Friction Stir Welding head with retractable pin
Our friction stir welding head with retractable pin has all the functions of our standard FSW head: force control & recording, cooling, protection of the spindle against loads and vibrations.
The difference is the retractable pin which enables to fill the FSW exit hole, beneficial for aerospace applications for example.
With its HMI, our FSW head with retractable pin results in 100% quality control of welds: FSW force control, pin length control, head temperature & usage, warning pop-up and data recording.
FSW HEAD WITH RETRACTABLE PIN
UNIQUE RETRACTABLE PIN FSW FUNCTION
Filling of FSW exit hole
Welding of variable thicknesses with one FSW tool
ADAPTABILITY
The FSW head with retractable pin is compatible with all CNC machine type
PERFORMANT HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE
100% quality control of welds thanks to its HMI: full monitoring according to EN9100
FSW EXPERTISE
Stirweld supports you throughout your FSW project, from prototyping to the qualification of your parts.
FSW HEAD WITH RETRACTABLE PIN
UNIQUE RETRACTABLE PIN FSW FUNCTION
Filling of FSW exit hole
Welding of variable thicknesses with one FSW tool
ADAPTABILITY
The FSW head with retractable pin is compatible with all CNC machine type
PERFORMANT HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE
100% quality control of welds thanks to its HMI: full monitoring according to EN9100
FSW EXPERTISE
Stirweld supports you throughout your FSW project, from prototyping to the qualification of your parts.
FSW HEAD WITH RETRACTABLE PIN CHARACTERISTICS
You need to know more about FSW process? You want to know what are the friction stir welding parameters? Click here!
RETRACTABLE PIN: HOW DOES IT WORK?
At the end of a friction stir welding operation, the tool pin leaves an exit hole. This exit hole can be a problem in some applications. With the FSW head with retractable pin, this exit hole is filled in.
Indeed, the tool pin is removable. At the end of the welding process it retracts leaving no exit hole.
RETRACTABLE PIN PRINCIPLE
TOOL IN TWO PARTS
The shoulder and the retractable pin are independent for an easy change and cost saving
TORQUE TRANSMISSION
Whistle notch attachment for high torque transmission
The pin and the shoulder are synchronized in rotation speed
ALIGNMENT
Alignment between the shoulder and the pin is made with an H7/G6 tolerance.
FSW EXIT HOLE FILLING WITH RETRACTABLE PIN
Without retractable pin…
With retractable pin…
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS OF STIRWELD FSW HEAD FOR CNC WITH RETRACTABLE PIN
Force management to secure the weld quality from 1 to 18 kN
Rotational speed for welding up to 5000 RPM
Recording of the forging force for quality control
Quick tool change: whistle notch attachment with accurate positioning
CNC machine protection against the high forces (up to 18 kN) and vibrations during the FSW process
Water and air pressure cooling
Assembly & disassembly in 15 mins
Real time display of forging force to make easier the welding parameter adjustment
Remote control for production mode or process adjustment
REMOTE CONTROL PANEL
The FSW head with retractable pin is equipped with a remote-control panel which is useful for production mode process adjustment:
- Full monitoring according to EN 9100 standard
- Connector diameter of 30 mm
- Display of system parameters, process monitoring, recipe management
- Report on the system status
- Display curves of selectable values to control the weld quality
- Free software update
We wanted to evolve the tool to suit our needs. Before, we used a robot arm to carry out friction stir welding. However, there are many joints in a robot. This makes it too flexible. It deforms a little when you press on the welded surface. In an operation like FSW, you lose precision. To achieve the precision we want, we needed the stiffness of a machine tool.
HUMAN MACHINE INTERFACE
The FSW head with retractable pin is equipped with a man-machine interface allowing 100% quality control of FSW welds.
HMI BASIC FUNCTIONS
HMI ADVANCED FUNCTION
FSW WELD TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
FSW quality control
FSW parameter optimization
You want to know more about FSW weld temperature measurement?
Click here to discover our solution!
APPLICATION EXAMPLES
ALUMINIUM TANK WELDED BY FSW
Friction stir welding is one of the technologies that solves many problems in aluminium tank welding.
The conventional technique was arc welding, however, this technique led to poor fatigue and corrosion resistance of the welding zones.
With FSW technology, this problem is solved. In addition, with the FSW head with retractable pin, the fatigue strength of your workpiece increases. Why? Because there is no longer an exit hole.
Also with this FSW shrink-fit head, it is possible to weld different thicknesses without changing tools.
To know more about aluminium tank, click here.
CIRCUMFERENTIAL WELD
Example of AA 2024-T3 circumferential weld (diameter of 500 mm) with retractable pin FSW head. Thickness of 3 mm.
After FSW, the joint efficiency is 85% (ratio between UTS of circumferential weld and UTS of base metal) in accordance with ISO 25235 standard. By comparison, the joint efficiency of TIG welding is 50%. Moreover, the leak property is perfect as FSW is a solid-state welding process without melting pool (no pore, no crack).
For manufacturing of aluminium tanks, a minimum of 2 circumferential welds is necessary to close the component. This type of weldment requires a retractable pin FSW tool to fill the keyhole at the weld end and to not leave a hole that impacts the leak property.
