LIFT Off Webinar Presented by Bond Technologies: Friction Stir Welding – Technology and Applications

Extensive knowledge of joining technologies and capabilities is one of the many areas of expertise offered by LIFT SME member Bond Technologies, Inc.  Headquartered in Elkhart, Ind., Bond is one of the few companies in the world whose core business is the development, design and building of friction stir welding machines.  That knowledge is important in the lightweighting world, largely because friction stir welding is ideal for joining aluminum and magnesium metallurgical properties.  Friction Stir Welding offers low distortion, has minimal heat input and is very energy efficient.  It requires little post processing and no shielding gas or fillers, and results in a very fine grain structure that is highly resistant to corrosion.  Excellent fatigue properties can also be achieved.

The process of friction stir welding has been around for nearly three decades. Bond Technologies works with customers in many transportation industries, such as launch vehicles, high speed rail and shipbuilding.  That interest from automotive customers has been piqued in recent years with the inclusion of more aluminum alloys in vehicles, especially hybrid and electric.  As Friction Stir Welding continues to move from R&D into more and more industry segments, technology has advanced in areas such as in-process quality control and overall equipment productivity.  The ability to detect and react to process conditions such as a broken tool, force or weld depth parameter deviation and other more advanced measures of weld quality are in place and being used in production settings.   Much advancement is under development in this valuable area.  Reducing setup and changeover time, quick change fixtures and tooling and machine diagnostics are all contributing to increased overall equipment efficiency.