EuroStir ® - project description
By: Peter Fielding [1] and Stephan Kallee [2] (TWI)
Project outline
The EuroStir ® Project [3] has the overall objective to accelerate the use of friction stir welding (FSW) in Europe. Although the process is a UK invention and was first commercially used in Sweden, the subsequent development has been largely in Japan and the USA where huge funds have been invested in the exploitation in the aerospace and railway [4] sectors of industry.The success in Japan and the USA makes it clear that FSW will not only be dominant in the automated joining of all relatively soft materials such as aluminium, magnesium and copper but, due to the very superior joint properties and low cost, will also be applied to other materials and applications where these features are valuable. FSW is too important in automated manufacture for Europe to depend on the slow acquisition of know-how from abroad where the substantial improvements in quality and cost reduction have resulted in a reluctance in technology transfer.
FSW has proved to be so industrially valuable that mass application has occurred in Japan and the USA before a full understanding or explanation of the technology exists in the public domain. This causes disadvantages to manufacturers in Europe and, in particular, the UK where application is minimal. This will lead to reduced sales of manufactured goods, and the project is planned to redress this situation by collaborating to accelerate the attainment of knowledge and proactively disseminating the results to ensure exploitation in Europe. Since capital investment is a necessary consideration in the application, the well-proven job shop service route will be used to speed up application.
FSW takes the apparent skill, health hazards, and cost out of welding whilst improving quality. Undoubtedly others will copy what is achieved in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, but the project provides lead time because the subtlety of tool design and application is not obvious. Active dissemination can use this lead time to increase product sales, thereby increasing home manufacture and maintaining employment.
Technological development envisaged
The R & D Phase of the project will take 2 to 2½ years, during which the following tasks will be addressed:Table: EuroStir ® Tasks
| Task | Description | Task Leader |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tool development | TWI |
| 2 | Workpiece materials range | DLR - German Aerospace Center |
| 3 | FSW productivity | Inst de Soudure |
| 4 | FSW flexibility | GKSS |
| 5 | Mechanical properties | Force |
| 6 | Dissemination | TWI |
Matrix management of Tasks and Applications will be conducted by European leaders in their respective fields. The Task objectives are to demonstrate the weldability by feasi-bility studies with both robots and gantries, and to develop methods and procedures for weld assessment and quality assurance for:
- High-speed (>2m/min) welding of sheet aluminium alloys without loss in quality
- Welding aluminium alloys with >20mm thickness
- FSW of dissimilar materials, e.g. cast-wrought, Mg-Al and Al-steel
- Robotic, all positional and bobbin tool FSW
- Improving mechanical properties, i.e. raising strength of the weld and HAZ
- Developing FSW techniques for titanium, nickel, stainless and ferritic steels
- Industrialising a - f above for real components and application in commercial production
- Implementation of FSW by 50% of the participating OEMs/SMEs within 5 years.
Deliverables will be proven welding procedures for test pieces and prototypes in comprehensive detail. Equally important will be the detailed comparison between types of equipment, which will enable potential users to make informed investment choices. The role of the job shops in providing a service to potential users is past proven to be catalytic to investment. A vital project achievement will be the establishment of at least 25 user organisations across Europe within 5 years.
The Dissemination Phase will be mainly funded by industry and is planned to take 2½ to 3 years. It will involve seminars, workshops, provision of job shop services and low cost feasibility studies for potential users who choose not to proceed via the job shop route. Manufacturing economics will feature strongly in this Phase.
In collaborating, Europe has the critical mass of expertise to catch up and overtake competitors abroad and the unique industrial infrastructure of small and medium enterprises, plus job shops, which in joining with large organisations provide the demand and the route for dissemination and implementation.
Budget and contributions
The total budget is
6.8M and is distributed as follows:
| United Kingdom | 50.6% |
| France | 21.2% |
| Germany | 10.4% |
| Sweden | 8.7% |
| Denmark | 6.6% |
| Poland | 2.5% |
Links and references
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peter.fielding@twi.co.uk
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Project Manager of EuroStir
® is Stephan Kallee (TWI),
stephan.kallee@twi.co.uk
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www3.eureka.be/Home/projectdb/PrjFormFrame.asp?pr_id=2430 (needs 90sec for opening)
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Stephan W Kallee: 'Friction stir welding - how to weld aluminium without melting it'. Innovations for New Rail Business, IMechE, London, 24 May 2001.
www.twi.co.uk/content/spswkmay2001.html (JoinIT log-in necessary)