I guess this is old news, but it’s certainly new to me.
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Stir friction welding is still real in its infancy as far as welding processes and their applications go.
Aerospace, mostly the space part, is really the only industry that has used it significantly.
So not old news just slowly developing.
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I first saw this at McDonnell Douglas Missile and Defense systems in early 90’s. They used it weld the giant Saturn rocket panels together. Over an order of magnitude inches of weldment with a detectable flaw. 20" to over 300".
It is really strange watching the metal stirred like it was thick peanut butter. I believe the process/equipment they were using at that time were developed in Sweden.
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It was invented and experimentally proven at The Welding Institute (TWI) in the UK in December 1991.
From the wiki
Not saying that was where it was invented - just where the equipment MDMS&D had was from. It one of the Scandinavian countries, timing is about right, it was like 1995 I think I saw it. Probably under license.
It’s really cool process to see work and they had great results
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I’m still fascinated by portable laser welding.
Electron beam welding is cool also.
Plane Friction Welding is cool too.
I remember a toy on the 70’s that was a plastic stir welder. You had a battery powered drill and it came with plastic rods/rivets. Like an erector set but all plastic parts. What you made was permanent and very sturdy!
Interesting you should mention that. I came across the following post prior to submitting:
Found it, was made by Mattel
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Holly crap, that’s awesome! I’d have killed for something like that when I was a kid.
Had one, it was the best toy I got in 1974. I was 9 years old and made everything they put out. However they were cheap with the plastic rods and rivets. If you practiced your welding you would run out before completing the kit. Found that Weed Eater filament that came out the year before was a good substitute. It was expensive too!
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