University South Carolina Research Foundation Reynolds, Anthony P.
This proposal provides funding to augment the ongoing research program and to provide a membership for the NASA / Langley Research Center to University South Carolina Research Foundation, Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Friction Stir Processing.
The interagency funds for a membership in the I/UCRC increase the research activities to expand the knowledge base of the discipline.
The Federal Agency interaction in the I/UCRC creates more potential for technology transfer of the research results and expands the graduate students interaction for future employment.
The focus of the work performed under this award is on the development of the friction stir welding process. Fundamental and applied knowledge regarding the process has been obtained by close collaboration with industrial partners who have supplied the bulk of the funding associated with this grant (industrial support is approximately 5X greater than the federal support). The work has been performed within a multi-university, industry supported center (an NSF-I/UCRC or Industry/University Cooperative Research Center: The Center for Friction Stir Processing). Friction stir welding is a solid state joining process which is particularly well suited to joining of certain metallic materials which cannot easily be joined by other welding techniques. At the University of South Carolina, the major research thrusts have been in (1) manipulation of thermal boundary conditions for optimizing weld properties in aerospace aluminum alloys and (2) development of the friction stir welding process for joining of titanium alloys. Major successes include both highly practical, applied developments and more academic, fundamental science discoveries. These include development of techniques for production of some of the strongest welds ever made in aluminum alloys, and improved understanding of the basic physical underpinning of the FSW process. Research done in the center has lead to additional reserach work sponsored by industrial partners aimed at helping them to commercialize the Friction Stir Welding process. In addition, numerous papers have been published detailing methods, techniques, and basic physics associated with the studied process. These products will enable other research groups and potential industrial users to implement FSW much more quickly than would be otherwise possible. In addition, research performed in the Center has been critical in the training of numerous students who have obtained both Bachelor's and advanced degrees in Mechanical Engineering.
