Features

• Steel industry : Friction stir welding of thick steel plates
• Automotive : High-tensile strength material increasingly used to reduce vehicle weight and improve safety Steel Plate Joining
• Joining of dissimilar materials such as aluminum alloys and other light metals with ferrous metals

Previously, SUS was sprayed onto steel to improve surface performance. Can be easily joined by FSW

Conventional method - Welding

FSW (friction stir welding)

Joining without melting the base material, with minimal post-joining deformation.

FSW stands for Friction Stir Welding, a joining technique developed in the United Kingdom in 1991.
A cylindrical tool with a protruding tip is rotated at high speed and pressed against the jointed part of the material to be joined. The frictional heat generated by the tool softens the material to be joined, and the rotation of the tool causes it to flow plastically, resulting in a solid-phase joint. This is a solid-phase welding technique. Unlike arc welding and other forms of fusion welding, the joining process does not melt the materials to be joined. The advantage is that there is less deformation after joining and less strength loss in the joint due to grain refinement in the joint. This has the advantage that the strength of the joint is reduced due to the subdivision of crystal grains in the joint. In addition, the joining process is more energy-efficient than conventional joining methods. The joints can be joined with less energy consumption compared to conventional joining methods.

Currently, widely adopted joining technologies for aluminum alloys and materials with low softening temperatures are making strides in the manufacturing of vehicles like railroad cars and automobiles. In contrast, when it comes to iron/steel materials with high softening temperatures, the availability of tool materials with excellent high-temperature properties is limited, and existing tools are often very expensive. The scarcity of tool materials with superior high-temperature properties is a notable challenge in working with iron/steel materials with high softening temperatures.

NTK CUTTING TOOLS plays a pivotal role in advancing the practical application of Friction Stir Welding (FSW) to high softening temperature materials, leveraging its unparalleled expertise in ceramic materials and cutting-edge technologies.