Wichita State University will join and participate in the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) for Friction Stir Processing. The I/UCRC brings together the leading friction stir processing academic institutions in the United States and focuses on addressing the needs of the aerospace, aeronautic, automotive, material, energy, military, and other commercial industries in developing this emerging solid state metals joining and processing technology.
Wichita State University plans to increase the quantity and quality of professionals prepared to work in friction stir processing. The I/UCRC will actively develop this technology to increase the friction stir processing knowledge base and broaden the experience of its faculty and staff for supporting the aviation and other applicable industries.
Implementation of Friction Stir Welding in Car Bumper Assemblies Advancements in weld tool designs for friction stir welding (FSW) have enabled the development of a prototype lightweight automotive bumper / crash box assembly at Wichita State University. Assemblies fabricated with FSW and Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) were subjected to crash sled and drop tower testing to provide a comparison in performance under dynamic loading conditions. The FSW development work included micro-structural examination and static mechanical testing. Results from coupon-level development were compared against results from component-level testing of prototype articles using micrographs and an advanced electronic (signal/frequency analysis) non-destructive evaluation (e-NDE) technique in order to detect weld anomalies primarily in the form of voids. Due to the geometry of the welded part joint, conventional mechanical testing methods (tensile and peel test) were not applicable. Therefore, a wedge test was devised to test the relative toughness of the FSW joint. A drop tower test fixture was also fabricated using friction stir welding. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was used to compare the predicted damage to the actual damage in FSW bumper and FSW test fixture joints. According to the bumper test results, friction-stir butt welds performed as well as or better those produced by GMAW. e-NDE Algorithms for Friction Stir Welding Two electronic Non-Destructive Evaluation (e-NDE) algorithms for Friction Stir Welding (FSW) have been successfully developed in collaboration with Wichita State University (WSU) and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T). According to the Probability of Detection (POD) analysis based on the maximum-likelihood method, the e-NDE method gave significantly better detection performances compared to the conventional ultrasonic-phased-array and the X-ray techniques. In addition, from examining a series of cross-sectional macrographs taken from along the weld path, it was found that the e-NDE method tested was sufficiently sensitive to predict volumetric defects even before voids emerged during the welding process. This is accomplished through examining only the feedback signals generated by the process events. The implementation of e-NDE promotes FSW into a "green-squared" technology. FSW is considered as a "green" welding technology that does not produce any toxic gas or use of filler material. Thus, utilizing e-NDE adds to the "greenness" of FSW by reducing expensive post-weld inspection procedures. Moreover, the development of e-NDE algorithms is the crucial step towards creating an intelligent closed-loop control system for FSW to achieve the highest quality friction stir joints.
