This article provides details of a low-temperature joining technology called friction stir welding. Friction stir welding (FSW) uses a cylindrical, shouldered tool with a profiled pin that is rotated and slowly plunged into the joint line between two pieces of sheet or plate material. According to an engineer, stir welding eliminated 60 percent of the rivets that the plane would have otherwise required. Eclipse Aviation Corp., Albuquerque, NM, is building a separate plant to house its stir welding operations for commercial production, once its plane receives certification by the US Federal Aviation Administration. FSW is a solid-state process, more like forging and extruding than to fusion welding. Since the process is solid state, the joint is not subject to any shrinkage because of phase changes. The process also introduces minimal heat into the weld, so the heat-affected zone is relatively small in comparison to arc welding.
Skip Nav Destination
Article navigation
March 2003
Select Article
A Cooler Weld
An Emerging Technology Lets Manufacturers Rethink How Products Fit Together.
Matt Hansen is a systems engineer with MTS Systems Corp. in Eden Prairie, Minn.
Mechanical Engineering. Mar 2003, 125(03): D10-D16 (7 pages)
Published Online: March 1, 2003
Citation
Hansen, M. (March 1, 2003). "A Cooler Weld." ASME. Mechanical Engineering. March 2003; 125(03): D10–D16. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2003-MAR-3
Download citation file:
Get Email Alerts
Cited By
Fortifying the Pipeline
Mechanical Engineering (July 2024)
Gold Medal Engineering
Mechanical Engineering (July 2024)
Generation on the Rise
Mechanical Engineering (July 2024)
What is Mechanical Engineering?
Mechanical Engineering (July 2024)
Related Articles
Study of Nonuniform In-Plane and In-Depth Residual Stress of Friction Stir Welding
J. Pressure Vessel Technol (May,2003)
Friction Stir Welding Lap Joint Resistance Optimization Through Gradient Techniques
J. Manuf. Sci. Eng (December,2007)
Heat Transfer in Friction Stir Welding—Experimental and Numerical Studies
J. Manuf. Sci. Eng (February,2003)
Fatigue Life Prediction for Overlap Friction Stir Linear Welds of Magnesium Alloys
J. Manuf. Sci. Eng (June,2016)
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Chapters
Design a Hybrid Machine Tool for Plane Curve Friction Stir Welding
International Conference on Mechanical Engineering and Technology (ICMET-London 2011)
Development of Mathematical Model for Friction Stir Welding of 304L Stainless Steel
International Conference on Mechanical and Electrical Technology 2009 (ICMET 2009)
Introduction to Welding∕API 577
Quick Guide to the API 570 - Certified Pipework Inspector Syllabus