Friction Stir Welding Process Optimization: Experimental Methods

Introduction The Friction Stir Welding (FSW) process is an innovative technique to join metals in the plasticity field, thus not reaching the melting temperature and consequently the liquid state as it happen in traditional welding processes. This feature of the FSW proved an enhancement of the fatigue behaviour and strength of the joints, leading some companies to adopt the process for the manufacturing of airplanes fuselages and cryogenic tanks for Space launch vehicles. To optimize this solid state process it is relevant to determine the kinematics and dynamics of the flow, creating a theoretical model and validating it with experiments. Methods and tools as temperature measurements and tracers experiments, are presented and the results are discussed.