DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF FRICTION STIR WELDING TOOLS

Friction stir welding is an automatic process falls under the category of solid state welding process. A nonconsumable tool is used to generate frictional heat in the abutting surfaces. A shoulder and a pin are the important parts of the tool. This tool makes weld without conventional defects with good mechanical properties and is especially suited for defence applications. The tool shoulder produces a majority of the heating in thick work pieces. In this project the tools are designed in CATIA and fabricated by using the material H13 with the help of lathe machine, tool and cutter grinder. Four different tool pins are fabricated triangular pin tool, square pin tool, tapered cylindrical pin tool and straight cylindrical pin tool.