Friction stir

FPE and Gatwick Fusion have been offering friction stir welders and advanced engineering solutions for more than 30 years. Our success has been founded on delivering cost effective, conceptually sound and innovative friction stir and joining solutions to the manufacturing industries.

Find out more about friction stir machinery with FPE and Gatwick Fusion.

Friction stir welding is a solid-state joining process, in which a cylindrical shouldered tool with a profiled pin is inserted into the joint line between two pieces of material. Frictional heat is created between the wear resistant pin and the two work pieces, which are butted together and clamped onto a backing bar.

The friction stir heat causes the materials to soften, without reaching melting point, and allows the pin to traverse along the joint. As the tool moves along, the material is plasticised by the frictional heat at the front of the rotating pin and transported to the back. Here it consolidates and cools down to form a solid-state weld.

There are many advantages to friction stir welding, including:

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