuous planar support (anvil) beneath the weld. The parts are positioned using indexing on extended lengths, while radial constraints are applied through push screws. Vertical clamping is achieved near the weld with two beams, each supporting a series of spring-loaded toggle clamps that adapt to the deformation of the beam during clamping.
Use Case: Designed for use on a large 5-axis gantry machine, this fixture is specifically tailored for large-scale tailor welded blanks, ensuring the accurate joining of oversized sheet metal parts.

Application: Stiffened Panels

Designed for butt welding or overlap welding of two plates with variable thickness, this modular clamping solution handles laser-cut parts with precision. A continuous monobloc anvil supports the weld throughout the process.

Clamping Type: Simple clamping system.
Setup: The parts are positioned accurately using machined stops, with horizontal clamping secured by eccentric mechanisms. Vertical clamping occurs near the weld, thanks to two beams connected to each other, ensuring maximum stability.
Use Case: Ideal for use with 3-axis CNC machines, this clamping system supports stiffened panels and large structures requiring consistent welding quality across varying thicknesses.

clamping system for stiffened panels welding

This system, assembled directly on the machine table, is designed for butt or overlap welding of two laser-cut plates with varying thicknesses. A water-cooled monobloc anvil ensures continuous support under the weld, enhancing precision and thermal management during the process.

Clamping Type: Simple clamping system.
Setup: Machined stops position the plates, while horizontal clamping is secured using push screws. Vertical clamping is done close to the weld using standard machining clamps.
Use Case: Specifically developed for coupon testing (QMOS/DMOS), this setup is used with large 3-axis CNC machines, offering flexibility and reliability in ensuring weld quality for testing purposes.

Application: Mounting Brackets

dedicated clamping for mounting brackets

This clamping system is used for the assembly of two laser-cut sheet metal parts: one flat and the other bent at a 90° angle. The process involves butt welding along the full thickness of the flat part, using a tenon mortaise joint to ensure a secure and precise fit.

Clamping Type: Simple clamping system.
Setup: The bent part is positioned in a dedicated slot within the anvil and secured using a transverse screw, while the flat part is positioned against a fixed stop and clamped vertically with a toggle clamp. This setup guarantees stability and accuracy during the welding process.
Use Case: Ideal for standard 3-axis CNC machines, this system is particularly suited for mounting brackets and other support structures requiring reliable tenon mortaise joints for added strength and precision.

Application: Cold plates

Liquid cold plates generally have a simple shape, where the body is milled and the cover can be laser-cut, allowing standard milling clamping elements to securely hold the part on the CNC table. Depending on the size of the production series, the cover can either be vertically clamped onto the body or tack-welded prior to the continuous weld. However, if the tack welding operation extends the cycle time too much, a dedicated automatic jig may need to be designed to improve efficiency.

Stiffened panels friction stir welding with a dedicated clamping system

clamping system for friction stir welding of a die casting parts

Automated Clamping System

At Stirweld, we excel in designing and producing complex, automated clamping systems tailored to meet a variety of mechanical constraints. With an experienced team of automation specialists, we develop advanced tooling solutions that optimize efficiency, precision and adaptability in FSW applications. Our expertise covers a wide range of clamping configurations, from semi-automatic systems to fully automated solutions, each engineered to enhance production speed, repeatability and welding quality.

Each clamping system is customized to the specific requirements of each project, ensuring dependable performance and optimized processes across diverse production environments.

The “piano” clamping system is designed specifically for medium and large series production, offering a significant reduction in cycle time compared to traditional clamping methods.

With this system, there’s no need to tack-weld the two parts together before proceeding with the full welding circuit. The welding head follows its path directly, while the clamps are raised one by one, synchronized with the advancement of the FSW head.

This combination of piano clamping and FSW technologies achieves excellence in production speed, repeatability and welding quality.

This semi-automatic clamping system, featuring manual activation with pneumatic clamping, is engineered for welding a casting piece and a laser-cut cover. It includes a complex anvil system that can be adjusted to accommodate variations in geometry, ensuring a precise and stable welding process.

Adjustable Anvil System: The anvil can be configured to adapt to slight differences in the part geometry, providing flexible support.
Positioning: The casting is indexed based on machined references, ensuring consistent alignment.
Pneumatic Clamping: The cover is secured by a mask with pneumatic cylinder activation, providing reliable clamping force during the welding process.

The Clamping System Development Process by Stirweld

At Stirweld, we follow a structured process to design and deliver custom clamping systems that meet the specific needs of Friction Stir Welding applications. Throughout each stage, we maintain full transparency with our clients, providing clear communication on technical details and project timelines. Our approach ensures a seamless transition from the initial concept to the final product, guaranteeing high quality and precision at every step.

Kick-off

We begin with a kick-off meeting to establish the project schedule, welding requirements, automation goals and mechanical specifications.

Detailed 3D Then 2D

We finalize detailed 3D models followed by 2D drawings, incorporating feedback for internal and customer validation.

Assembly

The clamping system is mounted and tested. We perform clamping checks, quality inspections and prepare the system for release.

Preliminary 3D Project

Our team creates initial mechanical concepts, automation designs and functional specifications.

Manufacturing and Supply

We execute the manufacturing processes, ensuring the quality and precision of each component.

Delivery

Finally, the clamping system is delivered to your facilities, ready for integration into your production line.

They Trust Us

Customize Your Perfect Clamping Solution

Ensure the precision and efficiency of your welding operations with a Stirweld-designed Friction Stir Welding clamping system. Get in touch to start customizing a solution tailored to your needs.

Design my clamping system