An Introduction to Friction Stir Welding

Suitable for:

Anyone with an interest in friction stir welding whether familiar with the technology or not. It will appeal to both managers and engineers from industry sectors involved in fabrication or metal components. Attendees involved in research and development in joining of materials will benefit from seeing FSW first hand and learning about current capabilities and areas of active development.

Course Content:
The course will be an intensive mixture of classroom lectures, tutorials and practical demonstrations using both video footage and live demonstrations on TWI's equipment. There will be opportunities for individual discussions with TWI engineers.

Among the topics to be discusssed will be history of the process, licensing, patents and standards, process fundamentals, process advantages and disadvantages, process control, comparison with other processes, machine technology, tool technology, materials and weld performance issues, quality control, economic benefits, current/planned applications.

Attending the course will give students the necessary knowledge to make balanced decisions about the process and to deal with confidence with suppliers of equipment or friction stir welding process providers/users.

Objectives:

At the end of the course, attendees will:

• understand current FSW technology
• assess FSW compared to other joining processes
• have a practical appreciation of different types of FSW equipment and fixturing
• understand FSW weld parameters/programs and their influence on weld quality
• appreciate relevant quality control techniques related to FSW

Additional Information:

Classroom times are typically five hours per day (8.30-14.30 hrs) with lunch and other breaks. In addition, over two hours of practical training will be provided per day on a range of FSW equipment involving thick section, high temperature and robotic FSW. There will be a strict limit of 12 students per course to maintain quality standards, comprehension and small practical groups. A comprehensive set of course notes will be provided to the attendees.