Welding/Joining & Surface Modification
Author: Carlos Erlan Olival Lima
Subject: Japanese Life Today
Professor Masahiro Fukumoto
Toyohashi University of Technology is
organized in six main departments, which
are: Mechanical, Electrical, Computer
Science, Environment, Architecture, Liberal
Arts.
Among them, the Mechanical department
has its focus in four main areas, which are:
Mechanics, System Design; Materials,
Manufacturing; System Control, Robotics;
Energy, Environment;
And one of the main focuses is the
manufacturing process, especially Friction
Stir Welding (FSW). Friction Stir
Welding (FSW) is a solid-state joining
process that uses a non-consumable tool to
join two facing workpieces without melting
the workpiece material.
In this process, frictional heat is generated
between the wear-resistant tool and the
work pieces. This heat, along with that
generated by the mechanical mixing
process and the adiabatic heat within the
material, cause the stirred materials to
soften without melting. In particular, it can
be used to join high-strength aerospace
aluminum alloys and other metallic alloys
that are hard to weld by conventional fusion
welding. FSW is considered to be the most
significant development in metal joining in a
decade.
When the FSW is compared with other
process, the main advantages are: low
distortion, reduced defect rate, elimination
of consumable – weight reduction, less
safety concerns, less concern on molten
parent metal chemistry, simplicity of
machinery.
The main applications of FSW in the
industry are: Aerospace, Railway, Ship
building, Automotive, Metal fabrication.
Other process very important is Thermal
Spraying. Thermal spraying techniques
are coating processes in which melted (or
heated) materials are sprayed onto a
surface.
Thermal spraying can provide thick coatings
(approximated thickness range is 20
microns to several mm, depending on the
process and feedstock), over a large area at
high deposition rate as compared to other
coating processes such as electroplating,
physical and chemical vapor deposition.
All methods of thermal spraying involve the
projection of small softened particles onto a
cleaned and prepared surface where they
adhere to form a continuous coating.
Combined thermal and kinetic energy
causes the particles to flatten or ’splat’ onto
the surface, and onto each other, to
produce a cohesive coating of successive
layers.
Main Applications are related to the re-
engineering of a wide range of rotating and
moving parts from machines of all kinds,
including: Road and rail vehicles, ships,
aircraft, pumps, valves, printing presses, etc.