Developing and Deploying FSW&P Through Standardization

Abstract

Key advancements in friction stir welding and processing (FSW&P) have been chronicled in these biennial symposia. Insights gained through fundamental and applied research published in symposia proceedings hold significant value in maturing and furthering the development and deployment of FSW&P. However, not all of this research can be replicated scientifically to enable this purpose due to insufficient information provided in the published articles. Providing more complete process information in symposium papers will serve to advance broader acceptance of FSW&P by industry and regulatory agencies. This objective can be facilitated by including appropriate detail required by national and international standards in published research. Without such detail, the maturity of FSW&P will remain in question throughout the different industry sectors due to a lack of uniformity and consistency in published results. A study carried out in coordination with the Metallic Materials Properties Development and Standardization (MMPDS) handbook steering committee illustrates the value of such discipline. The study was undertaken to investigate the potential for developing design data for FSW. Also, because successful implementation of FSW&P is reliant upon understanding and controlling the local metalworking conditions around the weld tool (both thermally and mechanically), utilizing process feedback signals is needed to confirm the consistency and effectiveness, and thus the maturity, of these technologies to organizations and agencies charged with quality assurance.