Projects Gallery

Sponsors: Bond
Project Start: January 2025
Nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of friction stir welding (FSW) is typically performed as a secondary operation using separate equipment weld completion. This approach increases manufacturing costs due to the additional equipment, labor, and processing time involved. This project seeks to develop a method for determining weld quality in real time, directly on the FSW machine. Building on prior work, the proposed approach analyzes time-domain force signals acquired during welding and compares them with predefined thresholds to assess weld quality. Real-time quality prediction would enable manufacturers to detect defects as they occur, thereby reducing reliance on post-weld NDE and lowering overall production costs.

Sponsor: ANSYS and Northrop Grumman 
Start Date: January 2025 
The additive friction stir deposition process currently lacks a software that can model the thermal process accurately while being quick and simple. The thermal history of a multi-layered build has direct influence on the part distortions and residual stresses observed in the printed part. By modifying an existing ANSYS Directed Energy Deposition software package, the simulations have shown to be reasonably accurate in modeling the additive friction stir deposition process. Ongoing work is focused on increasing the accuracy of the thermal simulations and comparing the simulated with the observed residual stress. 

Sponsor: PNNL
Project Start Date: 08/01/2024
FSW produces stronger welds than traditional fusion welding but generally requires a large z-axis force in order to weld, impeding its use in certain applications. This study seeks to identify key FSW tool features that significantly affect weld forces. In an effort to reduce Z-Axis forces, various tool geometries were modeled and tested using rapid prototyping, creating over 100 stainless steel tools at the cost of one PCBN tool. The best-performing features were incorporated into a PCBN tool, achieving Z-Axis forces 6x lower than other reported stainless steel welds.

Sponsor: Toyota
Project Start Date: 01/01/2025
RFSSW has been found to produce significantly stronger welds than traditional Resistance Spot Welding (RSW), but is more costly per weld. By increasing RFSSW tool life, RFSSW can become a more cost-effective improvement to RSW. This study aims to extend the tool life of Tungsten Carbide (WC) RFSSW tools in automotive production. A recent study indicates that proper cleaning could enable a WC RFSSW tool to endure over 200,000 welds with minimal wear. Using a custom mechanical cleaning solution, we are exploring procedures to achieve and surpass a tool life of 200,000 welds as well as apply this technology to robotic assemblies.
-Jared Jackson

Sponsor: Supernal
Project Start Date: June 2025
Dispensables such as sealants, adhesives, primers, and coatings are commonly used on aerospace aluminum sheets, but little is understood about how to create quality refill friction stir spot welds (RFSSW) in the presence of these materials. This project seeks to understand why some dispensables prevent weldability and what can be done to weld through them. We investigate the interactions, methods, and limitations at play, allowing manufacturers to combining these technologies in their assemblies.
-Taylor Smith

Sponsor: TWB
Project Start Date: 02/01/2025
Specific wear mechanics resulted in a significant decrease in this FSW tools life. This study seeks to evaluate the wear mechanisms and locations on production tooling in an effort to increase tool life through the use of coatings. Current progress suggests 3x tool life for only 10% increase in tool cost.