Friction stir welding spindle downforce and other control techniques, systems and methods

A friction stirred welding system of the type including a backing, said system comprising:

• a spindle adapted in use to accept a rotating tool mounted therein, said spindle in use rotating the tool in contact with a workpiece to heat and weld the workpiece in solid state without causing the workpiece to melt;
• an electrically controlled actuator structured to determine the axial position of said tool in six degrees of freedom;:
• a sensor that measures the downforce the rotating tool applies to said workpiece;
• a control system coupled to said sensor, said control system being structured to control said electrically controlled actuator to correct axial tool position at least in part in response to said measured downforce to thereby maintain the load between tolerance limits, said control system being further structured to avoid oscillations of the load applied to the workpiece by applying proportional integral derivative control to maintain the load constant or substantially constant during welding, said control system including a closed-loop control arrangement that controls rate of rotation of the tool;
• a laser sensor that is adapted to be accepted by the spindle and interchangeable with said rotating tool, said laser sensor in use mapping the axial distance between the spindle and the backing;
• an alarm coupled to the laser sensor, said alarm indicating if the axial distance between the tool and the backing is less than a predetermined threshold distance determined based at least in part on measured variations;
• and
• a data logger that logs welding parameters during welding.

A method of performing friction stirred welding comprising:

• (a) inserting a sensor into a friction stirred welding spindle;
• (b) using the sensor to map the axial distance the friction stirred welding spindle is disposed from a backing surface;
• and
• (c) removing said sensor from said spindle and inserting a tool in its place;
• (d) rotating said tool;
• (e) moving said rotating tool into contact with a workpiece placed on said backing surface;
• and
• (f) using said map to control an electrically controlled actuator to correct axial tool position relative to said workpiece,
• wherein said rotating tool in contact with said workpiece plasticizes portions of said workpiece while keeping said workpiece in the solid state, thereby welding said workpiece.

A friction stirred welding method comprising:

• inserting a laser sensor into a spindle;
• controllably positioning the spindle while using the laser sensor to map the axial distance between the spindle and a backing;
• removing the laser sensor from the spindle and inserting a rotatable tool place of the laser sensor;
• controlling the spindle to rotate the tool;
• controlling the position of the spindle in six degrees of freedom to move the tool into contact with a workpiece to heat and weld the workpiece in solid state without causing the workpiece to melt;
• measuring the downforce the rotating tool applies to said workpiece;
• controlling the axial position of said tool in six degrees of at least in part in response to said measured downforce to thereby maintain the downforce within desired limits;
• avoiding oscillations by applying proportional integral derivative control to maintain the downforce constant or substantially constant during welding;
• and
• generating an alarm if the axial distance between the tool and the backing is less than a predetermined threshold distance determined based at least in part on the map.