Friction Stir Spot Welding

K. Feldman1,2*, G. Kohn1, A. Stern2

1. JT Welding Technologies Ltd.
2. Departments of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
Ben Gurion University of the Negev
Friction Stir Welding (FSW) is a new (invented in 1991), solid-state joining process.
A specially designed tool rotates and traverses along the joint line, creating frictional
heating that softens a column of material underneath the tool. The softened material
flows around the tool through extensive plastic deformation and is consolidated
behind the tool to form a solid-state continuous joint.
Friction Stir Spot Welding (FSSW) is a novel variant of the "linear" FSW process,
creates a spot, lap-weld without bulk melting. FSSW can be a more efficient
(significant energy and cost savings) alternate process to electric resistance spot
welding. FSSW has generated tremendous interests in the automotive industry was
used for direct replacement of resistance spot welding of Al alloys. Bonnets and rear
doors in aluminium are FSW instead of resistance spot-welded at Mazda - Japan. The
use of energy was possible to decrease with 99 % and the investment in the FSW
installation was about 40 % lower than with resistance spot welding.
The idea of integrating laser heating with FSSW was used in this research to improve
welding parameters and tool life in the spot welding of high-temperature materials.
Laser Assisted FSSW is being investigated as a possible replacement for traditional
resistance spot welding and riveting in the automotive and similar industries. The
presentation summarizes the preliminary findings and results on both FSSW and
Laser Assisted FSSW of Low Carbon and Dual Phase steel sheets. Welding tests were
performed using various welding parameters and the welds were sectioned and
evaluated using optical and electron microscopy. Mechanical testing of the spot joints
was performed utilizing the tension-shear configuration. The metal flow during the
FSS welding process was investigated on selected samples, to gain a better
understanding of the welding mechanism.