Friction Stir Welding Capabilities and Their Applications – Review

Abstract

Welding plays a key role in the various manufacturing sectors such light and heavy duty manufacturing industries, construction, transportation, maintenance and repair. As the newly developed process, friction stir welding is used in all the above mentioned sectors of manufacturing. This review article starts with history of the welding processes and list out the development of the various welding process. The article discusses the basics of friction stir welding process and the importance of various process parameters in controlling the properties of the welded joint. The capability of the friction stir welding to join various materials starting from aluminum alloys followed by magnesium alloys, steel, composites, polymers and dissimilar combinations are discussed in detail. The friction stir welding process is adopted successfully in various sectors like aerospace, naval, and other transportation industries which are also conversed in detail.

Keywords- History of welding, Capabilities of FSW, Applications, defects, future direction.