Taking Friction Stir Welding to Ultra High Speeds
Josh Sheffeild's thesis summary.
While we have seen huge surges in the demand for electric vehicles in the last decade manufacturers are still stuck using traditional welding techniques. We are trying to aid automotive manufacturers in making their welding processes as clean, efficient, and fast as the cars they produce. Throughout our research, we have shown that friction stir welding can be the cleaner, simpler, and faster solution they are looking for.
In the past industry leaders implementing friction stir lap welding have run into weld defects at higher speeds, forcing them to slow down to produce quality welds. In our research, we developed tool materials, geometries, and parameters that allow us to break these boundaries taking FSLW up to 10 meters per minute more than doubling the fastest speeds used today. We have been able to show that our welds are not only fast but also strong and consistent, by eliminating critical weld defects and characterizing weld strength.
We have shown that friction stir welding can not only compete with traditional methods like brazing, arc welding, and laser welding, but can outperform them in weld quality, environment impact, and weld speed. Whatever the future of automotive manufacturing looks like friction stir welding will play a key role in clean, efficient, and fast vehicles.