FRICTION STIR WELDING (FSW) APPARATUS AND TECHNIQUES

Abstract: a friction stir welding (fsw) approach can be used to join two structures, such as a plate to a base structure, or two portions of a wall of a structure such as a tubular structure (e.g., a pipe or vessel). according to various examples, fsw can be used for forming welds on an exterior-facing portion of a structure (e.g., externally), or on an interior-facing portion of a structure, such as within a confined environment. as an example, fsw can be performed within the confined environment using a compact spindle configuration as shown and described herein. fsw generally refers to a solid-phase processing technique where a tool is applied to a work piece, with rotation of the tool relative to the workpiece along with application of a forging force to drive a face of the tool into the workpiece to frictionally induce plastic deformation of material.

Inventor(s): Piyush Upadhyay, Curt A. Lavender, Md. Reza-E-Rabby, Mitch L. Blocher, Glenn J. Grant, Hrishikesh Das, Zachary F. Huber, Vineet V. Joshi, Ayoub Soulami, Kyoo Sil Choi

CPC Classification: B23K20/129 (SOLDERING OR UNSOLDERING; WELDING; CLADDING OR PLATING BY SOLDERING OR WELDING; CUTTING BY APPLYING HEAT LOCALLY, e.g. FLAME CUTTING; WORKING BY LASER BEAM (making metal-coated products by extruding metal ; building up linings or coverings by casting ; casting by dipping ; manufacture of composite layers by sintering metal powder ; arrangements on machine tools for copying or controlling ; covering metals or covering materials with metals, not otherwise provided for ; burners ))

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